JULY 2010 - A cold winter - but the wattles are on the way!

An early Cootamundra

JULY
First weekend in July and it’s been frosty, foggy and rainy and VERY cold. At least there aren’t too many jobs that need doing in the garden so I can sit inside with a clear conscience

A lot of the plants and events I talk about in this blog entry are recorded in the album of photos for June/July. This can be seen at by clicking here.

CORELLAS
The crazy corellas have invaded the area and are swooping and screeching all over the town and surrounding farmland. Corellas don't travel in a flock - they're more like an unruly mob. They dive and dodge, they veer and swoop, screeching all the time like a pack of demented witches. Their favourite trick is to do a kamikaze dive to the ground and pull out at the last minute with a triumphant cackle of maniacal laughter. They're totally crazy, and brilliant to watch! I've put a video of the Corellas on the next entry in this blog. You'll LOVE it!
The farmers, however, are NOT happy as these pesky birds get into their newly planted paddocks and wreak havoc. A couple of shotgun blasts echoed around the hills yesterday and sent the corellas on their way – at least for a short time.

BAKED POTATOES
It was very cold and still on Sunday afternoon but our first day for a while without rain so Geoff decided to light the half 44 gallon ‘fireplace’ and get rid of some fallen branches that had been collecting over the past months. Apart from cleaning the place up a bit, it was lovely spot to prop on a couple of stools and gaze into the fire – discussing the world, the weather and what needs doing around the place. He ended up with such lovely coals that we decided to wrap a couple of potatoes in foil for our dinner. Now there’s something you can’t do in the city – and they were absolutely delicious!

COLD AND RAIN AND GOLDEN WATTLES
The first three weeks of July stayed cold and wet, with a VERY heavy rain and hailstorm around the second Wednesday so there wasn’t much garden action. Despite the cold, the Cootamundra wattles began to show their bright yellow balls which has just got to make the spirits rise a little. Now, by the last week of the month, we’re surrounded by golden trees: Cootamundras (A. baileyana), Black Wattles (A. decurrans), and getting closer to blossoming are a number of Dog Tooth Wattles (A. cultriformis). A very new Queensland Wattle (A. podalyriifolia) is just starting to produce flowers for the first time. It’s had quite a struggle because it’s right under the old, well-established Black Wattles and is fighting with an enormous root system to get a little nourishment. Sounds a bit silly, probably, but I’m trying to establish a few new trees because those old ones won’t last forever.

RESCUING THE SIDE FENCE
That point was proved only a couple of days ago when we discovered that one of the old ones had split right at ground level and a large trunk was resting on the fence between us and our next-door neighbour; it hadn’t quite fallen but was well on the way. An urgent call to our tree-man resulted in about four hours work – getting rid of the dangerous trunk and doing some cutting back maintenance on all the big branches that were hanging over the fence and getting very heavy with too much growth. Of course we had him mulch all the prunings and we now have an enormous pile of fresh mulch for the garden. It will need to mature for a while before we use it but that’s all right; we are just getting to the end of our previous huge pile from a couple of years ago.

PEPINOS
Who ever heard of pepinos? Well, I hadn't until my niece gave me a couple of cuttings about 18 months ago. I carefully nurtured them in pots until they'd developed a good root system, then put them out into the garden in Spring 2009. They grew and they grew!!

Their proper name is Solanum muricatum; they're a bit like a melon and I understand they're a native of Chile or Argentina. Eventually, in July, there were dozens ready to pick. There was only one problem - nobody really liked them! They are VERY juicy but seem to me to have a very watery taste. Quite sweet but - well, I don't think I'll be growing them again. Such a pity with something that's so easy to grow! I've put some photos of the plants with fruit on the Picasa album for June/July.

LAST DAY OF JULY
Still cold and still raining but when the sun comes through there's a little bit of heat in it and we can feel that spring is on the way. Some of the birds are even starting to build their nests. And at around four o'clock, when the sun peeps out below the clouds, we get the most beautiful long shadows across the grass.

There's a willow in the middle of the block that I really thought I'd get rid of because we wanted an all-Australian garden but it's so lovely in all seasons - when it's bare, when it has tiny new leaves and in the summer when it's shady - that I just can't kill it. It's also useful for hanging the tyre swing on! There are more picturesof the shadows and the willow on the Picasa link.

Till next month, don't forget: Gardens are good for you!
Gillian