Summer Gathering

 I'll be away for about five days on a great kiwi road trip up North...perhaps there will be some gardens along the way? I'm not sure but I've got to trust God will water my garden while I am away, for I doubt Mum will do it.

Here's a list of what's growing at Woodside, so a sneak peak of what we will have to harvest later on -

Courgette

Sweet Corn

Beans

Strawberries

Celery

Kumara

Choko

Asparagus

Tomatoes

Lettuce

Broccoli

Chillies

Capsicum

Silverbeet

Spring Onion

Globe Artichoke

Garlic chives

Goji Berry

Sunflowers

Peas

Rhubarb

Raspberries

Pears

Figs

At home I planted two hippeastrums in pots and some silver dichondra falls in pots. The petunias got eaten by slugs, as did the marigold and the verbena isn't looking that great. Strawflowers I put in spring also mysteriously disappeared, though statice is now showing its face. Otherwise all I need to do is chop and drop for now. Kings have their Boxing Day 30% off all plants sale but that just means they are normal prices because retailers generally mark everything up 50% anyway. And it's the wrong time of year to be establishing anything. 

So I haven't spent my $100 Christmas pay packet. Mum took offence that I called her gift 'my Christmas pay packet' as she'd said I'd done nothing to earn it. She told me I had to hide it away and not spend it. I considered buying a lucky bamboo to put in the Yum Cha Book Restaurant but then I remembered - I don't work there anymore. 

A librarian without a library is like a gardener without a garden. I am not sure what to do now but I will go away and have a think about it, with my box of summer reading National Library books that nobody borrowed from school. 

Seasonal Greetings

Our Christmas Tree

Twin's Gardenias

Rambling roses

We had Christmas day at Epsom (again) under the Pohutakawa tree. Its the main reason I chipped in to buy the place, though my brothers mostly bought it because it was close to the hospital and are now using it as a makeshift Tram Barn. Every year the Pohutakawa blooms around Christmas along with the Christmas lilies, agapanthus and day lilies, and those straggly red astromerias that we can never remove. They did not put up a Christmas tree indoors, why bother when there's a glorious one already decorated outside? 

Vincent's Titanic Gladioli I bought him last year was also in bloom, and there's going to be passionfruit, which had replaced the monster wisteria. This year everyone got hippeastrums (or amarylis) bulbs to plant in the garden, though I was non-plused to learn that Vincent already beat me to it. He also offered the aunties Jasmine climbing plants 'Grand Duke Tuscan' in pots. He'd ordered four of them from Kings Plant Barn and they turned up one morning on our doorstep. Mum missed out on receiving one however because there are five sisters in the family and everyone else got one before she did. Vincent says they don't grow outside, only indoors but where inside has anyone got room?? He's already stuffed the interior of the house with all his antiques and costumes, and kauri tree furniture. I can't count how many dead tree wardrobes he's got full of fur coats (that you can't wear in Auckland). 

Brothers! Leyton's only contribution to the garden is to get a boarder in to mow the lawns while he's away working up north. But at least I can say mum and my efforts to spring tidy the place has been rewarded and the garden is looking sharp. 

Back home I'm still watering Woodside on Mondays. I took home JoAnnes' asparagus fern plant and it's now hanging in the garage on the only hook that's available. I have this nagging feeling that on the last day of school when I took all the plants down off the ceiling for mum to water she did not actually water them all and I have visions of them collapsing and drying up if there is nobody in school to look after them. 

I am still sore about that. But there is nothing I can do. Tinka one of the previous librarians apparently lived right next door to the school and would pop over in the holidays to water and tend her ferns.  I'm not even allowed back in. I had to hand in my keys and drive away, not even looking back. 

Maybe in ten years time, I may return to find the library has become like Where the Wild Things are, and they actually took up my suggestion for a real tree inside instead of a fake one, where the children can indulge their fantasies of swinging from the branches singing 'In the Jungle, the mighty jungle the lion sleeps tonite' or 'Hakuna matata' or that Matariki Macarena song that drives everyone nuts.

Dave Gunson replied to my email notifying him that his cat Mr Muggs is now looking after the library so he organised a parcel of Fancy Feast to be delivered to tide him over otherwise Mr Muggs may resort to eating Pablo the mouse, who lives up in the rafters. 

I was not certain what to do with the flax flowers and cuttings bouquet that the deputy Principal had made for me. I decided to put them in the garden because it felt like a part of me had died. Maybe they will grow, who knows. Two 'Alfalfa' purple Gladioli came up the day of the Poroporoaki (farewell hui) for the Principal so I cut them for her and gave away two African violets, but otherwise, like the garden nanny job, it never pays to get too attached to your charges. 

The last thing I really wanted to do was - go play on the playground, but mum was there and I had to take her home. In the four years I had been at the school I had never set foot on the playground, I was like some straggly wallflower who never got asked to dance, nobody ever thought the librarian was allowed outside of the library, go on the roundabout thingy and spin until she was dizzy. 

I also thought about singing a farewell song,  Alanis Morrisette's You Learn immediately came to mind. But then I remembered she sang 'I recommend...walking around naked in your living room' so I thought...hmm better not. 

 

Lady Ga-den

 School is nearly out, and I'm out too. That is..I may be imagining things, but apparently I am not welcome back at primary school next year as I have graduated and am too smart for it. The children were sad to see me go, but the ones going on to Intermediate want me as their librarian next year. 

This will take some wrangling to do. I have never walked into a school before, and announced that I will be taking over their disused and neglected library. However, I have done the same thing with gardens, and usually it has been appreciated. What can they do, throw books at me?

Anyhow I can't think about that right now. Now the sweet peas have gone to seed, other gaps are appearing in the garden plus it's Monday, watering day for the community garden and I better get cracking before the sun bakes the ground. 

The lychnis I rescued from school have put on quite a show and also are now going to seed so have cut a few down to seed by the back fence. The accounts lady will be looking after the library indoor plants by hanging them outside her office. I have been asked to return the feathery asparagus fern back to JoAnne  and the puppets back to Joyce. I'll be providing refuge for the Holy Family and the Wonky Donkey. 

Mr Muggs will be looking after the library for me. He is the library cat. Mum found him in the op shop and I secretly rescued him for her for $2. He was very happy to be the new kaitiaki of the library and is even has his own picture book, illustrated by Dave Gunson. He is going to be working with the Lucky Pig, who was found on Lincoln Road. The Man Who Ate Lincoln Road would be happy to know there is now a Yum Cha Book Restaurant in Ranui. When that book was published, there were no Yum Cha restaurants except a Chinese one next to Hell's Pizza and Burger Fuel called Nood Les restaurant. Steve Braunias would be happy to know that Valentines is now gone Gagnam Style. The last time he went there, he dined at Valentines ALONE. 

Who dines at Valentine's alone?? It seems crazy journalists do. Perhaps he didn't have much to do that year, though I suggest a new project for Mr Braunias, he go visit all the school libraries in West Auckland, and report on what he finds. 

One of the teachers who hosted our staff Christmas party has goldfish and a fountain in her garden. It's also full of hydrangeas, Japanese maple, hippeastrums and other gorgeous plants from the previous occupant, who was a gardening widow. The property is on a ridge which I now call Teacher's Row since two other staff members also have their homes there. As I am in the valley I don't get a view of the Sky Tower, Warehouse or Fresh choice supermarket, but you can go up to their place and see for miles. 

Anyhow must get to watering those thirsty plants. Jacqui gave me a courgette, which promptly got eaten by snails. However, choko is thriving. 

There's no place like home

 Garden is looking 'da bomb' i.e everything is in bloom...and dad cut the lawn so it's looking perfectly tidy and clipped. I had an attack of hay-fever on windy days when the grass is in flower elsewhere, but my garden is allergy friendly.

I'm compiling a wishlist of plants so Secret Santa has some idea of what to drop by our NEW letterbox we installed this year. 

The shortlist - 

hippeastrums 

dichondra silver falls

dymondia margaretae groundcover

pink orchid cymbidium

cattleya (in bloom)

more catmint edging

purple osteospermum 

blue lobelia

You'd think I'd have enough plants for Australia (or Africa)  but there's always a unique treasure that catches my eye. I could make a long list of all the plants I tried to but couldn't grow in my garden...it doesn't bear thinking about all the ones that didn't survive. 

Good news though, with the studio move and perhaps changes to my job situation next year, I may be able to resume Garden Planet! Fingers crossed my co-host may become available. Karyn's had quite a year too what with her garden being renovated and all. 

The pohutakawas are now in bloom - they'll probably be over by Christmas day but I have some Christmas lilies poking through now. There's still one house in our street that does Christmas lights every year but I don't know if I can sleep and wait for the second coming of Santa Claus with all those lights on. 

Otherwise everything seems ticking along fine. At school the sunflowers have bloomed although they looked a bit pitiful in the thin soil of Ranui. I think a lot of work needs to be done working that clay and cleaning up that area that was full of woolly nightshade and probably a dumping ground for lawn chemicals and roundup spray. I miss Rosemary the gardener and hope she's keeping well. The irises she gave me are now by the driveway and will be coming into bloom next year. 

I'd be making a case for plants in every classroom...something has got to absorb all the carbon dioxide the children are breathing out constantly! However it is near the end of the year so everyone is winding up/wrapping up. It's always a mad rush at the end and yet we always do it every year. Maybe those covid times where we had to stay home were  a blessing after all. After all there's no place like home for the holidays...! 

Garden Club Ramble

 My garden club ladies all came over to my garden last Saturday as the first garden in our member's garden ramble so was really pleased to have them over to visit - I had a busy tidy up before they came of course!

Paula one of the newer members took home some cuttings and it was fun just talking about plants. I didn't know Paula was going to enthuse about the ones that grow like weeds at my place - mugwort, applemint, watsonia... The ladies were also puzzled over dad's weather station. No it wasn't a beehive! I showed them what it had inside - thermometers and that the land was earmarked for recording the weather which was why I can only have a little garden in the backyard and no tall trees. 

Then we went to Bev's place and her garden was just so beautiful a flower and plant lovers paradise. She had a little octagonal gazebo/potting shed full of plants on the shelves and a cosy place to sit, so many hanging baskets, flowers all around many levels from pots to planters to raised beds, some trained up the wall, some trailing to the ground, and no weeds whatsever, they didn't stand a chance! The only thing she complained about was a big melia tree in the backyard that was shading out some of her vege garden but I gave it a hug as I thought it was beautiful and shouldn't be cut down - the vege garden should just be moved to the sunnier spot where the sheds were. 

Garden club members next to the melia.

Bev gifted us some potted colour so I chose a marigold and a verbena that she'd placed under her potted Christmas tree already decorated outside. Yes it is now that time of year. I hadn't even thought of decorating any trees yet. 

Just up the next street was Barbara's place in Wairata Road which had a stunning view of the creek and out to the harbour. Barbara had commandered the land that belonged to the council and had started gardening it so it was all seamless right up to the walking track that leads up to Roberts Road. So many beautiful flowers, carpets of arctosis and healthy stands of lush red cannas, sweet peas, succulents and shrub borders completed the picture. Barbara's house was quite a big home - her late husband was a builder, and so it was all built to take advantage of the site and nestled into the land. His ashes were buried near the vege patch so it's not likely she will ever leave his final resting place. 

One of Barbara's gorgeous hydrangeas - I loved the blue/purple shade on this one.

We had a morning tea and scones and a good chat. Barbara wished us a Merry Christmas on her ukelele which she had been practising and Jeanette won a prize in the raffle - gardening soap!

The final garden in our mini ramble was newcomer Paula's - she'd told hubby to take the dog out for a walk while we humans roamed her patch. Paula's place in Tirimoana is down a long driveway and backs on to a gully where the creek is. She's got many trees and bromeliads, succulents and the prized tall astromerias (I took a tuber) She also has quirky hobbit holes - she's a real plant lover too and we all found something to ooh and ah over. Am so glad Paula decided to join our Garden Club as membership is falling - its the same everywhere I suspect. People don't have time for gardens anymore and its harder and harder to find places with room enough for one. 

Unfortunately it was then that my hayfever decided to make itself known and I had to drop into the pharmacy on the way back for a remedy!

In other news Pat and Sheryl had entered the AHC Flower show. Pat won as per usual!  Karen and I went to gawk at the entries and I adopted some more mini irises. 

Two of the entries I liked were these: 

Sand art mandala

Piano with roses - see entries all lined up in the background

The champion bloom was a bearded iris, and Karen mused that it wouldn't take much for us to enter next year, since we already had experience making mandalas in our floral foraging frenzy, so we shall see!