PLENTY TO DO BEFORE SUMMER

Bantry Bay is one of my favourite climbing roses. The blooms last in the vase for several days and make a wonderful show clambering over the gazebo. I do not need to spray any of the roses due to the health of the plants. Most of the kitchen scraps end up around them as well as compost and rose fertiliser.

 Today I popped this apple, rhubarb and passionfruit crumble into the oven for dessert. What is left over can be frozen. It was handy finding passionfruit from last season in the freezer.

Craig is enjoying  his crumble at the moment... "It's nice" he says. I think he probably means Yummy! No sugar at all added to the fruit and just a handful of brown sugar in the crumble. Once again, Sugromax sweetener is the answer in avoiding those extra calories.

We sweeten lemon drinks the same way and can enjoy them without worrying about those extra kilos. We get through so many lemons it was necessary to buy another tree. It's good to see plenty of blossom on the new tree.

Three tubs of blueberries well covered and ripening soon. Considering the cost of a small punnet from the supermarket, growing our own is effortless and produce copious amounts of berries. This one is Tasty Blue and has large berries. I cannot bring myself to thin them out despite knowing they would be even larger.

With boysenberries just starting to colour up, it will not be long before they are ready. The growth is rampant and they do escape the tub and crop up elsewhere in the garden. I don't mind this at all.

Well, the blackbirds are regular visitors to the garden and I am sure they are only too aware of the grapes coming along. Each year I wander around with a broom and bang it on the pergola as we eyeball each other. Hoping they will take the hint and buzz off doesn't work...........  they just keep returning.

It is interesting to see how the new apple tree is performing. This one has three varieties. Splendour, Golden Delicious and Royal Gala. There are two espaliers growing against the back fence... Splendour and Ballarat. Having a large cooking apple is ideal.

As for the plums, there seems to be a glut of them. Santa Rosa, Burbank, Black Amber and Omega. It's amazing how much can be grown on a small section.............. no need for a paddock! When they reach full production we can sell them at the Farmers' Market.

Why on earth did I throw in a whole packet of Buttercup pumpkin seeds? They're coming up everywhere. Oh! Well! I'm sure they will come in handy and store well hopefully. They might end up at the Farmers' Market as well.

 Westerland is a new climbing rose I bought online from Wairere Nurseries a few months ago. It is growing alongside another climber called Schoolgirl, which does not flower as prolifically, but is exactly the same colour. I couldn't resist buying others as well and ended up with Dublin Bay and Crepuscule climbers.

Mary Rose is another old fashioned variety and flowers year round. So reliable and a favourite of mine. It has been in the garden for several years now along with other David Austin varieties growing here and there.

White Carpet Rose growing in a tub. Flowers for ages and brings light into the garden. There are a couple of pink ones growing somewhere and I guess they will end up in tubs.... when I come across them.

Buff Beauty has a gentle fragrance and flowers for months on end alongside Graham Thomas. Both are David Austin climbers. I think growing up against the heat of a wall in full sun has a lot to do with it with their prolific growth.

Buff Beauty and Graham Thomas flaunt their beauty amidst a carpet of petals. The blooms do not last as well inside so better left to get on undisturbed.

Well, we scraped through winter by the skin of our teeth as the firewood dwindled away all too soon. To overcome the problem, we ordered six metres a month or two ago. It's outside in the open drying off. Not enough room under cover for all of it, so will have to cover it with something before the April showers... Time to put the thinking caps on.

Bantry Bay and Archiduc Joseph have a good relationship and head up hand in hand across the gazebo. Reaching out towards them is the espaliered Ballarat. They seem happy enough living alongside each other. No doubt about it, intensive planting works well.

A closer look at Archiduc Joseph. Such a beautiful colour and well worth popping in somewhere. I have put in four Dublin Bay climbers as well. Three are growing along the fence around and behind the gazebo, the fourth will head up in front of the house through the pergola. Like all keen gardeners, I can't wait. The wonderful thing about Dublin Bay is the ongoing flowering. The blooms stay on for a long time and great for the vase.

Well, it has been a good while since putting up another post. After upgrading to Windows 10, the computer would not download photos from the camera. I huffed and puffed.... muttered and grizzled until finally, after much fiddling around...... stumbled on a solution. Eureka! Thought I was going to blow a gasket for a while there............