Dates...
Dates are strange. Would time go any slower if the date was hidden away? It's halfway through January, and this measurement immediately sets up a minor Moosey panic. Aargh! Summer is going too quickly!
Friday 15th January
The daylilies don't help (that seems really unfair). I adore the clumps of hybrids I grow, but one day they're absolutely beautiful and just days later - eek! I'm picking off old petals, and there are no more buds - no more colour. It's far too easy to get caught up in some silly digging project and miss the beauty. I think daylilies need compulsory gazing and admiring sessions, for when they're in full flower they are amazing.
Two Favourite Dayliles
Today I am tootling around with my friend - we're swimming, then checking the Charity shops (for garden gnomes, etc.). We'll definitely be eating, and then going back to her garden. She's creating a faun garden - not a colour-themed fawn garden, but rather a little semicircle of plantings which will surround a bronze faun statue. Being a reasonably good friend, I will say the right things - what a lovely plinth! And Agapanthus - so pretty! Dwarf, of course, to keep in scale with the statue - and blue, like the Mediterranean! The faun, a replica of a famous chap from Pompeii, is en route from California. I don't know anyone else who has a famous faun in their garden...
Tabby on a Chair
My New White Cane Seat
Right. I'm back after some serious shopping - I've bought a fat white cane chair for the Cordyline Glade, and I'm about to go outside and do some equally serious gardening. We're getting more stones so I can finish off the Agapanthus wall by the fence-line. I will return and write more only if I have more to write! Seems sensible...
Saturday 16th January
The stone wall by the fence is finished - I worked until close to six o'clock. And then we had a lovely saucy barbecue (with some lovely wild-meat sauce especially made on New Zealand's West Coast). Non-Gardening Partner and I sat in the gathering gloom and we both agreed (well, I think we did) that we are so lucky to live here and have such beautiful surroundings.
It's not only the garden borders - Compassion roses on the pergola, pretty little pansies in the patio pots, the yellow Anthemis daisies are spilling their colour over the distant Shrubbery's stone wall - but it's the trees, and the nicely mown lawns. And, I guess, the shapes of the borders. Not to mention the fabulous ten dollar outdoor table and chairs...
Pansies, Violas, and Fairy Roses
Then I sort of spoilt the mood, uttering the fateful phrase: 'If only the waterwheel could be going in time for the Garden Club's visit'. Going inside to watch the Antiques Roadshow on TV suddenly became terribly urgent. Dear NGP! As soon as he gets one thing right he gets lumbered with another thing to fix...
Dahlia in Middle Garden
Good Rain Forecast
Today the weather forecast isn't all that promising - actually, that's not strictly correct. It's promising rain, and rain is good, as long as it's decent vertical blobby rain. But I suspect it will be drizzly. I have the Hen House Garden and paths to rake, and my freshly shifted Hebes to water properly.
Then and only then can I relax, confident that my first serious list for 2010 has been completed. This is a personal milestone. Then I need to take in (Ha! Hurray for my Shape Up For Life campaign) two favourite apres-gardening shirts on the new sewing machine.
Much, Much Later...
A brilliant day's work - though I didn't make it to the Hen House. I stayed around Car Bridge clearing and weeding, and ended up in the Birthday Rose Garden pulling out the cornflowers. These generous self-seeders have been really beautiful. I love my garden so much. But now it's cold, and I am proudly inside wearing my (slimmer) new apres gardening shirt. It's Esprit, cotton, brand new, cost me two dollars, and reminds me of my very first overseas adventure for which I bought something similar from a rather fancy shop (for a rather fancy price). Memories... That was the time before I really became a gardener, and I went to Sissinghurst by accident...
Black Cat Kaya on the Garden Bench
Back to the here and now - I almost planted my three pots of Elegia, but I need some stones to anchor their planting place by the water. I also almost planted five little variegated Agaves. Those are two of tomorrow's jobs, and I can think overnight if I've chosen the right spots.
Sunday 17th January
It's a very wintry day for mid-summer. What shall I do first? Warm up with a hot cup of tea, cuddle my smooching ginger cat Percy and gently plan my day. Ha! I could organise Non-Gardening Partner. But no! He is working on building the Adirondack chairs for my garden - just one to start with (sounds promising). So I'm afraid it's just me, and it's probably the Hen House Garden.
Dog-Path Garden :- Here is my latest Dog-Path Garden page - it's a story of two seasons.
Shocking! It's later, nearly mid-day and I'm still here, typing and rambling on. But - I've been tidying up the online version of the Dog-Path Garden, putting in more pictures, and trying to make the pages look - well, nicer! But things still have to be honest - I haven't yet stooped to using Photoshop's clone stamp to remove all the brown patches from of my lawns (I'm tempted). So it's time for a hot cup of coffee... My goodness, what a whirlwind morning I'm having!
Well, it's later again, and I have good gardening news. I've cleared the Hen House Gardens and paths. I've weeded in Henworld, and raked gum tree bark off the lawn. I pottered away slowly, no dramas, no grumping, and suddenly (well, after two and a half hours) everything was done. It was so easy! This may be cosmetic trickery, but it has the most magical effect. I MUST do this sort of fluttery gardening immediately before I have visitors. Anyway, it drizzled the whole time, so now I'm clean, dry and warm inside. I'm going to brighten up another of the tour sections on the Moosey website. Am I just a bit garden-obsessed? You bet!