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.
Leaves that sprout in spring become withered or turn red and yellow by autumn, losing their beautiful fresh green colour. However, leaves that sprout from summer through to autumn are a very beautiful shade of green. In our garden, several plants captivate us with their beautiful green foliage.
At the entrance to the main garden, behind a small fountain, a thicket of Hagoromo jasmine thrives. Beautiful, bright green new shoots are sprouting. These shoots will bear flowers in spring.
Beside the steps made of railway sleepers, a variegated Abelia is thriving. The newly grown branches and leaves have yellow edging, which gradually turns to white. Small white flowers are blooming here and there.
In the blue border, the chaste tree has been blooming with blue flowers continuously since July. The jacaranda to its left was pruned in July after flowering and has since grown new branches and leaves, becoming lush and full. The leaves are bipinnate and have a very delicate, beautiful shape.
To the left of the shed, the autumn-flowering acacia (which continues to flower from late October through the winter) was heavily pruned in April; since then, it has gradually put out new shoots and is now lush and full, bearing numerous flower buds. Its slender branches are densely covered with small, slender, short leaves, making it a very pretty sight.
Daytime temperatures haven’t even reached 30°C, and the weather has taken on a distinctly autumnal feel. Autumn and winter vegetables are growing in the potager.
The daikon radish seeds sown in the border flowerbed have gradually begun to sprout. This is the first time I’ve grown vegetables here.
ボーダー花壇に種まきをした大根は少しずつ発芽してきました。ここに野菜を育てるのは初めてです。
During the summer, I grew small watermelons in the two triangular raised beds and harvested eight from each. Afterwards, as badgers had been digging them up, I enclosed the beds with triangular mesh frames and sowed daikon radish and table beet seeds. The daikon radishes have sprouted, whilst the table beets have only just begun to emerge. We plan to harvest the daikon radishes in winter.
We harvested the edamame in August and, as we had some seeds left over, we sowed them again; despite the caterpillars having eaten quite a lot of the leaves, the pods are starting to form. I expect we’ll be harvesting them around the end of this month.
In the side yard garden, the potted rain lilies are in full bloom. They bloom without fail at this time of year, letting us know that autumn has arrived. With virtually no pests or diseases, they are truly lovely, low-maintenance bulb plants.
We made an apple pie using the small ‘Alps Otome’ apples we harvested from the potager last week and some ‘Fuji’ apples we’d just picked. We sliced the apples, added lemon juice, simmered them in sugar, then wrapped them in pastry and baked them in the oven. It turned out rather tasty, and we were very pleased with it.
The leaves of the wild cherry tree, which began to fall about a week ago, have now become much sparser due to the strong winds caused by the typhoon. It is cool in the mornings and evenings, and it has become a pleasant time of year for gardening.
Light cream-coloured lycoris have begun to bloom in the Bluebell Garden. As there has been no rain for nearly two months during the intense heatwave, most of the plants on the Bluebell slope have withered. Even so, the lycoris are suddenly stretching out their flower spikes and blooming, just as they do every year. Like the red lycoris, the red spider lily, they bloom en masse around the autumn equinox. The leaves begin to grow lush only after the flowers have faded. With the sweltering summer now over, I can sense that the seasons are steadily moving on.
