Changing Seasons December and the year that was 2019

 

How quickly this year has flown by. It has been a busy one. It started with a visit to my family in New Zealand. Always a pleasure and a joy.April we spent 5 unforgettable days of intense creativity at an art workshop in Grafton, learning the new skill of line and wash drawing, under the guidance of our talented charismatic and quirky tutor  Cees Sliedrecht

Being shown how

I so enjoyed the experience of being totally immersed in art that I jumped at the opportunity to attend another 5 day art retreat in July. This time in Tumbulgum a quaint little village in the Tweed Valley. This time it was learning the finer details of acrylic painting. (I have already booked a water colour workshop for us in July 2020)…

 

Being immersed in art and surrounded by like minded people at these workshops had my creative juices flowing, so back home both Jack and I spent more time in artistic pursuits, drawing, painting, visiting art galleries and consequently my blog took a back seat and for the rest of the year I only produced one post a month and that was dedicated to keeping a record of our garden, another passion and love of my life.

In the past 18 months there has been quite a change on the garden front. It was a shady tropical landscape But  I decided it needed a make over and a new look. To create the native/cottage look and grow more vegetables more light would be needed. The palms were really taking over blocking out the sun. They would have to go…

The photo below is Jack clearing the palms 18 months ago (see the action here)

What a difference it has made. Here is what it looks like now bathed in sunlight…The Poinciana is the star of the show this month with its flamboyant red flowers welcoming you into the garden. The pumpkin struggled to survive needing copious water and being treated constantly for powdered mildew. But it managed to produce 2 pumpkins.

The central bed has been a blaze of colour all spring, but now in the constant heat of the relentless sun (no shade now) the spring annuals have finally finished their productive cycle and been relegated to the compost bin. But their babies are carrying on with self seeded marigolds popping up everywhere.

Below is this centre bed in September (see more here), spring time over here.

But the bromeliads did not like the full sun and scorched quite badly. So it is now going to be a change of plan…

I have removed the broms from the top. (you can see in the second photo how scorched they were.) And it is going to be transformed into a rockery, watch this space, a work in progress…

The area has been cleared of annuals and just the perennials left, but, oh dear, look at the Pentas. The caterpillars have ravished them. I don’t mind too much as I love to see butterflies and without caterpillars there would be none. They haven’t found the other Pentas in another part of the garden. Yet…

There is one shady corner, native violets, busy lizzie and cat’s tail Acalypha make a pretty show.

Most of the veggie growing has been put on hold till summer is over. But the eggplant/aubergine soldiers on, and the new strawberry plants are being hidden under netting to protect them from predators. Jack’s Desert Roses simply adore this weather and the third generation of seeds are loving the heat and humidity in the green house. Jack is also experimenting with grafting.

On the climate front we have been so lucky to miss the bush fires that have been causing havoc in large parts of the country. And being near the ocean the sea breezes keep the temperatures to a bearable mid 30’s. After last months total absence of rain this month 73mm have fallen in this area. Though many areas are in total drought and have been for years, with dams starting to dry up around the country.

I will finish with a gallery of what is in flower this month.

These final photos are of the Pony Tail Palm it has been here for 20 years and for the first time it is putting up a flower spike. I’m looking forward to seeing it open. Hope it doesn’t mean it is going to die…

Well that is 2019 all over. Thank you Su for hosting this monthly challenge, take a look here for what other bloggers from around the world have done in December. This is a great opportunity to keep a record of the changes.

As I post this 2020 has arrived here in Australia. I wish all my “blogging buddies” a fantastic year ahead, thank you all for visiting my blog and I really appreciate your comments. Health and happiness to you all.