Autumn Rushes In

Autumn rushes in with a cleansing cloudburst of rain, then a torrent, overnight.

Colchicum (above) are beginning to flower and belladonna lilies (below) continue to bloom like never before – perhaps due to the rain we’ve had now and then through summer.

Cyclamen hederifolium have appeared too while C. purpurescens (last picture) continue their summer show. (Grown from seed and all with different silvery markings to their leaves, my Cyclamen purpurescens are not all in flower at any one time in summer but many are; and keeping them watered well keeps them nicely evergreen unlike the other sweet little cyclamen species.)

White belladonna lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) pop their heads over the parapet of other vegetation and laugh.

Jill Weatherhead is horticulturist, writer, garden designer and principal at Jill Weatherhead Garden Design who lives in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, and works throughout Victoria (www.jillweatherheadgardendesign.com.au)

Edible Garden Produce – summer bounty in kaleidoscopic colours

I’ve picked a rainbow from the garden: bright red tomatoes and pink and green apples; little orange pumpkins, yellow cherry tomatoes, Warrigal greens, zucchini and pears still green; blue-green Tuscan kale; an artichoke flower – not quite blue; and deep violet beans.

And white eggs from the hens. Frittata, yes?

Jill Weatherhead is horticulturist, writer, garden designer and principal at Jill Weatherhead Garden Design who lives in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne, and works throughout Victoria (www.jillweatherheadgardendesign.com.au)