These are the flowers we had in the garden in late autumn 2020, mainly taken on 19 May 2020. They're not all overly pretty, but the purpose of the
photos is to record what was in the garden at the time.
Just before these photos were taken, we had four days with particularly cold overnight lows,
apparently breaking decades-long records in some places. In all probability the ground
temperature went below 0° every night, though the weather station (3.5 m above the ground)
measured between 0.5° and 2.2°. Probably it has affected some of the plants, but it's too
early to be sure. Only the daun laksa
(Persicaria odorata) is
looking significantly unhappy, though new shoots are growing in the undergrowth:
The mistreated Epazote seedlings that I
planted at the end of March also look better, though I'm not convinced that they'll make it
through the winter. Here then and now:
The original Hibiscus
rosa-sinensis “Uncle Max” has not taken kindly to being repotted. Strangely, whole
branches have died, while others are doing well:
Other plants are behaving appropriately to the season. For only the second time since
moving here, the Betula pendula
(Birch) are behaving as if it were autumn:
Hopefully it will handle the winter better this year.
Another plant of some concern is
the Robinia pseudoacacia
that we transplanted last month. It had started to grow new leaves, but they're not looking very happy
either.
The Banksia integrifolia has
been one of the success stories. It has grown well and consistently since we planted it,
and it's now 4 or 5 m high, with many cones:
Last month I noted that one
Spathiphyllum plant, in the dining
room, was quite sickly, and moved it to the bathroom. I thought that it had improved, but
in fact there's very little difference to be seen. Here last month and now: