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Mid-Autumn downunder ... and it's still raining!

bernieh

By bernieh

39 comments


April is our middle of Autumn month and it would be great to say that our fabulous autumn weather is well under way … but alas that is not quite the case.

While it’s true the humidity levels have dropped considerably and the daytime temperatures are usually just below 30 degrees C, there’s something not quite right about the weather for this time of year. The rain just will not stop! Today is yet another overcast, showery dreary day … here is the view out onto the courtyard garden today.

Now don’t get me wrong … I am the world’s biggest fan of rain! Usually we don’t get a drop of rain from mid-March to at least mid-December or the beginning of January … so the sight of rain-clouds approaching and the smell of the impending downpour can send me into absolute delirium!

It’s been great weather for the ducks …

… but after nearly three months of almost negligible amounts of time spent gardening, I’m now suffering a serious case of garden withdrawal! Sure I’ve done a few things when the rain stopped for a while. I’ve planted out my white Ozothamnus diosmifolius – an Australian native everlasting daisy ….

and my Baecka ‘Mount Tozer’ …

… as well as the white form of Russelia.

I have also managed to do a couple of the usual Autumn jobs … like trimming back the crotons,

…. the ixoras …

… the acalyphas …

… and the ‘White Wings’.

A few of the potted annuals have struggled through the rain since being planted up at the end of February.

I think I was being a teeny weeny bit optimistic when planting these at the end of summer … fancy thinking the ‘wet’ was over when the summer was over!!! That has not been the case this year … and unfortunately another casualty of all this rain and very little sunshine has been my seedlings. There are very few survivors, so I’ll try again in a couple of weeks.

The on-going wet weather has also meant that the greenhouse garden is once again getting rather overgrown … I’m going to have to do yet another clean-out in there!

We very rarely get rain after the Easter Weekend … so here’s hoping that the fine weather will arrive soon and I can once again slip on those gardening gloves and get out for some quality gardening time.

More blog posts by bernieh

Previous post: A wishy-washy Autumn weekend from downunder.

Next post: Today was a special day of remembrance downunder: Anzac Day.



Comments

 

you might not like it berneih but your garden does ! its our spring of course but snow in scotland and heavy rain everywherelse after our long cold winter is getting us down as well-- even the plants are not behaving normally with some not flowering yet and others all coming out together --- Its been a funny couple of years :-(

3 Apr, 2010

 

Yes you're so right Pamg ... the garden is flourishing and it's great to see everything so green. It's just so unusual to be still getting rain now! It certainly seems like there's change in the air all over the world.

3 Apr, 2010

 

true bernieh, Goy seems to get questions every day about plants not made it through the winter especially cordylines I'm beginning to wonder if there's any left alive over here

3 Apr, 2010

 

Your garden looks wonderful Bernieh, I was wondering what it looked like when you said about the rain. Love the duck

3 Apr, 2010

 

Always enjoy looking round your garden..

3 Apr, 2010

 

your garden seems to be enjoying the rain...its actualy stopped here today...;-)

3 Apr, 2010

 

still looks beautifull Bernieh even with rain, but can understand wanting to get out and do something, we get it all the time lol

3 Apr, 2010

 

This is my Favourite Garden `The Courtyard.` Your Garden is looking
great....I would love to face views like this every day, even with this awful
Weather we are having...It still looks very Inviting and Luscious, the
rain is certainly making it look more so!! Lucky you Bernieh...

3 Apr, 2010

 

I almost forgot to ask you...Is the Duck a Pet or a Wild 1 visiting?
He/She is quite a Character!!

3 Apr, 2010

 

Thanks everyone for your understanding comments ... I'm just going a little loopy with all the rain ... as you can tell.

Freesiaperson ... yes that duck is ours. She's the youngest of our brood and the cheekiest ... you are so right when you say she looks like a character!

3 Apr, 2010

 

Great weather for ducks!! Love the white wings.

4 Apr, 2010

 

It seems so strange to hear someone talk about "itching" to get out & do some gardening - in the middle of autumn!!! Understandable for us here in the Northern Hemisphere as spring has only just got underway but it still seems strange that you should talk about it being "cooler" with temps of "only 30ºC"! We'd be roasting here with that kind of temp!

5 Apr, 2010

 

Hi Balcony ... yes I'm waiting very, very patiently to get out for some decent gardening time in the middle of Autumn. This is the beginning of our supposedly best time for gardening, but the showers of rain keep sweeping over every day.

6 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

Well, it seems El Niño is affecting you with more rain than normal also. At least with all your rain you won't have to water as often. : > ) Your garden looks wonderfully lush!

We had about 2 1/2 weeks of dry weather before last weeks' rain. It's going to be very warm for the next 4 days...then maybe next week rain off-and-on. It very unusual to receive rain after March here also...usually, it becomes dry as a bone in April.

7 Apr, 2010

 

Andy ... can you believe it, we got another downpour today. It's rather unusual for this time of year. We did apparently have a week of sunshine last week, but I was away for that .... how appropriate!!

Yes everything is very lush ... overgrown is more to the point. I'm going to have to do another big clean up in the greenhouse garden and the screening garden at the back of the courtyard ... the screen plants are now over 23metres tall ... some even taller.

13 Apr, 2010

 

we had quite a nice few days all the blossom coming out and the spring bulbs and flowers, but the wind has changed and now its going grey, cold and wet !!!' hope it improves soon for you :0)

13 Apr, 2010

 

It bet your garden looks a treat with all its spring blooms coming out ... despite the gloom of a cold wet day. Over here today the sun is shining and the sky is blue ... looks like we might be seeing the end of the rain.

14 Apr, 2010

 

thank goodness Bernieh-- thought you'd be growing webbed feet !-- :o)

14 Apr, 2010

 

Lol ... actually I was getting rather worried that the ducks and I were starting to relate!!

14 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

Are you still receiving a lot rain?

We had a lot of rain yesterday morning...and maybe more rain next week. It's pretty unusual to receive a lot rain after March. However, we need every drop.
: > )

14 Apr, 2010

 

Yes Andy, we're still getting showers almost every day or evening. It's so unusual, but I suppose at least it means the 'dry' will be shorter this year and everything is still so green at the moment.

14 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

It must be El Niño. I know that's the reason why we're having so much rain this year.

I bet it's absolutely beautiful with all the green tropical foliage.

15 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh love your garden its perfect and the duck looks well at home take care i will look forward to more of your pics

15 Apr, 2010

 

Andy ... it is lovely seeing the surrounding bushland still so green.

Maiseynay ... thanks for your kind comment. My garden though is far from perfect ... I don't think any gardener is totally happy with their garden and I'm one of them. I still see so much to do ... or change. The courtyard garden is annoying me a bit at the moment ... it needs some work.

16 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

Sorry I never responded to your comment on Apr.13th!

It sounds like you have a lot of pruning which has to be done...your screening plants are absolutely huge! WOW!

I know the rain is good for the plants...however, I understand it can make plants and weeds, trees grow very quickly also. It makes a lot of gardening work. I've been pulling weeds and trimming plants for weeks -- and the weeds are still growing quickly.

17 Apr, 2010

 

OMG ... can you believe it Andy, it's raining again today ... just showers but still! What's this all about? More showers predicted all week next week ... my poor drought tolerant, sun tolerant plants are ready to down tools and go on strike for better conditions!!! As for the courtyard garden ... it's a mess right now and I'm getting annoyed as it's usually looking so much better than this, especially in mid-Autumn. I was going to attack the screening bed at the back today ... but looking out the window, I don't think that will be happening.

17 Apr, 2010

 

well I can't belive the weather here Bernieh-- although there was a frost overnight its bright warm sun-- clear blue sky a lovely spring day -- and we're making the most of it-- never know when we'll get another one :o)
ps-- I know its causing a lot of problems but its so peaceful without aeroplanes.....

17 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

It's ironic...because our weathermen/women are predicting showers from Monday - Thursday this coming week also. It's very unusual -- typically in our wet season (rainy season) we don't usually get so many days of showers or rain in a row. However, this is an El Niño year...so all normal weather patterns go out the window. Normally we're dry to very dry from April through most of December.

I hope after all your rain showers this week you will have some dry weather to get your gardening projects completed! I know it can be frustrating when the weather doesn't cooperate. However, most of time here in San Diego the weather is usually very mild and dry in winter...just not this winter. You seem to be having the same unusual weather conditions there too. : > )

17 Apr, 2010

 

Herein our neck of the woods we have hardly seen a drop of rain in these first two weeks of April! Whatever happened to the April showers? Today has been the most glorious of spring days - not a cloud in the sky from sunrise to sunset!

17 Apr, 2010

 

Hi Pamg ... seems like the weather all over is going against the usual trend. I suppose I shouldn't complain as the garden just loves the rain and it's nice to see green everywhere. It also means the 'dry' won't be as long this year ... which is something I should never complain about.

17 Apr, 2010

 

Andy ... El Nino is definitely working his magic downunder! Showers like this during most of April is most unusual ... and it doesn't seem like they're going to end any time soon.

17 Apr, 2010

 

Balcony.. the April showers have migrated. They decided to move further south!!! It's very different weather for us here in my corner of Queensland ... I've heard of April showers before, of course, but never really experienced them before!

17 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

You're not kidding about El Niño working its magic. I got caught in shorts and t-shirt in a freak rain storm yesterday evening. It was beautiful, warm and clear the whole day...then heavy subtropical rain came up from Mexico around 7:30 last night. Very unusual! We still need any rain we can get though.

20 Apr, 2010

 

Still getting showers here almost every day ... either early morning or mid afternoon. April showers throughout April is a real first!

20 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

I've seen the forecast for Townsville, Australia. It showed your highly unusual showers for almost everyday this week. Have you ever had a dry season when it rained through most of it...making it a continued wet season?

A highly unusual vigorous cold front is moving down from the north. It's forecasted to bring us quite a bit of rain, thunderstorms, hail, high winds, possible water spouts and below normal temps. WOW! This is extremely rare for this time of year (it's actually rare for any time of year). I'll let you know if the storm actually hits us.

20 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh, I think your dry season in April has migrated here, to the UK while our showery April has migrated down under, to your little corner of Australia!

21 Apr, 2010

 

You're so right, Balcony ... it's now April 24 and it's been showering off and on every day since I last commented and the forecast is for more showers during the coming week! April showers ... here???? Sooooo .... unusual!

24 Apr, 2010

 

its still very warm & dry here and nearly the end of april now! although they are forecasting rain tomorrow but southwesterly winds and today is 21 deg C whigh is warm for april! --- maybe this is summer---- !

24 Apr, 2010

 

Bernieh:

I guess you're not going to have a dry season...just like us here in San Diego. : > )

24 Apr, 2010

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