Apologies for vanishing without a trace again – I have been displaying syndrome of early-winter depression again. This happens on a yearly basis and I absolutely hate it! Over the past two weeks the weather have been utterly horrible – with strong winds, snow and hailstorm across the UK. I am absolutely not ready for it! Winters in Fresno starts in the middle of November, and even then it is not this cold. With the changing of daylight saving time as well last weekend, all this week I have been having some sort of jetlag. No doubt its only an hour, but I can’t sleep long enough even though I am absolutely tired!

Before the snowstorm hit, I took one last look at the sunflowers in my garden. This year was another chilly summer, and my sunflowers did not actually bloom until the cold hit again

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Dewdrops on the petals. No, I actually sprinkled water there.hehe.

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Using my macro lenses, this did not come out as nice as I wanted it to due to the wind – and the fact that it was 7 ft high and I could not reach it!

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Double bees

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One of the good things about having a DSLR is that my pussy actually looks good in it – you do not know how hard it is to photograph a black cat!

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Roarrr..

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I love this sunflower selection – looks like an angry flaming sun

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This was one of my smallest sunflower due to the fact that I grew it in a pot, smaller than my palm. It looks so dreamy don’t it??

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Sunflowers always makes me happy – and it reminds me of my good friend magges who loves it:)

Just a short one today – I should have a ‘surprise’ blog about something more substantial in the next few days. Just awaiting delivery!

And stay safe trick or treating!

Due to torrential rainpour and pure laziness last year, nothing was done to our garden last year. The only thing that grew was strawberries, which we already had the previous year and just came back. Bought a couple of lavender plants -but that was about it for the garden last year. This year, however, I intend to be back bigger than before….presenting the back yard 2008!

The strawberries are still there – we’re coming up to summer no.3!

Hanging baskets by the garage wall. Love em black cat hanger thing . We spent about £30 in sorting them all out..whoever says gardening is a cheap hobby?

This is also the year of pansies – bought about a dozen of them bright flowering plants

I love the yellow pansy

The veggie/sunflower patch

My siew bok choy which is currently being ravished by greenflies .

I love this dark green bok choy

The baby carrots grow at last!! Planted them in March but I guess it’s been too cold to sprout

Looks like rocket, but I don’t think it is. Yes, I am not sure what the heck I planted..

View from the top. Yes, I try very hard to develope a Yorkshire tan in my sunlounger, nearly freezing in the 15deg temperature. Note the ladder by the garage wall – bacon installed the bracket for the hanging basket way too high and I need to climb on the ladder to water it…:/

This will possibly be the last shot of Le Jardin chez Bacon for the year. Seeing that I am one of the most untalented (and possibly laziest) gardener in the world, I had done superbly well for a first try. Even my mother, the acclaimed gardener (my friends describe my mom’s garden as ‘hotel manicured’) do not believe that I had actually grown anything – she thinks I’ve just bought it off the supermarket and took really nice pictures of it. So she is insisting that I take pictures of it coming off the ground to prove myself.

The best has got to be the comment my mom’s friend made when I told her that I’m growing strawberries, ” HAH?You grow vegetable ar? But you used to be so happening wan wor….aiya,what happened to you girl?”

Lolz.I feel so honoured.

Since we are moving homes in 3 weeks time, anything that are not in pots will be left behind…which is most of my plants and that includes my cherry tree and multiple root plants. So join me as we wave goodbye to the product of my 4 months of laziness….presenting my blooming garden in September:

My dark orange sunburst sunflowers – this is dedicated to my fav mom-to-be, maggie (her fav flowers!)

Fresno chilli peppers and Apache chilli peppers – more fiery than cilipadis

Fresh from the ground; my albino carrots, onions and beetroot.

(cat grown with love,not miracle-gro)

Watch my garden grow
Dead blooms
Cabbage Patch moi
Plants are growing

The garden had exploded in the past few weeks to now resemble a mini jungle.However,this explosion also meant that all my plants which I had given up on had started to grow at an alarming state

Its a sun shinny day after all in le garden

Well, he loves it.

Something to remind me of my time in California – they’re actually quite fiery

Fuschia & orange of my all time fav blooms

Still waiting for my tomatos to ripen on the vine.

And my teeny weeny carrot which is not exactly ready…

….but yummy otherwise!

I actually have 5 more tomato plants that are comming along nicely, a couple chillii plants and a whole row of beetroot..just not thought of taking a pix of.The only thing I regret is missing lavender season this year – I have no lavender in and its right now smack in the middle of lavender season.Aaargh!

I don’t believe I’ve picked up gardening with deft hands. With my fluorescent green gloves (hate dirt under my nails) and green watering can, I have been religiously watering my little plot for nearly two months.

My 3 varieties of strawberries

From left to right, rocket, little gem,carrots & sunflower. Can you see my pink aunty laundry basket at the background?

Closeup of my ‘mixed oriental salad’

Radishes, with more of the ‘mixed oriental salad’ on top right

My tomato plants in a bag..

The fruit of my labour! Now tell me that don’t look luscious

My small pathetic radish..the only reason I planted radishes was because they are apparently the fastest growing vegetable

I do feel that I’m like a lost sheep in a big city, but the other way around.It’s like being in a kindergarten class…I did not know that straberries grow from the centre of the flowers.Yeah,me is stupid city girl.I proudly asked my mother..but she shut me up by saying of course she knows.Hehe.

Its highly amusing to see things grow from seed and I am frankly proud of myself to had actually planted a usable garden filled with interesting things.I do wish they would grow faster though…my highly impatient nature is taking its toll on the slow creeping growth of my plants.I get highly offended when I find things have been eating into my plants….I found holes on my chilly plants on saturday and placed an SOS call to my mother…people call their mothers to ask for recepies, me to ask for ways to protect my plants.I even bought some Miracle-Gro thingy to make my plants bloom faster!

I guess there are things that you miss when you are a city-zen…like the joys of seeing things grow..not to mention practicing your patience with the slow growth!