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.
Tag: Dahlias
In a Vase on Monday More Lilies and Lovely Hydrangeas
My vases this week are a repeat of the last couple weeks in some ways. Lillies, because they just go on being beautiful and hydrangeas because these fading hydrangeas exactly matched the dusty turquoise at the center of the lily. Dahlias because the Akita Dahlia is finally making a flower that looks like the picture that made me want to order it to begin with, and just because there are lots of them.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday More Lilies and Lovely Hydrangeas”
In a Vase on Monday – Lillies and Tuberose
My lillies are all flowering. I grew them from the seed of a lily that popped up in a plant from a nursery so I’m not sure what they are. They have a light scent, unlike the single Tuberose which has such a strong perfume.
I haven’t grown Tuberose before – it’s growing in rich compost with enough water and sun so has had an easy time.
I finally have Astrantia this year, although it’s quite small, and the variegated ones quickly became un-variagated; it’s probably too shady where I have them.
Also in the vase There are more of the Gladiolus callianthus, a Belladonna Lily, Hydrangeas, Dahlias, Hebes, Jasmine, Trachelospermum jasminoides, Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ and Scented Pelargonium leaves.
Cathy at Rambling in the Garden hosts this meme and and also had the help of the wind in rearranging her flowers this week. Here we are experiencing a bit of turbulence this week as an offshoot of some tropical storms which have luckily largely missed us.
In a Vase on Monday, the big Dahlia
The vase this week is really just one flower, a gigantic Dahlia, with some Cosmos and Artemisa foliage for support and a few Salvia ‘Ember’s Wish’ flowers to echo the colour. The Dahlia had fallen right over and the bloom was at a strange angle so I wrapped some soft green garden wire around it to hold it up. I think this is supposed to be Akita, so I assume that the twisty petals are a result of having fallen over rather than by design.
In a Vase on Monday – all sorts
I actually planned my vase this week, but I didn’t follow the plan, and then my next plan didn’t work out. I was going to make a vase with Magnolia grandiflora. The big white blossoms have been catching my attention with their lemony exotic scent as I’ve walked past. And then I discovered that the first of the Acidantheras were flowering. I’ve been waiting for these for ages. AKA Gladiolus callianthus or Gladiolus murialae these are related to Gladiolus but scented and triangular with a dark purple throat. Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – all sorts”
In a Vase on Monday, Gladiolus
My first gladiolus, quite a bit more salmon coloured than I was expecting, but still pretty. It just goes to show, flowers look different in different places, in bud, and open.
In a Vase on Monday : Lots of Flowers
My Mom arrives from Canada in a day or so, so I have collected lots of flowers for her arrival – Dahlias because she loves them, Sweet Peas because they need to be picked and enjoyed, and Hydrangeas because I couldn’t resist them.
Big pile of compost and other good things
The sun was up at 6:21 this morning and it’s past the neighbour’s place on the next ridge, and is only a few weeks away from the big tree which represents due East to me. It’s a clear pink sunrise with only a few delicate clouds on the horizon, and I have all my favourite and rare things today:
Continue reading “Big pile of compost and other good things”
Sun, starlings, seed potatoes and summer bulbs
It’s a beautiful clear morning and the sun is up at 6:45. Soon we will go on to Daylight Saving. It should be a good day for pumping water up to the top tanks. Lots of sunlight for pumping and lots of water in the lower tanks.
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Frost – and Grevillias, Osmanthus and Macadamia
We have had 3 frosts in a row now, good hard ones, and one a couple weeks ago, which burnt the leaves of my cutting grown hibiscus and plumbago.
The original plants I took the cuttings off are still blooming in the city, so obviously it’s a lot colder here. I’m glad, it will knock back the bugs and kikuyu grass. The weather has been fabulous of course, clear and really warm during the day.
I planted more penstemon Hidcote Pink in the Coral Garden, moved a sucker of Nik’s rose which is a single wine coloured rugosa up to the Mabel garden, and weeded around the Chartreuse de Parme. It usually gets miners lettuce coming up around it, but maybe it was too weedy, or maybe too dry, there’s none I could see.
I found a Margaret Merrill rose almost dead on the driveway, covered with a pile of weeds. I’ve moved it to the new garden on the upper Dorothy path next to an Iceberg, which is still flowering beautifully. This rose is growing on an area where I’ve thrown weeds over the last couple years, and it has made all the difference in improving the soil.
Yesterday I planted some ‘Happy Cherub’ lavender (Stoechas) and Arabian Nights Lavender (English), under the Fig tree at the start of the upper Dorothy path.
Also more Grevillia: Drummer Boy, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and a light green one, rosmarinifolius, which is similar, around the Feijoas on the upper Dorothy path.
I have split up some of the small yellow flowered knifophia and planted them at the start of the Jack path. I will add some more of the burnt Orange, which have just finished flowering.
We also bought another Jack Hum Crabapple and a Golden Hornet. I will move a couple of the accidental cutting grown plums off the driveway and replace them with these. I will add some compost at the same time as the soil is terrible there.
I bought 5 more Kowhai, the coastal one, Chathamica. The others are doing well so far.
A Litchfield Angel rose, which I’m not sure where to plant, and a bunch of Keith Hammet dahlias on sale, Mystic Magic, Mystic Enchantment, and Seeker, which have dark leaves and will go in the nightTime garden along with 2 dark leaved Heuchera – Black Taffeta.
We also bought a Maroochydore Macadamia as a companion for our other unnamed one given to us by a neighbour.
Last but not least, I bought 2 Osmanthus fragrans, which are supposed to smell wonderful in Winter. The are a relative of the olive, and I think the leaves can be used for tea. They look a bit like baby holly trees. They should grow to a shrub or small tree, and need nice soil and moisture – so I’m not quite sure where they are going yet.
Absent Gardener 