top 10 trees
1. kowhai
2. maple
3. citrus
4. stonefruit
5. ponga
6. palm
7. olive
8. manuka
9. snowball
10. chinese toon
Top 10 shrubs/bushes
1. chinese lantern abutilon
2. coprosma
3. hydrangea
4. blueberry
5. mexican orange blossom
6. gardenia
7. daphne
8. camellia
9. azalea
Top 10 climbers/vines
1. grape
2. climbing fig
3. peas/sweet peas
4. beans
5. passionfruit
6. jasmine
7. morning glory
8. blackcurrant
9. boston ivy
10. wisteria
Top 10 fruit
1. strawberries
2. cranberries
3. lemon
4. grapefruit
5. plum
6. pear
7. feijoa
8. blueberry
9. grape
10. blackcurrant
Top 10 groundcovers
1. grass
2. forget-me-not
3. thyme
4. chamomile
5. bugleweed
6. violet
7. lupin
8. clover
9. daisies
10. lambs ears
Top 10 natives
1. pohutakawa
2. chatham island forget-me-not
3. hebe
4. flax
5. manuka
6. kowhai
7. ponga tree
8. hen and chickens ferns
9. cabbage tree
10. coprosma
Top 10 ornamentals
1. bromeliad
2. aeoniums
3. money tree
4. tillandsia
5. yucca
6. frangipani
7. cactus flower
8. spider plant
9. madonna lily
10. fuchsia
Sunday, 30 August 2015
Orbiting Palmers Planet
Ok I must stop this but I went to Palmers Planet AGAIN but only cos the church ladies were meeting there at the cafe before our movie and my new friend gasped at the outrageous prices with me once more.
We walked around and there IS one plant that I am coveting and it's a perennial called Origanum Kent Beauty which has green and pink foliage.
Other than that, I think I'm ok for plants...although...I wouldn't mind a Lemon Balm for its fragrant leaves. Some boys who were hanging out at the park came across our garden so we showed them around and one fell in love with our Lemon Balm. I gave it to the boy to sniff and he just thought it was heavenly. I'm sure he may never have smelled anything like it before and I have to admit I was bowled over by it too. Nicole told him he could make tea out of it.
We didn't put the arch up as didn't have time maybe next time, along with the choko.
We plan to put it over the entrance and grow runner beans over it. Or anything that will climb. Could be passionfruit. Or peas. Or cucumbers.
top 10 herbs
1. parsley
2. mint
3. rosemary
4. garlic
5. lavender
6. basil
7. thyme
8. sage
9. lemon balm
10. chives
top 10 veges
1. peas
2. potatoes
3. carrots
4. leeks
5. tomatoes
6. silverbeet
7. broccoli
8. sweetcorn
9. beans
10. pumpkin
top 10 flowers
1. sweet peas
2. sunflowers
3. daisies
4. borage
5. bluebells
6. cyclamen
7. magnolia
8. winter roses
9. hibiscus
10. sweet william/dianthus
That's 30 plants so far..the next 70 coming up....
We walked around and there IS one plant that I am coveting and it's a perennial called Origanum Kent Beauty which has green and pink foliage.
Other than that, I think I'm ok for plants...although...I wouldn't mind a Lemon Balm for its fragrant leaves. Some boys who were hanging out at the park came across our garden so we showed them around and one fell in love with our Lemon Balm. I gave it to the boy to sniff and he just thought it was heavenly. I'm sure he may never have smelled anything like it before and I have to admit I was bowled over by it too. Nicole told him he could make tea out of it.
We didn't put the arch up as didn't have time maybe next time, along with the choko.
We plan to put it over the entrance and grow runner beans over it. Or anything that will climb. Could be passionfruit. Or peas. Or cucumbers.
top 10 herbs
1. parsley
2. mint
3. rosemary
4. garlic
5. lavender
6. basil
7. thyme
8. sage
9. lemon balm
10. chives
top 10 veges
1. peas
2. potatoes
3. carrots
4. leeks
5. tomatoes
6. silverbeet
7. broccoli
8. sweetcorn
9. beans
10. pumpkin
top 10 flowers
1. sweet peas
2. sunflowers
3. daisies
4. borage
5. bluebells
6. cyclamen
7. magnolia
8. winter roses
9. hibiscus
10. sweet william/dianthus
That's 30 plants so far..the next 70 coming up....
Friday, 28 August 2015
The plot thickens
Went to the working bee this morning but we still haven't put the arch up or planted out the choko (too cold yet). We did plant two varieties of potato - Desiree and Swift, and more peas.
I trimmed some lavender and found some gorse hiding in the lavender bush! Tricky! Pull it out, said Jacqui. No way...I had bare hands. I was a wuss. Maybe a man could have done it. Instead one of the other volunteers ( a lady) put on some leather gloves and pulled out the sucker. It will have to be burned or at least chucked to landfill inside a plastic bag.
Although one thing about gorse...I've heard it makes good mulch when put through a mulcher. And it's like comfrey for plants when you do that, or even aloe vera. But I've never tried. So much for my fortune raking idea. We could make gorse fertiliser and gorse mulch and give pea straw a run for it's money.
We also planted the two blueberry bushes that were the very last ones left at the Warehouse. They should do well there as its cooler.
As for chez moi, no new plants, I am going to prepare more peas in punnets and other seedlings. I've transplanted some cornflowers, and I now have a plan for a vege plot next to the garage where I will grow the three sisters - beans, corn, and squash (or gourd, or courgettes). These summer veges like each other. If I am to grow tomatoes it may be cherry bush tomatoes in a hanging basket. I don't want to go through the hassle of staking and pinching out tips. And tomatoes are very heavy feeders. My chilli peppers don't seem to do well either although basil flourishes.
So I will need some bean seeds and corn seeds later. Only a few more days until September. It might as well rain...
I trimmed some lavender and found some gorse hiding in the lavender bush! Tricky! Pull it out, said Jacqui. No way...I had bare hands. I was a wuss. Maybe a man could have done it. Instead one of the other volunteers ( a lady) put on some leather gloves and pulled out the sucker. It will have to be burned or at least chucked to landfill inside a plastic bag.
Although one thing about gorse...I've heard it makes good mulch when put through a mulcher. And it's like comfrey for plants when you do that, or even aloe vera. But I've never tried. So much for my fortune raking idea. We could make gorse fertiliser and gorse mulch and give pea straw a run for it's money.
We also planted the two blueberry bushes that were the very last ones left at the Warehouse. They should do well there as its cooler.
As for chez moi, no new plants, I am going to prepare more peas in punnets and other seedlings. I've transplanted some cornflowers, and I now have a plan for a vege plot next to the garage where I will grow the three sisters - beans, corn, and squash (or gourd, or courgettes). These summer veges like each other. If I am to grow tomatoes it may be cherry bush tomatoes in a hanging basket. I don't want to go through the hassle of staking and pinching out tips. And tomatoes are very heavy feeders. My chilli peppers don't seem to do well either although basil flourishes.
So I will need some bean seeds and corn seeds later. Only a few more days until September. It might as well rain...
Wednesday, 26 August 2015
The price of fish
Went to Palmers Planet and bought some seed raising mix. As my friend and I wandered round the planet, I was kind of shocked at the prices, and the array of giftware in half the store which was devoted to 'lifestyle'. Not that I'm averse to lifestyle, but, I simply cannot afford to install a $2000 water feature or a $999 wicker chair. Well maybe I could but that would mean less money for plants.
They had spas and even weber bbqs on sale, well, on offer they weren't actually on sale.
And Lynda Hallinan and her buddy from TV are going to be in store having a Q and A next week.
Question for Lynda...how can you afford your gardening? Easy for you, you edit the NZ Gardener magazine and probably get free plants which you endorse in the magazine. What about the rest of us?
I asked again if they were hiring and they said not at present, although they will call me if I put my CV in for any vacancies. I'm now thinking it might not be a good idea. What if they put me at the cash register and all day in the giftware department? I don't know how to sell gifts. I'd probably tell people save your money and make your own. I noticed a merino/possum shawl priced at $209. What that has to do with gardening I'm not sure. Maybe it's for the fashion conscious gardener who kills possums.
My heart sank. We did not even bother to eat at botanix cafe as my friend said it was too pricy. Fish and chips cost $21. Yes, the price of fish has gone up.
I saw my gardening gothic trough there which I mean to buy for $44. At least that's cheaper than the giftware. Maybe another time when we get more strawberries. There's no other places that sell them although I haven't looked in Kings Plant Barn St Lukes store. I don't know if it's cheaper there, those things don't really go on sale.
I strolled around but the plants did not appeal to me. None said 'buy me, take me home and plant me'. I figure maybe I have enough now?
We made our way home past the blank traffic lights. The developers are building a new shopping centre next to the old one called 'north westgate' and all the stores are moving over, they've got a Mitre 10 and a Farmers and Pak n'Save, and even Countdown is moving over. I have no idea why as hardly anyone lives out that way except farmers as it's the countryside heading toward Kumeu.
It's a long way to walk if you don't have a car and as you know public transport in Auckland is a joke.
They had spas and even weber bbqs on sale, well, on offer they weren't actually on sale.
And Lynda Hallinan and her buddy from TV are going to be in store having a Q and A next week.
Question for Lynda...how can you afford your gardening? Easy for you, you edit the NZ Gardener magazine and probably get free plants which you endorse in the magazine. What about the rest of us?
I asked again if they were hiring and they said not at present, although they will call me if I put my CV in for any vacancies. I'm now thinking it might not be a good idea. What if they put me at the cash register and all day in the giftware department? I don't know how to sell gifts. I'd probably tell people save your money and make your own. I noticed a merino/possum shawl priced at $209. What that has to do with gardening I'm not sure. Maybe it's for the fashion conscious gardener who kills possums.
My heart sank. We did not even bother to eat at botanix cafe as my friend said it was too pricy. Fish and chips cost $21. Yes, the price of fish has gone up.
I saw my gardening gothic trough there which I mean to buy for $44. At least that's cheaper than the giftware. Maybe another time when we get more strawberries. There's no other places that sell them although I haven't looked in Kings Plant Barn St Lukes store. I don't know if it's cheaper there, those things don't really go on sale.
I strolled around but the plants did not appeal to me. None said 'buy me, take me home and plant me'. I figure maybe I have enough now?
We made our way home past the blank traffic lights. The developers are building a new shopping centre next to the old one called 'north westgate' and all the stores are moving over, they've got a Mitre 10 and a Farmers and Pak n'Save, and even Countdown is moving over. I have no idea why as hardly anyone lives out that way except farmers as it's the countryside heading toward Kumeu.
It's a long way to walk if you don't have a car and as you know public transport in Auckland is a joke.
Tuesday, 25 August 2015
Kings Seeds
My shipment of Kings Seeds came in yesterday.
I ordered
Achillea
Bellis
Bishop's Flower (fern leaf)
Candytuft
Echium Blue Bedder
Gaura The Bride
Origanum Kent Beauty
Perovskia Blue Spike (Russian Sage)
Scabiosa Starball
Teasel
Wildflower Beneficial Insect Blend
Yarrow
and Chives, broad leaf and garlic.
Now I need some more seed raising mix to raise these seeds. I'm just going to scatter them when the weather warms a bit more.
My cornflowers are coming up in punnets.
Also the lupins are flowering, and they are a lovely mauve blue. It seems a shame to cut and dig them in before they have a chance to flower, which is what you're meant to do for a green manure crop. Although I don't mind doing it for mustard, which has yellow flowers. But mustard does not give as much nitrogen to the soil as peas or lupins. It's more of a nematode cleanser.
I am wishing for a wishing well. If I had one it would most likely need to be in the middle of our backyard or the front but I have no idea if there's any underground water on our land. The creek is nearby anyway. I'm on the look out for a plaque or some sort of stone that maybe has a thoughtful saying on it for my rock garden, and also, a castle! You can buy cute ones that aquariums have and have a little 'fairy garden'. Not that there's real fairies but like a little mini world. I'm going to scour the op shops for little stone houses and bridges.
No, I'm not inviting gnomes and trolls and brownies and leprechauns to live in my garden, but I did buy a bird feeder on special but it seems, the birds don't even like my seeds! So I may have to rethink that, or the type of seed, I am just filling it with seed my friend gave me, actually it is for canaries while she has budgies, but canaries do not fly free round here so I ought to put wild bird seed in it.
Anyway..my garden needs a castle because a Princess lives in it waiting for her Prince.
I ordered
Achillea
Bellis
Bishop's Flower (fern leaf)
Candytuft
Echium Blue Bedder
Gaura The Bride
Origanum Kent Beauty
Perovskia Blue Spike (Russian Sage)
Scabiosa Starball
Teasel
Wildflower Beneficial Insect Blend
Yarrow
and Chives, broad leaf and garlic.
Now I need some more seed raising mix to raise these seeds. I'm just going to scatter them when the weather warms a bit more.
My cornflowers are coming up in punnets.
Also the lupins are flowering, and they are a lovely mauve blue. It seems a shame to cut and dig them in before they have a chance to flower, which is what you're meant to do for a green manure crop. Although I don't mind doing it for mustard, which has yellow flowers. But mustard does not give as much nitrogen to the soil as peas or lupins. It's more of a nematode cleanser.
I am wishing for a wishing well. If I had one it would most likely need to be in the middle of our backyard or the front but I have no idea if there's any underground water on our land. The creek is nearby anyway. I'm on the look out for a plaque or some sort of stone that maybe has a thoughtful saying on it for my rock garden, and also, a castle! You can buy cute ones that aquariums have and have a little 'fairy garden'. Not that there's real fairies but like a little mini world. I'm going to scour the op shops for little stone houses and bridges.
No, I'm not inviting gnomes and trolls and brownies and leprechauns to live in my garden, but I did buy a bird feeder on special but it seems, the birds don't even like my seeds! So I may have to rethink that, or the type of seed, I am just filling it with seed my friend gave me, actually it is for canaries while she has budgies, but canaries do not fly free round here so I ought to put wild bird seed in it.
Anyway..my garden needs a castle because a Princess lives in it waiting for her Prince.
Monday, 24 August 2015
100 plants every gardener should grow
On my way to becoming an expert gardener is the 'know your plants' so you can tell what is a plant worth growing from what is a weed. It's like working in the library, discerning between trash and treasure. For example, every library ought to have a Holy Bible, an Atlas, a Dictionary, a Street finder and an updated road code. Those are essentials. A Bible would be like a tree, permanent. A dictionary can be updated maybe once every 10 years. It would be a shrub. And street finders and road codes would be perennials and annuals respectively.
The fruit, vegetables and herbaceous perennials and flowers would be like cooking books and novels.
Anyway. I don't know why I'm thinking of libraries right now because I've concluded I was a lousy librarian. I can say that now I don't work there anymore. In all the time I worked there I never got 'librarian of the month' or the MVP or whatever award they gave to the most helpful, industrious librarians. I was more like decoration. People would more likely ask what clothes I wore than what books they ought to read. Either that or ask which way to the toilets.
Also, I got in trouble with LIANZA for not doing their journal properly. They wanted it on a spreadsheet and I would not follow instructions and wrote a blog instead (which I published, then deleted). I don't think they cared, they just were happy to take my hard earned pay to be a member.
It was nothing to do with books, it was information, and then it was council, and then it was pride that Auckland was this wonderful city that rich people could play in. Well, it is if you've got money to pay the exorbitant rates. Rates that are paying for the libraries and so they can have 'state of the art' televisions in them, that nobody watches.
When I worked there, they installed a tv in the childrens area. It was up so high that the children could not even see it and they paid a subscription to a sky channel and then we had to give out headphones so they could watch it. I'm like..what is the logic of this? We had thousands of books and they did not think of actually designating a special story time area so people could read books together. I think they only had two story times a week, pitiful for a library. Of course I could not say anything, I could only do what I was told, I was a mere library assistant.
Anyway. Sorry for my rant.
I will continue with my 100 plants in another post.
The fruit, vegetables and herbaceous perennials and flowers would be like cooking books and novels.
Anyway. I don't know why I'm thinking of libraries right now because I've concluded I was a lousy librarian. I can say that now I don't work there anymore. In all the time I worked there I never got 'librarian of the month' or the MVP or whatever award they gave to the most helpful, industrious librarians. I was more like decoration. People would more likely ask what clothes I wore than what books they ought to read. Either that or ask which way to the toilets.
Also, I got in trouble with LIANZA for not doing their journal properly. They wanted it on a spreadsheet and I would not follow instructions and wrote a blog instead (which I published, then deleted). I don't think they cared, they just were happy to take my hard earned pay to be a member.
It was nothing to do with books, it was information, and then it was council, and then it was pride that Auckland was this wonderful city that rich people could play in. Well, it is if you've got money to pay the exorbitant rates. Rates that are paying for the libraries and so they can have 'state of the art' televisions in them, that nobody watches.
When I worked there, they installed a tv in the childrens area. It was up so high that the children could not even see it and they paid a subscription to a sky channel and then we had to give out headphones so they could watch it. I'm like..what is the logic of this? We had thousands of books and they did not think of actually designating a special story time area so people could read books together. I think they only had two story times a week, pitiful for a library. Of course I could not say anything, I could only do what I was told, I was a mere library assistant.
Anyway. Sorry for my rant.
I will continue with my 100 plants in another post.
Friday, 21 August 2015
Dirty yankees
Asparagus count as ferns don't they? I could have them in my garden. I need more ferns.
We planted some today at the community garden as well as my peas. We've already been harvesting some peas from my own backyard. I took home three broccolis and a cabbage.
I looked in the cabbage patch for any kids but didn't find any. Don't they grow there?
Mum let the chickens out for a run around which they promptly started digging up my garden where I hadn't put rocks or netting. Grr. They dug up my dahlia and two nigella seedlings and some bulbs. I put them back and then they dug them up again. I am refusing to eat their eggs in protest. I am very angry at mum for letting them out, plus, they scratched out all my comfrey. Jacqui assured me they would recover. What, is comfrey poisonous? I asked, hopefully. She replied, No..I meant the comfrey.
Well, I won't think about that now, like Scarlett O'Hara. I will think about it tomorrow. I will survive. After all, tomorrow, is another day!
This is after she's eaten raw carrots and parsnips from what's left of the plantation in Tara and vomited up the contents. Dirty yankees!
Even Ashley and Rhett couldn't hold her to her love of the red earth of Tara. Didn't she pick cotton until her fingers bled? Wasn't all the land hers after her ma and pa died? Didn't she contemplate fornication to pay the $300 taxes on Tara? Was she going to sell the land? Over her dead body!
We planted some today at the community garden as well as my peas. We've already been harvesting some peas from my own backyard. I took home three broccolis and a cabbage.
I looked in the cabbage patch for any kids but didn't find any. Don't they grow there?
Mum let the chickens out for a run around which they promptly started digging up my garden where I hadn't put rocks or netting. Grr. They dug up my dahlia and two nigella seedlings and some bulbs. I put them back and then they dug them up again. I am refusing to eat their eggs in protest. I am very angry at mum for letting them out, plus, they scratched out all my comfrey. Jacqui assured me they would recover. What, is comfrey poisonous? I asked, hopefully. She replied, No..I meant the comfrey.
Well, I won't think about that now, like Scarlett O'Hara. I will think about it tomorrow. I will survive. After all, tomorrow, is another day!
This is after she's eaten raw carrots and parsnips from what's left of the plantation in Tara and vomited up the contents. Dirty yankees!
Even Ashley and Rhett couldn't hold her to her love of the red earth of Tara. Didn't she pick cotton until her fingers bled? Wasn't all the land hers after her ma and pa died? Didn't she contemplate fornication to pay the $300 taxes on Tara? Was she going to sell the land? Over her dead body!
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
Violets aren't blue
Roses may be red, but violets aren't blue...they're violet. Although, they can be pink if they're African. I have put in some violets under the rosemary bush. I think they complement the purply mauve rosemary flowers very well. These are the ground covering kind and are said to like shade.
The other gardeny thing I did today was pull out the chinese radish, that had been growing in my L shaped poppy bed. Silly things I mistook for poppies, until I noticed they didn't seem to really be doing much, and they were spiny, and looking suspiciously like they were taking over. When I pulled them out they were all leaf and no radish. I was half hoping for a giant radish, but they were deceptive. Lets hope that the poppy seeds I sowed months ago will come up this spring. I just don't know with these wildflower mixes. It's kind of like playing lotto with those seeds...you never know if your numbers will come up.
Well good thing spring can't be too far off as my Chinese Toon looks like its got buds. I will know when spring is really here when it starts to leaf up with those splendid pink ferny fronds. Also my crocus is starting to shoot up.
So people that say daffodils herald spring are wrong. They've been flowering all winter. Except I don't have any in my garden. I thought I did but they were all jonquils. Hyacinth and bluebells have also come out. Also our azalea has bloomed with hot pink frothy flowers. The Whangarei Hibiscus had one flower, a watermelon colour. And our camellia had one red flower.
The rest of the shrubs are bare. No hydrangeas yet, no snowball flowers, no gardenias, no mexican orange blossom. The maple trees are still bare as is the apricot and peach tree. The wisteria vine and grapevine are completely bare. The frangipani looks naked. I'm tempted to cover her up as she almost looks indecent. If she was in Aussie or Fiji she would have blossoms and leaves year round.
You can't hurry love. You just have to wait.
The other gardeny thing I did today was pull out the chinese radish, that had been growing in my L shaped poppy bed. Silly things I mistook for poppies, until I noticed they didn't seem to really be doing much, and they were spiny, and looking suspiciously like they were taking over. When I pulled them out they were all leaf and no radish. I was half hoping for a giant radish, but they were deceptive. Lets hope that the poppy seeds I sowed months ago will come up this spring. I just don't know with these wildflower mixes. It's kind of like playing lotto with those seeds...you never know if your numbers will come up.
Well good thing spring can't be too far off as my Chinese Toon looks like its got buds. I will know when spring is really here when it starts to leaf up with those splendid pink ferny fronds. Also my crocus is starting to shoot up.
So people that say daffodils herald spring are wrong. They've been flowering all winter. Except I don't have any in my garden. I thought I did but they were all jonquils. Hyacinth and bluebells have also come out. Also our azalea has bloomed with hot pink frothy flowers. The Whangarei Hibiscus had one flower, a watermelon colour. And our camellia had one red flower.
The rest of the shrubs are bare. No hydrangeas yet, no snowball flowers, no gardenias, no mexican orange blossom. The maple trees are still bare as is the apricot and peach tree. The wisteria vine and grapevine are completely bare. The frangipani looks naked. I'm tempted to cover her up as she almost looks indecent. If she was in Aussie or Fiji she would have blossoms and leaves year round.
You can't hurry love. You just have to wait.
Tuesday, 18 August 2015
Sweet Valley
I have put in the lily of the valleys. I bought three. I put them in the L shaped bed in the corner and under the apricot tree. The garden books say it is a May flower, but I think maybe that is the northern hemisphere in England? Over here the opposite of May is November, so I expect them to bloom then.
It's all upside down. The darling buds of May become the darling buds of November and that doesn't have the same ring to it!
April showers become October Showers. And March hares are September rabbits.
Also moons in Junes and ferris wheels become moons in December which doesn't rhyme either.
More plants I put in were pansies, digging out the plaintains and weeds on the edge of my southern rock bed, and Nigella, or Love in the mist, so romantic sounding, near the snowball tree and the back sunny corner.
It was rainy today and showery typical Auckland weather not making up its mind. So I just gardened in between. I could not find any more troughs/window box planters to take my strawberries, it is the gothic kind that has a deeper root run but they weren't available.
My Garden of Eden is nearly complete as far as plants go although I did read a book called Bee Friendly Borders online that hinted I am lacking in achilleas. And penstemons. I was going to buy them back when they were available as they looked very pretty but I had not got round to it. Bees apparently love them. I do want bees and butterflies to feel at home in my garden.
That's all for now. I am going to compile a list of 100 plants every gardener should have in their garden since I've now become an expert. lol.
It's all upside down. The darling buds of May become the darling buds of November and that doesn't have the same ring to it!
April showers become October Showers. And March hares are September rabbits.
Also moons in Junes and ferris wheels become moons in December which doesn't rhyme either.
More plants I put in were pansies, digging out the plaintains and weeds on the edge of my southern rock bed, and Nigella, or Love in the mist, so romantic sounding, near the snowball tree and the back sunny corner.
It was rainy today and showery typical Auckland weather not making up its mind. So I just gardened in between. I could not find any more troughs/window box planters to take my strawberries, it is the gothic kind that has a deeper root run but they weren't available.
My Garden of Eden is nearly complete as far as plants go although I did read a book called Bee Friendly Borders online that hinted I am lacking in achilleas. And penstemons. I was going to buy them back when they were available as they looked very pretty but I had not got round to it. Bees apparently love them. I do want bees and butterflies to feel at home in my garden.
That's all for now. I am going to compile a list of 100 plants every gardener should have in their garden since I've now become an expert. lol.
Monday, 17 August 2015
Credible Inedibles
Our tangelo tree is fruiting but I don't really feel in the mood for citrus right now. There's not much you can do just juice them. I suppose I will need to juice them all and freeze them for summer. I haven't heard of tangelo cake or muffins or meringue pie.
It's raining, which is good as this will settle in all the plants I put in yesterday.
Just when I thought I had enough the thought came to me that, I need some lilies of the valley as I saw them for sale at Kings which I had not seen before and I have always wanted to see them. Apparently the month of May, my birthday, is when they are in flower...and they are highly fragrant. So I may buy one or two, although they expensive for just one flower.
Another plant that I need more of us pansies for the south rock garden as I think they make good edging plants aside from bugleweed and I could replace all the plantains that spring up with pansies instead. Or violets.
There is also a gap in the border between the gardenia and the swan plant, and I'm wondering what can go there since I moved the lavender. Another mexican orange blossom? But that likes shade and its not terribly shady there. Another curly carex? Of course I am planning on sowing the rest of my flower seeds when it's warmer, which are cosmos, feverfew, cleome, viscaria, soapwort, hollyhock, bishops flower, marigold and morning glory. I hope they all sprout. Its devastating when they do and then just get dug out by chickens. Or they sprout but they end up being so spindly I just wonder how anything really survives in my poor soil. I suppose I can always put another daisy cutting there. They do really well. But I haven't made any cuttings that have rooted.
Another plant that just seems to sulk is my tea tree, camellia sinesis. It just seems to not grow at all and the branches kind of twirl around and don't go anywhere. It has blossomed, but the blossoms are not much to look at. And the leaves, don't seem like the bushy tea plants you see in the ads for PG Tips. Manukas do much better, or even lemon balm for herbal tea would be more useful than this plant that doesn't seem to earn its keep.
That's the third 'Incredible Edibles' plant that I may end up ditching. The other two were blackberry and blueberry. I think they are falsely advertising all their wonderful properties but they just don't perform well at all. And I take care to plant them where they would thrive as it says on the label. Meh. Also, my passionfruit seems to be somewhat sprawling and non productive.
Well lets hope the grapevines and olive at least fruit. Also the blackcurrant. People say plant fruit trees and edibles but they useless if they don't even fruit, die and end up with rust. They also look horrible when the insects have a field day eating all their leaves. Maybe I should just leave the fruit trees to the orchardists and also veges to the dedicated market gardeners and community garden. I suppose if it were easy everyone would have their own.
Well if all else fails I can eat my flowers. Borage is tasty and I hear violet and calendula are too.
Sunday, 16 August 2015
Things that are pure, things that are lovely
I'm sorry for the grouchy post below. Its just if three of us going to visit a garden, it will cost $45 not including petrol for the day out, and then we still need to bring our lunch, cos it's not likely she will put one on for us.
I suppose its because we weren't invited. Well. Maybe we won't go and head somewhere free instead. The forest? Lynda Hallinan's garden?? Parnell Rose Garden?
Hamilton?
I am now going to record what I planted just before. I went to Kings with my $10 voucher and bought a catmint, two thymes, three curly carexs for the bog garden, and a blue pratis groundcover.
I was going to buy a hanging basket trough manger thing but they didn't have the one that matches my other two, and even mitre 10 doesn't have it. Although baskets are cheaper there. Maybe Warehouse may have it. Oh and from Mitre 10 I bought a white Japanese anemone on sale for $6.
So I planted the catmint in the Chinese Toon bed, the emerald thyme on Mt Asher, and the bergamont one under the olive, putting some more rocks there, the carexs in the bog garden and the ground cover in the ground at the back door near the driveway. The anemones I planted under the maple tree in Snowy's bed..and moved a pink cyclamen to Mt Asher. I also moved some of the rain lilies closer together, and removed a dead blueberry bush that had dried to a twig. So I only have two now. Maybe I will buy another if any on special. I've also moved the love carnation to Mt Asher.
Some more moves..the cranberry to the bog garden, the hen and chickens ferns to the south side of the house near the chatham island forget me not, the impatiens to the terrarium garden, a spleenwort amongst the ferns..I think it will do much better there. They were going a bit yellow so I watered them with sequestron. I also planted the apple mint that was still in its pot to the bog garden. It can spread there if its likes, I don't mind.
After all that gardening my hands were all muddy so I went back to the house, washed my hands and had a drink. I was thinking I don't really like wearing gloves and not being able to feel the soil. I think maybe gloves are for wussy gardeners who grow roses and other poisonous and stingy and thorny plants and put weedkiller everywhere. Well maybe not as we do have to pull out weeds first but I'm determined that my garden is going to be weed free and not have any horrible plants in it that would need handling with gloves. I'm sorry hyacinth I will not be buying you anymore because the last time I touched a hyacinth bulb it gave me itchy skin and I'm not really a fan to be honest. The flowers have now come up but they droop and I'm thinking that's useless to flower and not even be able to hold them up on the stalk?! Bluebells know better than you, Miss Keeping up Appearances plant that needs a flippin' corset.
As for sunflowers, also, I don't know but even in winter you fellas are droopy and I have to keep watering you all the time, so I've put you in a swimming pool of water and you can drink from that. And caterpillars or ants seem to enjoy munching your leaves so much that you look more like Monsterosa Delicosa than Helianthus.
Another failure seems to be comfrey, which is touted as the wonder mulching plant except...the two I have planted have completely disappeared due to maybe chickens scoffing the lot. And they say it's invasive. Ha!
Anyway..back to lovely things and good report. Well, star performer at the moment is prostrate rosemary flowering and looking gorgeous hanging out on my terrace. Not fussy, doesn't need much watering, smells delicious, attracts bees. Top marks to you. Well done!
I suppose its because we weren't invited. Well. Maybe we won't go and head somewhere free instead. The forest? Lynda Hallinan's garden?? Parnell Rose Garden?
Hamilton?
I am now going to record what I planted just before. I went to Kings with my $10 voucher and bought a catmint, two thymes, three curly carexs for the bog garden, and a blue pratis groundcover.
I was going to buy a hanging basket trough manger thing but they didn't have the one that matches my other two, and even mitre 10 doesn't have it. Although baskets are cheaper there. Maybe Warehouse may have it. Oh and from Mitre 10 I bought a white Japanese anemone on sale for $6.
So I planted the catmint in the Chinese Toon bed, the emerald thyme on Mt Asher, and the bergamont one under the olive, putting some more rocks there, the carexs in the bog garden and the ground cover in the ground at the back door near the driveway. The anemones I planted under the maple tree in Snowy's bed..and moved a pink cyclamen to Mt Asher. I also moved some of the rain lilies closer together, and removed a dead blueberry bush that had dried to a twig. So I only have two now. Maybe I will buy another if any on special. I've also moved the love carnation to Mt Asher.
Some more moves..the cranberry to the bog garden, the hen and chickens ferns to the south side of the house near the chatham island forget me not, the impatiens to the terrarium garden, a spleenwort amongst the ferns..I think it will do much better there. They were going a bit yellow so I watered them with sequestron. I also planted the apple mint that was still in its pot to the bog garden. It can spread there if its likes, I don't mind.
After all that gardening my hands were all muddy so I went back to the house, washed my hands and had a drink. I was thinking I don't really like wearing gloves and not being able to feel the soil. I think maybe gloves are for wussy gardeners who grow roses and other poisonous and stingy and thorny plants and put weedkiller everywhere. Well maybe not as we do have to pull out weeds first but I'm determined that my garden is going to be weed free and not have any horrible plants in it that would need handling with gloves. I'm sorry hyacinth I will not be buying you anymore because the last time I touched a hyacinth bulb it gave me itchy skin and I'm not really a fan to be honest. The flowers have now come up but they droop and I'm thinking that's useless to flower and not even be able to hold them up on the stalk?! Bluebells know better than you, Miss Keeping up Appearances plant that needs a flippin' corset.
As for sunflowers, also, I don't know but even in winter you fellas are droopy and I have to keep watering you all the time, so I've put you in a swimming pool of water and you can drink from that. And caterpillars or ants seem to enjoy munching your leaves so much that you look more like Monsterosa Delicosa than Helianthus.
Another failure seems to be comfrey, which is touted as the wonder mulching plant except...the two I have planted have completely disappeared due to maybe chickens scoffing the lot. And they say it's invasive. Ha!
Anyway..back to lovely things and good report. Well, star performer at the moment is prostrate rosemary flowering and looking gorgeous hanging out on my terrace. Not fussy, doesn't need much watering, smells delicious, attracts bees. Top marks to you. Well done!
The tree museum
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
...
And also. They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum.
They charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em
Except I think the Kauri Museum up north charge people a lot more than $1.50. I was just thinking this when I received an email back from Ayrlies Garden. It costs $15 just to see it. Well, 'donation'. But still...
I wonder what people would pay to see my garden. I could start charging. $1? $2 for non gardeners? After all, I need to earn a living. I read in Gardens Illustrated, that people who do gardening cannot make a living from it, unless they are desperate. Then they get to the top, by sheer determination. By top, they mean, make a name for yourself as a garden designer. The article was lamenting the lack of women gardeners. Or well known ones. Well duh, I think most women don't blow their own trumpets and do it for the money. Anyway. Even though those gardens look lovely and well designed, I always think what's the point of paying someone else to have the fun of designing your garden and planting everything for you. And then paying someone to maintain it. They won't get to enjoy it would they because it isn't theirs. It's just something someone else did.
I scrap that idea of charging people to come to my garden. I don't charge the birds and butterflies, do I? Or the cats. If they want to come, they come, and I will see them and make a cup of tea and won't expect them to give me any money. I am disappointed because Bev didn't answer my email, she got someone else to. Or maybe...there is no Bev. Maybe its taken over by corporates?
She probably has a secretary, a cook, a maid, a chauffeur, a butler, a team of gardeners, an accountant...The email said to come in November. I suppose I can wait until November. It wasn't oh lovely to have you. It was more like ...remember it costs $15 and we don't care if you come or not.
I'm sorry.
I shall think of things lovely, things that are pure, things that are of good and noble report.
...
And also. They took all the trees and put them in a tree museum.
They charged all the people a dollar and a half just to see 'em
Except I think the Kauri Museum up north charge people a lot more than $1.50. I was just thinking this when I received an email back from Ayrlies Garden. It costs $15 just to see it. Well, 'donation'. But still...
I wonder what people would pay to see my garden. I could start charging. $1? $2 for non gardeners? After all, I need to earn a living. I read in Gardens Illustrated, that people who do gardening cannot make a living from it, unless they are desperate. Then they get to the top, by sheer determination. By top, they mean, make a name for yourself as a garden designer. The article was lamenting the lack of women gardeners. Or well known ones. Well duh, I think most women don't blow their own trumpets and do it for the money. Anyway. Even though those gardens look lovely and well designed, I always think what's the point of paying someone else to have the fun of designing your garden and planting everything for you. And then paying someone to maintain it. They won't get to enjoy it would they because it isn't theirs. It's just something someone else did.
I scrap that idea of charging people to come to my garden. I don't charge the birds and butterflies, do I? Or the cats. If they want to come, they come, and I will see them and make a cup of tea and won't expect them to give me any money. I am disappointed because Bev didn't answer my email, she got someone else to. Or maybe...there is no Bev. Maybe its taken over by corporates?
She probably has a secretary, a cook, a maid, a chauffeur, a butler, a team of gardeners, an accountant...The email said to come in November. I suppose I can wait until November. It wasn't oh lovely to have you. It was more like ...remember it costs $15 and we don't care if you come or not.
I'm sorry.
I shall think of things lovely, things that are pure, things that are of good and noble report.
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Shopping list
Thyme - for the spaces in the rock garden
Sun dial
Macrocarpa wood for raised beds
Ponga tree
Potting mix
Hanging basket hook
Window box
Violets
Ferns
I have borrowed two issues of Gardens Illustrated magazine from the library. It's very British. I see lots of ads for glass houses, swing chairs, and garden tours. It is like Sports Illustrated for gardeners with disposable incomes. Also theres things I didn't even know I needed like...
Rustic looking seed boxes
Tool apron
Bird feeders with certified organic sunflower seeds
Madam Butterfly Opera staged in a Japanese water garden
Garden design courses
Obelisks
Alpaca Socks
Summerhouses
Gazebos
Wildlife tours and tours to gardens in Italy
There is a winter sale with up to 33% off 'The finest greenhouses money can buy' except, I don't have the money to buy them. Too bad. Then there's the hint that there's 100 plants that every gardener should grow. Not one of them is a fruit tree, herb or vegetable. What planet is this magazine on??
Sun dial
Macrocarpa wood for raised beds
Ponga tree
Potting mix
Hanging basket hook
Window box
Violets
Ferns
I have borrowed two issues of Gardens Illustrated magazine from the library. It's very British. I see lots of ads for glass houses, swing chairs, and garden tours. It is like Sports Illustrated for gardeners with disposable incomes. Also theres things I didn't even know I needed like...
Rustic looking seed boxes
Tool apron
Bird feeders with certified organic sunflower seeds
Madam Butterfly Opera staged in a Japanese water garden
Garden design courses
Obelisks
Alpaca Socks
Summerhouses
Gazebos
Wildlife tours and tours to gardens in Italy
There is a winter sale with up to 33% off 'The finest greenhouses money can buy' except, I don't have the money to buy them. Too bad. Then there's the hint that there's 100 plants that every gardener should grow. Not one of them is a fruit tree, herb or vegetable. What planet is this magazine on??
Friday, 14 August 2015
My redeemer lives
I have $10 to spend at Kings Plant Barn as I have points to redeem. Hooray!
I have just moved a pink cyclamen on Mt Asher as I saw a picture of them and they were growing out of rocks. They like good drainage, and to be under trees. Snowy's bed is just going to have white cyclamen.
Then the rain came down and the floods came up...
And now it's sunny again...Auckland weather! My boggy patch is flooded. I had a look in Palmer's Garden Manual of Trees and Shrubs and it says carex is a good plant for boggy patches. I will grow more there. It looks like I will have to move the two French lavenders to the sunny rock garden as I think maybe they may drown down the back with wet feet.
I think my garden has potential. Of course it doesn't look like much now but it was so much better than a year ago. A year ago, I had plants dying in pots as I didn't know where to put them..weeds all through the border..prickly roses that spread and hurt you...plants in the wrong places, undecorated walls...and nowhere to sit.
I am thinking I would like a wildish bushy garden down the back by extending the borders with maybe an oval clearing down where the rain gauge and weather station is...and then nearer the deck, a vege plot with raised beds near the garage. There will be a path around the border in a sort of sweeping trail but everywhere else will be plants. At the shady side of the garage I will put a fernery.
The front garden I will keep as is with the buxus hedges and contained herbaceous plants within and trees, and at the front, as the sunniest part of the garden with grapevines and olive trees, I will grow the flowers that enjoy the sun, and line the walls with sunflowers in pots.
Also I plan to grow Australian violets as the groundcover for the south side of the house and more ferns, and edge the path in bugleweed.
I would also like to snag a log from my friend to grow succulents or bromeliads on.
And also, against the brick wall an espalier of some kind, or maybe a climbing rose, clematis, and a little stone bench for sitting under an arbour. My garden arch I have not decided on yet, maybe as an entrance into the weather station. I don't know. I wonder if Dad would be mad when I start planting on the lawn. He will have less to mow!
I have just moved a pink cyclamen on Mt Asher as I saw a picture of them and they were growing out of rocks. They like good drainage, and to be under trees. Snowy's bed is just going to have white cyclamen.
Then the rain came down and the floods came up...
And now it's sunny again...Auckland weather! My boggy patch is flooded. I had a look in Palmer's Garden Manual of Trees and Shrubs and it says carex is a good plant for boggy patches. I will grow more there. It looks like I will have to move the two French lavenders to the sunny rock garden as I think maybe they may drown down the back with wet feet.
I think my garden has potential. Of course it doesn't look like much now but it was so much better than a year ago. A year ago, I had plants dying in pots as I didn't know where to put them..weeds all through the border..prickly roses that spread and hurt you...plants in the wrong places, undecorated walls...and nowhere to sit.
I am thinking I would like a wildish bushy garden down the back by extending the borders with maybe an oval clearing down where the rain gauge and weather station is...and then nearer the deck, a vege plot with raised beds near the garage. There will be a path around the border in a sort of sweeping trail but everywhere else will be plants. At the shady side of the garage I will put a fernery.
The front garden I will keep as is with the buxus hedges and contained herbaceous plants within and trees, and at the front, as the sunniest part of the garden with grapevines and olive trees, I will grow the flowers that enjoy the sun, and line the walls with sunflowers in pots.
Also I plan to grow Australian violets as the groundcover for the south side of the house and more ferns, and edge the path in bugleweed.
I would also like to snag a log from my friend to grow succulents or bromeliads on.
And also, against the brick wall an espalier of some kind, or maybe a climbing rose, clematis, and a little stone bench for sitting under an arbour. My garden arch I have not decided on yet, maybe as an entrance into the weather station. I don't know. I wonder if Dad would be mad when I start planting on the lawn. He will have less to mow!
Thursday, 13 August 2015
The Volcano
I now have a volcano in my garden.
Well, it looks like one. My friend has given me a lot of volcanic rocks as she is clearing her boundary for a new fence so I decided they would look good as mulch for the magnolia so the chickens wouldn't dig it all up. I had bark mulch there which went over the planting mound but every time the chickens somehow got out...(it was NOT me) they went scratching there and made an awful mess that made me and Dad mad. Actually it made Dad madder and he was chucking half formed spring bulbs right and left as they had dug them all up and scattered bark mulch all over his nice lawn.
Don't blame me! It was the chickens!
Mary and Martha just ignored us as my Dad cursed under his breath. I thought he was going to throw tulip bulbs at me. I put them in the beds instead and buried them under more soil.
Well thank God my friend had these rocks as now the chickens cannot dig volcanic rocks all over the lawn. They are pretty big and too heavy for a chicken to move.
After I had made my nice mound I decided that it would be good for moss and lichens to grow on these rocks so I mixed half a tub of yoghurt with water and splashed it all over the rocks. It did look like it had erupted. Then I took some lichens and moss from the acer tree and fixed them to start spreading. I had learned this trick of using yoghurt from the people that made Hobbiton, to make their fences look aged. Or was it Alan Titchmarsh?
Anyway I hope they latch on, and then, I did drop in at Kings on my way home from teaching and found a cotula..which is a native ground cover that will grow under trees and in rockeries, to green the crevices. It looks a bit bare at the moment just waiting for plants to colonise the rock. I don't know if I had any tulips or freesias still left that the chickens did not dig up, well, they will have to find their way through the cracks. Cotula has tiny little yellow flowers so it MAY clash with Cleopatra Magnolia's purple buds but I don't think they flower at the same time.
Anyway its funny that Iraena's memorial tree has rocks on it as her last name was Asher. Which is kind of volcanic. Mt Asher I will call it.
My Dad has already got one named after him, Mt Albert.
You won't find my name on earth as it actually means 'heavenly' or 'moon' although I suppose I could have moonflowers, and if I did visit Houston, maybe snag some moon rocks from the NASA space station there. But that is not likely.
I used up all the rocks so there's no chance of me making stonehenge with them. But that's ok. Maybe another time. Now. Where can I find some Terracotta Warriors? Wouldn't they look suitably chinese in my garden. I don't know what the fashion is for gnomes, geckos, and decapitated Buddha heads. But I'm thinking..they look kind of cool. Although to be New Zealand style, they would have to make ones of Xena, Warrior Princess fighting the taniwha.
Maybe I should write to Lucy Lawless.
Dear Ms Lawless,
Please can I make a likeness of your character for my garden. You could earn pots of money from being copied and moulded into garden sculpture. All the proceeds can go towards carbon credits and planting more forests. I know you are into the whole eco-warrior thing.
From...a green thumbed fan.
Well, it looks like one. My friend has given me a lot of volcanic rocks as she is clearing her boundary for a new fence so I decided they would look good as mulch for the magnolia so the chickens wouldn't dig it all up. I had bark mulch there which went over the planting mound but every time the chickens somehow got out...(it was NOT me) they went scratching there and made an awful mess that made me and Dad mad. Actually it made Dad madder and he was chucking half formed spring bulbs right and left as they had dug them all up and scattered bark mulch all over his nice lawn.
Don't blame me! It was the chickens!
Mary and Martha just ignored us as my Dad cursed under his breath. I thought he was going to throw tulip bulbs at me. I put them in the beds instead and buried them under more soil.
Well thank God my friend had these rocks as now the chickens cannot dig volcanic rocks all over the lawn. They are pretty big and too heavy for a chicken to move.
After I had made my nice mound I decided that it would be good for moss and lichens to grow on these rocks so I mixed half a tub of yoghurt with water and splashed it all over the rocks. It did look like it had erupted. Then I took some lichens and moss from the acer tree and fixed them to start spreading. I had learned this trick of using yoghurt from the people that made Hobbiton, to make their fences look aged. Or was it Alan Titchmarsh?
Anyway I hope they latch on, and then, I did drop in at Kings on my way home from teaching and found a cotula..which is a native ground cover that will grow under trees and in rockeries, to green the crevices. It looks a bit bare at the moment just waiting for plants to colonise the rock. I don't know if I had any tulips or freesias still left that the chickens did not dig up, well, they will have to find their way through the cracks. Cotula has tiny little yellow flowers so it MAY clash with Cleopatra Magnolia's purple buds but I don't think they flower at the same time.
Anyway its funny that Iraena's memorial tree has rocks on it as her last name was Asher. Which is kind of volcanic. Mt Asher I will call it.
My Dad has already got one named after him, Mt Albert.
You won't find my name on earth as it actually means 'heavenly' or 'moon' although I suppose I could have moonflowers, and if I did visit Houston, maybe snag some moon rocks from the NASA space station there. But that is not likely.
I used up all the rocks so there's no chance of me making stonehenge with them. But that's ok. Maybe another time. Now. Where can I find some Terracotta Warriors? Wouldn't they look suitably chinese in my garden. I don't know what the fashion is for gnomes, geckos, and decapitated Buddha heads. But I'm thinking..they look kind of cool. Although to be New Zealand style, they would have to make ones of Xena, Warrior Princess fighting the taniwha.
Maybe I should write to Lucy Lawless.
Dear Ms Lawless,
Please can I make a likeness of your character for my garden. You could earn pots of money from being copied and moulded into garden sculpture. All the proceeds can go towards carbon credits and planting more forests. I know you are into the whole eco-warrior thing.
From...a green thumbed fan.
Wednesday, 12 August 2015
I love olive
Dad and I just planted out the olive tree. We dug the hole and put the soil into the L-shaped poppy bed. All the surrounding companion plants came with it, including borage, alyssum, phacelia and maybe even a sweet pea. The olive tree is now near the niagara grapevine.
I read that olive trees can last till at least 1000 years old! We only have one and it is a J5. This is to replace the one that a car crashed into out the front. I haven't planted anything on the grass verge yet. I am not sure what would look good there. What do other people plant on their verges?
I found another nz gardening book, this time, gardening with perennials. It's no good reading american or english gardening books for tips as all the seasons are wrong.
I have further plans to put another manger/window box off the terrace fence on the side facing my little nurture alcove. If we get more strawberries, I will put those in there.
I am going to grow more flowers in punnets, I have nearly exhausted the space on my potting table. Now there is another large pot free because of planting the olive, which I have moved to the shady south side of the garden. I am not sure what I will put there yet. Ferns? Flax?
Also, I have found an online garden decor centre called Homelandz which has some really nice garden furniture. Pity there is no showroom that I can go and test it out. I think, a curved stone garden bench, would look nice against the brick wall, I could make a little bower or alcove if I had some trellis and either espalier something there or grow climbers. They also have pretty arches. Sigh.
My sister does not believe me when I say I only have x amount of money left. I was thinking today that, jobs are not what they used to be. Even when I was employed, social security and superannuation did not mean anything.. there was no guarantee that if you stayed in a job they would look after you after you retired. I think of the librarians who retired and they did not get anything from the council, except maybe a plate that nobody could sell at the gift shop. As far as I know, when my former manager retired it was staff members who all chipped in and bought her a smartphone. So I don't know what the point is staying in a job forever. It looks like the govt is going to cut all pensions anyway or raise the age and we may be all dead before then. There is really no incentive, especially if you want to move. And I don't see the point of paying a mortgage and getting into debt.
My dad said, our house, when he bought it sold for $12,000. And the land was about $2000. I'm like what? Can you sell it to me, for 1970's prices?!
Well, just between you and me, when the rainbow ends at my house, there's a pot of gold. But you'll never find it, because I'm not going to tell you where God buried it. Ask Him yourself.
I read that olive trees can last till at least 1000 years old! We only have one and it is a J5. This is to replace the one that a car crashed into out the front. I haven't planted anything on the grass verge yet. I am not sure what would look good there. What do other people plant on their verges?
I found another nz gardening book, this time, gardening with perennials. It's no good reading american or english gardening books for tips as all the seasons are wrong.
I have further plans to put another manger/window box off the terrace fence on the side facing my little nurture alcove. If we get more strawberries, I will put those in there.
I am going to grow more flowers in punnets, I have nearly exhausted the space on my potting table. Now there is another large pot free because of planting the olive, which I have moved to the shady south side of the garden. I am not sure what I will put there yet. Ferns? Flax?
Also, I have found an online garden decor centre called Homelandz which has some really nice garden furniture. Pity there is no showroom that I can go and test it out. I think, a curved stone garden bench, would look nice against the brick wall, I could make a little bower or alcove if I had some trellis and either espalier something there or grow climbers. They also have pretty arches. Sigh.
My sister does not believe me when I say I only have x amount of money left. I was thinking today that, jobs are not what they used to be. Even when I was employed, social security and superannuation did not mean anything.. there was no guarantee that if you stayed in a job they would look after you after you retired. I think of the librarians who retired and they did not get anything from the council, except maybe a plate that nobody could sell at the gift shop. As far as I know, when my former manager retired it was staff members who all chipped in and bought her a smartphone. So I don't know what the point is staying in a job forever. It looks like the govt is going to cut all pensions anyway or raise the age and we may be all dead before then. There is really no incentive, especially if you want to move. And I don't see the point of paying a mortgage and getting into debt.
My dad said, our house, when he bought it sold for $12,000. And the land was about $2000. I'm like what? Can you sell it to me, for 1970's prices?!
Well, just between you and me, when the rainbow ends at my house, there's a pot of gold. But you'll never find it, because I'm not going to tell you where God buried it. Ask Him yourself.
Tuesday, 11 August 2015
I need a nz money tree
Went to Kings and bought some potting mix to sow and pot up my sunflowers. I put them in Fluffy's bed as that is a sunny spot, and the chickens can't dig them up because of the wire. When they grow tall I hope they will reach up to the deck.
A tip I heard from gardeners in the know..if you want plenty of sunflowers, don't buy your seed from the garden centre just get it from the pet store. You can buy them in bulk as its used to feed birds. I'm wondering if I scattered my mixed budgie bird seed what would come up if the birds did not eat them first?
I also bought a licorice plant as I like the feel of the leaves, they are fuzzy and furry. I put that in my empty hanging basket which won't hang as the chains are rusted. I will have to get new chains.
I also bought some ajuga, or bugleweed as it's known, to put by the edge of the path that leads to the back door. I have three of them in a row, and they will have blue flowers. Hopefully they will spread and smother the other weeds growing there, which I dug out to make room.
That was all. Then I entered the draw to win a car load of potted colour. I hope I win! I wouldn't mind...and then if I win that I can make a parterre or formal bedding as well as deck out all my beds in a riot of spring colour. I was also give some away to the neighbours next door, now that their driveway verge is cleared. They have not put anything there yet. The cabbage tree is looking forlorn it is now a log that doubles as Sparky's bridge to nowhere.
I have calculated my spending and figure I have about $3000 or thereabouts left before I am completely broke. I hope I find a job before then...because this gardening habit is taking all my money...unfortunately money trees are not accepted as payment at the garden centres.
Bev McConnell how on earth did you snag a rich husband?
A tip I heard from gardeners in the know..if you want plenty of sunflowers, don't buy your seed from the garden centre just get it from the pet store. You can buy them in bulk as its used to feed birds. I'm wondering if I scattered my mixed budgie bird seed what would come up if the birds did not eat them first?
I also bought a licorice plant as I like the feel of the leaves, they are fuzzy and furry. I put that in my empty hanging basket which won't hang as the chains are rusted. I will have to get new chains.
I also bought some ajuga, or bugleweed as it's known, to put by the edge of the path that leads to the back door. I have three of them in a row, and they will have blue flowers. Hopefully they will spread and smother the other weeds growing there, which I dug out to make room.
That was all. Then I entered the draw to win a car load of potted colour. I hope I win! I wouldn't mind...and then if I win that I can make a parterre or formal bedding as well as deck out all my beds in a riot of spring colour. I was also give some away to the neighbours next door, now that their driveway verge is cleared. They have not put anything there yet. The cabbage tree is looking forlorn it is now a log that doubles as Sparky's bridge to nowhere.
I have calculated my spending and figure I have about $3000 or thereabouts left before I am completely broke. I hope I find a job before then...because this gardening habit is taking all my money...unfortunately money trees are not accepted as payment at the garden centres.
Bev McConnell how on earth did you snag a rich husband?
Monday, 10 August 2015
I never promised you a rose factory
I put in some more forget-me-nots in my sunken boggy garden near the blueberries. It's going to be a blue garden I think. Perhaps I shall broadcast cornflowers there too.
I went to the Warehouse and hellebores were $4 each. So I bought three, one was a blue one which I'd never come across before. The other two were pink and red ladies. In they all went near the loquat.
My peas are coming up. I will take some to plant out in the community garden and will put netting and quash slug bait round them. I want to grow more sunflowers in pots but will need potting mix as I only have seed raising mix. I will put them in Fluffy's bed by the deck railing so that as they grow tall one can look over sunflowers at one's feet. I have a packet of 'Empress' sunflowers, some Giant Russians and a whole packet of 'Teddy' sunflowers. I think Teddy is dwarf.
Now my horticulture course. I graduated early last year and it was a season of gardening at the Ranui Community Garden. I had to grow three different varieties from seed, I chose sweet pea, poppies and phacelia. The sweet peas grew but it was too hot for them and didn't flower until the course was finished. The poppies grew but did not flower at all. And the phacelia did not even come up!
So that was a failure. I should have just stuck with tomatoes, basil and chillies instead. As we started the course in October, that would have been best, but of course I didn't know hardly anything about gardening and wanted flowers. We also grew courgette, cucumber, soybeans, and other flowers like bishops flower, cosmos, tansy, and night scented stock. Cosmos was a big success and we managed to get seeds from them. Courgette was dead easy. The sunflowers did not grow very tall, and the tomatoes were prolific, as were the chillies. We had loads of basil too.
I was on the course three days a week, two days in the garden and one day in the classroom. Buffie, our teacher got her moneys worth I think. We pretty much did free labour and it was hard work! There were about ten of us on the course, and I tell you it was a real mix of people. Two teenagers who had to have caregivers as they'd gotten into trouble and this was like a course to keep them busy. Some schizophrenics and mentally ill recoverers. Another guy who had gone bankrupt and was getting the benefit by being on this course. A young lady who had done her masters in botany in Burma. Another guy who had worked in horticulture and needed to take two buses to get to Ranui. He knew more than any of us. What was he doing on the course? Another girl who started the course, but then got a job strawberry picking. Her boyfriend was into growing plants too. Weed of course. An African lady who was growing crops already in the garden but decided to listen in to classes. Two guys who were caretaking twin streams. And me.
I learned composting, irrigation, weed identification, the biology of plants, clearing weeds, different soils, and the fruitlessness of watering on a hot summers day. I also learned tractor safety. In case I want to have a job driving tractors. Yes it was that kind of course.
I enjoyed it anyway. And it was free! We even got to visit Kings Seeds down in Katikati and a Rose factory I mean green house for our field trips. Industry secret - those roses are grown hydroponically in cocoa fibre and they are liquid fed on Ph balanced fertiliser. Also, you should have seen the rose bunching machine. It was huge! I feel sorry for them as Valentines Day has to be an absolute nightmare the day after. Because nobody will buy a rose the day after Valentine's Day. I asked them where all the roses went. They said compost, or old folks homes. How sweet. I was going to suggest cemeteries, but they could just plant roses there instead couldn't they?
Lynn Anderson, eat your heart out.
I went to the Warehouse and hellebores were $4 each. So I bought three, one was a blue one which I'd never come across before. The other two were pink and red ladies. In they all went near the loquat.
My peas are coming up. I will take some to plant out in the community garden and will put netting and quash slug bait round them. I want to grow more sunflowers in pots but will need potting mix as I only have seed raising mix. I will put them in Fluffy's bed by the deck railing so that as they grow tall one can look over sunflowers at one's feet. I have a packet of 'Empress' sunflowers, some Giant Russians and a whole packet of 'Teddy' sunflowers. I think Teddy is dwarf.
Now my horticulture course. I graduated early last year and it was a season of gardening at the Ranui Community Garden. I had to grow three different varieties from seed, I chose sweet pea, poppies and phacelia. The sweet peas grew but it was too hot for them and didn't flower until the course was finished. The poppies grew but did not flower at all. And the phacelia did not even come up!
So that was a failure. I should have just stuck with tomatoes, basil and chillies instead. As we started the course in October, that would have been best, but of course I didn't know hardly anything about gardening and wanted flowers. We also grew courgette, cucumber, soybeans, and other flowers like bishops flower, cosmos, tansy, and night scented stock. Cosmos was a big success and we managed to get seeds from them. Courgette was dead easy. The sunflowers did not grow very tall, and the tomatoes were prolific, as were the chillies. We had loads of basil too.
I was on the course three days a week, two days in the garden and one day in the classroom. Buffie, our teacher got her moneys worth I think. We pretty much did free labour and it was hard work! There were about ten of us on the course, and I tell you it was a real mix of people. Two teenagers who had to have caregivers as they'd gotten into trouble and this was like a course to keep them busy. Some schizophrenics and mentally ill recoverers. Another guy who had gone bankrupt and was getting the benefit by being on this course. A young lady who had done her masters in botany in Burma. Another guy who had worked in horticulture and needed to take two buses to get to Ranui. He knew more than any of us. What was he doing on the course? Another girl who started the course, but then got a job strawberry picking. Her boyfriend was into growing plants too. Weed of course. An African lady who was growing crops already in the garden but decided to listen in to classes. Two guys who were caretaking twin streams. And me.
I learned composting, irrigation, weed identification, the biology of plants, clearing weeds, different soils, and the fruitlessness of watering on a hot summers day. I also learned tractor safety. In case I want to have a job driving tractors. Yes it was that kind of course.
I enjoyed it anyway. And it was free! We even got to visit Kings Seeds down in Katikati and a Rose factory I mean green house for our field trips. Industry secret - those roses are grown hydroponically in cocoa fibre and they are liquid fed on Ph balanced fertiliser. Also, you should have seen the rose bunching machine. It was huge! I feel sorry for them as Valentines Day has to be an absolute nightmare the day after. Because nobody will buy a rose the day after Valentine's Day. I asked them where all the roses went. They said compost, or old folks homes. How sweet. I was going to suggest cemeteries, but they could just plant roses there instead couldn't they?
Lynn Anderson, eat your heart out.
Sunday, 9 August 2015
My pet petunias
I have just put in a dozen petunias in pots and hanging baskets. I had gone to Palmers Planet again and gave the manager my CV hoping maybe just maybe when they are next hiring they consider me part-time. The older folk are lovely people and know their plants. I noticed in their indoor area, which is HUGE they had a stand of gardening books. Well, maybe they are diversifying. No wonder you can't buy any decent gardening books at Whitcoulls anymore, Palmers has 'em.
Kings does not sell gardening books, that I know of. Sometimes you ask them questions about plants and they just look at you blankly. Maybe it's the young 'uns. I suspect its cos they are so busy working full time at the garden centre that, they have no time to actually do any real gardening themselves. Or if they do, they just call it 'landscaping'.
Aside from moving rocks and dirts and bunging in flax, I don't think landscaping is very creative. In the real world, or rather, on earth, soil is not all sweeping rolling fields. Especially the north island. Auckland was built on volcanoes. It's old ash. You couldn't artificially landscape a hill or a volcano. It just wouldn't work. So I don't know what they are trying to do with all those diggers and cultivators. I think most New Zealand gardens starting out are rugby fields surrounded by a few lemon trees.
Well it started to rain and the dark clouds look ominous. I also put in rain lilies in my boggy patch to squelch in the wet soil. Next thing to do is pull out some weeds and replace those weeds with forget-me-nots.
Those black plastic punnets are starting to annoy me. My petunias wouldn't drop out easily as they had rooted through and stuck to the plastic. I chucked them upside down, I squeezed...maybe I should have soaked them first. I hope I haven't damaged them. Its like a pregnant mother with a baby that won't come out. Anyway my pet petunias are pink. Pretty, pink and pregnant. They are going to cascade over the hanging baskets edge and make me smile. For christmas my friend took me to the garden centre and bought me potted colour. I had never bought or grown potted colour or annuals before so it was exciting for me. It was like going to a pick n'mix lolly shop. I used to think gardening was all hard work and you just HAD to grow it all yourself from seed or you couldn't call yourself a real gardener. Or it just had to be there already.
But no, turns out everyone just buys their flowers already grown from the shop. And buys new ones each year. Annuals Selina. Annuals.
Somehow mum thinks this is cheating and that if I keep buying more the place will turn into a nursery. It was only before when I hadn't prepared the soil that I had no idea where to put those plants. So you'd have what was the plant equivalent of nightmare of the living dead, all my neglected plants I'd been given drying up in pots along the terrace. Maybe I'll tell you what I learned from this horticulture course I did in my next post.
Kings does not sell gardening books, that I know of. Sometimes you ask them questions about plants and they just look at you blankly. Maybe it's the young 'uns. I suspect its cos they are so busy working full time at the garden centre that, they have no time to actually do any real gardening themselves. Or if they do, they just call it 'landscaping'.
Aside from moving rocks and dirts and bunging in flax, I don't think landscaping is very creative. In the real world, or rather, on earth, soil is not all sweeping rolling fields. Especially the north island. Auckland was built on volcanoes. It's old ash. You couldn't artificially landscape a hill or a volcano. It just wouldn't work. So I don't know what they are trying to do with all those diggers and cultivators. I think most New Zealand gardens starting out are rugby fields surrounded by a few lemon trees.
Well it started to rain and the dark clouds look ominous. I also put in rain lilies in my boggy patch to squelch in the wet soil. Next thing to do is pull out some weeds and replace those weeds with forget-me-nots.
Those black plastic punnets are starting to annoy me. My petunias wouldn't drop out easily as they had rooted through and stuck to the plastic. I chucked them upside down, I squeezed...maybe I should have soaked them first. I hope I haven't damaged them. Its like a pregnant mother with a baby that won't come out. Anyway my pet petunias are pink. Pretty, pink and pregnant. They are going to cascade over the hanging baskets edge and make me smile. For christmas my friend took me to the garden centre and bought me potted colour. I had never bought or grown potted colour or annuals before so it was exciting for me. It was like going to a pick n'mix lolly shop. I used to think gardening was all hard work and you just HAD to grow it all yourself from seed or you couldn't call yourself a real gardener. Or it just had to be there already.
But no, turns out everyone just buys their flowers already grown from the shop. And buys new ones each year. Annuals Selina. Annuals.
Somehow mum thinks this is cheating and that if I keep buying more the place will turn into a nursery. It was only before when I hadn't prepared the soil that I had no idea where to put those plants. So you'd have what was the plant equivalent of nightmare of the living dead, all my neglected plants I'd been given drying up in pots along the terrace. Maybe I'll tell you what I learned from this horticulture course I did in my next post.
Winter Planning
Plant out olive tree near grapevines
Plant mexican orange blossom on border
Remove yellowing gardenia?
Prepare more pea wigwams
Prepare flowerbeds for zinneas.
Colour code flower beds.
Snowy's bed - white
Pink flamingo bed - pink
Apricot bed - yellows...?
Sock's bed - red and white?
Extend backyard borders by another metre?
Design a parterre surrounding the rain gauge...
Or a clearing surrounded by shrubs
Rain lilies for the boggy patch
Mangers on fence, plant trailing petunias on the top one
Tame Fluffy's bed
Plant more hen and chickens ferns on the south side of the house
Bait slugs eating the Chatham Island forget-me-not
Create a welcoming entrance into the garden in between house and garage
Garden seat swing on the deck
Or garden patio furniture
Have a secret log seating in the back
More lambs ears for the glaucous rock garden plus succulents
Plant a lavender hedge below the grapevines
have clumps of helichrysum and tall grasses
Create a fernery on the shady side of the garage or a swale
Think of what to grow in front of the fence facing the street, if anything
Plants to grow - bleeding heart, moonflowers, ajuga, cleome, catmint
Read more garden design books
Convince Palmers Planet to employ me...I can't lift compost or gossip over giftware but I can surely advise people buying those expensive spas not to put roses or deciduous trees nearby
Wait for spring flowers to appear....
Thursday, 6 August 2015
I heard it through the grapevine...
I went to Palmers today, had lunch with my friend at the very nice Botanix cafe - and decided I wanted to have grapevines along the north facing chain link fence. I was thinking. That fence is not very nice looking. Maybe I could decorate it? I'd seen a garden that Monty Don had visited that had shells hanging from the fencing. Maybe I could do that, or have some garden art. I already have sweet peas growing along the border. And then I thought, why not have some grapevines? It's sunny, the soil is not very rich, and grapevines do well in poor soil. So I bought two, Albany Surprise and Niagara. I had already taken some cuttings off one we already had and I think they are rooting but I wanted some already about to grow so I planted them today.
I also bought a creeping fig that is going to grow up my brick wall on the south side of the house. I know mum doesn't like ivy, but creeping fig seems alright. I had seen it cover a whole wall in green foliage at McDonalds and thought that looks so cool. So I can have a green house after all. I just bought one, and see if it likes it. Looking at boring brick walls that only an electricity meter is not very inspiring.
Then on the way back home I went to Pak n'Save and bought some pop n'grow anzac poppies, as I thought I needed more for my poppy bed. I know some seedlings are coming up that may be poppies but can't really be sure, I sowed a mixture. I also bought some foxgloves, and put them down the back near the fence in the shade.
I moved the sage to the front rock garden because its foliage is glaucous along with a lambs ear to grow by the steps.
I saw an arch for sale at the mighty dollar shop, its green and painted but I think it won't really fit in my garden. It was $40. I saw the exact same thing selling for over $100 at Palmers. Hmm. I don't know, I kinda think the paint may flake and then it will look kinda awful. Also the tracery doesn't look like it can support many climbers. So there goes my dream of having an arch in my garden.
I saw some hammocks though, not sure how much they were, and need a sturdy hook to hang it from the ceiling. Where could I hang my hammock? We don't really have a covered porch and no tree is large enough.
I have now joined the Palmers rewards club and getting points for my purchases. It is giving Kings Plant Barn a run for their money. Also their cafe is nicer, well when we went there it wasn't so busy, and a lot less noisy than Kings. I wish it wasn't so far away though. Palmers used to be on Lincoln Road but that one closed down a long time ago.
I am also considering extending my borders width wise as they are really too narrow. But I will see how all these flowers fare come spring first. I hope there will be enough for a bouquet or at least a posy.
I also bought a creeping fig that is going to grow up my brick wall on the south side of the house. I know mum doesn't like ivy, but creeping fig seems alright. I had seen it cover a whole wall in green foliage at McDonalds and thought that looks so cool. So I can have a green house after all. I just bought one, and see if it likes it. Looking at boring brick walls that only an electricity meter is not very inspiring.
Then on the way back home I went to Pak n'Save and bought some pop n'grow anzac poppies, as I thought I needed more for my poppy bed. I know some seedlings are coming up that may be poppies but can't really be sure, I sowed a mixture. I also bought some foxgloves, and put them down the back near the fence in the shade.
I moved the sage to the front rock garden because its foliage is glaucous along with a lambs ear to grow by the steps.
I saw an arch for sale at the mighty dollar shop, its green and painted but I think it won't really fit in my garden. It was $40. I saw the exact same thing selling for over $100 at Palmers. Hmm. I don't know, I kinda think the paint may flake and then it will look kinda awful. Also the tracery doesn't look like it can support many climbers. So there goes my dream of having an arch in my garden.
I saw some hammocks though, not sure how much they were, and need a sturdy hook to hang it from the ceiling. Where could I hang my hammock? We don't really have a covered porch and no tree is large enough.
I have now joined the Palmers rewards club and getting points for my purchases. It is giving Kings Plant Barn a run for their money. Also their cafe is nicer, well when we went there it wasn't so busy, and a lot less noisy than Kings. I wish it wasn't so far away though. Palmers used to be on Lincoln Road but that one closed down a long time ago.
I am also considering extending my borders width wise as they are really too narrow. But I will see how all these flowers fare come spring first. I hope there will be enough for a bouquet or at least a posy.
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
RIP Lynn Anderson
I heard Lynn Anderson died! She was the lady who sang 'I never promised you a rose garden'.
I'm a bit sad. Even though all I know of her was she sang that song and did a pretty good cover of 'Top of the World' the Carpenter's tune.
Well, to pay tribute, here is that song with Lynn Anderson looking down on creation.
I don't know if she ever made that rose garden, but I'm sure she'll have plenty of roses her grave. Rest in Peace.
I'm a bit sad. Even though all I know of her was she sang that song and did a pretty good cover of 'Top of the World' the Carpenter's tune.
Well, to pay tribute, here is that song with Lynn Anderson looking down on creation.
I don't know if she ever made that rose garden, but I'm sure she'll have plenty of roses her grave. Rest in Peace.
Monday, 3 August 2015
Kissinghurst
I planted some dahlias in the front beds, white pompom ones for Snowy's bed and pinky white ones in the Chinese Toon bed. There were three lots of tubers in each packet.
I have also found some more hellebores for $5 each (thank you, Warehouse) so they are underneath the apricot tree. They are oriental breed called Lenten Bouquet.
Finally I planted some festuca grass, called Banks Peninsula grass, as I saw them on a roadside bed and I just love the colour, for my rock garden. I moved a trough to the back of the rock garden against the house. I am arranging my plants for a more pleasing effect. I have decided that, I will have a glaucous color scheme for the rock garden...(glaucous is my new word) so most of my plants will be bluish green. This includes olive, metrosideros tahiti, succulents, hens and chickens, borage, carnation and lavender. I will have white alyssum come up through the gaps.
I am planning to visit Ayrlies with my friends in September. I have gotten over my plant envy and think, well, having such a huge garden must be a lot of work to maintain, so, maybe it's just as well. I remember David L Culp's garden where he had a garden seat and never got to sit in it!
I have one more episode to watch of Around the World in 80 Gardens. Monty is going to visit South East Asia. The two most well known gardens in England he had visited were Rousham and Sissinghurst. Rousham is the epitome of Capability Brown landscape garden design complete with magical woodland, follies, sweeping vistas and classical statues. It's a grand manor garden that only the very wealthy aristocrats could afford to create.
Sissinghurt is THE quintessential English country garden. It has everything, garden rooms edged in buxus, set in an old fashioned castle, roses, herbaceous borders, hedging, topiary, pergolas, and randy English people getting it on. (Well, that's what Monty thinks, I'm not sure about the last bit myself, but I suppose so.) The most famous of the different gardens in Sissinghurst is the white garden..where all the herbaceous plants have white flowers. They set the green of the foliage off and give the garden a dreamy, romantic air at night. As white flowers are the most strongly scented, the whole garden is suffused with scent. I think this is lovely.
I think of constructing a lover's garden, with little bowers for romantic rendevous and valentine flowers, like bleeding hearts, love in the mist, love carnations and forget-me-nots. Little topiaries clipped in heart shapes. Jasmine trailing the walls. An ivory tower for Rapunzel, complete with ivy. Rambling roses for Sleeping Beauty. A dovecote for lovebirds. A wishing well to grant one three wishes. A tree to carve ones initials inside a love heart. A Swan Lake that will freeze in winter to become a winter wonderland for ice skating couples. And a balcony with window box full of geraniums for Juliet to look down on Romeo serenading her outside. I will call it 'Kissinghurst'.
I have also found some more hellebores for $5 each (thank you, Warehouse) so they are underneath the apricot tree. They are oriental breed called Lenten Bouquet.
Finally I planted some festuca grass, called Banks Peninsula grass, as I saw them on a roadside bed and I just love the colour, for my rock garden. I moved a trough to the back of the rock garden against the house. I am arranging my plants for a more pleasing effect. I have decided that, I will have a glaucous color scheme for the rock garden...(glaucous is my new word) so most of my plants will be bluish green. This includes olive, metrosideros tahiti, succulents, hens and chickens, borage, carnation and lavender. I will have white alyssum come up through the gaps.
I am planning to visit Ayrlies with my friends in September. I have gotten over my plant envy and think, well, having such a huge garden must be a lot of work to maintain, so, maybe it's just as well. I remember David L Culp's garden where he had a garden seat and never got to sit in it!
I have one more episode to watch of Around the World in 80 Gardens. Monty is going to visit South East Asia. The two most well known gardens in England he had visited were Rousham and Sissinghurst. Rousham is the epitome of Capability Brown landscape garden design complete with magical woodland, follies, sweeping vistas and classical statues. It's a grand manor garden that only the very wealthy aristocrats could afford to create.
Sissinghurt is THE quintessential English country garden. It has everything, garden rooms edged in buxus, set in an old fashioned castle, roses, herbaceous borders, hedging, topiary, pergolas, and randy English people getting it on. (Well, that's what Monty thinks, I'm not sure about the last bit myself, but I suppose so.) The most famous of the different gardens in Sissinghurst is the white garden..where all the herbaceous plants have white flowers. They set the green of the foliage off and give the garden a dreamy, romantic air at night. As white flowers are the most strongly scented, the whole garden is suffused with scent. I think this is lovely.
I think of constructing a lover's garden, with little bowers for romantic rendevous and valentine flowers, like bleeding hearts, love in the mist, love carnations and forget-me-nots. Little topiaries clipped in heart shapes. Jasmine trailing the walls. An ivory tower for Rapunzel, complete with ivy. Rambling roses for Sleeping Beauty. A dovecote for lovebirds. A wishing well to grant one three wishes. A tree to carve ones initials inside a love heart. A Swan Lake that will freeze in winter to become a winter wonderland for ice skating couples. And a balcony with window box full of geraniums for Juliet to look down on Romeo serenading her outside. I will call it 'Kissinghurst'.
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Giant Weta
I found one in the garage today. I let it go. Sorry Prince Charles. You do take ages to reply to emails don't you?
Today was the day for a spot of gardening and tidy up, and it's the first of the month. The sun was shining I decided to plant the Whangarei hibiscus in the front rock garden. I didn't get offered that job, so, this was the only thing I got from Whangarei. Ok Whangarei, you are now on my blacklist.
I won't go back to you again..besides that, I'm not prepared to housesit and keep your pets safe from the local gangs. Even though I'm a westie, that doesn't mean you can take me for granted...
Also I managed to sow some dwarf peas in punnets today, along with zinnea and/or marigolds. I am keeping them under glass on my potting table. I know the garden charts say not to sow anything in August..but what do they know? Winter sowing has its benefits. For example, flowers don't mind the chill and I think they need a bit of deep freeze to get going. Peas are a cool weather crop.
I moved the spider plant to a new location in the tyre tower as it was getting frost bitten, and gave it a clip. It can now dangle gracefully over the tyres instead of being bunched up in the corner where it couldn't even bury its roots. I also moved the spotty succulents to be its companion plant...and to stop the chickens digging it all up again.
I moved the trellis to the sweet peas to climb up. I planted some more garlic that was sprouting in the cupboard.
Balloon flower had turned yellow and then lost its leaves. I hope it grows back again. Frangipani has also shed all its leaves. My sunflowers are being eaten..not sure who the culprit is, I thought it was caterpillars but I couldn't see any sign of them. The leaves are all holey like fruit salad plants. I'm thinking of seeing if I can find a fruit salad plant to grow by the house as I think they are cool. But I've not seen any in the shops.
The next door neighbours cut down their privet, and camellia, and cabbage tree, and now their plot is bare except for a grevillea, a feijoa and a citrus tree. I wonder what they will plant, if anything. Dad says they want to put up a wooden fence along the driveway and replace the chain link one. I guess they sick of looking at our house. I mean it's not the greatest view, I just go out the back door and see their driveway as well.
Ahhh suburbia.
Good news, magnolia is blossoming and the buds are rich pinky red. Dad has been taking lots of photos. Bad news, chickens like digging up the bark mulch and making a mess underneath the tree. Grr. Sometimes having chickens is like having dogs. Digging up things and poo everywhere!
Today was the day for a spot of gardening and tidy up, and it's the first of the month. The sun was shining I decided to plant the Whangarei hibiscus in the front rock garden. I didn't get offered that job, so, this was the only thing I got from Whangarei. Ok Whangarei, you are now on my blacklist.
I won't go back to you again..besides that, I'm not prepared to housesit and keep your pets safe from the local gangs. Even though I'm a westie, that doesn't mean you can take me for granted...
Also I managed to sow some dwarf peas in punnets today, along with zinnea and/or marigolds. I am keeping them under glass on my potting table. I know the garden charts say not to sow anything in August..but what do they know? Winter sowing has its benefits. For example, flowers don't mind the chill and I think they need a bit of deep freeze to get going. Peas are a cool weather crop.
I moved the spider plant to a new location in the tyre tower as it was getting frost bitten, and gave it a clip. It can now dangle gracefully over the tyres instead of being bunched up in the corner where it couldn't even bury its roots. I also moved the spotty succulents to be its companion plant...and to stop the chickens digging it all up again.
I moved the trellis to the sweet peas to climb up. I planted some more garlic that was sprouting in the cupboard.
Balloon flower had turned yellow and then lost its leaves. I hope it grows back again. Frangipani has also shed all its leaves. My sunflowers are being eaten..not sure who the culprit is, I thought it was caterpillars but I couldn't see any sign of them. The leaves are all holey like fruit salad plants. I'm thinking of seeing if I can find a fruit salad plant to grow by the house as I think they are cool. But I've not seen any in the shops.
The next door neighbours cut down their privet, and camellia, and cabbage tree, and now their plot is bare except for a grevillea, a feijoa and a citrus tree. I wonder what they will plant, if anything. Dad says they want to put up a wooden fence along the driveway and replace the chain link one. I guess they sick of looking at our house. I mean it's not the greatest view, I just go out the back door and see their driveway as well.
Ahhh suburbia.
Good news, magnolia is blossoming and the buds are rich pinky red. Dad has been taking lots of photos. Bad news, chickens like digging up the bark mulch and making a mess underneath the tree. Grr. Sometimes having chickens is like having dogs. Digging up things and poo everywhere!
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