Mum gave me some cuttings of goji berry she filched from my brothers place at Epsom. I dug out more creeping buttercup and put them in. I tried to find information on how to grow it but it seems to have been left out of all the gardening books...and what's on the internet is rather scant, google growing goji in nz and come up with people complaining they just up and die. My brother must be doing something right then. However don't know about his gardening practices, because the place at Epsom was bought not built for us, so it came with a garden already.
Over there, the house is framed by a pohutakawa, which presides over many bromeliads, there's a buxus hedge, hydrangea, magnolia, daphne, a prunus of some sort underplanted with japanese anemones and ferns, round the driveway there are more buxus clipped bay trees, clivia, agapanthus, astomerias. At the back there's a jasmine and climbing roses against a fence, a wisteria over a pergola, cannas, and I thought I saw a kauri tucked in the back too. There is a lemon tree, so it's not totally devoid of produce. My brothers have planted some incongruous plants though..what is spiky holly doing by the washing line...and buddha finger, which I am not allowed to touch. And goji berry.
Otherwise it's all very solid middle class villa, with a lawn. My brother said it's like old folks home, but since I now work at old folks homes...that's not quite true. What do old folk like? Camellias are a hot favourite, and colour colour colour. No white flowers. No boring ferns. Plants that get too big they dislike saying they can't see out the window. Everything has to be manageable for them so no big trees as that only reminds them they can't climb them anymore. Natives are a no-no. Heaven forbid if you attempt to plant flax or a cabbage tree at an old folks home. Anything that is bushy is out. It will interfere with their walkers.
Old people like fluffy herbaceous flowering plants like poppies and pansies and roses by the tonne. Granny's bonnets and gazanias, lobelia and alyssum. Geraniums and lavender. Tulips and freesias. Petunias and carnations. Veges like beans, peas and onions. And herbs such as thyme, chives and parsley.
Anyway so goji...is a superfood apparently. According to Kings Plant Barn it is a trendy plant along with blueberries and kale. Mum says she uses the goji leaves and dried berries in soups. It's supposed to be very good for your eyes. Which may be what I need now along with failing a hearing test, without my glasses I would fail an eye test. So I need to be wearing spectacles and earmuffs, and I don't know what next will go in this gardening gig...my sense of smell? My tastebuds?
Found out today that my boss may have cheated on his hearing test, because I was talking to him and he couldn't hear a word I said, and kept saying speak up I can't hear you, whereas I can hear everything he says plus he plays loud rock music in the ute. I was very puzzled at this because the hearing assessor said look away at the wall while I'm doing these noises for you on the computer, and press the button when you hear it. Well it turns out he wasn't looking away so every time a noise was made he just saw the hearing assessor tap the computer and responded straight away. My boss says he didn't know for 30 years that he needed glasses, and whenever he did an eye test he would cheat the eye test by memorizing the letters. What?! Thankfully he now wears glasses but... I'm beginning to think something's up.
Is there a plant that is good for your ears and makes you hear better? I'm hoping there is.
