Santa Rosa plum espalier and vege patch

The Santa Rosa plum was put in last winter - a year and a half later than the other three espaliers that run across the garden. It replaced a cherry which I dug up and moved to the fence (with great difficulty).

This plum variety is hardy with medium large, crimson to purplish red, lightly freckled plum with yellow flesh slightly suffused with pink especially near the pit. The fruit is firm, sweet, juicy, and aromatic, except near the pit, where it is quite acid.

Currents and berries

The strawberries are nearly finished - in the last few weeks they dried out, got too wet in the constant rain and were also overun by snails.
I like the idea of the big strawberry pot with fruit hanging like a fountain. It's also a great space saver. Unfortunately it isn't all that practical. The pot heats up and the small spaces that hold the strawberries don't seem to hold much water and dry out very quickly.

We have been having record rain in Canberra but the pot still dried out and half the plants died.

You win some - you lose some! The rest of the currants and berries are now staring to ripen. I'm spending a lot of time tying up long thorny tendrils.

Pond

The rain keeps coming! - The pond is loving it. There is a frog hanging around I hope it stays.

The pistachio has nuts!

A pair of one year old pistachios were grown during winter 2009.

Pistachios require a male and a female plant to cross pollinate. They were placed a metre apart.

The pistachio tree can grow high but responds to open centre pruning which will keep it shorter. For open centre pruning select three or four side branches and cut the central stem off above the topmost side branch. The tree will continue upwards and outwards along those side branches. Mine, however have yet to produce side branches big enough to clip the central stem.

The two pistachios were situated at the front of the house, near the neighbour's boundary. Here they will not cast too much shade over areas of the garden or the neighbour's garden.

Making a hedge - Nandina domestica or sacred bamboo

The right side of the driveway is to be lined by a hedge of nandina. There is one large existing plant that has been growing under the neighbour's fence into the backyard. The line will be extended from the backyard under the carport down the driveway to the letterbox.

The young leaves in spring are brightly coloured pink to red before turning green; old leaves turn red or purple again before falling. Flowers of Nandina domestica are white, borne in early summer in conical clusters held well above the foliage. The fruit is a bright red berry ripen in late autumn and often persisting through the winter.

The plant is drought tolerant but responds well to watering and feeding. It grows to 1.8-2.4 m. so makes a great short hedge. The nandina growing in the space between the carport and the fence is bird and insect attracting. There is a blue bee that can be seen below it was photographed while visiting the white nandina flowers .

Spring garden

Canberra gardens definitely go through the four seasons. It's always lovely to see a garden burst into life in the spring. The city is on track to have the highest rainfall in 40 years. Everywhere you turn there are fresh green shoots, bulbs, blossoms and roses. The rain has really been a bonus - I think back to last year when I was struggling to establish plants under water restrictions and drought.

Mystery butterfly

I photographed this butterfly while it was sitting on the wall of my house. I've been using
Michael Braby's The complete field guide to butterflies of Australia to identify my garden visitors. I couldn't identify this one in the book - so it remains a mystery for the moment.