Spring is definitely here

And the trees at the Otumoetai Railway Gardens are looking fantastic. 

This is what spring looks like in Tauranga, New Zealand!

Absolutely stunning!

Spring is nearly here....

The temperatures are moving just a little, the sun is rising earlier in the mornings and setting later in the evenings and I love it.  I have made a list of jobs that need to be done and have been slowly chipping away at them and progress is being made. 

I have finished pruning the roses and have nearly completed tying them up to the wires. I didn't want to prune them any earlier as I didn't want any new growth to be damaged in the frosts that I knew we would get after the shortest day. They are reasonably new plants and are still in the training period. I am hoping that we have a lovely display of gorgeous scented flowers this season. Most of the roses are down the driveway along the boundary fence, when we moved here there were conifers along there that were crowding out the driveway and were collecting wing mirrors. This year I have chosen new ties for securing the roses and so far I like them, they aren't as noticeable as the black stretchy ties but just disappear among the canes and foliage. Time will tell how they stand up to the weight of the canes and flowers, I don't know yet if I have used enough but I am sure that time will tell. 

I have a thing for scented plants in the garden and that is often the first thing I look for when choosing a variety in a plant. My daphne plant has flowered again and it is just lovely. I love the way that scents can transport you back in time and connect to memories.

The other plant I have been Impressed with has been stock plants, the scent from these catches me every time I walk past them in the garden. They have nearly finished flowering now, so I have cut some and put some in a vase in the living room and have been really enjoying the scent they give. There is nothing like bringing the best of the garden indoors with you.

The petunias are just starting to flower too.

We got some more plastic for the grow house yesterday, this will be my first spring with it built and I am hoping that it makes a huge difference to getting my seedlings started. At the moment it only has plastic at one end and we weren't sure if it would need it on the front, but alas it does as the outdoor heat pump unit sits opposite it and is blowing very cold air straight into it. I am also wanting to make the most of any sunshine that we have to create a lovely warm environment for my seedlings.

It is really pleasant just being outside in the fresh air and sunshine, even if it is for as long as it takes to drink your cuppa and have a walk around the garden. I can't get over how many plants are suddenly coming to life.

What have you noticed coming to life in your garden? Please feel free to share with us all.

Cheers Donna-Maree

Spring is here...

This is a photo of my bed at the allotment which was taken near the end of August. It was a take stock time, looking to see how things were going and what needs to be done to get ready for spring planting.

I had clearly missed some garlic last season and they are growing well. I had also planted some onions which are doing well too. Since this photo was taken I have tidied up the bed, removing anything that I don't want or need any more and weeded it all. I harvested four cabbages which have been shared with family members and we have been enjoying those.

I then put three wheelbarrows of compost on the bed just going around what is still planted. The compost was made on site in the bins for this purpose. I thank everyone who does the work making the compost for us. As gardeners we just fill the appropriate bin with garden waste, and remove it from the one marked as for use now. There are four bins at different stages of composting and the whole system works well. I then liberally coated my bed with sheep pellets which the rain has broken up and I have to say that the bed is looking very good and the produce growing in there at the moment has seen heaps of growth.

Yesterday I took up some leeks and red onions that I had growing in bunches here at home in the garden at the end of the driveway and planted those. These plants will need checking on today as we have been having beautiful sunny days this week and they might need some water plus I always like to check my babies when they go into the garden.

I have been sowing some seeds but will save telling you about that for the next blog.

Until then happy gardening everyone.

Donna-Maree

Hello, it is 2014...

Hi there 

I started working full time during October and was putting in some really long hours up until Christmas - boy does that have a huge impact on everything. As a result of that the gardens got a little neglected. That doesn't mean to say that I haven't been enjoying them at all though over our summer, it does mean that they haven't been as productive as they could have been.

Frangipani flowering - we have never had so many flowers on one stalk before, quite remarkable as this plant got quite a bit of damage when transported to Tauranga from Whangarei last year.

The rhubarb plant that was in earlier photos - well I have harvested two lots of stalks from that plant and it has developed more crowns. I know you shouldn't harvest during the first year however I had no choice - it was absolutely huge. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the plant before the harvesting as I didn't have my camera with me.

The stalks were a lot greener than I thought they should be and googled whether or not they were safe to eat as I didn't want to make my family sick. In warmer temperatures the stalks don't go as red as I remember and we have enjoyed the cooked rhubarb for breakfasts and I still have some in the freezer as there was so much of it. The rhubarb being greener in no way impacted on the flavour.

Here are some photos that I took back in spring showing the trees in blossom. Such a fantastic sight. These are taken at the community garden where I have a plot.

It is nice remembering these photos as summer has now passed and we are definitely seeing signs of autumn. We are still having nice sunny days but the evenings and mornings are definitely crisper.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone.