Miniature Agapanthus to plant...
The Moosey Dog
Aha! The power (as advised) is off again. I'm off-line, staying home with my thermos of hot coffee and my dog. I have cricket to listen to, piano pieces to play, and ten huge clumps of miniature Agapanthus to plant. I don't need power of the electrical kind to do any of the above!
Thursday 8th March
At first light this morning I sat on the cottage verandah, mentally drooling over the new plants. I've already visualised them in ten different locations, but I must remember my frosty winters. Agapanthus plants certainly don't die, but they look dreadful out in the open mid-winter. So where to plant them? Breaking with the 'first thing that comes into head' tradition, I'm off for a serious garden walk with my dog AND my notebook and pen. I will imagine these as the last Agapanthus ever to join my garden, and plan accordingly. Back soon.
Gerbe Rose
Island Bed Make-Over
Blast! That didn't work. I found five more Agapanthus places just in the Driveway Garden alone, and then feverishly started scribbling down make-over plans for the side of the Island Bed which faces the driveway. Please allow me this tangent.
Two recycled roses in here (which I've now identified as Cecile Brunner) are showing tendencies to climb, and they must come out. A third is climbing and looks a bit like the Gerbe rose, which I already grow - not my most favourite pink climber (sorry). Iris confusa can stay in the middle of this garden - a whole swathe on the edge is to be dug out. A couple of peonies can shift over to be neared the others. They're all still smallish.
Memo to self - this is NOT a suitable place for miniature Agapanthus (winter frost). Sparkling light-bulb thought - space for new roses! Hee hee. Right. I'm going to need some warm gardening clothes, but I can do this serious big dig.
Ellerslie Flower Show No-Show
Oh, by the way, I am not going to the Ellerslie Flower Show (which isn't at Ellerslie, but in my own city of Christchurch). On the TV the 'styly' exhibits just looked far too silly, and the 'planty' ones looked more like a well-stacked nursery shelf than a garden. Flower shows aren't really my sort of thing, though - other gardeners adore them.
Circle Garden :- There's always been a small statue in tiny this garden. Have a peep!
It's now much later, and I'm just finishing my thermos (the power's still off). My digging has been successful. And oh boy am I clever! There's a tiny circle garden around the driveway's flowering cherry tree, in which two clumps of large Agapanthus were growing. Well, I've dug them out, and replanted them in the corner of the Frisbee Garden.
In their place I've popped one divided clump of miniatures. Much more suitable for the scale of this tiny garden. Nice work. And there's so much green in my garden that anything with blue flowers looks absolutely beautiful.
Annual Blue Salvias
I've found a white Lilac and a yellow rose to pop into the cleared side of the Island Bed. Meanwhile my little incinerator is puffing away in the middle of the driveway, burning gum leaves. Oh boy! It's all happening. And the cricket, too, isn't going too badly...
Morning Sun on the Pots
Friday 9th March
Good things - my early morning coffee (decaffeinated) tastes glorious, as does sweet marmalade on toast. My dog loves me (because I am eating toast). I love my garden - it doesn't feel too big today. I'm warm, and the cricket test match has been bubbling along quite nicely (in other words, New Zealand has not yet embarrassed me, most loyal fan).
The power is back on - yippee! Power outages show up one's dependence. After a good day yesterday spent gardening with thermos of hot coffee, I came inside keen to put up my journal and read my mail. No. No power = no modem. I know! I'll do the vacuuming while I wait for the power to come back on. Oh really?
On the Naughty Step
Bad things - I've just put self on the naughty step. I've forgotten a dentist's appointment. Blast! Consoles self. At least I go to a dentist. And I left my book out on the patio table overnight. Heavy dew this morning. Oops. Now I'm leaving it there to dry off in the sun. This is the sensible thing to do, honestly...
Brr. The morning still feels quite cold. Is it too cold to start my gardening day? No point in asking my dog - he gets really morning-bored in the house, unless he's watching me eat toast.
Dog and Kitten
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
First of all I wandered around the garden with the dog and the kitten. Which bit of the garden would whisper quietly to me? Ha! The Koru brick courtyard in the Dog-Path Garden. I love this garden - it is very much a place of peace and tranquillity. The bricks have been officially blessed, and I reckon I can feel this.
The Brick Koru Courtyard
To warm up in the coolish morning I wheeled five barrowfuls of rubbish to the bonfire. The sun soon warmed up, and I took my hand tools, the dog, and the kitten over to the courtyard. I pulled out old magenta Lychnis plants (they've seeded already for me), and all the annoying Libertia. I swept the paths (a courtyard broom hangs in the Pittosporum) and trimmed the roses, while Little Mac the gardening kitten snoozed underneath a tree.
Looking Over to the Water Race
After a short lunch break I went back to collect a bit more rubbish for the bonfire, removing dry piles from underneath the hedge and raking the Hen House Garden paths. Naturally the Hen House Gardens immediately looked wonderful! Cosmetic trickery, freshly-raked paths...
Wet Watery Weeding
My day finished with a spot of jeans-off weeding in the water race, including flashing my puffy weed-killer bottle at the nasty grasses on the dog-path. The gardening shirt got totally wet - being a modest older woman, I hoped there would be no visiting tradespeople. There was some slight cat discord - young Minimus my cottage cat had Little Mac the kitten bailed up on the water's edge, stuck in the middle of the variegated Arondo. I actually told Minimus off! In fact, I clapped my wet hands aggressively and shoo-ed her away. Stern stuff!
Well, my gardening has been a bit like the cricket test match, day 3. It's sort of dribbled on for two solid but rather uneventful sessions. But it's been a grand day.