It's a beautiful morning as I write this post over a coffee. Before long it'll be too hot out there and we will be hiding indoors, but it's lovely to have a quick assessment of the garden. The sun cuts through low, casting it's magical light on things. Officially, a few days ago we hit summer, and although this weekend is suitably hot, it hasn't been - it's been wet and cold, unusually so. A heap of factors including the Tongan eruption has caused this strange weather pattern, and the garden is reacting accordingly - I haven't seen anything like it.

The artichokes are at their end now, but I will let a few bust into spectacular purple flower before I tidy them up. They haven't been affected at all by the strange weather - in fact, I got a great crop this year, probably due to the extra water and the horse poo I scattered around them.

The herbs seem fine too, hardy things. There's chamomile popping up in the paths from last year's seeds, the ubiquitous calendula, and the lemon balm, horseradish and elecampane are going great guns. The elecampane is flowering for the first time and I'm excited to see it happen! In this part of the garden we have a resident blue tongue hiding under the wicking tubs, which I love.

In the back garden I'm constantly looking out for small holes in which the doe places her young - if I can get to them before they grow into big breeders, I can help prevent a plague perhaps. A losing battle. The yarrow and other flowers grow safely behind chicken wire - for the first year, I'm enjoying them and wish I'd done this earlier. There's small apples on the Cox's Orange Pippin tree - I need to net before it's too late.

Other fruit trees aren't doing so well. I'd love advice on how to deal with what I THINK is black soot on this plum. I've never had this issue before. Like the black spot on the tomato plants, it's a new one, brought about by heavy rainfall.

I mentioned to @minismallholding I wasn't good at growing things in pots, but I made an effort this year, partley to decorate the back door area where there's an old slab of concrete. The pots take the edge off the ugliness. I am enjoying some flowers and natives in these tubs and just make sure I water them every day.

Funnily enough, an avocado has started growing out of a pot. I was just telling @jonoudyer that we can't grow them down here - clearly that's a lie. It's grown from a seed in the compost, and apparently they take ages to fruit if grown this way and grafts are better. But I'm going to repot it and see how it grows. Cool huh?

Elsewhere the borage, snowpeas, hops and comfrey are all a tangle. @thebigsweed will know the hops drama. Great plants, but spikey and they can take over. Still, I do love the hops flowers.

@artemislives, I'm afraid my mulberry is much less attractive than yours. And it seems to have some kind of blemish on it - again, this bloody rain is ruining everything!

There's other pretty suprises too from some natives. I love the bright yellow on this west Australian grass related to the famous kangaroo paw.

The glut of lemons is nearly over, and the rhubarbs spotted about the garden are giving me stewed fruit for muesli. The raspberries are nearly done and have been delicious with mangoes and coconut yoghurt.

This one is a grass tree. I had it int he front garden for years but it was too dry and never flowered. It clearly likes it's new home and is a spectacular native. @lizelle, I'm thinking of your architectural cactus - this is on par, no?

Well, whilst I could talk for days about all the goings on, I don't want to bore you. The afternoon, where I picked up the writing of this post, is very hot and I'm sitting inside with the air con on and having a mineral water with white wine and iceblocks! I've been down for a swim in Mum and Dad's pool, tidied the house, and am thinking about how to manage the garden for the rest of the week plus do all the other things I need to get down, including going to Melbourne and having house guests. How I manage it all I don't know.

Chatting to Hive gardeners is a lovely relief in the busyness of it all. Did you know it's #gardenjournal week? Pop over to Hive Garden and see the pinned post there and join in if you can.

Happy Gardening!

With Love,

Join The Hive Garden Community! The HIVE GARDEN COMMUNITY supports gardening, homesteading, cannabis growers, permaculture and other garden related content. Delegations to the curation account, @gardenhive, are welcome! Find our community here!

Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account here!