I’m typing this while being deafened by cicadas, and looking out on a rather cloudy day. It has been another sunny week, though we did get little splashes of rain yesterday morning and this morning too. This weekend’s task is mostly tidying up outside. Thanks once again to The Propagator for allowing us to share what is going on in our gardens.
First up, some seeds arrived: little gem lettuce, organic rocket and radish and chioggia beetroot (I’m not a fan of beetroot, but have been told to try these and I have never seen them on sale) for when we get soil for the ‘trough’ and some chilli for indoor growing.
Another agapanthus has invaded our space – just visible below. You can also see the state of the ground and plants in this spot (and why I need to tidy things up a bit).
With the sunny weather, I have been out watering every evening, so my watering can has proved yet again to be my pots best friend.
Next up, I found half a packet left of the ‘night and day’ nasturtiums that came to nothing, so I put a few in this tray, and a few in another pot, and will see what happens.
Round the back of the house, which also needs a good tidy up, I spotted the distinctive orange yellow berries on one of the kawakawa bushes. These are found on female trees in the summer, and have a distinctive shape and colour.
Finally, cyclamen. First up my indoor one, which I cut back around Christmas time, and which is growing lots of leaves but no longer flowering. Any ideas? I did read that they need a rest, so it could be that that is what my plant is doing, sleeping through the summer.
The other cyclamen are I saw in the Botanic Gardens, cyclamen hederifolium. Such a lovely splash of colour near to the duck pond.
So that is all for me for this week. Not much, but I really look forward to seeing what everyone else has been up to. The ivy in the featured image, trailing around a fern, is also at the back of the house.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram@thistleandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com
I have a suspicion your Cyclamen hederifolium picture has been photo-bombed by autumn crocus but hey, they’re all lovely and if I wasn’t so rude I wouldn’t have mentioned it. The indoor cyclamen needs a dry dormant period for summer with very sparing watering and then start watering normally again when it begins to make new growth in autumn.
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Thanks for the advice. I will leave my indoor cyclamen alone. Re the flowers in the gardens….I agree….there was a real mix of things next to the sign.
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Yes – I think you have some lovely autumn crocus there, or colchicums maybe? I like the look of the kawakawa bush. How long has it taken you to learn to identify native species there?
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Oh I am still learning about native species! I have a couple of books, and just ask when lost.
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I do love getting new packets of seed, so much promise!
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It would be hard to misplace the watering can! It’s a great colour! Much better than my dark green one.
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Yes it really stands out!
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Such pretty flowers and new seeds are so inspiring
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The last photo is autumn crocus not cyclamen, but you probably have been told that already! Always a lovely sight to see in autumn. Your garden is looking very lush.
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What a green, gorgeous garden. (I write amidst snowy surroundings) DO you eat those kawakawa berries?
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You can eat them, though I haven’t done so. I think they are supposed to be a diuretic.
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I would have said the same about the crocuses, and I see a few people have already done so. Good luck with the nasturtiums. I planted seeds back in Spring and not one of them survived which I was amazed about because I thought they were very easy plants to grow. Probably our weather was too hot.
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The crocus and cyclamen were all together in the same area…I didn’t pay attention closely enough. Anyway, I agree I thought nasturtiums were very easy to grow to. Maybe we were just unlucky!
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oooh nice – seeds! Reminds me I need to buy some punnets for my vege garden.
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🙂
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