A Wonder-filled Garden
27 February, 2025
When we first moved to our current home 22 years ago, the outside area consisted of mainly lawn and paving with just two small garden beds, an ancient Peppermint tree & a few younger ones and a Flowering Ash. The soil was in poor condition and very sandy. In the undercover areas there were no signs of any spiders (or any other insects) indicating the regular use of pesticides. The only birds that were present were the more dominant wattle birds and honeyeaters.
Today, our garden looks very different. Large areas of the lawn have been replaced with fertile garden beds made up of edible annuals, herbs, flowers, perennials, fruit trees, native plants and native edibles. It’s also home to an ever increasing range of wildlife (wattle birds, honeyeaters, bronzewing pigeons, magpies, scrub wrens, fantails, silvereyes, king skinks, bobtails & other lizards, frogs, a quenda, native bees and other beneficial insects). The soil is now ‘alive’ supporting a diverse range of plants. And this is just for now. The garden is continually adapting and changing.
Each time I step out into the garden there’s always something new to catch my eye, a flower in bloom, a visiting bird, or a UFI (unidentified flying insect). There’s a sense of wonder and anticipation for what I’ll see next, what I can grow or who’ll come visit. There’s also a sense of hope, for what can be achieved in a small period of time and that when given the space and respect, Nature can find her balance and thrive once again.
“Wonder is the beginning of wisdom”
One of our resident bronzewing pigeons keeping cool under the shade of the Viburnum hedge and a native blue-banded bee in search of nectar from a favourite, Bog Sage (Salvia uliginosa).
Portulaca growing happily alongside Marjoram and Catmint.
There’s been a change in the air and although we still have a few warm days ahead, my mind starts thinking about the Autumn Plantings, evenings by a cosy fire and an abundance of leafy greens. We’re still harvesting plenty of warm season veggies and the pumpkin vines have officially taken over the garden beds. In the next few weeks as the warm season veggies start to slow down, I’ll start to prepare the soil, ready for the new season.
If you’re unsure what to grow for the upcoming cool season, I’ve created a free printable “Autumn Plantings” available here.
Pumpkin vines weaving their way through salvias, parsley, spring onions, catmint, portulaca and marjoram. Can you spot the pumpkin partly hidden under a canopy of pumpkin leaves and catmint?
A little project over summer, making a few insect hotels, as well as adding some garden art to a little corner of our garden.
Nothing was bought for this project. I used old kitchen containers stored in my garden shed (waiting for reuse), fallen branches, a broken terracotta pot, toilet paper tubes, pine cones, hollow plant stems, dried flowers, tree bark, dried seed heads, leftover cocofibre, dried leaves, small sticks, straw and leftover wire mesh from another project.
These insect hotels are now ‘open for business’ to any beneficial insects (lacewings, ladybirds, hoverflies and native bees) who are looking for somewhere to hibernate during the winter months. By providing them with a place to hibernate, they’ll be ready to be back on patrol in the garden, searching for any pest populations, as soon as spring arrives.
First sighting of a Hairy Flower Wasp (Scoliidae – Campsomeris sp) in our garden! This is a fun little being to see in action. With its large size (approx 3-4cms long) and hairy body, it reminds me of a creature from a children’s story book or the large bees in the movie sequel to Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
The Hairy Flower Wasp is a solitary wasp, without a nest and a wonderful ally to have in your garden. So although they may look a little worrying, they aren’t aggressive and help to keep some insect pest populations in check. Being a parasitoid wasp, the female injects her eggs into any beetles or grubs she finds on the ground. As the larvae grows it uses its host as food.😳 Adult wasps feed on nectar. The wasp pictured above was hungrily feeding on nectar from our Bog Sage.
What do you do when you’ve planted one too many zucchini seedlings and now have an abundance of zucchinis? Share with friends, family, neighbours or anyone who will take them, make a zucchini boat for some fun water play with the kids or spend a few hours in the kitchen getting creative? This year I tried something new and made some Zucchini Butter. It was a winner! It lasts up to 2 weeks in the fridge or can be frozen for up to a year. Although I have to admit I haven’t got to the freeze stage yet, as I ate the last batch within a week it was so good…..
To share some of my favourite recipes using garden harvests, I’ve added a new section on my website - ‘Recipes from the Garden’, under the ‘Community' section. If you’re keen to try the Zucchini Butter, you can find the link to the recipe here. How do you like to celebrate your zucchini? I’d love to know.
Enjoying a selection of figs from our garden, “Brown Turkey”, “White Genoa” and a Western Australian variety, “Strawberry Kungasava Green”
Til next time, best wishes,
Alisa🥭🍃