There's no logic in the gardening mind...
There's no logic in the gardening mind. Yesterday was sunny, so I sat outside for hours and read a rather large book. Today, damp and misty, I'm keen to garden. So, after an hour of seriously snug bed-gardening, I'm about to hit the local nurseries. Yippee!
Spring Azalea
Tuesday 18th August
My purchasing plans involve the following:
- 1. Cordylines and Phormiums
- It's my spiky theme - whenever I clear a new garden I plant a few iconic cabbage trees and flaxes. Why not?
- 2. Roses
- Hee hee. There's always room for new roses.
- 3. Pittosporums
- I must plant some to hide the next-door driveway. The sooner they're planted, the sooner they'll be screening.
- 4. Assorted Shrubs
- I know the varieties which work in my poorer soil. Viburnum Tinus, Photinia, and Corokia all spring to mind. Five dollars each - so no budget problem. Hebes are a little fussier, waterwise.
Later, Mid-Afternoon...
It's gone dark grey outside and is raining quite heavily now - luckily I've planted quite a few of my new plants. The small area by the new Car Bridge is now planted with bits and pieces - Pittosporums (tall-growing lemonwoods), clumps of Vinca, a little Hebe called Red Edge and some flaxes. A small retaining stone wall, to keep the edge of the garden tidy, would look really nice...
Cordyline :- Cordylines or Cabbage trees? In Scotland they're called Cabbage Palms - sounds exotic, and tropical.
I've kept three green Cordylines, two Nandinas (the ones which get red berries), and two squat Pittosporums for the new Hump Garden. Unfortunately I got too wet to keep going. But - hey! At least I got all the plants out of my car! And I've semi-followed my plan. The nursery with the roses was shut.
Right - it's time to clean-up the gardening body, get warm, and make a hot coffee. And change the cat-litter box. Aargh! Geriatric cats and rain...
Wednesday 19th August
Oh dear. Yesterday I 'left' Minimus the gardening kitten where I'd been working - I forgot to call her inside with me. In these situations Minimus (oddly) always stays and waits for me to return. I remembered her about five o'clock, and called. She was absolutely soaked - her fur all punk-spiky as if she'd been 'gelled'. Dear kitten!
Sunny Angel
Sunshine!
Ha! Sunshine! I've stayed home deliberately to garden. First of all Rusty and I are going to the river to get stones for the new stone wall. I loooooove building stone walls! Then I'll do lots of planting, and perhaps have another quick peep at that local roses-and-assorted-plants nursery.
I've just noticed some pots of patio pelargoniums by my terracotta angel which have suffered being out in the winter chill - they urgently need restorative care (and fresh potting mix) in the glass-house. And my angel could do with a scrub...
Lose the Beige...
And to do all these things I need to lose the beige trousers (honestly - only HRH Prince Charles gardens in beige) and put on the grubbies. Using clothing (for example, putting on beige trousers) in order to procrastinate is very sneaky - nice one, Moosey!
Much, Much Later...
- 'Lots of good ideas are old and boring.'
- -Moosey Words of Wisdom.
I am a legend. Not only have I filled up my tiny car twice with stones, and built up the new stone wall with them, but I have planted all my spare plants. This includes the Cornus Alba which I decided should go into the back of the Shrubbery. I planted my three green Cordylines in a triangle. I don't care if this is an old, boring idea - I love triangles! Anyway, lots of good ideas are old and boring. And I've pruned all the roses in the Stables Garden.
So the first Shrubbery extension is now complete - apart from more damp newspaper, compost, and mulch. I am so glad I stayed home today.
Sunshine on Red Cordyline
The sunshine has been brilliant, my dog has been to the river twice, and my cats have enjoyed pottering around with me. Four o'clock and my house rooms are still sunny - it's the march of spring in august. Days get longer, sun gets higher...
Thursday 20th August
Yippee! Another sunny day. I have a plan which involves overuse of the word more. It's simple - more stones for the stone wall and more roses. On the more mundane side there's more burning, more weeding, more clearing in the Hump. Building more paths from the Hump to the front paddock.
Aargh! More Firewood!
Wood For Eggs
Bagging more firewood for my friend with hens. Alas, I am henless, and she is nearly firewoodless, and so we have a good arrangement. But first - some quiet time with my cats and my cup of coffee.
Later...
Aargh! I totally ignored my plan, but I ended up being super-productive weeding and tidying in the Welcome Garden. First impressions, after all! I sawed out two grossly overgrown Hebes, and trimmed a Senecio and a Teucrium - much better. There were no wasps (this was the messy garden where Rusty's dog-nose got him and me into a lot of stinging trouble last summer). And technically this area is the beginning of the Hump. I gardened, catless, until the sun moved away.
Talking of Cats...
But, talking of cats, something amazing happened earlier with that cup of coffee. Tiger the tortoiseshell, who never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever (get the message?) sits on anyone's lap, did just that! I was speechless. She purred and purred with delight at my chin and ear rubs. She wasn't moving. Tiger - I've always wished you'd cuddle more.
A few cat worries, but natural ones - Jerome the old grey upstairs cat is very limpy, with a large lumpy growth at the top of her bad leg (broken and pinned when she was young).
Mugsy the Cat
And Mugsy, with whom I've just had lunch, has lost weight and condition, and her fur is very dull. Mugsy has used up all of her mythical nine lives. As well as her dreadful road accident when young she's been seriously lost four times, flown off the Moosey car as it sped down the road, and had at least two minor strokes, leaving her disorientated and wobbly. I'm thinking that the next vet trip with either of these eighteen-year-old cats will have some inevitability about it. They've both had grand lives, though...