Thursday 3 September 2015

Spring Clean...

My chinese toon is sprouting so and the magnolia now has leaves so spring is on it's way! I was very busy today in the garden sowing peas in pots by the fence, and had put some new plants in from Kings and Mitre 10. I got three herbs for $10 and chose lemon balm, catmint and passionfruit. They went in the borders.
Then I put in 24 primulas in the boggy garden along the edge. Also I found another dragon's gold Kowhai for the border and a Clianthus Kaka beak, they had red and white, I chose red, and put that near the fence at the back. I'm glad I found one as I had been looking for a while and hearing all about it, and it is a very nice plant. Both are shrubs so ideal for the border.

I had to do a bit of musical plants again and I don't think my tea tree, camellia sinesis was doing well where I replanted it so I put it next to the hydrangea where its partly shaded. Even though the tag said to put it in a northerly aspect. What do they know, the leaves were kind of brownish and looking sun scalded. So the kowhai was put where the camellia vacated.
One of my box shrubs had fallen over by the wind and as it was a container topiary I thought it might be better off in the ground so I put it in the back corner next to the camellia. So now there is an empty pot next to the back door.

Speaking of empty pots I filled another one with ten Agria potatoes that were sprouting in a bag (not certified seed) so we will see how that crop goes. They crop a bit later than the early Nectar ones, which take 90 days. Both of these are growing in hay.

Then I noticed our peace lily which has never flowered looking very crowded and being eaten by snails in a pot on the front deck so I unpotted it and divided it to replant in the ground on the southern side of the house. I think it would prefer shade as its leaves were turning yellow. So hopefully it will be happier, now it's in five parts and got room to grow amongst all the other plants.

I added nitrophoska to my new plantings as well as quash for snails and sequestron for yellowing leaves. I poured sour tangelo juice on my gardenias. I figure it's acidic, it might be good for them.

I have built a little teepee and enclosure made of rocks and clay pots and brick for my mexican orange blossom to stop chickens from digging it up, and put in some stakes for the chicken wire and netting to lean against.

I've taken a cutting of my cerise ivy geranium to grow in my welcome pot with the cyclamen by the front door, and hung up the hanging basket of licorice plant as bought a new chain.

That's all for now, all in all, a busy day gardening, in between periods of wind and rain, which watered my plants for me.