The morning was so sparkling that I stopped for a photo opportunity while loading the car. It was -3 according to the new thermometer – it almost never gets this cold. In the greenhouse the poblano/ancho chillies are still producing. The lambs seemed happy enough – after weeks of rain and wind sunny and cold is probably preferable.
Continue reading “Spring flowers in a Vase on a chilly Monday”
The Early Cheer and Tazetta type Narcissi are starting to flower and the Hellebores are out as well. It’s amazing that they look so fresh and unblemished when the howling gales and hail have torn half the leaves off the lime trees. The Michelia ‘Bubbles’ is covered with sweet scented flowers which are being torn up as they open so I picked a few buds in the hope they might open indoors. (not yet)
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Narcissi and Hellebores”
It’s over a month to the first official day of Spring, but the very first daffodils and hyacinths and the first muscari are blooming, and in the space of the weekend 3 new little lambs appeared in the field next door.
My tulips are up. I’m especially happy with these because they are the ones which I’ve dug up and chilled each year for the last 3 years. I know this because all the new bulbs are still small leaves, whereas these red ones are all blooming. I think this is because my fridge has glass doors, so they probably had more light than they should have had during the chilling process.
Continue reading “Winter Tulips and Honeysuckle in a Vase on Monday”
While I was busy harvesting Tomatoes and Corn and Kumara the bees were harvesting pollen to feed new bees and nectar for honey to keep them going through the winter. Continue reading “Plants for Bees in Late Summer and Autumn”
This little pink Chrysanthemum is the only one I have been able to find until this year – I’ve just found a yellow one and ordered it. I’m envious of all the lovely Chrysanthemums that seem to be available outside of NZ.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Autumn Roses and Chrysanthemums”
Artichokes, scarlet runner beans, pumpkin, zucchini, tomatillos and other vegetables, herbs, and flowers were full of bees in January.
Scarlet runner beans are so pretty and useful. This year I collected the mature beans to try as dried beans, since they get past it so quickly. The dried beans are very pretty, but I have yet to taste them.
Oregano flowers are extra popular.
Each month I’ve tried to photograph the most popular flowers for bees and bumble bees. Summer was a blur of growing and harvesting which is slowing now so I can post some of them.
Soldier poppies, California poppies and some of the later perennial poppies continued into December and later and were often full of bumble bees which blended so well and buried themselves so deep they often looked like part of the flower.
Salvias, Tithonias, and Dahlias are the stars of the Autumn garden. The bees love them, so I took only a few of the Salvia mexicana and mixed them with purple Salvia officinalis and variegated sage leaves. Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Salvia”
A few unknown Dahlias and a Gertrude Jekyll Rose in a jam jar – we’re going through the new pear and cinnamon jam very quickly.
Absent Gardener 