My wife and I started gardening in Fukuoka (Japan) in 2003. There was nothing but muddy clayey sloping land. At the beginning we made several structure such as steps and paths, and planted turf, fruit trees, roses, herbs etc.
In 2010, we visited several famous English gardens, including Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Mottisfont Abbey Garden and Hidcote Manor Garden. We were shocked by the glory of those gardens. Since then, we have been trying to make small but glorious gardens by ourselves.
In September, the days grow shorter by a few minutes each day. Sunrise comes later, and if you get up early, it is still pitch black outside. As the sun rises over Itoshima Fuji, its rays soon begin to shine on the brick wall. Gradually, the sunlight begins to bathe the entire garden.
In the herb beds, the mint has finished flowering and is due for a trim. I also plan to prune the lavender again, following on from the pruning I did in early summer. The cherry sage has been bearing red flowers all summer long and is still in bloom. At the very top, Salvia guaranitica is blooming with blue flowers. Bees are frequently visiting the plants. On the other side, an Asclepias plant—grown from a seed that blew in—is blooming with vibrant red and orange flowers. If you look closely, you’ll see that the flowers have a rather charming shape.
It has been 14 years since the ten dwarf apple trees were planted in the potager garden; one has died, and several have lost their vigour. The number of apples set has also decreased compared to the early days. This year, one of the ‘Alps Maiden’ dwarf apple trees bore plenty of fruit in fine health. Some twenty apples were harvested. The tree next to it, having shed all its leaves, has started to produce new shoots this month and is even in bloom. Perhaps due to the harsh, subtropical-like climate in summer, many trees shed their leaves in the height of summer, and it is quite common for them to produce new shoots and flowers again in autumn. However, even if flowers bloom at this time of year, the fruit rarely develops.
Tsurubo (barnardia japoica) is a bulbous plant that blooms with pink flowers, heralding the arrival of autumn. The buds are shaped like horsetails, but small, vibrant pink flowers burst open from the lower part of the inflorescence. As the number of bulbs has increased, I am now growing them in three separate pots, and it is fascinating to see how their flowering times differ slightly.
The passion flower is a climbing plant from the same family as the passion fruit, and their flowers are similar. The passion flower I’ve trained along the wall of my garden room occasionally bears egg-shaped fruits. Wondering if they might be edible, I cut open one that had turned yellow. Please watch the video to see the result.
Today, I’d like to introduce some of the purple hues in my garden.
At the lower entrance to the garden, the potato vine has been in bloom for quite some time. When they first open, the flowers are a slightly purplish blue, gradually changing to white.
The Ruellia is also a slightly purplish blue, with a new flower blooming every day. The dwarf crape myrtle in a pot is producing a profusion of reddish-purple flowers. Higher up, a few flowers of the same reddish-purple colour are blooming on the small lantana.
Furthermore, the purple chaste tree with its silvery leaves that have a purplish tinge on the underside, is currently blooming with many pale purple flowers.
The intense heatwave has finally come to an end, and temperatures have returned to a more normal level of around 30°C, which is a great relief.
The intense heat has finally come to an end, and with a little rain, the garden is gradually returning to normal. I took down the shade net I’d put up to protect the shade garden from the afternoon sun. As I did so, I spotted some beautiful purple Liriope muscari flowers. And at the far right, the red spider lilies have begun to bloom. There are only two of them, but they are a deep red and have an alluring air about them. The acanthus, which had been dormant throughout the summer, has begun to wake up.
My second crop of edamame has grown quite a bit. It’s been just over three weeks since I sowed the seeds. I’ve put up a pest-proof net. However, upon closer inspection, I noticed that the leaves have been eaten away quite a bit. I wonder what sort of pest is eating the leaves.
When I looked for the pest, I found just one caterpillar on a leaf. It appears to be a cutworm; when I moved some soil aside to have a look, I found two more. I wonder if adult moths managed to get through the gaps in the netting to lay their eggs?
I don’t usually observe the edamame at this time of year, so I’d never seen them before, but I noticed that small flowers were blooming. There are pink ones and white ones. As I sowed two different varieties, I suppose that’s why two different colours of flowers are blooming. It looks as though they’ll be ready for harvesting around the middle of next month.