Delicious scents....

I just love delicious scents both in my home and in my garden...

Here is the daphne bush that was in an earlier post at beginning of July - boy has it grown and the flowers are plentiful and smell delicious. It has definitely been worth the wait to see this plant flowering.

We have had several days of continual rain and wind and with the sun shining today it is a perfect opportunity to be outside letting the sunshine and fresh air invigorate everything while giving us the opportunity to take stock of how things are doing.

This hyacinth is filling the kitchen and living room with its beautiful scent. These are bulbs that I bought last year and I have done absolutely nothing to them since then apart from bring them inside when I saw that they were starting to flower.

I finally pruned our standard roses this morning, I have been looking at them and wanting to do it for a few weeks, so it is now done. I will have a tidy up in the garden beds around them and feed them. There are three standards and the one in the middle isn't doing as well as the other two, I suspect due to there being less plants around the base of that one which means that the roots are more exposed to the sun and the wind - and possibly the cats. I have some annuals that I will plant around it to give it a little more protection and see how much of a difference that makes.

Until next time - happy gardening everyone 

Donna-Maree

Daphne

Wow my daphne is flowering - I have been watching the buds as they get bigger and bigger. The smell is just glorious. I haven't had a daphne bush since we left the Waikato in 2001. I purchased the plant last winter and have been waiting patiently for it to do its thing.

Hope you are managing to stay warm and dry in our awesome winter weather. How is the planning for your spring garden going? I am starting to think about what I am wanting to plant this coming spring and summer.

Please leave a comment as I love getting your feedback.

Cheers Donna-Maree

Anticipating spring...

I haven't been down to the allotment much at all for a while and while I feel guilty life can be like that sometimes. I visited today and was the only one there for a while and I enjoyed getting the garden back under control and seeing how everything is doing.

I came home with a few potatoes that I had thrown in the plot a while ago, one Kumara, beetroot and a broccoli, better than returning empty handed. I did have to shelter under the shed verandah through one shower of rain, but that just gave me a chance to catch up with Percy and check out information that I need for the up and coming garden ramble.

I really miss my mums gardening ability and the resulting yummy smelling flowers and I have taken to buying some spring cheer to brighten our home.

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.

Plot update...

We had a lot of very heavy rain last night and thought that I would check on my plot down at the allotment this morning. There was nobody there so I had the luxury of having the place to myself. I find being in the garden an excellent time for contemplation and although I enjoy the company of others at the allotment - sometimes it is nice to be able to let your thoughts go where they ought.

Everything has grown so much and I was surprised at the amount of growth, as it hasn't been that long since I had been last.

My rhubarb is doing better and is growing well now.

Pea pods are developing well.

Broccoli heads are developing.

Cabbage heads are developing too.

Beetroot are getting there.

You can see the garlic greens now.

The carrots look like they will need thinning soon.

Broad beans are flowering too.

I mulched with shredded paper today.

The other side.

I am going to have to start thinking about what the succession of planting is going to be, as I will be harvesting some of this very soon and will need to fill the space.

Until next time happy gardening everyone and please feel free to leave a comment.

Quick visit to Hamilton Gardens

My daughter and I did a day trip to Hamilton and while there visited the Hamilton Gardens. I absolutely love the Hamilton Gardens and it has been a long while since I have been there.

It was at the Hamilton Gardens that I did Landscaping papers at what was Waikato Polytechnic and we walked around the gardens just about every day learning and identifying a huge range of plants and their uses. It has lots of good memories for me and is somewhere where I definitely feel at home. The peace and tranquility along with the inspiration, as well as the smells is what also makes it so special. The fact that it was Georgia that was with me this time was also poignant as I was expecting her when doing the last of my classes and exams.

While the gardens are definitely in their winter mode, it is a fantastic time to see the structure that each garden has, and how it holds the garden together especially without the prettiness and abundance of leaves and flowers.

Just a few of the photos that I took but these show the variety of inspiration that there is here. I love the way that the gardens are laid out and how they interconnect but have their own definite boundaries. You are constantly drawn through into the next area with peek-a-boo vistas that entice you on.

I will share more photos in the next couple of posts as there are too many for one, plus I want to talk about some of the photos in greater detail, especially the sustainable and kitchen gardens. We didn't get around all of the gardens, but I am planning to return soon and to continue my exploring and seeing what has changed at the gardens since my days there.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone. 

Ponderings...

I brought home some lettuce from the allotment  the other day and we had a lovely salad with our dinner. I love eating out the garden and that is what gardening is all about for me. Knowing where our food has come from and having more control over how it is grown and what has and hasn't been put on it.

Two conversations the other day have had me thinking and although both of them were very short, they did give me food for thought.

The first one was with Percy about the garlic he had sown and how much it had grown. He commented that his garlic at home hasn't grown as much as the garlic at the allotment. He went on to say that the garlic at the allotment gets more sun than the garlic growing at home. I have been thinking about that and how the growing conditions can change in different locations, even on the same property especially at different times of the year. Although sometimes we have to accept that with small sections that plants don't always get the sun they need for quick growth, we can also make this work for us and create small micro-climates for growing special things that need more protection than being out in the open. This is where being involved in something like Lets get Growing is excellent as we have options for growing things in different locations.

The second conversation was about mulching. If you can't tell by the photos I love mulch - I use whatever I have i.e. lawn-clippings, paper shredding, pea straw.  The kitchen beds at our Whangarei property are about 2 1/2 years old now and when I was working in them just over a week ago I couldn't help but notice the improvement in the soil and the amount of worms - clear results of mulching. There weren't too many weeds either, compared to what I thought there would be for the amount of time that the gardens haven't had any attention. I love the way it keeps moisture in and stops the soiling of the plants and that it before we get into the benefits of mulch on the make up of the soil and the nutrients to the plants.

These conversations then led me onto thinking about the type of gardener that I am and I was reflecting on my plot at the allotment and although there is some clear order with things planted in rows, I also do plant where there is space and like filling up space with plants. I work on the theory that if I don't, nature will with weeds. I have a small space and want to grow lots - so planting wherever there is room seems the natural thing to do for me. I can see that some gardeners struggle with this concept, not that anyone has said anything but you can tell if you are observant.

Until next time, happy gardening everyone.