Planting Day

 Well it was a good planting day after all, the sun managed to shine for the time us Riverparkers got stuck in, along with some local board members angling for votes, and the dedicated NZ Biosecurity and Auckland Park Rangers team. 

I noticed the politicians were more into chatting than actual planting though, but I ignored them and got on with the job. Mum came a bit later and helped with the mulching, where the team cleared two huge piles on the verges with four wheel barrows. 

David had around 700 native plants ranging from manuka, harakeke, kowhai, kumarahou, titoki, kahikatea, kawakawa, maitai, mahoe, carex and several others I can't recall off the top of my head. Unfortunately no kauri is being planted since the rangers are still dealing with kauri dieback disease. Those of us who stuck around and braved the light showers to clear the mulch all then had a feed of sausages on the bbq. 

On Thursday, finally at looong last my tiger lily bulbs have arrived, three tiger lilies and three tiger babies. I planted one tiger baby in a pot, two in the front yard, and the three tiger lilies in the back yard near the loquat and under the cabbage tree. They were already sprouting by the time I got them and they said they needed to be planted IMMEDIATELY, so I wasted no time. 

Thankfully we no longer have any marauding chickens around to dig them all up. 

Garden club member Karen and I are planning a flora foraging expedition in spring to use up all our petals to create pretty pictures and mandalas on club night. However, sometimes I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder for floral art. I've come across a lot of philistines who don't appreciate creativity. Oh it looks like a mess. But isn't the point of art to make a mess so you can create something beautiful? 

I just wondered if people have this idea that every single thing has to look perfect ALL the time and disregard the fun of just creating it. JUST FOR FUN. I think people are too judgemental about beauty cos they obviously think they can just buy it with no effort on their part to create it and I'm totally sick of that attitude. Gardens are never made by singing "oh how beautiful" and  sitting around in the shade. 

Right on Rudyard Kipling!

Midwinter Break

 It's now school holidays and I'm indoors while the rain and cold lashes my plants. Mum often rushes around putting the indoor plants outside so they can have rain, but this time I've just kept them inside to stay dry. 

Te Whakatipu Kakano (Raising from Seed) the Bilingual Whanau at school have helped plant hundreds of native plants at Taikato - Riverpark Reserve, on the margins not far from the playground. They did it last Tuesday morning when it was wet and muddy - kudos to them! 

A couple of hundred more plants have been planted by the boat landing ramp further around the reserve. And then we're gearing up for even more planting this Saturday. So please come along if you are in the area and want to get your hands/gloves dirty and make our creek beautiful again.

I did some more planting at school, now the primulas are accompanied by lambs ears, and I plan to sow sweet peas near the climbing rose under the birch tree near the library. Two children snapped up some sprouting chokos, which I also found planted there. Kings Plant Barn gave broad beans, bee pollinating mix and sunflower seeds for me to give away as prizes. The broad beans have been snapped up already. Ranui Community Garden has also given me different packets of seeds they've saved. 

I'm still waiting on the tiger lilies - when will they get here?? 

Last time I checked Vincent still hadn't planted his tulips (chilling in the fridge) or his mondo grass. Mum had been trying to farm me out as garden slave for him claiming he needs help. No he just needs to get his A into G and do it himself. Ha! The thought that I would do someone else's private garden? Next thing she'll be shipping me off to work in some dire permaculture plantation run by rich white men.

Ok I was just kidding about the permaculture plantation bit, but the permies owners don't really FEED their workers do they, or give them any housing? They are just expected to live in their cars or yurts the whole time. Because to have a homestead well, only you are meant to own it all right and employ underlings to help you with the labour....when they could just ask school children to do it. 

Of course, I expect the children to have at least had a free school lunch out of all this exertion. (Note, if you help out at the planting day, I heard there was free sausages). 

This reminds me of the time Kings College employed us gardeners at Bark to plant up their stream because they couldn't get their students to do it. And no they did not give us lunch in their school cafeteria. They only did that when we had a roadshow about the new lawnmowers they had splashed out on to mow all their sports fields. 

Something as simple as feeding your workers so they have energy/reward for hard days work seems a bit lost on most organisations in New Zealand I must say. Or maybe this happens the world over. What do I know? 

Anyway, apart from labour considerations, what other things have been happening. Well, I've managed to harvest a few yacons - so will try yacon smoothie at some stage. And I've moved the cannas now to by the garage. Plus our jonquils have come out, so I've been cutting them. Some daikon radishes that were sown in the community garden have sprouted, and at home, snow peas, though many have now got eaten by birds or was it snails, so I might have to sow more and set traps. Tangelos are ripening.

My new thing to do is to paint Monet's waterlilies and bridge scene by numbers. Garden Planet has been wrapped up for a while. I heard Jacqui was asking whether I was still writing this blog, because she had been a bit lax on writing the Woodside one.  Weren't you doing it everyday? She asked. 

I was like what? Everyday?? If I did write it everyday I would not have any time to do any actual gardening! 

However I must mention that she and Mike are now feeding me mandarins so, I am supposing she would like some labour in return and maybe I could write a few posts on the blog. Huh. I will think about it.