Spring has sprung!
In our front yard, some vigorous weeding has uncovered a cluster of bluebells, magnificent in their delicate purpley-ness. We’ve also removed a huge old rambling rose which was smothering the white azaleas…
Our blueberries have been transplanted into a permanent spot – they survived their first year in a pot and are covered in fruit. I hope we get to the ripe berries before anything else does…
We only managed to grow small garlic heads last year, but this year we kept the cloves in the fridge for a month before planting them out to see if that will make a difference…
We grow two types of mint in our backyard, both in contained spaces. This large pot is a variety of peppermint…
…and truckloads of spearmint are growing in a tiny bit of soil – just a single brickwidth’s worth around the base of the pots and the laundry tub…
Our broccoli seems to have flowered overnight! Pete is always keen to let it go to seed, and all the broccoli we’ve been eating recently has come from self-sown plants. Makes life easier for everyone, especially the bees!
What’s happening in your gardens at the moment?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
spring has certainly found Sydney! We are still in the throes of winter here – but my grass is super green because of the late rain :)
It can’t be far off, Tandy! Unfortunately we’ve jumped straight into the warm weather with bushfires…sigh..swings and roundabouts…
Beautiful, just beautiful! As we move to winter here (sigh), I intend to look forward to your posts showing the progress of your garden through Spring and Summer
maybe next year Phil and I can do something with our backyard, it’s absolutely horrible now, weeds everywhere, the result of one year away from home
Thanks Sally! I’ll keep you all posted – the first tiny green shoots from the potatoes we planted in hessian bags appeared yesterday! :)
I was just having the exact same thought as Sally: while I’m sad to be moving into fall and winter here, it will be fun to live vicariously through you as you welcome spring and summer!!
It’s one of the best things about the internet, Abby! All the northern hem bloggers have kept me going through the winter just past! :)
Right now I have a great bounty of tomatoes that I am roasting with olive oil and garlic after a sprinkling of sea salt and a grind of pepper!
The basil is outdoing itself- there are some straggly cucumbers and the zucchini is flowering to beat the band. No courgettes, but plenty of flowers!
I love your spring garden.
I love our Autumn finish up gardens! This is my favorite time of year!
Heidi, we just found something clever to do with the tomatoes! We bought a box of seconds from the markets – very tasty, but not pretty and they weren’t going to last long. We cut them in half and roasted them with a little olive oil and salt and when they were quite dry (but not completely), we froze them in little ziplock bags. The other night, we pulled out a bag, defrosted them, and popped them right on top of a paella. They were perfect and such a timesaver!
Spring outdoors again in Sydney and blueberries already, when did they flower? Wow! You have such a wonderful climate. We are rainy and humid here, lots of activity still in the garden at least until we get night frosts and that could be a good while away yet. Have a wonderful Spring with your very special garden, looking forward to watching it grow through our winter :D xx
Jo, we really do have a wonderful climate. We’ve had something to eat from the garden all winter – peas, leeks, kale and now we’re heading into spring things are really taking off! The blueberries flowered a little while ago, around the same time as the nectarine and peach, I think. I’m wondering if I can talk Pete into pulling out the apple trees which don’t seem to suit our climate and planting a hedge of blueberries.. :)
Hello Celia – I am so pleased to have found your lovely blog! Your photos are amazing, isn’t spring wonderful! Here in Kwazulu-Natal we are alternating between hot dry days and overcast, trying to rain days – but at least summer is coming! In my garden flowering at the moment are wisteria, jasmine, clivias, marraya, yesterday, today & tomorrow (brunfelsia), and other assorted plants (weeds??). Have a great day!
Thanks Linda! :) Some of the weeds make the best eating in our garden – we’ve eaten chickweed all winter, and now I’m waiting for the purslane to come back! :) Your garden must smell amazing!
How lovely – it’s been years since I saw real bluebells.
Sally, I’m almost embarrassed to admit that it’s been years since I’ve seen them too – they were buried under the weeds!
So happy your spring has sprung! What beautiful pictures of the flowers and the cute little baby blueberries. Spring and fall are my two favorite seasons. As we head into winter here, I agree, it will be wonderful to see pictures of your bountiful gardens. Your plants looks very happy in the sunshine:)
Melanie, thank you! I’ll make sure to take lots of pics for everyone! I’m taking weekly photos of our indoor tomatoes too (sidebar)…
I want bluebells and blueberries!
I wish I could send some to you! :)
i love the lushness of everything in your garden..i have a blueberry but it’s not very happy..i dug it up and put it in a pot hoping that would help but it’s still a miserable little thing..
every morning i look out of my bedroom window though i am delighted by the emerging leaves on my elderberry and the number of flowers that are appearing on it..last year i only had a few flowers but this year i may even be able to make elderberry jelly..
Jane, we were given a few elderberries last year, and they were the most amazing colour…
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2011/04/22/elderberry/
Good morning Celia…great garden you have there…I can just imagine it in Summer, just fabulous!!! I’m soooo looking forward to the warmer weather here as is my arm…slowly getting there…the Dr said it would be up to 12 months to get full function back…and maybe I won’t get it all back…Yay to the warmer weather…Dzintra
Dzintra, glad to hear you’re on the mend! :)
My blueberries are slowly fruiting up as well. My mint I’m thinking it might be happier in a bigger pot- just looking at yours… Hmm, I think some switching around today might be in order.
The inside tomato had to go outside for awhile and has been sulking ever since. I’m hoping to clear a spot for it again and give it some inside love. ( I might have to show it some pictures of your tomato cam to inspire it though.)
Brydie, our mint does best when we remember to water it, and then it goes crazy! I’ll definitely take pics to show you – I’m still not sure if they toms will ripen, but I guess we’ll see. They’re certainly getting bigger every day!
Very nice Celia. In my garden, quince is flowering, peach already has, fig and pomegranate are on the move. Crab apple is in full bloom and magnificent. Few other trees are on the move also. Snowball is about to come out as are bird of paradise. New front yard is bedding in and have a couple of flowers on newly planted magnolia.
Currently trying to trap a possum which has been feasting on my veges
Dave, I’m not sure our apples and crabapples are doing all that well – not a lot of flowering going on there at the moment. Your front yard is going to be amazing, I’m sure! :)
PS. Never been a bird of paradise fan, although my mother loves them!
Spring comes and goes a bit here in the Adelaide Hills. We had a burst of it a week or two ago, then winter revisited us, but we are enjoying some sunshine again this week.
Weeds are happening on our property and this is the busiest time of year for us as we desperately try to get the garden beds mulched with pea straw (I ordered 40 bales & hope that will be enough) and the open areas sprayed before the whole lot gets away from us. The fruit trees are blossoming, the roses are shooting and my beautiful dark blue irises are flowering – a lovely time of year, really!
Amanda, you have so much space – a couple of bales of pea straw are all we need for mulching! :)
Hi Celia, your garden sounds very productive! – We’ve got apricots rapidly growing to nearly ping-pong ball size, nectarines just starting to form, The bluebells, iris (both Dutch abd bearded). arum lillies, tritonia (blue stars) are finishing after a glorious display and english lavender about to burst forth and smell amazing! The veggie patch is back in full swing with the silverbeet rapidly being devoured by “the girls”, the tomatoes (gross lisse, roma, sweetbites and beefsteak) are in and looking good, the broadbeans are producing heaps, the recently planted zucchinis seedlings and potatoes just starting to look promising and the beetroots and spring onions are being harvested, getting ready for some lettuce, spinach, capsicum and eggplant seedlings which are getting bigger by the hour!
AND most importantly… “Stan” my rapidly growing sourdough starter is a couple of days away from my first loaf – very exciting – cross fingers it goes OK!!!
Happy Spring day!
Julia, what a glorious garden you must have! You’ve given me hope, we’ve just planted an apricot tree, so it’s good to know they do well in Sydney! Good luck with Stan, once you head down the sourdough route, you’ll never look back! :)
Hate to tell you Celia – I live in Adelaide…aka Mediterranean climate – oh well if anyone can love apricots into being it’ll be you!
ps I can’t find the Chefs Warehouse here! I’m still on the lookout though – I’m on a campaign to find the high protein flour so Stan hasn’t bubbled in vain!
Delightful pictures, Celia (and Pete!). Loving your mints. I was so paranoid about our mint invading the garden, I planted it in a pot and then it slowly got smothered by the surrounding daisies, so now I am mintless :( Must ammend this situation asap!
Blueberries look divine, I think you’ll find them much happier in the ground. Fingers crossed! We have a few small flower buds on our blueberries, but the raspberries are what are really taking off..can’t wait to see how they grow this year. And I’m quietly excited that our apricot tree has it’s first ever fruit buds after being in the ground for 2 years. I hope it’s not a fantasy and it actually obliges with some fruit..just a few would be so nice! :)
Chris, I’m a bit paranoid about spreading mint too, which is why it’s in a pot and in the small space around the laundry tub. I can’t say we’ve been really successful fruit gardeners to date – the strawberries have all been eaten, the small apples were all eaten last year, and we managed to grow just one (very delicious) white peach! But we did get lots of lilly pilly berries! :)
Your garden looks great!! I cant wait to get mine in order :)
Thanks Nic! Hope we get a chance to see your garden too! :)
Wow! You sure had lots growing in your garden all winter. Spring is a lovely season. The flowers are beautiful. Your tomatoes look nice.
I was very happy with my San Marzano and other heirloom tomatoes I grew this year. My greenhouse is empty except for the Altrei coffee that has to finish producing seed and the pumpkins that I put in to finish ripening. I’m adding organic matter to the boxes, getting it ready for next spring. The garden is getting empty; Autumn is here! Soon snow will start to fly!
Manuela, Sydney is very temperate – we didn’t get frosts although we had a few cold days last winter. I’m really glad your heirloom toms went well – Christine from Slow Living Essentials sent us Black Russian and Yellow Pear heirloom seeds, and they’re now growing slowly in the enclosed verandah!
Spring is in full force in Johannesburg, my green peppers are budding :)
Cindy, that’s nice to hear – our peppers (capsicums) are just starting now.. :)
The bluebells are beautiful. I can’t wait to see what you whip up with those blueberries – I hope you get them before the little critters too!
Claire, I doubt there will be enough to make anything, as we just eat them off the bush when they’re ripe! It’s very rewarding though – we didn’t think bluebells grew in Sydney!
I was so happy when I smelled the first notes of jasmine a few weeks ago! That’s always my first sign of spring :)
Sadly, our poor star jasmine has had a setback – it was enmeshed with the big rose that came down, so it’s been hacked about a bit! Hopefully it will recover!
We are at the end of our desert summer and everything is dry dusty and brown. How wonderful to see bright green mint. Gives one hope, don’t you think?
Off to San Francisco. Back in a few days.
Maz.
Have fun, Maz! The mint is so green – I just couldn’t capture the greenness as well as I wanted to!
Hi Celia – I can see that I will be enjoying your spring/summer as we transition into fall and winter in Seattle. Our summer came very late this year so I didn’t plant much and deliberately didn’t plant any tomatoes. Imagine my surprise when I went out last week and discovered a small volunteer cherry tomato plant with almost ripe fruit! A neighbor’s boysenberry cane stretched one long thorny arm into our yard and has produced so many berries that I made a small batch of jam and syrup – after we ate as many as possible of course! Our blueberry bushes are turning bright red and all of our hops are starting to die back. My husband and our “just-turned-21” son had a wonderful bonding time brewing two batches of fresh hop beer with this year’s harvest. Enjoy your garden!
Thanks Lynn! I don’t think there’s anything as wonderful to find in the garden as self-sown plants which are delicious. As I mentioned, all our broccoli was self-sown – we didn’t plant a single plant and yet we were eating it through winter. I think I’d tolerate the thorny overhang if there were fresh boysenberries to be had! :)
As we head into fall, your post of spring’s arrival is a sight for sore eyes. While you will be looking forward to enjoying your garden, I am looking at readying mine for winter. I am looking forward to your posts getting us through winter!
Thanks Cindy! It’s so nice to be able to do this – I remember being so cheered by your sunflowers last year in the middle of our winter! :)
This is one of the joys of international blogging—we get to experience all the seasons at once! We’re heading into fall, but it will be fun to follow your progress through the spring and maybe get some glimpses of warmth and sunshine through your recipes.
Sue, thanks for stopping by! I think we’re in for a hot summer, so today’s plan is to plant beans as soon as possible! :)
Sue, thanks for stopping by! What a beautiful blog you have! I think we’re in for a hot summer, so today’s plan is to plant beans as soon as possible! :)
It’s Autumn here now, and I only had one tomato plant this year. It was a hybrid cross of my favorite type, Homesteaders, with Better-boys, making it what they call a better-bush. It produced well all summer till the hurricane blew it over. Even then, after propping it back up with a little TLC, produced one last golf-ball sized green tomato till a canker worm found it and ate half of it overnight. Oh well, always next year.
God Bless You
paul
Paul, you’ve really got to admire that tomato, eh? Blown over by a hurricane and still managed to recover and produce fruit! :)
How beautiful to see Spring in your garden Celia. We sadly were hit with another cold spell yesterday and it is sticking around today too! Not fun anymore – hopefully this is the last bit of cold now.
Have a super day.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, I hope the warm weather comes back soon for you! (And I’m sure it will.. :))
Weeds! There are lots of new leaves budding on our birch trees, so soon we’ll have our shade and privacy back, we’ve got some bulbs up, and lots and lots of exciting seeds to plant. We’ve even managed to track down some purple carrot seeds so that’s exciting too.
Your garden is certainly a bustle of activity right now- looking good!
Becca, my crocuses are in a big pot and looking good! Just yesterday I planted dwarf beans and snake beans (my favourite), and harvested what I think is the last of the peas for now!
Lovely, lovely spring shots. I could send photos of autumnal leaves. We are just making the last of the blackberry jam…
Anna, if I could have one thing in the garden, it would be hedges of berries all giving up ripe fruit. Alas, we just don’t have the space for it..
Hi, Celia – what a lovely garden…so wonderful to see yours springing to life as mine winds down!
Potatoes in bags…….wow. Looking forward to trying that. As soon as I’m settled…(if ever), I’ll email you for planting tips!!!! The potato one is an easy do for me. Welcome back. LOL