In the very dry winter/early spring weather we’ve been having in the lead up to summer, it’s not only the garden that has suffered.
The birds have been going thirsty, and apparently, unwashed!
We have got into the habit of providing water for drinking and bathing, and since the dishes went out onto the bird feeder, they are rarely empty of bird life. It can be hard capturing the action out there, but the lorikeets are the boldest, noisiest and by a long way, the splashiest.
The dwarf mango tree we planted some weeks ago is loving its new position, and has rewarded us by blossoming, at least a year before I would have expected it. I don’t know if the flowers will come to anything, but if they do, I’ll be pleased and impressed. This tree began its life in northern Queensland as a baby, a slender wand about 40cm high. It’s now a good 2m tall, with a sturdy trunk. Given the lack of rain, we are watering it carefully by hand, using the water condensed out by our living room air conditioner.
The lychee is also signalling that spring has arrived with the most gorgeous display of new foliage in glossy shades of pink and bronze. All the new shoots it has put out have increased the canopy of the little tree by about 30%, and I think it may be time to consider finding it a new home in the ground rather than in the tub it has occupied for a few years. The avocado, which flowered a few weeks ago, has had its new shoots and most of the flowers eaten by the blasted grasshoppers, so I don’t think we’ll be seeing any fruit there, but again, it’s increasing in size and should be transplanted. I have potted on my angel trumpet cuttings and my custard apple seedlings, and they are enjoying life in the sunporch until they’re large enough to go into the garden.
There’s some lovely colour showing itself: orchids, petrea and so on, but mostly things are looking very brown and crispy.
The garden is waiting with bated breath for the start of the Wet. Won’t be long now. And when it starts, you’ll almost be able to see everything growing!
