September Singing

Once the last frost has been (hopefully!) and the soil warms up, the late Winter blossom falls away, my September garden really begins to unfurl, to awaken and sing…

The lawns at the moment are going bananas, we could happily and easily mow them twice a week at this time of year. So. Much. Grass! The trees are all sprouting leaves, all at different times and in different ways – the Manchurian pear, then the crab apple, the horse chestnuts, the silver birch, followed by the fig. My camellias are waning and coming to their end, as is the big pink show pony rhododendron out the front. The lavender is moving with all the bees in it, the federation daisy bush my the back door is laden with white and the fox gloves are bending under the weight of their spires…

The hydrangeas have greened up nicely after a severe hair cut in Autumn – I cut my hydies back hard and it looks scary to most, but they love it! It hopefully pays off come the following Summer, and one in particular has sent up quite an early bloom…

I have six more hydrangeas to plant this weekend along the south facing shed and carport wall. It’s just my go-to south facing plant, but would love some other suggestions as husband thinks I’ve gone a bit hydrangea mad! I’ve also tried and failed to grow a climbing rose up the front porch. Suggestions on a south facing shade loving climber? Not many climbers will succeed in this spot I fear, as they all need some sun loving. Our Happy Wanderers love their spots in the sun on the fence in the backyard.

A ‘blushing bride’ native is finally in my repertoire, after much procrastination because they’re expensive little things! But the cut flower potential having a big shrub of it in the garden has been enticing me for months. The trick is to protect it long enough against possum attack so it can grow big and strong to fend for itself.

Oh the possums! They are the bane of my existence. How I loathe the possums… Unfortunately they are the trade off for having lovely big well established trees in our garden, but overnight they will just shred my plants. Ones which I think will surely not be tasty for possums – in the morning? Gone. And just when I think it’s safe to remove a tree guard from a plant to let it really sing in this Spring sunshine…overnight – gone! Any possum deterrents that are dog friendly very welcome! I’ve heard the blood and bone theory, but Tessa just loves it and rolls all day in the garden and is then banished from being indoors before a bath! I have heard of noise thingy’s you can put in the trees? I dream of one day taking photos of my garden sans-tree guards. Sigh…

In the meantime, there’s lawns to mow (always), seeds to sow for the veggie garden, violas to replenish the wishing well, hydrangeas to plant this weekend. Pottering about in the garden is my very favourite thing to do…perhaps I just need to start doing it at 3am to chase away those pesky possums!