An end-of-summer gardening weekend in northern Oz.

i really enjoyed your blog bernieh, you have wonderfull plants in your garden, bet they didnt kn ow what hit them with that rain, a few casulties but all in all think you did well, i love your palms and all your pots to, must be a day in day out job keeping up with it all,your garden is beautifull, a real paradise garden :o))

Hey Bernieh, what a fantastic blog. Its easy to forget that other members have their excitement at different times of the year. You certainly gonna be busy over the next few weeks then. About the cosmos... i thought they tended to be annuals so every year I tend to sow new seed... whats the lowest temperature you get in Winter, do you actually get frost in Oz !!! That last picture is great, is it some sort of honeysuckle... Oh and the begonias are looking really healthy. I tend to take leaf cuttings from the previous year. You have so much going on in your garden, how many hours of labour do you find you need to put in to stay on top of it all ??
Anyway, keep up the good work, much love, TLG

Hi Sanbaz ... all in all the garden came out better this year than last ... thank goodness. Either I'm getting a bit smarter about my planting choices or I was just lucky ... probably a bit of both!!

It does take a bit of time looking after the potted plants ... most of the rest of the garden is now quite well-established and looks after itself. I just have to try and keep the other parts watered occasionally ... but the pots need more. Now though, without my family at home, there's more time to give to them ... and I enjoy it!

Great blog Bernie, so glad you explained about the thongs .... the thought of gardening in them made me wince, then smirk ;-)

Your garden looks good even though it's had a harsh summer :-)
I like the pots on the trellis, that looks lovely.

your doing a great job and think we all learn from previous years what to do and what not to do, looks lovely :o)

G'day Lonegardener ... glad you enjoyed the blog. It was a busy weekend ... but so good to get out there finally.

My cosmos seems to go on and on and on ... I'm not sure why because it's sold as an annual! The others didn't survive because the wallabies took a shine to them - I had planted the other cosmos in an outdoor garden bed! Won't be doing that again!

In my corner of tropical northern Oz, our lowest winter temperature is around 13 degrees C ( 55 F) and ... no... we don't get frosts here. Of course in other parts of Oz the winter temps. are very different!

That last photo is my white Jacobinia, also referred to as Justicia. As for the hours ... I'm out in the courtyard garden, the greenhouse garden and the new garden beds nearly every day to at least do the watering ... but the other garden areas would only get my attention every month or so.

Hi Louise ... yes I thought I should be very, very clear about the thongs!! Thanks for your kind comments ... I too rather like the new baskets so I'm hoping they work out well and don't create too much mess on the lattice work.

Loved your blog and all those lovely photos of your garden, sure i use to call flip flops thongs when i was over there aswell.

Hi Carol ... glad you liked the visit to my place. I thought I should be clear about what I was using to swat all those pesky grasshoppers ... it wouldn't do to give the wrong impression!!! I think I should have mentioned that the reason why I use the thongs/flip-flops is because of the size of the grasshoppers ... they're those horrible huge green monsters.

What a gorgeous garden Bernieh its nice to find how the same seasons are different in other parts of the world,where your plants are water damaged ours are frozen.I like your greenhouse garden, I would not be too keen on the grasshoppers though.

Thanks Mavis ... yes it's true ... while the snow keeps you out of your gardens there, the rain, heat and humidity does the same thing over here for a short while. Our summer here in the north-east is not a great time for gardening ... very little gets done.

glad you are able to do more gardening now... you have some really lovely plants Bernieh................

Well I'm worn out just reading that,what a lot you have done ! The plants look really healthy and all the better for thinning out I'm sure. Very interesting blog,reading of your problems,I think I'll put up with our pesky greenfly any day than your grasshoppers :)

Thanks Bernieh,I`ve had a moan about our snow and the fact its stopping me going gardening and then you cheer me up with photo`s of your beautiful garden. Your plants look fabulous especially in your courtyard and greenhouse areas, the way you have set them out reminds me of exploring the huge conservatories and hothouses in many of our stately homes,a favourite pastime of mine.
Have to admit I`m with Aster as regards your grasshoppers...LOL.

Hi Bernieh

Lovely blog you ahve a good slection of plants esp the lanted ones and your garden is breathtaking,very healthy looking plants

Lovely blog, Bernieh, your gardens look fantastic. Keep the pictures coming!

What a lovely blog bernieh. Your garden looks fantastic, I could only dream of having the plants that you grow. I`ve heard about the really high temperatures in Australia this year, you must be so relived that its so much cooler now. :o)

great blog bernieh,lovely plants and garden:o)

Loved your blog Bernieh as ever fabulous plants all looking lush after all that wet! love your lattice balcony with the baskets for pelagoniums and the Jacobinia is beautiful enjoy your great outdoors and planting. p.s. I don't fancy the grass hoppers any more than the green frogs!!

Lol ... Neellan, you'll have to toughen up a bit if you ever visit! Seriously though, you get used to the frogs and the spiders ... but I never get used to the snakes! Thanks for your lovely comment ... yes the garden did seem to come through pretty well for which I'm rather thankful after last year's disaster!

Appreciate all your comments Joanella, Labdancer, Pottygardener, Rkalyan, Linclass, Aster and Hollyeves!

Labdancer ... yes the temp. in some places further south reached around 41 degrees C which is 105 F and some of our capital cities reached over 35 degrees C (95 F). That's Oz in the summer for you! I'm rather lucky ... even though I'm closer to the Equator we don't get temps. that high very often. We might reach 35 degrees C for a couple of days during summer but we're usually more like 31 or 32 ... which believe me makes a difference!

keap up the good work one day my garden should look like that but need bigger grounds at the mo just got vege & a couple of small ones with not many plants try to get more photos next season as this one not good with weather

Will be looking forward to your photos Vege ... I do hope your garden plants are getting through the wet weather well.

Fantastic blog, Bernieh! I really enjoyed looking at all your plants!!! :-) You have a fantastic selection of really lovely plants!

Thanks Balcony ... glad you enjoyed the visit. I'm certainly working at my garden a lot more these days ... and enjoying it so much! We are just now coming into the best time for a garden here in the north ... the beginning of autumn ... and I'm getting ready.

I hope the spring gets underway here shortly as all we seem to have is more winter weather! Today we have more rain & winds.

Almost the same here too Balcony ... yesterday it bucketed down. We had almost 4 inches of rain overnight and it's been raining nearly all day again today. There's more flooding in some areas of our city and lots of water everywhere. Had enough of the rain now!