Back home again, and big plans
It has been a week since I got home, but there have been so many things to do, and in fact I haven't wanted to take photos of my garden until things are just perfect. Isn't that always the case? I did do a tiny bit of gardening - I planted out a herb pot for my daughters windowsill and so far things are doing well there.
I tried out my new camera overseas and will just tease you a little with some photos of other flowers I looked at while away --- oh how sad, I said I would never do that! Only my hard labour on this blog! Just a tease though - we will call them guest flowers.
I found that while sitting in the swing with my dear hubby (who did such a great job of keeping everything alive and flourishing) I was already thinking about ripping out the heleconias and putting some sort of lower edging plant so that the crotons behind them can be seen. Then the area next to the swing will have some work done on it at the beginning of the wet season. Hopefully the Hippeastrums will flower and then I can move them soon afterwards, or give them away, as I have too many. I want that area to be just rocks and bromeliads. It is really my only area of full sun... so am I doing the right thing? Will the sun be too intense for the bromeliads? I think not - they seem to have brighter colours in full sun.
No worries mate -
I am back in Australia and can pose all these questions on my blog! It is like having a great big family of garden advisers and supporters. I missed you guys!
So my plan for the next couple of months is to fine tune the garden. Now that everything has been there for a year I can see
1. what dies down in the dry season (quite a lot of the gingers, the turmeric ) leaving empty spaces.
2. what has grown higher than I thought it would, or spread into a bigger area than I had anticipated. (my Lady Di Heleconias, for one! the impatients for another) crowding out other plants - should they be moved or the other plants contained and cut back?
3. my passion fruit vine has died off, leaving the whole are looking awful. where do I plant the next one so that as it dies it doesn't ruin the look of the rest of the garden?
4. my pigeon peas had flowers but never produced peas. don't I have enough pollinators or what was the reason that they didn't produce? I liked the way they grew in a line and provided support for other climbing plants. I also liked the shade that they provided, so will plant them again, but where?
5. everyone suggested growing eggplant in pots to prevent blight, and yet my plants in pots never did well, the other eggplant are producing nicely, why?
OK that is enough reflection for now, I have tied back the cherry tomatoes that are starting to produce well, and this weekend I hope to put in some vegetable seeds, Snow peas to climb the pigeon pea trellis..... it has cooled down a bit so the timing should be perfect. Then another go at the gemsquash and some bok choy and lettuce as the others have gone to seed. So back my fingers go into the dirt... aaah.
I tried out my new camera overseas and will just tease you a little with some photos of other flowers I looked at while away --- oh how sad, I said I would never do that! Only my hard labour on this blog! Just a tease though - we will call them guest flowers.
I found that while sitting in the swing with my dear hubby (who did such a great job of keeping everything alive and flourishing) I was already thinking about ripping out the heleconias and putting some sort of lower edging plant so that the crotons behind them can be seen. Then the area next to the swing will have some work done on it at the beginning of the wet season. Hopefully the Hippeastrums will flower and then I can move them soon afterwards, or give them away, as I have too many. I want that area to be just rocks and bromeliads. It is really my only area of full sun... so am I doing the right thing? Will the sun be too intense for the bromeliads? I think not - they seem to have brighter colours in full sun.
No worries mate -
I am back in Australia and can pose all these questions on my blog! It is like having a great big family of garden advisers and supporters. I missed you guys!
So my plan for the next couple of months is to fine tune the garden. Now that everything has been there for a year I can see
1. what dies down in the dry season (quite a lot of the gingers, the turmeric ) leaving empty spaces.
2. what has grown higher than I thought it would, or spread into a bigger area than I had anticipated. (my Lady Di Heleconias, for one! the impatients for another) crowding out other plants - should they be moved or the other plants contained and cut back?
3. my passion fruit vine has died off, leaving the whole are looking awful. where do I plant the next one so that as it dies it doesn't ruin the look of the rest of the garden?
4. my pigeon peas had flowers but never produced peas. don't I have enough pollinators or what was the reason that they didn't produce? I liked the way they grew in a line and provided support for other climbing plants. I also liked the shade that they provided, so will plant them again, but where?
5. everyone suggested growing eggplant in pots to prevent blight, and yet my plants in pots never did well, the other eggplant are producing nicely, why?
OK that is enough reflection for now, I have tied back the cherry tomatoes that are starting to produce well, and this weekend I hope to put in some vegetable seeds, Snow peas to climb the pigeon pea trellis..... it has cooled down a bit so the timing should be perfect. Then another go at the gemsquash and some bok choy and lettuce as the others have gone to seed. So back my fingers go into the dirt... aaah.
Welcome home. You were lucky to have Mr look after the garden while you were away. Nothing like a break to give you more incentive to redesign.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Hope that you had a great time with your daughters. Wow, the pictures with your new camera look great.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back. Love your guest flowers, especially the water lilies. Is that big pink flower at the top Brugmansia? -
ReplyDeleteI can relate!! I just got back to my garden after a long time away, and really it is not picture-worthy yet ;) We are in heavy rainy season here, guess we are opposite. have fun in the sun for me!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'd love to have some of your "too many" hippeastrums!!! I do love bromelaids, though. I've had some burn in the sun, especially during the dry season, or maybe it was lack of humidity (?). I moved them to the shade, and they recovered pretty quickly. A few do well in full sun, though. 'Lady Di' is my favorite heliconia! Such beautiful colors!
ReplyDeleteYour teasers are beautiful! Love that reflection of the water lily.
Thanks everyone for the welcome back comments! I still havn't taken any photos - aching all over from a weekend cutting things back and planting some more veggies in the veggie patch! By the time I thoguht of getting out the camera I was too tired. Interesting comments Floridagirl, it is really only morning sun, so think it will be a good spot. Those Lady Di might have to go - the roots are everywhere!
ReplyDeleteNice to have you back! Love your guest flowers. Sounds like your going to be very busy.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back!!! Hope you had a great time!!! So happy your home safely!!! Sounds like everything is growing nicely, and your photos are fantastic! Love the water lilies!
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with your new posts ... lovely photos. Sounds like those heliconias have to go ... and I'm sure your broms will survive if they're just getting morning sun. I like the idea of the rock garden filled with broms ... they're such magnificent plants.
ReplyDeleteYou've got a bit to think about ... can't really help much with the passion fruit vine or the pigeon peas as I've had no experience growing either. Maybe some of the impatiens could go where the gingers die down during the winter?
Welcome back.... better late than never!
ReplyDelete