Lazy days

Summer is rolling by. Hibiscus are out. My pumpkins/buttercup didn't germinate, so I have resorted to transplantation. I've now got a courgette, bought from the new Te Puna Henderson market.

Mum has got me to plant some kind of purple leaf salvia near the apple trees. She's also got this mystery plant that has baffled me no end trying to identify it. She says the chinese name is 'Teng Chut' or something like that, and I have no idea what that is in English, let alone Latin. Maybe you can help. When I put it into Plant ID site, it gave me such wild guesses as basket plant, hebe, daphne, swan plant, tradescantia, and it's none of those. I hope it's not tradescantia anyway. She says it's a ground cover and the root is used in chinese medicine. Any clue?

The leaves are kinda fleshy but smooth, and the roots seem to be tuberous. There's no smell, and it doesn't flower. 

Aside from driving me nuts, not knowing where to plant it and not willing it to take over and be a noxious weed, I've kind of left it to it's own devices. 

My sister is in quarantine at the moment and escaping on Tuesday. She better count her lucky stars as she's been thoroughly spoiled in the hotel, with way to much food, even whining about not being able to taste our homegrown apricots, so mum made a special trip just so she could drop some off. 

 Now the apricots have finished I think the next fruit will be grapes and apples. 

Karyn's been going on about Syntropic Gardening. I had no idea what is was until last week but I think she might be a convert. Next thing I know she might be on a hippie trip up north to check it all out. So far I've kind of resisted joining the whole Permaculture movement because of all the time, effort and resources required, and heard not a peep from my fellow permies over quarantine, but they must have congratulated themselves for staying homestead  sweet homestead. Those who were lucky or priveliged enough to have a home that is. 

Permies are ok, bu they were kind of on the fringe side of things and if it wasn't so expensive, I would do more of it. I think they were hoping we'd all move to Earthsong or something, and give our free labour to the designer architects of strawbale homes. Weren't they aware of the current housing crisis where if you wanted  a place of your own your best bet was to buy a shipping container? 

Mum thinks that they are good and the ideal home. I don't know if I could get used to living in a kennel. I think its best if I just stay living with her thanks and being annoying. I can't help it that houses are so expensive that nobody can move away from their folks and keep their jobs. And their garden. 

 

The odds

 

First time apricots...and a lone Japanese Iris.

I went through all my plant tags and labels and counted all the ones planted that are still living today, of 165 plants, 88 still live to tell the tale -- that means in my garden a 53% success rate. Or just over half. Ok I am heartened that at least the odds are in my favour and over half the plants are surviving that I planted in the last five years.

But then how to account for losses?? I can't take them back to Mitre 10 or wherever and say please refund me it didn't grow. But I do know not to try again with those plants. I suppose you can't win them all. 

My beans are starting to sprout but seems my buttercups are still taking their sweet time. Mum rescued an anonymous plant from Leyton's place that he'd dumped in the compost, and I could not identify it - maybe it's a weed? She's also got this expensive chinese herb worth thousands of dollars on the black market, so she says, in pots and trays that is ready to be planted out but I'm afraid it may die wherever I plant it as I don't know what it is. She also found some sage/salvia, which is a quite easy plant to grow and transplant but I wasn't too sure about this herb. 

Let's just say even I don't trust my gardening skills if 46% of plants die under my care. If I am like this with plants, which don't even go anywhere, how would I be with children??

Pumpkin Patch

 Inspiration struck and I now have a pumpkin patch in the corner bed near the feijoa. I have made two mounds of compost, with comfrey and lambs ears underneath to provide moisture retaining and fertiliser, scattered a jar of butternut pumpkin seeds, have placed netting and barriers to stop the chicken bulldozer, and have watered and am now waiting for germination.

I'll be adding liquid seaweed/fish fertiliser when things start growing. The kumaras have started settling in and putting out new shoots, and some of my beans have started sprouting. 

All the applemint has been added to the compost although I'm a bit concerned in it's dried state that it won't break down any further although I have chopped it up more and dad has added lawn clippings, the two compost bins are now full again. Even the worm bins are full. I'm trying to be zero waste this year and not put anything into landfill but I do place the weeds with seeds in the bin at times. 

Dad however, cannot be trusted to compost anything other than lawn clippings and I have found to my dismay perfectly good compost material in the rubbish bin. I am tired of fishing out recycling from it as well. It's hard work to educate oldies. Mum was furious when he weeded out the choko vine, we won't be having chokos this year - as we aren't allowed to plant them at Woodside either. I'm not sure what the deal is with planting plants nobody else eats. Surely if it's edible it can be planted? After all mum and I are the only ones that eat the amaranth and garlic chives. If we didn't eat them they'd just get composted.

Due to summer sloth, I haven't had time to actually go to the beach and collect sand and seaweed. The problem is living too far from the beach means we can't just walk there, its actually a mission to get in the car and drive there, and finding parking close by is also a joke when everyone else has the same idea. 

So I have stayed at home and done my beach reading within the safe confines of my bed, with added advantage of shade, and creature comforts close by, including nearby shower, bathtub and  ice cream in the freezer should I decide I need cooling off. Who needs the beach really, when I can just go barefoot on the grass and enjoy the distant breeze and oozing mud tides from the Henderson creek?  

Welcome 2021

Dad took this photo of the lily just opened yesterday, my first flower of the year.  I am recovering from a wasp sting with my hand swollen up like a balloon but otherwise no other new year mishaps to report!

Now that the applemint and spider plants are cleared away, I might possibly have room for more plants. 

Though my drought stricken corner area with the feijoa (Mary's grave and Sock's garden) now needs attention. Though most everything I have tried growing there has failed. I have some scraggly daisies and lambs ears, two abutilons, a manuka and that's it.  

So it can't be any of these plants:

Echinacea

Dahlia

Ponga

Cabbage Tree

Jacaranda

Lemon

Ferns

Nasturtium

Sweet Pea

Poppy

Silverbeet

Hydrangea

Azalea

Clivia

Chinese Toon

Dusty Miller

Licorice Plant

Hardenbergia

Choko

Poppies

Spider Plants

Renga Renga lilies

Ginger plant

I am waiting for inspiration to strike. If the neighbours stop clearing all their trees I wouldn't have to keep changing my garden grrr.