Spring is on the move...
I think spring is on the move. As soon as my blue spring bulbs pop up the tempo seems to accelerate. Blossom, blossom, more blossom, new blossom - white, pink, and the odd pale green. Some variegated honesty plants now reach nearly to my knees, and the aquilegias are fattening out.
My first seed sowings in the glass-house are up - go, you cute little green things! My roadside daffodils are in full bloom. Later this afternoon I will take heaps and heaps of photographs of all these good things.
Framed in Blossom
Wednesday 17th September
Today, since I have chosen not to go walking up Mount Thomas (naughty), I am required by the laws of pay-back to work consistently all day in the garden. I will be running the hoses and planting the new driveway border, maybe shifting in the Camellia embedded in the lawn (that's where running water will be important). I will be further clearing and creating the pond path. Rusty the dog and I will first go to the river for edging stones.
Yesterday was a bitsy gardening effort. My rubbish fire, when I did light it, wasn't relaxing - the wind kept popping up with teasing gusts. Today I am aiming to be more like that poetic Bunyan snail:
'She goeth softly, but she goeth sure...'
After all that twittering, a list should not be necessary, but just in case...
Things to Do Instead of Hiking up Mount Thomas
- Collect more river stones and horse manure.
- Water and plant driveway border garden.
- Sow next batch of seeds.
- Clear pond path, do edging.
- Burn dry rubbish.
- Take pretty spring photographs.
Seven Hours Later...
I did everything except plant the new shrubs in the driveway. And I have a jolly good reason for that! My gardening friend suggested that I leave the Camellia where it is and make the garden big enough to embrace it. Hee hee. What a good idea! It's a squat, fat shrub, more wide than tall - I think the name is 'Mansize', which is rather odd, unless it's somebody's surname. No man would want to be shaped like this Camellia, trust me!
Red Rhododendron and Honesty
It was good to have fresh eyes and input from my friend. I'm going to take her advice and shift one of the driveway's pink rhododendrons, so I've had the hose soaking it. My next step is to check with NGP as to where the pop-up irrigator is, since they are designed to live in lawns. Naturally, a bigger garden area means an altered planting plan. Not that I have a plan...
Rhododendrons Flowering
Behind the pond I've been axing out tree roots, levelling the path, and building another little stone retaining wall. I've used my pruning saw to remove the weedy waterside grasses. It's taking me ages, but I'm very happy. A beautiful little lilac rhododendron by the pond, called Spring Dance, is flowering, and from where I'm working I can see the brilliant red-flowering Kaponga underneath the Wattle trees.
This is an absolutely, perfectly gorgeous place for a rustic garden shed-retreat, which I haven't forgotten about. I've even suggested to Younger Son of Moosey that he might like to come home to live in it. He reckons that I just want an excuse...
Seven hours is a lot of gardening hours. The day gets rather squashed up - it's almost bed time, yet it feels like I've only just got out of bed. Before the evening meal I'm off to the Moosey Office to fiddle around with my garden calendars. I'm slowly turning them all into new, improved 2009 models. Bit like the Moosey Garden, and its Head Gardener...
Thursday 18th September
Ha! It's the week that the big flowering cherry tree (in the driveway lawn) puffs itself up in blossom. Since I plan to work on the new driveway border today, this is most considerate timing. Hello, you beautiful tree. But wait a moment! Are those are your suckers I've been nipping and digging up in my new garden area?
Driveway Garden Flowering Cherry
Guess what? Hee hee. I'm choosing the driveway border large version, which will scoop around the Mansize Camellia. Much more room for much more plants.
Not So Much Later...
Blast! It's drizzling quite heavily - good for my plants but not so good for my plans. Time for a cup of hot coffee and a rethink.
Raindrops on Daffodils...
Friday 18th September
Good morning to Stumpy the old grey cat who is sitting purring on my lap. There's been such an improvement since she started taking her tablets. Meanwhile Rusty the dog is slumped on his chair, silently watching the Moosey fingers. He knows this is his 'down time', but he's patient. After all, gardeners cannot type forever - can they?
Today is the day I clear, dig, and plant the new driveway border. I'm gathering my gardening thoughts with a hot cup of coffee before I hit the dirt. These details might be a bit mundane, but they allow me to save money! You see, there are enough badly positioned shrubs in various other garden areas which would, I'm sure, love to become part of my new garden.
Rhododendrons - the 'other red rhododendron' in the Wattle Woods cannot compete with Kaponga (my big brilliant red) in colour saturation. A sale rhododendron planted in the Jelly Bean Border has been there for eight years and has never flowered (I'm sure it's a rhododendron - sounds more like a Kalmia from its behaviour).
Cream Delight Flax :- Cream Delight is one of my favourite striped flax hybrids.
Natives - in the gloomy depths of winter, someone really silly (hmm...) rashly planted Hebes amidst the perennials, and unwisely plonked variegated Corokias into the rose garden. A Cream Delight flax languishes in the Honesty patch - honestly(!), why ever did I plant it there? It's far too close to the drive. It's time to gather the troops, turn on the hoses, and do some shrub-recycling!
Recycling Images - Thought for the Day
I love it when the Moosey images are recycled. I love it that my roses might inspire a painter, and other flowers get featured on a sing-along-for-oldies website, and my flaxes pop up in someone's nursery catalogue or poster. The local district council have been putting my photographs of the water race on their official newspaper pages, too (of course they asked).
- 'I love it when the Moosey images are recycled.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
Many of the Moosey cats and dogs have been used in animal health publications - thus even dear old Taj-Dog (whose Almond tree is in blossom) lives on. Charles the merino ram is the latest 'pet' to inspire a sheep portrait artist, and I'm so proud of him - handsome bloke that he is!
It's like recycling without having to let go of anything. And forget money - money doesn't come into it. If anyone feels strongly commercial they get to donate to a charity of their choice - and I get to feel even better! Right. C'mon Rusty, bored house-dog - we have serious work to do. I love the beginning of a new garden.
Four Hours Later...
I've only dug the new garden shape, cleared the weeds, and spread the horse manure. Oops - it's a rather large area, but... I've found three Cream Delight flaxes plonked in silly places nearby - I'm going to move them all, and create a planting theme. Nothing like repetition, repetition, and repetition! Just to confirm that two rhododendrons will be shifted in here tomorrow. The new border and lawn shapes look great.
Driveway Rhododendron
Four hours is OK, though. And I did a lot of thoughtful thinking (I know what I mean) about life and the world. My happiness would be complete if my waterwheel was working, my Hen House was repaired, and I had a garden shed by the pond for Head Gardener summer sleep-overs. And if I could play Albeniz on the piano at the speed the composer intended. And if people 'out there' could learn to nurture, be generous, and organically weed out all violence. Pretty simple, really...