Changing Seasons : January 2020

Half way through summer and what a devastating time it has been for large parts of Australia. Destructive fires down south. Our bush capital, Canberra surrounded by fire and overcome by smoke then hail storms and wind. Then recently the latest catastrophe has been torrential rain and flash flooding in the north. It has all dominated world news to the extent that travel alerts have been issued warning tourists not to come. That also is adding to the disaster as Australia depends on tourism.

Now I have to tell you that Australia is a huge country and many areas have not been affected and are open for business. So if you have plans to come here do not put them off, you will be warmly welcomed with open arms.

I am so fortunate to live in an area not affected by fire or flood. The rain has been moderate and 182mm spread over this month and the growth has been phenomenal.Everything is so green and vibrant.

Look at the growth on Jack’s Desert Roses.

Remember last month I had started creating a rockery? It was just a pile of rocks…  Finishing it has been the main job this month. I mixed up barrow loads of topsoil using coconut coir, old potting mix, organic top soil, perlite, 5 in 1 fertilizer and lots of sweat to mix it all together. It was surprising how much was needed to fill in around the rocks.Then I had to leave it to settle for a while before came the interesting part, planting…

A double red Desert Rose has pride of place in the pot at the top it will be surrounded by succulents eventually. The variegated roeo line the steps. A few bromeliads fill gaps and I will be putting more rockery type plants in, but will wait for the weather to cool down. A thick layer of sugar cane mulch helps protect everything from the searing heat.

Notice the pink and red Pentas flowers in the above photos? Last month those plants were totally decimated by caterpillars. But nature has a remarkable ability to recover, it took a short while and now they are back in full flower.

The below photo was taken last month when the poor Pentas were struggling to survive

The stars of the garden this month are the Strelitzia, commonly known as “Birds of Paradise”

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Thank you Su for hosting this monthly challenge.

I have been recording the monthly changes in the garden for 2years now. Here is January 2019. This January 2018 was my first “changing season” post.

With one day to go in January I have actually beaten Su to the posting of this months “changing season” blog. So pop over and look at her blog and I will add the link to her changing season post when it arrives…