Autumn is here...
Autumn is here, April is almost over, and most of my burnable rubbish has been burnt. Yippee! Those beautiful autumn colours are really firing up my garden, too. And I've started to finalise plans for my Semi-Grand World Garden Tour.
Autumn Over the Water Race
Wednesday 25th April
I worked so hard all weekend, and I am allowed to have days off. Yesterday I played the piano and cleaned up some website borders. Today we are going walking on the Peninsula.
My autumn garden looks gorgeous anyway, without me fussing and bossing it around. Finally I am well-armed for autumn - I have piles of prunings waiting for the shredder, neatly nipped by my new bright red secateurs. The Hazelnut Orchardist caught me using his fancy orange ones - oops, busted!
Autumn Shrubs
Autumn Colours
Leaves are fluttering down every day from my golden trees. The Dogwoods and the Oaks are starting to colour. The lawns are rich green, and still there is much flower colour. Pre-first-frost dahlias are still building buds, many roses are still flowering, and the yellow autumn chrysanthemums by my glasshouse are in bloom.
My sedums, which should have been spectacular, have done their floppy mildew act. Oh well, one can't have everything!
Later...
We are back from walking on the ridge-lines on the Peninsula. There was not a drop of wind to spoil the views. I saw lots of crazy divaricated shrubs, needles pointing inwards, and lots of felled stumps of giant Totara trees, bleached grey as a really old lady's hair. Not me - I'm still a bit blonde. No jokes, please!
Tomorrow I promise to again work hard in my garden. It will probably have to be another burning day. And I need to sort out the gardens around Duck Lawn. Its edges need redigging - just a tiny expansion - and the planting needs to be simplified. With Hebes? They are my favourite plants at the moment!
The Back Fence
There also may be a cat for me to courier to the vet as part of the Trap-Neuter-Return programme I'm helping with. Earlier this week Fluff-Fluff's mother was trapped and neutered - my friend Judith, always positive, reckons there can't be all that many more cats to trap. We'll see! There are possibly three sets of late born kittens which haven't been caught yet. If they grow into little adult cats, then whole problem starts all over again!
Thursday 26th April
So far today I've been swimming and I've biked half the way home. Am I too tired for any energetic gardening? What should I do? Raking up rubbish is tiring for arms. Weeding is tiring for hands. General gardening is usually tiring for all the other general body bits, like knees. Looks like plant purchasing and seed sowing are the only options left.
Rusty the Dog
Bored Dog
Back to the garden. Rusty the Dog ig getting very bored! I've had two whole days off and I feel extremely lethargic. Is it possible that there's not much autumn gardening work left for me to do? Foolish woman! Just put on your gumboots and get out there - you'll find something! How about sawing some Willow tree branches off? Or laying more newspaper and mulch? Or burning? Go on - get going!
My cat-to-vet journey happens tomorrow morning - a large wild ginger tomcat turned up in the trap last night. He is hissing and spitting in his cage in Judith's garage - not a happy chap. Three lucky ginger fluffy kittens were caught, too, - probably some of Fluff-Fluff's brother-sister-cousins. We (the TNR team) are making a difference! We are!
Three Hours Later...
Ha! I did none of the above. Instead I've been digging around Duck Lawn, reshaping the edges of the borders. My chooks have been very nosy, and I've been finding them lots of grass grubs in the soil - yum!
The fantails have been tormenting Rusty the dog, who breaks into dog-moaning as they flit around his head. Being close to other living things suits their lifestyle - they eat insects that people (and dogs) have stirred into flight.
B-Puss in the Tussock
Three gardening cats (Fluff-Fluff, B-Puss and Tiger) have been roaring around having a shrub-climbing competition - there have been a lot of bendy branches. Interesting, the company I keep - garden life is never dull. That's quite enough work for today.
Moosey Pumpkin
Sunday 29th April
Oops. The days zoom past, but they've been rainy days. Today I'm playing and singing in a music concert. My 'job' is to bring some flowers for table decorations - so I'm off outside to hopefully pick lots of autumn roses. More trees are colouring up and more leaves are falling. Nice!
Late Season Vegetable Report
A slight frost has killed off my courgette plants, and two large pumpkins are ready to be harvested. There are beautiful rows of shiny green and red silver beet (winter chook food). Do not be fooled - my vegetable production has been just as disgraceful and random as ever. I never get it right.