April Garden Diary – A Tour of My Garden (part 1)

As we move into April, the unseasonal weather continues with heavy rain, squalls, high winds, showers, and periods of sunshine. Even when we wake up to sunshine and blue skies, there is no guarantee it won’t be raining by lunchtime. Apart from a few days, it’s been like this since the 2nd of January. Last week, we enjoyed a few days of sun, and we thought the run of changeable weather was behind us. Wrong. After cleaning the pool, sweeping up all the debris on the terrace, repositioning pots, and tidying up, the high winds returned, once again scattering pots and debris everywhere.

Our house is built in the centre of the plot, so we don’t exactly have the traditional front and back yard. We have different spaces, each leading onto the next. This week, I thought I’d give a quick tour of the south-facing front and pool area and, next week, the rest.

This area mainly offers succulents for year-round interest, for colour pot-grown hibiscus, and the crown of thorns, euphorbias etc. In the Spring (whenever that decides to arrive) the Bougainvillaea provides a tremendous display of pink bracts. I do have pot cyclamen growing in a sheltered position and one geranium in a wall pot as my nod to the more traditional flowers. The pots of colourful freesias I nurtured have been devasted by the winds and heavy rain.

1. This is the entrance. I love the contrast of colours and forms on either side of the drive, especially the mature Agaves and Yuccas.

2. The front rockery, which our son helped me remodel, is finally beginning to take shape, although the potted hibiscus has taken a battering in the wind and will probably need to be replaced if it doesn’t buck up.

3. The lower path to the pool area is flanked by an olive, and a burgundy hop bush hedge (which refuses to grow). The path leads to a secluded garden bench with a view of the pool.

The euphorbia above was a near-casualty in the high winds when it was uprooted from its pot/ground. The plant is so old (about 15years) the roots had grown through the pot and into the ground.. The rocks will hopefully keep it from toppling over until it reroots and regains stability.

4. Moving on to the pool area, we have another bench that catches the morning sun. Although the front rockery is beginning to mature, some succulents refuse to grow.

5. The side pool rockery. Mr Piglet made the signs, and yes, the rain held off, and I did manage to enjoy a gin and tonic today.

6. The top terrace enjoys views down to the pool area, and the bougainvillaea and olive hedge offer a windbreak to some of the more tender plants, including us when the wind blows in from the sea.

*

During the high winds, I had to remove most of the pots from the shelving unit.

*

Battered by gales and heavy rain my pots of winter freesias have not fared well.

It was only when I paused to take pictures of the garden as a whole that I began to appreciate how much it had evolved.

This was back in Nov 2018

Six on Saturday: A Tour of My Garden – November (part 1)

Six on Saturday: A Tour of My Garden – November (part II)

My Garden in Bloom – January 2019

That’s all for this week’s Six on Saturday. Do check out Jim’s blog to discover more gardening bloggers

Added to Debs #AnythingGoesLinky

Related posts:

April Garden Diary – A Tour of My Garden (part 2)