October Gardening 2013: What’s Going On in My Garden!

We are almost at the end of October and the weather is really starting to warm up now – I can’t believe how fast this month has gone!

There is so much happening in the garden in springtime that it is a struggle to keep up!

Despite the frantic pace October gardening is so much fun! We can pretty much walk around the garden every day and find something new that is blooming or a shrub that needs some attention.

As the weather is warming up everything is coming to life and it is a full time job keeping up! But I love spring months like October because they allow me to get outside in the garden.

As much as I love winter and sitting by the heater when it’s cold outside, I am so glad that the weather is improving. It has been just wonderful to be able to get out into the sunshine and enjoy the fresh air.

We have even had a couple of days when the temperature got to around 30 °C! The garden is definitely enjoying the warmer weather too.

The roses have really taken off since they were given a good dose of fertilizer a few weeks ago. All of the bushes are shooting for the sky and they are covered in flowers.

Many of the roses are still in the bud form but we have had a couple of bushes produce wonderful blooms this month.

Going by the number of flower buds, we will have lots more roses very soon. I will need to add some more organic fertilizer soon to ensure that the beautiful blooms keep coming!

The pretty purple ones that are in the picture (right) have been beautiful over the last couple of weeks – I just love that colour! This rose is actually a very small bush with some really big blooms!

We had quite a bit of rain after I took this photo so as I write this these two flowers are now just petals on the ground!

Our hydrangeas are also coming to life now that the weather is getting warmer and the frosts are pretty much over. My lace-cap hydrangea is looking wonderful at the moment. I call it my hydrangea because I fell in love with the flowers when I spotted it at the nursery and I just had to have it!

It is in a pot and was kept under the edge of the veranda this winter. So it didn’t die back quite as much as the other hydrangeas that were out in the open. As a result it is already getting flowers and should be putting on a gorgeous display very soon.

The garlic that we planted out earlier this year is getting quite big. It is yet to flower so it still has a while to go before it will start to die back.

I can’t wait till we can harvest some of our own garlic because the store bought stuff isn’t nearly as good. Hopefully we will have a bumper harvest that allows us to store plenty for using next year!

October has been pretty dry up till now so I have needed to give it some extra water lately.

Another one of the joys of October gardening would have to be seeing plants that have been dormant over the winter months spring up and come to life.

One plant that looked like it had died was our mint. We have it in a large pot and a few weeks ago there was nothing in the pot except a few dried sticks from last summer’s growth. Now it is coming up fresh everywhere in the pot!

When I talk about October Gardening I can’t forget to mention the weeds! Spring time in the garden always involves getting down on our hands and knees doing some weeding. As much as we try to keep on top of them and mulch the garden – they still manage to pop up everywhere to keep us busy!

While we may moan and groan about this chore it is great exercise – I can often get away with having a naughty snack for afternoon tea because I have been weeding the garden. 🙂

Another job to do in spring is to plant out some more shrubs in the garden before it gets too hot. Just about everyone in my family has trouble walking past a nursery without buying a plant or two for the garden.

Our latest purchase is some really pretty Hebe bushes that we plan to plant out along the driveway. They have gorgeous yellow and purple variegated foliage and will have pink flowers in summer. They should make a great feature when planted out.

There just seems to be so much that happens in the garden in October.

For further inspiration on what else can be done in the garden during October I have included a few links: