Moosey News : December 2008

Dear Subscriber,

All the best for the month of December, whether you're outside gardening or snug inside dreaming and planning the garden of your dreams. And all the best for the festive Christmas season.

This month's features :

1. The Birthday Rose Garden
2. Hurunui High Country Track
3. Big Bearded Iris Competition 2008
4. Pebble Paving Path
5. Roses Anonymous

Regulars :

6. Plant of the Month : Russell Lupins
7. Animals of the Month : Two Dear Cats - Smoocher and B-Puss
8. Garden Quote : On Gardens Being Finished
9. Garden Gallery : Thumbnails
10. Forum Focus : Life And Work
11. Gardening Advice : Cosmetic Gardening
12. Searching for Moosey : country gardens
13. Coming up this month : Hopefully another great gardening year with lots of hard work, happiness, and love.

This month's features

1. The Birthday Rose Garden

When Daughter of Moosey had her 30th birthday at home, I proudly presented her with the best present ever - her very own rose garden. Five summers later it's the prettiest, fluffiest area in the Moosey Garden...

2. Hurunui High Country Track

The Hurunui High Country Track provided a great hiking experience - a short, energetic break from my garden work.

3. Big Bearded Iris Competition 2008

In New Zealand, November is the big bearded iris month. There's always drama and excitement as different irises shine in different years.

4. Pebble Paving Path

Paths are important in gardens, even little ones - like my new pebble pavers which link a couple of house entrances.

5. Roses Anonymous

Each year in early summer I write an article about having too many roses. Not that I think I have, mind you. This year is the same, but far too many of my newly blooming treasures are anonymous. Hmm...

Regulars

6. Plant of the Month : Russell Lupins

Oops. Russell lupins are lovely and colourful, but huge numbers now colonise the New Zealand braided river systems. So should local gardeners allow them to grow in their gardens?

7. Animals of the Month : Two Cats - Smoocher and B-Puss

Two dearly departed Moosey cats now have memorial trees in the Hazelnut Orchard. Let's hope that further plantings occur slowly, after long and healthy cat-lives.

8. Garden Quote : On Gardens Being Finished

I can't imagine meeting a real gardener who thinks that their garden is finished. I wouldn't believe them, anyway!

9. Garden Gallery : Thumbnails

Oh dear. The Head Gardener has recently discovered the joys of Photoshop (it's a computer programme for working with images). So instead of doing the weeding she's been busy inside making little curved thumbnails...

10. Forum Focus : Life and Work

Forums are all about people, as well as gardens, and we all wish Jack from South Africa the best in his retirement from teaching. Yippee!

11. Gardening Advice : Cosmetic Gardening

A touch of lippy, a pat of face-powder - a quick edge trim, a speed-weed, a flash of a lawn-mower... cosmetic touches certainly make the garden look better.

12. Searching for Moosey : country gardens

country gardens

This topic is rather broad, and obviously the Moosey garden is a country garden anyway. So I've decided to treat the search in a slightly different way. Meet the American magazine called 'Country Gardens' - my latest discovery.

13. Coming up this month : Hopefully another great gardening year with lots of hard work, happiness, and love.

And New Years Resolutions which are bound to be broken, brilliant new garden ideas, silly new garden mistakes...

Cheers,