Plants and more plants

For the past couple of weeks I have been clearing the bargain bin of our local garden centres, trying to fill some gaps in our garden beds. Anything around the two or three dollar mark or less that is not too far gone has found its way into my garden. I've also gone for smaller plants in punnets, in the hope that they will eventually fill out and give me good value for money.  So far the plants are surviving the dry conditions and I am trying to choose plants that suit the situation they being planted in. I'm looking forward to them growing bigger and flowering in the months to come.

The new plants that have been most successful have been leucodenron, gazania, oestiospermum (cape daisy), genista (broom), canna lilly, kangaroo paw, boronia, hydrangea, zinnia and coleus. I have also planted Swan Plants (milk weed) which I got for free from my father-in-law to attract Monarch butterflies. The plants are still very small but doing nicely. There are quite a few plants that I am especially proud of that are doing well, that I only managed to purchase one of and will probably try to source more of at a later stage.

The existing fern varieties have also been doing well considering the conditions. I have had to water them regularly along with the other new plants and a dose of liquid fertiliser has also helped to reduce heat stress. The garden is due for another fertilsing soon, but I will probably opt for the slow release pellet variety as I already have some at home.

It is one of life's small pleasures to watch your garden grow and take shape. I will post more pictures as the garden continues to develop.