Parkville garden last post for 2012

Last entry for the Parkville garden 2012. It's now the height of summer and we have often been watering different areas in an attempt to keep them green. I planted new annuals in the front bed then 2 days later we had a day where the temperature reached 36C. The seedlings suffered but survived and with luck they should be looking good in a months time. At the moment they are a bit shrivelled. The garden is dotted with Jacaranda trees. I didn't know what these looked like in flower and was surprised to see their masses of purple flowers. Driving home after work I can see patches of Jacaranda tree purple in the Strathmore hills and it makes me wish I could grow them at home but I suspect it may be too cold for them to thrive.

One of our Jacarandas (the largest one)



The sorry looking annuals. There are 4 rows of Marigolds and 2 rows of Celosias at the back. About 1 fifth of the Celosias died in the heat. We also finally put in some climbers which will be trained up the wall on the cables.

The Sunflower bed is looking fantastic. I've been putting lots of love into this particular section. I've mulched them with mushroom compost and have watered them regularly. It seems to be paying off with nearly all surviving and thriving. The only casualties were due to slug damage (but I took care of them with some snail bait). I also transplanted 4 tomato plants amongst the sunflowers (2 in the wooden cages and 2 against the wall). 

Last of all for 2012 is this Begonia flower. When I first started working at Parkville I didn't care for them but I have taken a real shining to these plants. I progagated several from the plants in Parkville and have them at home in Macedon now. They have such a wonderfully varied range of foliage between the different species.