A year in my garden #5...- (plus the rest)...

General

 

No Gardening this weekend (see below) But I did get a chance to wander around the garden seeing what’s what…That the worst of winter, still to come, doesn’t seem to have registered with the plants as the pictures show – we still have flowers in the garden and those not flowering are getting ready to do so …..EVEN a camellia that had never flowered since we’ve been here, flowered this winter… Small pink flowers lasting barely more than a day ..>I didn’t even get the chance to take a photo ….:O0  

 

This azalia is at the front of the garden .. Now almost in shade the whole day ..

 

Grumpy Old Fart

McD and I work in 'services' professions so tend to be a lot more critical of service we receive in shops, cafe's etc ... But we seem to be spiraling downwards as far as getting reasonable service is concerned ...Shop Staff too busy chatting with friends than serving customers .... McD went into SubWays the other day to have some youngster practically pushing her out of the way as she used a cloth to clean the glass frontage.... To hinder someone trying to buy in a shop !! They have no idea do they .... And to do that to McD - real dumb .............  

 

The garden seat now collecting a covering of moss and lichen on it... I like it as it shows how clean the air is and looks good (to me) ...but will mean a shortened life for the seat itself.

 

Vegetable Garden

 

 

 

Well here is the plan ..The end goal of our vegetable garden.. Of course this doesn’t take into the fact the whole garden is on a slant both north to south and west to east … Plus the fact that the garden is far from rectangular….being narrower at the north end than the south ..Plus the fact that it’s sunken already into the earth with a concrete wall and fence to the north boundary and a clay bank and fence to the west ….

 

 

 

So why are we planting here of all places ???

 

We’ve nowhere else to put it really ……

 

 

 

I’ve already told McD we are to move in two years So I can start it all again – but properly this time :O)  “Oh that will be fun dear” she muttered gratingly through her clenched teeth ………

 

Even in our Winter a climber Rose wants to flower (Note the black spot as we don't spray beside the veggie patch) 

 

The weekend has not been good for gardening …We are now in the grips of winter. It’s cold … Damned cold …Plus we have a 120K gale blowing right off the Antarctic and driving  iced  rain directly at the house ….. And it’s been raining for 24hrs now – Chaos on the roads …And that will just get worse by tomorrow morning …….

 

The white Magnolia prepares to flower

 

It’s effin cold ……..

 

And now we’ve lost Cable connections – which means no internet, TV etc, phones  ……..

 

The Rhododendron prepares to flower

 

 

The only thing I do like it the cool cool clean air that now surrounds us …makes you want to keep on breathing in ………………. 

 

The small flowers of the native Coprosma Robusta will lead to red berries in late spring 

 

So apart from a brisk ½ hour wander about the garden Saturday morning to see what’s what and grab a few photo’s that’s all we’ve done ………Trouble is – we are running out of time to get these raised borders in place……. To complete them all there is a good 8-10 weekends work ahead  ..>depressing isn’t it ….

 

I thought this might be the earliest kowhai flowers this year but found a tree flowering beside the local supermarket....

 

And of course then there’s the rest of the garden to look after ….. Not a hope eh with us going to work in the dark and leaving work in the dark as well ……. So only one thing to do and that was to get a gardener in to keep the rest of the garden going ….. So we hired Jim to come round once a fortnight to weed the yard and front borders…However he is the wrong side of 70 and I'm concerned at his health. I  Just know we are going to come home and find him flat across a border one day having expired from the cold and effort …..

 

the fuscias seem to be happier in the winter shade than the summer sun ...

 

Worse still for all his talk he knows little about the plants we have …. Lilly bulbs we bought at $4-5 a pop left on top of the ground …the same for the Dahlia tubers …All left to the exposure of the recent frosts …… I’ve not looked at them closely but if they all rot now I’m hundreds of dollars out of pocket ……

 

 

 

But still we are too soft to fire him …of course where he has worked is clean and free of weeds … And,  HE might be ME in a few years time ….But at least I will know what to do with bulbs and tubers costing a small fortune …………………………………….

 

 

I hope this means lots of fruit this year ....