Tree dahlia

The tree dahlias are blooming again, perhaps slightly earlier, but I didn't think they would get to this stage at all. First, February's 45 degree temperatures and burning winds crisped them (literally - to the point I assumed they were dead) as if blowtorched. But they came good: new leaves bursting forth to make them just as lush as they were before Black Saturday, even if their stems were somewhat spindlier. Then the week after Easter, there was a windstorm with speeds over 100kmh and the poor dahlias took another beating, to the ground with their poor new skinny stems. However, they're so resilient that even those that couldn't be stood and tied upright again (and my fence is not up to holding too much weight) started growing for the sun again. The branches I couldn't stand up I just pushed out of the walk way, and they're flowering too, prostrate though they are. There are fewer blossoms than other years, and more sporadic instead of massess of flowerheads, but I'm glad they made it all.

I have a double white form in addition to the pinky-mauve, but it flowers later - the buds are just forming. The broad beans are mostly up, just a couple of gaps, as is the spinach (hard to tell from the weeds at this point, until they grow a few more adult leaves) and the snowpeas. The rosemary is looking healthier after a little rain, so is the sage, though not as robust. Oh, and the
chives have popped their heads up over the edge of their container, too, also after being par-cooked by the weather. I much prefer gardening when I'm not being baked, either.