February 28 is, for people who put their faith in calendars, the last day of summer here in Sydney. Tomorrow, March 1, is when autumn begins. Well, I don't subscribe to that faith at all.
I prefer the way that summers end at different times each year, the way the season flickers out like a candle with a few late, warm days popping up to surprise you. And then one day you feel that special chill that says "it's autumn now and winter's not far away" and you realize summer ended a while ago, on no particular day.
So, at this stage of the year our garden is of the opinion that summer has several weeks to go before the party's over. It's a time when herbs like to flower, crops turn to gluts and there's plenty of color wherever you look. I always like the simple little herb flowers in particular.
Wild rocket flowers at the tips of its thin, gangly stems.
| Broccolini is meant to be harvested before it flowers, but this one beat me to it. I only planted the seedlings three weeks ago! |
Basil mint is a tussie mussie of tiny blooms.
Eggplants show off their potato family heritage in a pretty hue.
And they're cropping now in purpley-white abundance.
Every day I pick a handful of red Serrano chillies that I swear
were deep green only the day before.
As well as all the edibles producing their little spots of colour, many ornamentals are a pleasure to be around at the moment.
New Guinea impatiens, which we've mass-planted under the
grevillea in the hope they suppress weeds better than the thick
mulch has abysmally failed to do. So far so good ....
Frangipani
Grevillea 'Peaches & Cream'
Ivy geranium
More ivy geraniums!
Blue salvia