Summer in our garden

Summer in Perth is so different to any other summer I have experienced. The rain fall during the summer months is very low, if not non-existent for at least 5 months. We have average maximum summer temps of mid 30's, and can reach 45 - 46 degrees and the overnight temps average around 20 - 24 with maximum overnight temperatures of 29 degrees!

But it is a dry heat which makes it so much more bearable.... every so often the humidity increases and the heat changes (not in a good way either).

During winter in Perth (the rainy season) there are sprinkler bans and during summer we have two sprinkler days a week. Shoulder seasons go to one sprinkler day a week.

So as you can imagine a summer garden in Perth is different to your average summer garden in Wellington or Queensland... 

Here is a sample of our garden (all taken this week - after a string of 37 degree + days).

Here is our lovely tree abundantly full of yellow flowing flowers (known as Cassien Fistula or more commonly the golden shower tree - I kid you not!). 

For more shots of this beautiful tree see my post from January 2013 here.

What's a garden without some hardy agapanthas as well!

Our lemon tree produced just two lemons in its first year... this is just one branch of it this year! The poor branches are struggling with the weight of the lemons on this tree - the trick is the recycled water from the fish tank every time Jason cleans it!

The frangipanis (a white and a pink tree), the agaves, agapanthas and basil are all doing well!

As is this lily!

However, we need to be very careful with the garden... I swear on the 44 degree day recently the lawn and some of the newer trees just died in front of us! So we need to do lots and lots of watering... creating rainbows as we go!

Although we work hard at the garden, sometimes we can't compete with mother nature... here is a section of lawn from last night and one of our new trees we planted 9 months ago.... struggling in the heat. The lawn is hardy buffalo lawn though and will recover from this!

Even the agapanthas that are in the sunnier end of the garden are suffering a little

So gardening in a hot dry climate can be tough, but as I have shown, it can also produce some lovely pockets!