Autumn Backyard Garden. Herfs Agterplaas Tuin

My garden is in its transitional phase at the moment. Some summer vegetables are still producing, some are barely clinging on, most are dead, and I am itching to start planting autumn and winter veggies. 

Preparation is key to planting in any season, so I started by working over the bed where my butternuts were, and added some beautiful black gold. Yes, I did go for that turn of phrase because the alliteration has such a nice ring to it... Okay; the 'black gold' I'm referring to in this instance is chicken manure (chicken poo). I bought it at one of the only truly organic chicken farms in the Garden Route area; Red Barn. Go and check it out for yourselves people. The owner doesn't use any nasty antibiotics or chemicals and her chickens are free range in every sense of the word. The bed is nearly ready for the onions I will be planting there in April. I must still just pull out the miserable tomatillos and add some sand. This is how the bed looks now:

Chicken manure added to Onion Bed/Hoendermis by Uiebedding ingespit

 ... and this is why I said "miserable tomatillos":

My one and only tomatillo/Die som van my tomatillo oes

I can proudly say not everything is a miserable failure at the moment. Some plants actually still produce, even if the harvests are mostly meager. The star in my little Garden Route patch is still the pepino, as ever. I have also harvested volunteer cherry tomatoes constantly, but I can't take much credit for these. They are virtually indestructible! We are also enjoying the occasional bunch of Contender beans. The granny picked another 300g the day before yesterday, and we just had it in a gorgeous sweet curry with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, and meat yum :-)

Harvest:  450g pepino + 150g cherry tomatoes + 2x cucamelons

Let me take you on a quick tour of the rest of my garden...

The Delicious Monster starting to fruit/Vrugte aan die Monstera deliciosa

Our Delicious Monster (Monstera deliciosa) plant is clearly not past its fruit-bearing age, as I previously thought. I cannot wait for these babies to open up and ripen!

Cherry Guava covered in fruit/Klomp klein vruggies aan die Aarbeikoejawel

The little Cherry Guava/Strawberry Guava (Psidium cattleianum) tree is such a star. It has loads of little guavas, just 6 months after it last bore fruit.
 

Two hiding cucamelons/Die Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies kruip goed weg

I might have done exactly all the Wrong things as far as the cucamelons (Melothria scabra) go this year, but luckily I spotted a few small ones hiding behind dense leaf coverage. Yes, I will try them again later this year, and this time I will do it right!
 

Bell Peppers/Die klokvormige soetrissies begin dra

I have a suspicion these bell peppers might already be a strange hybridisation, as the granny used to grow all types of capsicums in close proximity. My motto: who cares, as long as they taste nice, hey?
 

Tamarillo flowers/Boomtamatie blommetjies

Since I bought my Tree Tomato (or tamarillo as Kiwi's call them) in May 2013 it has literally reached for the sky. The tree is now taller than my 6ft1, the leaves are humongous and yet I haven't picked one single fruit from it. Is this normal? I wouldn't know, but my granny certainly had a mouthful to say about it. I'm sure the words "pull out" have entered her mind. Luckily disaster seems to be averted, as I have spied some petite flowers up top. Is this a sign of juicy tamarillos to follow?
 

Another Black Hungarian Pepper/Nog 'n Swart Hongaarse Soetrissie aan't vorm

This will be the second little Black Hungarian Pepper to be harvested. It might have been more if I didn't accidentally destroy most of the plants. An honest mistake due to it looking suspiciously like yet More purple tomatillos... whoops!
 

Yet another ripe pepino/Nóg 'n boomspanspek is gereed om te pluk

Not much more to say about this one. Yes, the pepino is officially the gift that keeps on giving :-)
 

Growing Clivias in the Garden Route. Clivias vir Afrika in die Tuinroete

By this stage you must all think my garden only consists of broad beans, exotic fruit and an assortment of other vegetables. Oh no, that is not the case at all!

My parents have always been fervent gardeners, with our garden once being the pride of the neighbourhood. After a few years of neglect, this was not the case anymore. The garden still had its joys and beauty, but it was all a bit wild, tangled and overgrown. Luckily my new-found passion for gardening wasn't limited to produce though, but also included the bigger "normal" garden. As I now owned the house, I wanted to restore the garden back to its former glory.

Part of this strategy was to jazz it up with a dash of colour here and there. The problem in my urban garden was the lack of sunlight. My parents planted various trees, especially cordylines, (what we sommer call:) wild banana trees, conifers, palms of all sorts and a massive swamp cypress way back. 

So which plants or flowers could I plant in shade, with minimal water needs and maximum colour impact?

My answer was Clivias. Indigenous, water-wise, and fully shade-tolerant? Yes, Clivias were certainly the answer!

Two Clivias already established in the garden - proving some plants flower beautifully in shade

'n Clivia, met sy rooi sade

I already had two huge Clivia bushes in my front garden, and two smallish ones in the backyard garden. Now I just needed a dozen more... maybe two dozen? How happy was I that not only was my best friend's mother part of our local clivia club and therefore had tons to share, but that she was willing to share. And share she did!

Just part of my Clivia haul... Ek sal ewig dankbaar bly Tannie :-)

I had grand plans for creating visual features in the garden, and giving a bit of colour to a pathway's borders. And That is when the hard work started! Who ever thought gardening is such WORK?! Need to loose a few kilos and considering joining a gym? Don't! Start gardening, or better yet; help someone else in theirs. You'll see the difference within a month. I promise!

Firstly, I gave a sad spot in the garden a breath of life by adding two Clivias. I think the mixture of green shrubs and ferns, white rocks, a greyish-brown tree trunk, pink impatiens, blue iris, orange Clivias and ground cover works quite well. What do you think?

A new Clivia next to the road and one planted underneath the big tree trunk

Secondly, I planted one of the bigger newly acquired Clivias in a corner that was just too dull for my liking. It consisted of green, green and more green. Albeit different shades of green, but green nonetheless. Two different conifers, a wild banana, delicious monster and a few ferns had two Clivias added to them. And the result???

Lovely red Clivia as focal point in my green corner. Pragtige rooi Clivia as fokuspunt in die groen hoekie

Lastly, I wanted to beautify a pathway we already had in the garden. The pink Bottlebrush provided stunning colour to that corner, but the path just needed something along the edges to zhoosh it up. In went more Clivias:

The completed, yet still not established, effect

Clivia border along a pathway strewn with Bottlebrush flowers

 Have you planted any indigenous flowers or plants recently?