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Continuing with the cabbage moth invasion. My local nursery sent an email with this great tip on controlling cabbage moths and that they don't just attack the brassica family of plants.

Bay road nursery are a great local nursery stocking pretty but tough plants such as Agastache and I picked up a winter flowering salvia there recently called "Winter Blue".

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Something I have a glut of at the moment in my garden - tomatoes and basil

Caprese salad

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Fellow gardener mixing flowers with vegies

Some exciting things happening!

See these new leaves in the middle of the hollyhocks?

These are shaped differently than the base foliage. These are the leaves that the plant will be putting out to grow taller and eventually send up flowers!

And, the daffodils I planted last year are coming up! Maybe they’ll bloom! I should put some fertilizer on these babies. They’re too close to the hollyhocks but it doesn’t matter, they’ll have bloomed and be done long before the hollyhocks get big enough to shade them out.

(Also: my little cabbages are so pretty!!)

The daffodils I planted this year are coming up too. Just more slowly. I still have some I need to get planted, I am so bad at getting bulbs done on schedule @_@ They’ll be fine, if they don’t come up this year they will next year.

We’ve got some fake-spring weather this week with lots of rain which we very much need. Daytime temps in the 60s. Then it’ll be back to cold in another week.

The poppies I direct sowed in the front and by the stairs are looking fantastic! I wish I’d done more of them. It’s the easiest thing ever. I hope to save a huge amount of seed from the flowers so I can sow even more next year. I should get some California poppies too, those babies will establish and take over any bare spots or torn-up lawn.

I did get that 72 cell tray planted with calendula, bachelors button, marmalade rudbeckia and the tetra mix snapdragons. Probably just going to stick that outside uncovered, they’re all hardy and can tolerate cold. I think I’ll direct sow some of the bachelor’s button as well, it’ll look really pretty with the poppies.

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Today is supposed to be hot (37C) and windy(35-35km/h with gusts up to 90km/h from the north). I've staked some of the scrambly Hollyhocks using gum leaves to stop the twine from rubbing on the plant. The shade cloth is more to stop the wind. It dries everything out so quickly even with mulch So I have it up the northern end of the row using thin bamboo stakes and clothes pegs.

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Something ate my strawberries overnight. They weren't even nice ones.

The weird thing is why did take them away from the plants? A quick getaway into the herbs? The assassin doesn't work nights, not sure why she's bothering to guard now, there are none left!

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Growing rhubarb under the protection of Wonga Wonga vine. Will cut back the vine when it finishes flowering - usually mid autumn, so that it get the winter sun.

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Our crazy weather this summer - Hollyhocks, impatiens and yes that's a cyclamen all in flower together.

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There's a cabbage moth plague in Melbourne. Luckily my cabbage moth assassin is on the ball, although she is a bit overwhelmed by the number of them.

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Plants arrived today

My herbs arrived in the post today. Gave them a soak before planting. The savory of crete, I planted with my other herbs under the washing line. The mints I put in pots. The curry leaf I put in a temporary pot in the courtyard where it will be warm all year round.