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August 2026: Garden Notes
Signs of spring are starting to appear here on the South Coast of Australia, and I am patiently waiting for all the flowers to take off and bloom.
Ever since having Amelia, I have changed the way I plan my garden. In the beginning, I only wanted to grow cut flowers and fillers to fill vases and bouquets for friends and family. I created garden beds along the outside of our sunny sunroom window and filled each bed with one type of flower for repeat blooms. This also meant that in the winter months, we had a lot of empty beds and the soil would start to sink because nothing was growing in it. I have had to work hard to amend the soil every season, and instead of building on my soil health, it has felt like starting over every time.
So now, I have been dreaming of an ornamental garden with cut flowers sprinkled throughout. I feel like this is the way most people garden, and it feels a little silly that only now I finally get it.
At least once a day, I see Amelia excitedly pointing at a new flower in bloom or picking one to gift to Matt, me, or the cats. Now that the days are warming up, we are spending a lot more time outside, running around on the grass and drawing on the sidewalks with chalk. And wouldn’t it just be wonderful if we were surrounded by blooms all year round?
Stocks Nasturtium Stocks Snapdragons Statice Anemone Ranunculus Pansies Freesias Hellebore Primula Pansies or Violas Chrysanthemum Jonquils
Flowering
Stock Flowers - Seed grown from last season’s seeds. I was fortunate enough to have some of the yellow stocks self-germinate because I lost most of the seed pods last season. They smell like a cozy Christmas.
Nasturtium - Seed grown from last season.
Snapdragons - From plugs purchased at Bunnings. They really are so easy to grow.
Statice - My first time growing these from plugs! I rescued them from the clearance bin when I went with my gardening bestie Ash (hi Ash!).
Anemone - Grown from corms. I love them so much.
Ranunculus - These were grown from Bunnings corms, and I am not in love with the petal count. I will need to figure out if it is due to poor soil health or if it is just the variety, but I swear I purchased pinks, not whatever this colour is.
Pansies or Violas - I am not 100% sure which are pictured, but they’re beautiful and I am going to try growing them from seed next year.
Chrysanthemum - I am so confused. I thought they were supposed to bloom in autumn, but here they are at the end of winter.
Jonquils - I personally love the smell of jonquils. They were bulbs from two years ago that I did not pull up. They skipped a year of flowering and have returned this year. I will need to see if I can dedicate a space for them to grow and multiply next year.
Flower of the Month
This month’s sweet surprise is Nemesia. I went back to try to find another one like it, but I can’t seem to find the exact variety again. It has the sweetest little flowers and a beautiful vanilla scent, so I will have to try to propagate some cuttings. Something new that I am excited to learn!
Growing
Bee Flower Seed Mix Seedlings Nigella Waiting to Bloom Sweet Peas Muscari and Scabiosa Breadseed Poppies
Germinating - I borrowed a packet of the Bee Flower Seed Mix from my local seed library and sprinkled and raked them over the soil in my raised planters. I previously had low germination with this method as the soil would dry out too quickly, so I tested adding vermiculite to the surface and they have germinated well.
Nigellas (love-in-a-mist) - My favourite white nigellas are about to bloom. These self-seeded from last season!
Sweet Peas - I am expecting a very sad season as I neglected my seedlings this year. I have three promising plants and two that may or may not make it. Wish me luck!
Muscari - I have tucked some bulbs that were on sale at Bunnings into different beds in the hopes that they will pop up this spring. I am not sure if I have done this too late, so we will just have to wait and see. I can see some green growth and I’m feeling hopeful.
Scabiosa - It overwintered from last year, so let’s see if it grows well this season.
Breadseed Poppies - I spotted a few around the garden, also self-seeded from last season.
Successes and Failures
I wanted to credit this month’s success to me finally embracing buying plugs rather than starting absolutely everything from seed (hello hard mode), and spending more time outside with Amelia, which meant that these plugs were not sitting on my potting bench drying out and dying before I finally got them in the ground.
I also wanted to acknowledge my recent failure in getting my sweet peas going because I left them on the heat mat for too long. I think next year I will start them outside and get them in the ground earlier.
Plans for the Coming Month
With only a few more sleeps until spring, I have started adding compost to the tops of some of my beds. In a nap-time gardening session panic, I started throwing around some blood and bone, and I fear I might have gone a little heavy on this. Hopefully all my plants are okay and appreciate the added nutrients. I want good, healthy soil for when the dahlias go in.
I am also planning to divide and pot up my dahlia tubers that are currently lodging in my studio, so I can wake them up and have them all planted in the ground by early September.
I would love to know what’s going on in your garden!
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