Subtropical autumn

Traditionally we think of autumn as a time of senescence and bask in the glorious oranges and yellows that replace the sunshine as days get shorter.  Not so in sunny Brisbane.  Instead the skies shake off their stormy summer shroud and beam a brilliant blue; an entirely new set of plants flourish in the milder dry weather after muggy heat of summer.  It's one of the main growing seasons for the nostalgic British vegetables that we can't bring ourselves to banish from our plates in favour of their subtropical counterparts.

It's a gorgeous time of year to spend time in the garden so I thought I'd share some photos of a few new endeavours and old favourites in the garden.

The tea survived the summer and its blossoms have finally burst open for the first time.
Camellia sinensis

Asparagus berries (poisonous).  The spears grew over 6ft tall this year and are just starting to die back.
To me they look like baubels on a Christmas tree.

Tiny inconspicuous choko flower - I only discovered them this week.  It's the first time I've grown chokos and have to say they're not the rampant ramblers I'd been led to believe they were. Unless that's still to come of course.

Baby choko starting to develop in the leaf axil.

The Colliwats are back with a vengeance.  There are at the very least 10 pumpkins on this vigorous vine that has smothered the chook fence.

Cosmos.  Simple and white just the way I like my flowers.

Peas - snow, sugarsnap and telephone.  You can't beat peas fresh from the garden.  I'll never buy shop peas again.

Zin, Zin, Zinnia

I bought a packet of Zinnia seeds on a whim and sowed some in the experimental flower bed. Along with plants it's pretty much the only thing I impulse buy, so please forgive me.  Fortunately my guilty purchase  also coincided with me finally managing to get Wheelie under control and not escaping from the pen every morning or conveniently whenever I had planted a new lot of seeds in the flower bed (which happened on no less than five occasions with many expletives and a fair amount of arm waving).  I suppose you have to learn patience somehow. At least I get eggs in return and plenty of practice at designing and redesigning the layout of the flower bed.  For once the packet instructions were right for Brisbane and the seeds have grown well into beautiful plants that resemble a cross between gerberas and dahlias, both of which I love.  Needless to say I'm delighted with them.  Although I wasn't originally aiming for a pink scheme as I'm not the biggest fan of the colour, it turns out that's what I've got and the varying shades from red to peach are tying in quite nicely with the pinks, white and purple of the existing flowers.  I've sewn some of the zinnia's cousin cosmos in white at the back of the bed when viewing from the bottom of the back door ramp, so hopefully that will set the colours off nicely when it has matured.