Falling leaves drift by my window. SoS, May 14 2022.

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There has been a great deal of rain in the Central Tablelands this year. Already, twelve month’s rain has fallen and we’re not halfway through the year. Our Mudgee garden is waterlogged and water from two days ago is still lying in the gutters around the edge of the garden beds.

We’ve had nothing like the disastrous rain totals that people further north have experienced, and which have brought devastating floods, destroying whole towns and causing tragic loss of life, but La Niña hasn’t finished with us yet, we’re told.

I’m joining in with the Six on Saturday crowd after an absence, a time ‘off’ blogging. SoS is a large and ever-expanding group of gardeners who share their experiences, gardens and plants each Saturday. To see what other gardeners are doing, do drop into The Propagator’s blog and enjoy gardens from far and wide.

One: Above is a view of the back garden with the two silver birch trees in their autumn colours. Strictly speaking, it isn’t a photo from today. It was taken on Gloomy Thursday, but I wanted to share the bird hotel (cockatoos in this instance) in the background.

Two: Under the silver birches are Agastache ‘Sweet Lilli’ and Salvia semiatrata ’Riviera Sage’. Dutch Iris are also making an appearance. It has been so wet I’m wondering if I’ll see bulbs such as species tulips this coming spring. They may have rotted over the summer.

Three: The little Meyer lemon tree is bearing a good crop for the first time ever. I expect before too long I will belong to that category of gardeners desperate to find a home for extra lemons. In the meantime, I’ll be making preserved lemons which are wonderful to add to Moroccan tajines.

Four: The Pyrus nivalis in the front garden with her companion Hakea petiolaris. The Yellow tailed black cockatoos are once again in the Hakea today, feasting on the seed capsules. I posted a not very good photo of one them during the week, and you can find it here.

Five: Bidens ‘Bee Happy’ has flowered for months and I’m hoping it will last through winter, although I don’t think it’s frost hardy. It’s accompanied here by a little cyclamen. Hopefully this sheltered spot will protect these plants.

Six: Lastly, two pumpkin seeds grew and two pumpkins eventuated. They could never be described as a large haul, but I look forward to cooking them before too long.

Those are my six. What are yours? Are you struggling with the effects of frequent rain, or enjoying a balmy Northern Hemisphere spring?

Weather today: cloudy and warm. 14-24 degrees C. (very warm for this time of the year.)

34 Comments Add yours

  1. Rosie Amber says:

    Lovely to see home grown lemons, I have some seedlings I’m trying. Also the pumpkins are super.

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you Rosie. Good luck with the lemon seedlings!

  2. Glorious colours and fine produce

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you, Derrick.

  3. Nice to see you again, I’ve missed you! Glad that the severe weather hasn’t caused you too much heartache, although I am sure it is tough seeing the devastation to others. Your garden is looking lovely, the bidens is a beauty!

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you, Gill. Bidens has been very popular on this post! I first saw it on a SoS post last year and I was very pleased when I saw one in a local nursery and grabbed it quickly as they don’t seem to be very well known here.

  4. So pleased you are back blogging again! It is always interesting to read about your garden in Mudgee! Our plans for getting the garden ready for winter/spring crops have gone off the rails after this new bout of rain, so hopefully things will dry out soon! Your autumn garden is looking pretty. If I had space I’d be tempted to plant a Hackea to attract our local Yellow tailed black cockatoos to the garden. Those are nice pumpkins you have grown!

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you, Megan. I’m sure it must have been/is still being very wet up where you are and I hope you’re on the slopes and not down where floods are occurring. I’ve planted some broccoli and cauliflower and they are going well in their raised beds. I haven’t had to water them since the day I planted them!

      1. We’re up on the Blackall Range, and on a slight slope, and most of the overland flow of water moves off the property quite quickly via a drain at the bottom of the garden. In that respect we are lucky! This morning the sun peeped out, and everyone is out and about again trying to shake off the cabin fever effects! 😆 our seedlings are pretty soggy, and we are hoping that they will get a new lease on life with a bit of sunshine!

  5. Your garden is very full of blooms. We went through a period of heavy rains and floods here on the Texas Gulf Coast and now we are looking at high heat and drought.

    1. Jane says:

      I’m sure before too long I’ll be hoping for rain again too. I certainly never thought we’d have a La Niña that would last for two years. Time to send some elsewhere and share it around!

      1. If only we could.

  6. You’ve had a rough time of it extreme weather-wise over there the past few years. Your garden is looking lovely – I’m particularly impressed by the lemon tree and well done on the pumpkins.

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you. I’m rather pleased with the lemon too. I’ve had it for several years and this is the first time it’s had any reasonable fruit.

  7. Heyjude says:

    So much for planting drought resistant plants! It seems that whatever we plant nature decides to behave opposite. You Aussies have had a lot of extreme weather these past few years, but your garden looks delightful despite all the issues. The Bidens look very nice, always good to have something which flowers on and on and on.

    1. Jane says:

      Yes indeed, Jude. My garden is full of drought resistant plants. Who would ever have thought root rot would be a problem! I’ve lost a few gauras, but on the whole things have done remarkably well. We did import a lot of soil and build the beds up, so I think that helped. Bidens are lovely. I saw them on someone’s post on SOS last year and was delighted when I saw some for sale at a local nursery last spring.

      1. Heyjude says:

        I bought Bidens last year, but it was a very wet and cold spring and they didn’t perform well at all. If I see any at the garden centre I might have another go, they are lovely en masse like yours.

  8. I am still waiting for a global weather system! Our dry season is ending and La nina is headed my way..Love your Bidens, hope they last.

    1. Jane says:

      I hope you get some rain soon. Bidens are new to my garden and I have been enjoying them very much. They grow easily from cuttings too, so I have some ready to plant in Spring should the ones in the garden suffer badly from frost.

  9. Kris P says:

    La Nina delivers too much rain for you and too little for us. Our drought has worsened to the point that new restrictions have been imposed on outdoor irrigation (for those people not already conserving water due to the steadily increasing cost imposed for using it). Our reservoirs are all frighteningly low and the snowpack that usually provides farmers and Southern California with water has been melting at an alarming rate.
    Despite some gloomy skies and squishy soil, your garden looks to be taking the deluge in stride. I was sorry to hear of the massive floods in other parts of Australia, though. Maybe La Nina will hand the reins to El Nino sometime soon, giving you respite and us some (hopefully manageable) rain.

    1. Jane says:

      Hi Kris, I’m sorry your drought situation has worsened. I had hoped that with a few good falls quite some time ago it would have improved for you. Your garden always looks so wonderful it’s hard to tell you’ve had so little help from the sky! The rain has been most welcome here (in the Central Tablelands which usually tends to be much drier than the coast) and the countryside around is looking brilliant, but we’re on clay soil here, so drainage has been a problem. La Niña must end soon, surely. Then, I suppose, I’ll be wishing for rain again.

  10. paolsoren says:

    Really delightful. (BTW, did the black hollyhock grow?)

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you! Yes the black hollyhock grew, and my sincere apologies for not letting you know. It only had a couple of flowers, but I have four new plants growing ready to flower in the spring. Hopefully. I will post a pic when it happens.

      1. paolsoren says:

        Fantastic.

  11. fredgardener says:

    Here it’s the opposite. No rain since April 1. … Otherwise the Meyer lemons can stay on the tree for a long time, I often do this when I have too many.

    1. Jane says:

      Thank you so much, Fred. I’m glad to know I can leave the lemons on the tree. I do hope you have some refreshing rain soon. You’ve been waiting a long time….drought conditions really.

  12. Pauline says:

    Sorry to hear that you have been having so much rain, I hope it stops soon for you, part of my garden was flooded all last winter and I’m having to change the planting in that bed as so many plants have died. Well done with your lemon tree, growing your own lemons must be wonderful!

    1. Jane says:

      I shouldn’t really complain about rain: so often it’s the other way around and we’re desperate for it to come!
      I do enjoy being able to go out and pick a fresh lemon when I need one.

  13. Jane, your garden looks so colourful for this time of year. The salvia and the bidens are putting on a real show, and hooray for the pumpkins. It is kind of pumpkin eating weather now.

    1. Jane says:

      Thanks Tracy. Every morning we sit at the table having breakfast and look out at the sun lighting up the autumn colours. It’s a very pleasurable thing to do.
      And yes, pumpkin meals coming up. I love roasted pumpkin dishes.😋

      1. That sounds lovely. Enjoy it. We may get a frost later this week.

  14. hb says:

    Your ‘Meyer’ Lemon looks great–much happier than mine. Here it’s all too dry. Best to have rain but the flooding in your country looked terrible–so sorry to see that after the horrific fires of a few years back.

    My neighbor freezes lemon juice in an ice-cube tray then packs the cubes into a sealed back in the freezer. When she needs a tablespoon or two of juice for a recipe, a cube does the job. Yet another use for lemons!

    Your Hakea is beautiful–I’m glad to see a photo of a mature specimen.

    1. Jane says:

      I think the lemon has come on well because of massive amounts of water and also I’ve fed it a lot. Thanks for the tip re lemon juice.
      The Hakea has been lovely, and grew much bigger than I ever thought it would. Black cockatoos have been visiting for the seeds and are taking quite a few branches off! A kind of pruning even if it is a little haphazard.

  15. Wish you could send some of that rain to us here in Northern California! We need it. Hope it lets up to a manageable amount there! Your sage is looking very pretty!

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