Springtime here in South West Victoria, Australia is traditionally unsettled. True to form, we have had a variety of weather experiences lately.
We’ve had warm, clear, sunny days, howling gales, cold, frosty or foggy mornings, rain, thunderstorms. You name it, we’ve probably had it lately.
Things could be worse, we could be having the bushfires they are having in New South Wales north of me, or the flooding rains they are having over in the eastern parts of my state of Victoria.
Word in the paddocks though, is we’re heading for a hot, dry summer thanks to an El Niño weather pattern. This, on top of having less than half our usual annual rainfall so far this year.
The following three pictures are from the same edition of my local paper ‘The Terang Express’ (Oct 5, 2023) so it can be safe to assume they reflect the general feeling in our community.
I suppose the best thing to do is to plan ahead. Get your gardens fed and mulched before it gets too hot, make sure your water sources are secure, get your irrigation and hoses etc in top condition. I prefer to water in the morning, our snail populations explode over spring so watering at night tends to encourage the little blighters, and the water doesn’t sit on the plants to encourage fungus.
The spring bulbs are starting to die down now, old fashioned advice was to tie the spent plants leaves in a bundle til they die down, but now it’s generally thought best not to. The leaves will photosynthesise and ‘feed’ the bulbs for next season.
Previously I’ve just left my bulbs in the ground, but this year I think I’ll dig a lot of them up to thin them out. My jonquils have out competed the daffodils so it’s time to get them back under control.
Lots to do!
Til next time!
The Flowerpot Pen 