It’s been a wet Spring, and this seems to have lengthened the bulb season. Roses are starting to bloom, and we still have a few Narcissi and Freesias, and lots of Iris, Ixia, and Anemones. There is even one last Tulip. The Columbine are just starting, and Lily seedlings are coming up like grass in the humus-ey soil where I’ve retained the bank with old logs.
Dutch Iris are the most accomodating plant I have, I think. No matter how neglected and surrounded by weeds, they send up their waving silvery leaves in Spring, followed by tall clumps of flowers over a long time. But they don’t seem to seed down, so not a plant that wants to take over the world.
I’ve photographed some tamarillos and an orange with them, both fruits which are coming to the end of their seasons. Tiny plums are on the plum trees now and the apples are starting to flower.
It has been a beautiful Autumn weekend. We slept well in the cool night, enjoyed the first Sugar Baby watermelon with grapes and zucchini fritters for lunch, and felt very lucky to be here. Monarch butterflies are floating around and the bees are enjoying the late summer flowers. The vegetable garden is doing as well as can be expected, so I concentrated on planting the first of my bulb orders in this perfect sunny weather.
Continue reading “Bulbs and bionics”
There is a wealth of purple at the moment, in fact there is a wealth of flowers in general now, as the days lengthen quickly and the soil is still wet. I considered a completely royal purple vase, with hints of regal gold, but in the end I really wanted to use the lovely giant yellow ixias, and I absolutely love the little red and yellow columbine Aquilegia canadensis.
Continue reading “In a Vase on Monday – Ixia Giant Yellow with Columbines and Salvia”
It was a busy weekend moving plants to make space for a bigger water tank. So initially I collected flowers from plants which needed to be pruned before moving.
Absent Gardener 