I’m a fair-weather gardener. I can’t work outside if there are cold winds or showery days. I don’t like to it be too hot or too cold; it needs to be comfortable for me. This is a problem because there’s so much I want to do out there.
The cold weather we’ve had since mid-May has certainly belted my garden. Night temperatures have mostly ranged either side of zero and we’ve had a few dozen frosts. (In June alone, there were 15 frosts!) Usually, we get our last frost in mid-October, so there’s still another month or so to go. Certainly, too early to plant tomatoes!
Last week, we had a couple of beautifully sunny days but it’s raining again today and the temperatures have dropped. The greyness of the past months has certainly affected my state of mind. There’s no such thing as four seasons in Australia. We need to stop pretending we have northern hemisphere seasons and look at what actually goes on around us. There is much to learn from our First Nations friends.
I am grateful I don’t have to live outside with my plants. Look at this poor fuchsia; the frosts have hit it hard. I pruned it hard on the weekend (when the sun was shining) and can see tiny signs of life, so I’m hopeful it will recover. It’s tougher than I am!