In My Garden After the Rain

There's a little bit of magic that falls with long-awaited rain. It's there in the way it turns what was so brown and dry into that which is lush and green. It's there in the way freshness and energy return to what was wilting and listless. And it's most definitely there in the way it draws us back out into the garden.

A sweet little bird ornament nestled in a leafy nest.

Out in the garden this morning, barefoot on green grass no longer crunchy beneath my feet, it was almost sloshy in some places! I eagerly pushed aside the sugar cane mulch and found that the rain has soaked in well, replenishing the Summer-sapped soil. The rain and storms we've had this past week have brought much needed water to our backyard landscape. What a joy!

Fragrant and lush Mother-of-Herbs border.

After such good rain, there's quite a bit of work that needs doing in the growing-again garden. My first job this morning was to trim back this thick Mother-of-Herbs border. I have grown this in my top garden from a single cutting given to me by a friend. It has spread along the front edge of this garden bed quickly and keeps the soil well contained. It can take over though if not pruned back so this morning I gave it a good haircut. This was a lovely and fragrant chore as cutting it back released it's pungent scent into the air. I breathed it in deeply!

Ceylon Spinach is growing well now.

The Ceylon Spinach (Malabar Spinach) has taken off with the rain and this morning I wove and twisted it around a spare triangular frame I usually use for cherry tomatoes. I am really pleased this plant is growing well as it is very nutritious and provides a good source of greens when other leafy veg might struggle in the heat. I haven't used it in my cooking before so will need to find out best ways to prepare it. 

 A tiny mandarin on our tree.

The mandarin tree, branches drooping with lots of raindrops, has many little green fruits forming now. The promise of our own juicy mandarins to come!

Lovely little load of worm castings from our worm farm.

We raked back the sugar cane mulch from the mandarin tree's drip line and sprinkled over a layer of worm castings from our worm farm before replacing and topping up the mulch. I did the same with the orange-flowering hibiscus that my once-three-year-old son chose for the garden.  It is covered in its vibrant flowers right now. 

Bright orange hibiscus flower.

There are quite a few more butterflies flitting around in our garden now that the rain has returned. This morning I caught a flash of powdery blue, from the wings of a Blue Triangle Butterfly as it fluttered past. 

Nibbled leaves and stems on pink pentas.

Where there are butterflies though, there are caterpillars and it seems where there are caterpillars, there are magpies!

 A hungry magpie seeking out a caterpillar for lunch from leaves of tiny Pentas.

Caterpillars are munching on the leaves of my pink Pentas and I am leaving it up to the magpies that visit our garden to deal with them. I watched this magpie seeking out a plump caterpillar from the leaves of a little Pentas plant that has sprung up in the front garden. There's no need for spraying in our garden because I find that creatures like birds and ladybugs take care of imbalances when they happen. I know too that a few caterpillars will probably escape the beady eyes of these magpies and that just means more butterflies!

First bromeliad.

Our last job in the garden this morning was to plant up this bromeliad. I have not grown a bromeliad before and so I will need to learn what conditions this particular one grows best in. As it's in a pot, I will be able to move it to different parts of the garden before I decide where I'll plant it permanently. I do like its red flower spike!

It was so lovely to spend the morning out in the garden again. While it was humid and hot in the sun, we didn't come back inside until nearly eleven o'clock. Not long after, another brief shower came through bringing more  longed-for rain to our garden. 

Meg