Author: Cath
I'm working on transforming around 3 acres of paddock into a garden. I'm only here a couple days a week so the result so far is more like patches of garden.
Our water is rainwater collected off the roof of the hut, the house, and greenhouse, and the power comes from solar panels.
We try to grow enough tomatoes for frozen and bottled purée to last through the year, and enough kumaras (sweet potatoes) and pumpkins. We can generally harvest fresh greens of some sort.
In a Vase on Monday in the Rain
After two perfect days which were more like Autumn than the first days of Winter, today’s Queen’s Birthday holiday started out with rain. It was a nice day to stay a little longer in bed, but eventually I ventured out to take photos from under the awning on the porch.
Iris unguicularis is flowering, which always reminds me of Beverly Nichols who called her a ‘prima donna’. Luckily, (and touch wood) she seems to like me, although I have only one, rather than 20 as he did. From ‘Down the Garden Path’ :
The best of all is the Iris stylosa, (or the Iris unguicularis, if you are feeling high hat). It is a real sky blue . . . not the deep blue of summer, but the brilliant paler blue of a frosty January day. The lower petals have gold patches in their centres, spotted with purple. If you want a finer flower than this in winter, you had better go and lock yourself up in your greenhouse and sing hymns.
Tomatillos to Green Sauce
I saw canned tomatillos in the shop the other day. Aside from the fact they had travelled for miles and were $11.00 a can (!), they grow like weeds, and are so much better fresh. And if you are going to bottle them it makes sense to me to do them as green sauce – ready to make enchiladas or tacos when you open it.
In a Vase on Monday – Abraham Darby and Friends
I started with Abutilon, white and a rich strawberry colour, which have scrambled up into the trees and are flowering madly, but it all wilted before I could get it into the vase. Instead I picked Rose ‘Abraham Darby’ and Erysimum for scent, Penstemon ‘Hidcote Pink’, a few stems of Sisrinchium, Hydrangeas, Tree Dahlias, and a lot of the bright green chrysanthemums which have aged to an attractive orange – pink shading to green – yellow.
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In a Vase on Monday – Roses with Hebes and Dichroa
I picked some Hebes to remind me to plant more of them. At this time where the days are short and flowers are disappearing they are welcome food for bees and other pollinators, which made a *beeline* for the Hebes and Chrysanthemums in the bouquet.
Hebes are a native NZ plant, so they are tough in our environment, growing well in windy sunny places. They do well on a bank, but don’t cope with wet soggy soils or too much shade. There are hundreds of different cultivars – from the little green balls of the tiny Tom Thumb to large shrubs with exuberantly waving branches and long white flowers such as I have picked.
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In a Vase on Monday – Jugful of Sunshine
Mother’s Day this year it seems potted chrysanthemums are back in fashion. Finally, as I have been trying to buy them for years. So I bought five big pots, each of which turned out to be holding five smaller plants. Three different yellows with green centres, a white with green centre, and a pink which contained 2 different pinks.
Absent Gardener 