Digestible and decorative

This is becoming a mini-series of flowers and edible stuff.  I will begin with the edible stuff.

Actually I should qualify 'edible' with "except for vampires".  Frances has raised a good crop of garlic this year and that is the first lot picked and drying for storage.  Moving back to the edible to everything range  I picked some blackcurrants ..

 .. and strawberries.

The amount of strawberries has dropped off quite a lot with the cooler weather we have experienced in the last couple of weeks.

By 12 December red currants and raspberries have also got into the act.

The peas, both 'normal' and snow are producing rather heavily (and causing shade problems for some of our tomatoes.

Linking from the digestible to the decorative I have noticed with pleasure the amount of flowers on some of our olive trees.

As we have several varieties of olive trees there should be some pollination happening.  So in a few months time look for a post about processing olives: I suspect it may conclude with it being a lot cheaper to buy them at a deli!

Again on the border of decorative and digestible is this globe artichoke (for which I like the Italian name "Carciofi" ).  We have them primarily as flowers and foliage, but they can be eaten.

We have roses ..

.. and lilies of various colours....

 and some mixed in with Penstemons and Salvias.

Of course the natives are also getting restless, knowing that the countryside has to go white for Christmas.  It is interesting how the details of Kunzea ericoides (aka Burgan) changes as the flowers develop.  The first image is a new flower,

while this is a fertilised one.

I don't know the name of this plant but looking at the leaves (and the overall nature of the fruit, it is closely related to strawberry.  I haven't given it a taste test!

Getting back into the exotics I noticed today that our Wabbit excluders seem to have been somewhat successful in getting a few specimens to live to flower, which have previously been completely munched. These are two varieties of Astrolomeria.

The next image is of a 'Pink' which I have always thought of as a developmentally-challenged Carnation. I find this image very charming and join Bazza Humphries (and I would encourage you all to follow that link) in deriding Carnies!

Finishing with more edible stuff, from outside the garden, we have a hat-full of mushrooms!

It is difficult to climb over fences while carrying a load like that in one hand with a small dog tugging on her lead held in the other hand!