The Clean-Up Continues...
My winter clean-up continues : ferns to trim, roses to prune, the water race edges to weed. And yes, there are gnomes to paint. Yikes! It's 10am. I'm ready for action, but my garden isn't.
It Was a Cold and Frosty Morning...
After a reasonable frost (not a problem) there's bright blue sky and sunshine. But... it's still only two degrees Celsius outside, a bit nippy for me. I've taken the dogs for a brisk walk, but without gloves and hat, so it was a short excursion. I don't think they even noticed the temperature.
Hello Camellias...
It's time to say hello to the Camellias, with beautiful showings of deep and pale pink flowers. The spiky red in the Wattle Woods is just starting to bloom, too. Lots of the shrubs are fat and tall - nice! Their shiny green leaves make for a wonderful contrast. Blink and the flowers turn brown, though.
Deep Pink Camellias
What to do? When in doubt, try and do a bit of everything. So I'm going to sort out my photographs. Lucky I remembered to collect my camera from its hanging place by the pond.
Newly Painted Gnomes
Then I'll start painting the new batch of gnomes. Perhaps some of these chaps would like bright yellow shirts with their purple trousers? The last lot were sooooooo fussy, muttered about pansy colours. Hmm...
Much, Much Later...
I painted the gnomes for an hour, giving the sun a chance to warm up my garden. Mainly in orange, green, and grape purple. Very stylish colours, I reckon.
Then I did nearly five hours of happy winter gardening - of the greatest quality, I might add. I pruned more roses, and collected dry gum leaves for the bonfire. Up it all went. I sloshed down the water race in my frog suit to slice out more coarse Carexes (axe and sharp shovel are required for this). Alas, have lost, or burnt, my kitchen scissors. They are also used to trim my fingernails for piano playing. Oops.
Cheer Up!
Saturday 21st July
Hee hee. This morning I caught Non-Gardening Partner sneakily munching on some chocolate. He is not supposed to do this. As penance I asked him to chain-saw down two scruffy Olive trees. Oh yes - guilt kicked in, and within minutes of arriving home from swimming he'd done it. Brilliant!
I've been working all afternoon in the water race, weeding and clearing the banks near Middle Bridge. Sloshing downstream I found quite a mature patch of gorse seedlings, and a Coprosma which was half-rotten. And lots and lots of self-seeded Carexes - adults, youngsters, in-betweens. I've left a few growing - they are evergreen, and the fresh-leafed juveniles look so pretty.
At the end of the day...
It's a good idea to clean away all the mess at the end of the day, right? But just before dusk big winds started roaring through the gum trees. Too noisy! Then a few small branches clattered down. Too close! I've left the mess for tomorrow.
Phormiums by the Water Race - Winter