A HUGE nursery gift voucher to spend!
I have a HUGE nursery gift voucher to spend, and have absolutely no idea what to get. Last night in a dangerous moment of extreme clarity I saw that my garden was full, as far as new plants were concerned.
Full? Eek! This will definitely not do - I am letting down all my compulsive nursery shopping friends.
Autumn Tree Colours
Friday 14th May
Hee hee. In the energised light of day I've thought of the area behind the pond, which could do with more development. I also need memorial trees for three of my dearly departed cats - grey sisters Stumpy and Jerome, and little Mugsy who passed away late last year. This might be a cheeky way of using a gift voucher, but I'm sure my friend (the giver) wouldn't mind.
Oranges and Lemons Rose
Then there are always roses (where to plant them could be a problem) and Phormiums - but surely I've had enough of these, having just planted eleven Cream Delights in the back of the Shrubbery. Ah well - back soon. We'll see what gets stuffed into the Moosey car!
Later, Lunchtime...
Hmm - how about only three bags of horse manure? Everything I saw at the nursery was too expensive. I told myself that it didn't matter - I wasn't paying, I had a gift voucher, I could just buy anything I liked. But this didn't work. Hopeless. So now I'm going outside to check out behind the pond and see if this area needs anything. Being a budget-minded gardener does have its downside...
Much Later...
No nursery inspiration I'm afraid, but I have plenty of progress to report. I have ditched the tomatoes, which have squillions of green fruits and new yellow flowers - you are far too late, you silly plants! The first frost is due. It is also time to say goodbye to the courgettes and a pumpkin which never really got off the ground - poor choice of phrase, that...
Minimus My Little Grey Cat
Again my vegetable garden has been a bit underwhelming - my leeks and parsnips are too skinny, and nobody (except the hens, but I am still sadly chookless) will eat the silver beet. I have saved some beans, though, for next year.
Little Things...
I've done lots of little things. I've potted some Iris pieces and some yellow Alstroemeria, spread manure and mulch on the Agapanthus garden, and thrown out the mint (I grew some in patio pots, but never used any).
Salvia leucantha
My plant collector friend has presented me with two beautiful Salvias, both of which are flowering madly at the moment. I love Salvias for doing that! They are called Salvia midnight, and I've tried to photograph the flowers...
As all great autumn gardening days should, I finished by wandering around with my camera, followed by faithful little Minimus. Again I find some wonderful random roses blooming bravely in the garden borders. Some of the most beautiful fall colours in the trees are quick to fade, so I try and check them each day. I love progressions.
Saturday 15th May
I now have two ideas to help spend my gardening voucher. One is indeed to buy some memorial trees for the orchard - I saw a couple of Cercis trees with green leaves and serious names (one was Oklahoma?) as well as a purple leaf Forest Pansy. I already have one of these beauties in the Dog-Path Garden.
The other is to wait until the new season's roses arrive. Maybe some of the lovely new David Austins will be available this year. New Zealand nurseries stock the old favourites (Graham Thomas, Mary Rose, William Shakespeare) but there's no autumn-winter marketing for any new varieties - and very few seem to turn up here anyway. The so-called 'English' roses grow better here than in the mother-country!
Nursery Trees
Lunchtime...
Hmmm I'm back from my second visit to the nursery, this time with Non-gardening Partner firmly in tow. We looked at trees (he will be planting them and giving them little irrigation drippers). Then I saw a silly, chubby, rubber pot with a lid, made entirely of tyres. I liked it! What would it be for? Who knows!
Late Afternoon...
This strange weather - it's summery warm outside, but I've been busy doing 'getting-ready-for-winter' garden tasks, and now the sun is really low in the sky. I've trimmed back lots of perennials - mainly the large stems of Scrophularia, Echinacea, and bronze fennel which will have seeded everywhere. Oh well - I invited it here in the first place. I've trimmed lots of tussocks, too.
All the Scabious by the Glass-House path's edge have wilted with some ghastly fungal disease - strange, but I've pulled out all the offending plants (easy come, easy go). As I trim something I think back (and forward) to its season of blooming beauty - the aquilegia flowers popping up everywhere in spring, the little red Scrophularia flowers covered with summer bees, and so on. This stops things getting too boring...
+10Little Minimus has been with me, exploring the edge of the water race and getting in the way of my weeding hands. I tried to get Kaya to provide some black cat company, but she's stayed firmly on her armchair by the back door. Kaya doesn't come gardening much...
Head Gardener Hiking
Sunday 16th May
It's drizzling - but we need real rain! At least my new plantings won't suffer from a summer day in late autumn. So today may be a bit grumbly, garden-wise. But...
A Three Day Hike!
Something terribly exciting is happening tomorrow - my friend and I are going on a three day tramp (hike) in the mountains. It's the debut for my new light-woman's pack and boots (and the new Moosey lighter-woman, hee hee).
Packing is the interesting bit - carrying absolutely everything one needs for comfort and safety. My food is already organised, with some boring extra rations (dried packets of noodles and vegetable soup) just in case.
I've bought a new lightweight head-torch. I must remember to take a book to read and a candle for the hut... And a paper journal to write in!
Later...
I think it's raining properly - this is great news for the garden. So I've been busy writing lists for my trip, learning to use the GPS, and doing some web-weeding. And (oops) I've just bought a second hand rustic garden bench - yes, another one - in an online auction. Another oops - hopefully by tomorrow I will have two new garden gnomes (unlike some of their fellow 'auctionees' they are not sitting on toilets).
The Perfect Pot? :- Hee hee - I rather like this pot. It's made entirely of old rubber tyres, and is the perfect size for a shy gardener to hid in...
Now should I buy that big rubber tyres pot with my garden nursery voucher? I've asked Non-Gardening Partner, who says it's 'up to me' and then asks what I want it for. I have tried to explain - it's a bit like getting a garden shed (oops). A garden is more than plants and paths and trees, and it's fun to have accessories here and there. Hmm...
Monday 17th May
We are off on our tramping trip, during which time I'd like it to rain on my garden (but not necessarily on me). Back in three days time. Cheers.
Later That Same Day...
Too much rain was falling, the creeks were all running really high, and it was impossible to see much past one's (wet) nose - so we turned around and drove all the way back home. Very dry and toasty warm, I've just unpacked and am rather happily munching my dried fruit. I feel cautious but sensible - the mountain tracks and huts will still be there next week to enjoy.