Spring! It's official...
Yes - it's officially spring. And so much is happening in the garden - the white Camellias, the red rhododendron, the bigger blossom trees - and, of course, patches of brilliant yellow daffodils everywhere. And it's the countdown to my BIG birthday...
Tuesday 1st September
Yippee. The first morning of spring, and I am on a mission. I have three cabbage trees, two peonies, and an unwanted rose (free) called Princess Di to collect, happy results of some online plant trading.
Spring Garden
Hmm... Tra la la... 'On the fifth day of trading, Moosey bought for meeeee
'Five PHeeeeeonix Paaaaaaalms...
(accelerando poco a poco)
Four Topiary Balls
Three Cabbage Trees
Two Peonies
And an unwanted rose called Princess Di...
Doesn't quite rhyme, but I think we get the message. Hee hee - whatever next? It's really windy - please don't blow off all the new blossom while I'm out.
White Camellias Flowering
Later, Lunchtime...
Oh dear me! First I drove to dig out the three Cabbage trees. Oh boy! They were a lot bigger than I was expecting, but luckily their soil was very sandy - after a bit of healthy spade-work I managed to wriggle them out and stuff them into my car. Then I picked up my peonies, buying just a few more varieties - as one does.
No to Gnomes, Yes to Benches
Then I called in at the Op Shop looking for garden gnomes. No luck - but three park benches with wrought iron sides were swiftly slapped with sold stickers. Two of them are sized for a really fat solo person (not me, thank you very much) and one is a traditional two-seater. Wow! They were sooooo cheap. I also bought a cane pot plant holder and a flowery watercolour. All birthday presents to me from me...
By the time I got to pick up Princess Di there just wasn't room (she was a huge rose, with really thick trunks). So I dumped the three monster Cordylines in the wheelbarrow and returned with saw and loppers.
FUN, FUN, FUN
Boy have I had FUN, FUN, FUN! Hopefully I did my digging at the correct address (no-one was home). Hmm... Older lady gardener taken in for questioning regarding theft of large Cabbage trees...
Now it's lunchtime and I'm resting up after all the retail excitement. I've propped the Princess up in the water race with some stones - hopefully she won't float away downstream. After lunch I'll decide what to do first.
Aargh! My New Cordylines
Later...
A low-key afternoon, compared to my uber-soprano morning... I organised more Scabious and Lupin cuttings and potted them up in the glass-house. The wind swirled around, the glass panes rattled - it was quite noisy.
Wednesday 2nd September
Hmm... I've spent all day planting yesterday's manic purchases. The three fat Cordylines are in Rusty the dog's Lavender Garden - I moved lavenders to accommodate them. Big shrubs are difficult to handle (particularly if one has weak-woman's upper arms) but the result is instant magic. All the new peonies are in the Birthday Rose Garden, which I've duly weeded. The Princess Di rose is in the Glass-House garden near the water - I've spared her the dubious company of two spindly Queen Elizabeths...
Spring Daffodils
Now I've retired for the day, content. When plants take ages and ages (absolutely ages) to plant, that usually means that the gardener (me) has dug proper sized holes, firmed them in properly, and shown extreme duty of care. My birthday seed order has arrived in the post, but the sowing thereof will have to wait until tomorrow.
My Birthday Present Strategy
Later this evening my three new park benches will arrive, courtesy of Non-Gardening Partner's trailer. I'm turning them into one of his birthday presents, though they only cost in total $65 - just a wee bit more than the birthday years! Hee hee... Since this is my BIG birthday week I can buy anything that takes my fancy (perhaps not a garden shed), get a family member to give it to me, and call it a present. Sneaky...
White Forget-Me-Not
Thursday 3rd September
Ha! A southerly is creeping slowly up the island. My plans are simple - to find some sunshine, sit, or kneel, or sprawl down, and do some weeding. If I get too bored or any cold rain arrives, I zoom into the glass-house to sow seeds.
Stone Wall :- I love building stone walls. My most recent one sits opposite the Welcome Garden alongside the driveway.
Yesterday I tried my one-woman approach to rolling and shifting a heap of railway sleepers. Blast - some were just too heavy. This is where a new stone wall is being built, to retain and contain a new piece of planted garden. And - you guessed - I need more river stones. As one does...
Late Morning Tea...
+10I've popped inside to record that yes, this sort of weeding - AKA spring weeding - is boring. And to record a humorous if disgraceful 'gardening with pets' event. I was leaning over the water race edge weeding the bank, with Minimus the kitten poking and pottering near my hands. Rusty the dog thought she was a duck. Splash! Oh dear... one drenched kitten. Dear little Minimus, doing wiggly leg arabesques to shake off excess water.
Late Afternoon...
I went back and finished my weeding along the water race. I dug out some small Carexes (Frosted Curls) which were well past their use-by date, and a couple of big green ones. These I will replant in pieces along by my new stone wall. Now - great excitement - I have recorded the overnight 20-20 cricket match (New Zealand playing Sri Lanka) and am going to watch it. Please don't tell me who wins... Yippee! We won!