Jenny's peach tree was loaded Phyl, but because we were away when they ripened with that really hot spell we had, the birds had a beano.  We did get enough for ourselves though.

Her nectarine tree is similarly loaded,  small but nice anyway. just too many on the tree.  Started picking those in the last week.

All our trees fruited early this year.

Hi Cranky!

We are in the Perth region and have a similar issue.

We have just put in a new garden [ July, August & Sept ] and I had made a lot of cuttings and they all took!  I find that Hydrangea plants need to be gradually put out into the sun to get used to the heat. Purchasing them from a Nursery or a supermarket they have been force fed and grown and used to a lot of much cooler air. If you can get a plant [s] and protect it the first year and then gradually get it used to the temps you want it to grow in you may have luck.   I would also after the first year start making your own cuttings rather than spend a fortune purchasing them.  They are very easy to strike.  But they do like a more neutral/acid soil as well as protection from the direct sun and hot winds. 

If you can I would advice getting a soil tester to find out the ph of your soils.

They last for years!

I have lost two of my cuttings [plants] this year, but the others have survived! Never put plants unless they are native into the natural soils we have.  I always put cow manure into the soils and some good potting mix, usually those that roses like.  To do this you need to dig a much larger hole than the root ball of the existing plant you want to put into the garden bed.  This is to allow for the potting mix and the cow manure. Never use Chicken manure it will and does burn. Never [when watering] wet the leaves, unless you have reticulation that comes on at 3am so the leaf is dry before the sun hits the plants. This applies to all plants in the heat.  A sure way of killing a plant in the heat of summer is to wet the leaf, the suns rays then come and heat the droplets of water and cook your plants.

Good luck!

i have been putting shade covers over some of my young seedlings and trees.   this does help them get through the extra hot and humid days.   i keep them well watered and mulched too.  so far so good.   native plants do seem to have better resistance.

thanks ann for the good advice.  very helpful.

Cranky it is never too late, prepare for next year.

Perth is getting 37c on Australia Day.  Never have liked it that hot.

We have just put in a young Crepe Myrtle to give shade, it should look pretty too for next summer.

Hope the Hydrangeas approve!   The trouble I found that I have mixed a few plants that like different ph conditions.  They will have to learn to adapt!  LOL

We planted in our new garden late Autumn a Chinese Tallow, I said to my husband I hope it reaches the top of the fence [2m] by the end of summer.  It has grown so much it is now roughly half a meter above the fence already!  It is amazing to see how fast these plants are growing.  Son said use vege mix for the garden beds!   That certainly has worked.

I do not like hydrangeas personally...but one of my neighbours has been growing them quite successfully in large pots...she uses the best possible potting mix and I advised her to put tiny pebbles at the top of the soil which works as a sun barrier...

My roses have fared exceeding well in Perth..Ann..

Does anyone have any advice on Protea plants please?

Before we planted out the new garden we have been growing the Protea in large pots, they were happy as larry under the Palm trees at the old garden.   Now they are staked in the garden bed one in the back garden and one in the front.   I cut off the dead older flowers and now where I cut them it is growing black leaves or orange leaves.   I am wondering perhaps I should not have pruned the little tree, it is about two meters and is top heavy with branches and leaves at present.

Yes they are in sandy soil, faces nnw so they get lots of sunshine.  I am just hesitant about the pruning needed.

This Australian site has some good info on establishing and caring for proteas.

http://www.protea.com.au/establishing-your-new-protea.html

I love the Native Plants and have found they survive in our hot Perth summers but sometimes they do die unexpectedly especially if on the boundary depending on what the neighbours do - I had some magnificent Albany Wooly bushes about 15 feet high the boundary ones suddenly died while in another area they still exist - I realised later the daily watering to establish lawn runoff from a newly created elevated block next door was too much for the Woolly Bush which never previously got watered.

In Perth Bougainvilleas and Plumbago are very hardy, give a lot of colour but tend to run rampant and need constant pruning I wish we had never planted them. 

PROTEA

I have cut last years dead flowers off and I have  got black leaves where I cut them and then some of the leaves are orange.  Have not experiened that before.  Perhaps the soil is too rich for them, we put in a mixture of vegetable soil.  The rest of the little tree is fine just where I have cut the old flowers from last year.  The plant was growing from a young sapling in a very large pot for five years then we transplated it into the new garden in the middle of last winter.

Yes I have a young white Bougainvilleas in the garden which is starting to shoot.

The old house we had a lovely Plumbago, we also had what other states call a noxious weed....Lantana.  We let the young uni student care for the garden while we were away for six weeks. The only two plants he managed to kill were the Plumbago and the Lantana!  I think he must have used weed killer!  How can you otherwise kill those two plants. LOL

We have four Albany Woolie bushes which are thriving, I purchased them as mini plants for two dollars each, they are now just over a meter tall. I have just tip pruned them so they do not start looking scraggy.

We have roses that have taken off very well, Zinia, Larkspur that is still blooming, lots of Antirrhinnum, Gerbera, Petunia, Portulaca, they are a mass of colour. I have in front bright orange Portulaca and hot pink petunia, they look a picture.  A Red Lantana is growing well too.

Carnation cuttings, we had lots of carnations and I made cuttings and only kept four of the mother plants to get fresh stock.  Four creepers we are growing over a timber pergola and some Gardenia.  In the front we have just put a bright pink Crepe Myrtle that is just started to flower.  Also we have some yellow Iris that have taken to the new garden well, they had like the other plants been in pots since we purchased them at a Gerbera Show!  The front also has yellow daisy bushes.  There are also two Camelia.

Unfortunately the people next door planted a London Plane Tree only 1 meter inside from our boundary!!   Most folks have never heard anything so silly.  The people were here before us and the tree is about 20 ft tall or taller.    Of course a tree that size has branches coming 6  - 7m over the adjoining wall!  So we had to get them cut off and will have to do this year after year.

The gutters are all protected from the fall off of this Plane Tree!  Otherwise we will have been in trouble, but it cost us four grand to get them protected correctly. 

Sorry to ramble on so much...

Yes PlanB.....what sort of people would do that?  Not only that tree, but another tree doesn't affect us, is the other side of their block which is about 900sqm.  is a Norfolk Pine!  They must have been here about 20  years when the area was first developed.  This block we purchased was a virgin block with a drop in the back, Norman being a civil engineer said it did not worry him.  He got special permission to have that back corner rise by a 1.2m but he was not impressed with the developers back then as they have the deep sewerage run along the high side of the block with next door!  So that had to be heightened, I have planted Mock Orange over that risen corner, I've planted two of them.  But fancy planting a Plane Tree and a Norfolk Pine in such a small space! They have to be bonkas!!  The Norfolk Pine is sitting on top of the deep sewerage line!!  sigh.....Needless to say we don't speech with them. 

I've never grown Kangaroo Paws before but put three species out the front and they have taken off very well, I was pleasantly surprised with their development and they looked great in flower.  I have not got a clue what variety they are but they look nice.  I call the front garden my Australian Cottage garden! 

We have no lawn out the front, paved a little for vistors and made a bed of the purple Agapanthus. Did not expect them to flower this first year, but nearly each one has which was a pleasant surprise.

Miniture Peach Tree

We have been growing this poor little mini peach tree in a big pot waiting for this garden to be ready to receive it.   Now have it in the front garden out of its pot and it was covered in blossom, but I thought I had taken all the blossom off, but I missed two and I have two peaches on it.  I was hoping it may grow taller once out of it's pot.   It seems very happy the leaves are healthy, but I was hoping it would grow another meter taller thats why I tried to take all the blossoms off.

Has anyone experience with mini peach trees please?   Hoping to get it to grow taller.

Ann -  I know how you feel about the Norfolk Pine. We had one in our backyard for 20 years and I was glad when I sold the place. The new owners are from Lebanon and he said he would never cut it down because he reckons it is the tree of Lebanon and it would bring him bad luck. The only bad luck he will have when it starts to block all his drainage pipes, and maybe lift the house. It is over 30mtrs high. 

LOL  I have to laugh at your description of the Norfolk Pine and the new owners, I can imagine they will wake up one morning to be living in a Tree house!  LOL  Yes I am wondering why our Water Authority here allows the Pine Tree to sit on the actually deep sewerage line!

I have also planted a Chinese Wisteria, it is growing like crazy and I am training to where it wonders! Have asked husband to make a ladder so it can wander along the adjoining brick wall.  I is very invasive so I have to keep my eye on it.  We also got a Chinese Tallow Tree, that has grown very well too, it says it grows to 9m but I doubt we shall see that in our life time.  I wanted some shade for the back garden as it is facing nnw.