My Christmas Lillies are in bloom. I put them in early September as the bulbs were on special at Kings. One did really well and it is spectacular with five blooms. The christmas lily is said to have flowered at Mary’s annunciation, as a sign she was blessed.
Otherwise, tis the season for christmas trees, and I was lucky to have a real one this year Joanne gave me live in a pot, so I’m not sure what to do with it once christmas is over. We could keep it in the pot inside or on the deck, but it may need to be planted out at some stage. Any forests nearby? Are we allowed to put it in the park? The pine smell is divine.
Boxing day sales have bitten me, so I drove to Kings again, buying two planter boxes to hang on my deck walls, planning to put herbs and flowers in them, like rosemary and thyme. And basil.
I found a frangipani, as was 25% off all plants, so bought the most fragrant one I could find. The larger ones were selling for hundreds of dollars. I’ve repotted it in a larger pot and it’s outside on the north side of the house.
I planted my hydrangea by the peach tree in the shade, as noticed my original site by the fence it was not doing so well. I plan to sow mustard as a green crop in the autumn, to get the nitrogen into the soil and build up humus. I’ve also asked some neighbours if they could spare some worms to put in my compost heap. I want the worms to do my work for me.
The snow peas are shooting up, not flowering yet though. The sweet peas are lagging behind, but I expect much from them in the next month or so. They are my favourite flowers.
My birdbath I’ve placed under the tangelo tree. Unfortunately no birds seem to be visiting it, I plan on buying a bird feeder and maybe leaving food there to entice them. It’s painted blue and apparently birds do not see blue. But it could double as a handy plate to place tangelos on. I’m planning on underplanting the tangelo with nasturtiums, to encourage beneficial insects, and also comfrey, that will bring up nutrients from the soil and also, can use the leaves for fertiliser. I will need to grab a few more from the community garden.
The cosmos I’ve tucked into some beds, dotted around everywhere. They will self seed freely. They are good value.
Now the weather is warm it’s time to get busy with growing herbs from seed.
I have my eye on hen and chicken ferns, only cos I like the name. I prefer the look of maidenhair ferns, and wonder if they will thrive in my shady bed. Some cat must have destroyed my catnip as found the stalks were all bent and broken. I have pruned it back and hope it will grow again.
I still don’t really know what to do about the back fence, maybe another berry plant would go there espaliered against the fence. The soil is not too good there..my passionfruit has not grown an inch so maybe its just not hot enough for them. I’ve placed the fuchsias in patio pots as well as the olive tree and hibiscus.
The jasmine too, does not seem to be doing well where I’ve placed it maybe it should be against the fence again. I want my borders every inch full of flowers and foliage, as that will save on water. I don’t like to see bare soil. Too bad where I live they scraped all the good soil away.
