Thursday, January 2, 2014

A Little Sunshine From The Garden...

Hello Dhaaarlings...

Day 2 of the year and things have been a little more settled...
I had a wander about the garden this morning and took a few snaps to share with you...

Given that some of you in the North are experiencing frigidity and a fair share of cold snappyness...
Here's something to warm your cockles...

Some pictures from Prinny's Patch...


Canna Lilly, An old... Very old Yellow Daisy bush that has been trimmed back to within an inch of it's life and shot up like mad with new growth...
A variegated geranium... most of the geraniums grow like weeds here... they are usually as tough as old boots....
There's a baby pink rose in there somewhere that has been overgrown by the Cosmos that were planted back a few months ago.... which are just starting to bloom...



An attempted border planting of Lamb's Ears which are the silvery grey plants that have a velvety touch to their leaves and eventually spike with little mauve bell like flowers... Most of which... have self sown from the original drought surviving clump and I just split and re- planted

Intermingled with Snapdragon, Asters, Aquelegia's, ( which are coming along nicely as they were planted at the same time as the Cosmos) and more Cosmos and Canna's...
There are also some pale pink, hot pink and white geraniums along with climbing and tea roses... And I've popped in a couple of native bushes and a "black eyed susan" daisy creeper that all should fill the gaps left behind from the annuals once they finish... 


blooming Cosmos....


The project for the afternoon... was to dig over and plant out a new home for the Flag Iris... I say a new home as they have up until now lived... well more like existed... in the front yard spending most of their time close to death!
They did well initially with lots of colourful blooms until the lavender bushes that I struck from cuttings and planted along the front fence... did so well as to outgrow and overpower the Iris and block most of the light that the Iris rhizomes need to develop flowers...

They have been really struggling over the past year or so to produce any decent blooms
So I figured that the best solution was to dig them all up and re plant them in a sunnier position in the garden...


The iris sat waiting patiently in a bucket ready to be replanted...

The only thing was.... I was yet to dig a new bed for them.

I decided to try them out along the side garden in the back yard.
It's under a huge... And I mean Huge Gum tree but it gets lots of morning sun and has grown a beautiful show of boarder annuals like pansy, petunia and snapdragons in the past...

So I figured... that with a little bit of digging... some mixing in of compost and chook poo.... and a good watering.... then all would be honky dory and ready to pop the little darlings into their new home... Right?



WRONG!
So very... Very Wrong!
The digging was hard going as the ground has been neglected for so long It was covered in a thick layer (3 inches) of dead gumleaves eucalyptus bark and gumnuts... which had to be raked away before the soil could be turned. I use the term "soil" fairly loosely as it had become so dry that it was like dust and just fell of the shovel when lifted. I persisted and mixed in some pelleted chook poo and a little bit of compost that I had  laying about...
"Looking good" I think to myself... That didn't take that long at all...

Then I decide to give it a watering.

"Great plan Prinny you'll have this knocked over in no time" 

But... The soil has become so dry... it's now Hydrophobic.

The water just pools on the surface and then runs off... It penetrates to less than  half an inch while the soil beneath remains as dry as a Nun's Nasty!

So for the next 2 hrs it became a process of water a patch turn over the dust... water again... Turnover the dust... Water again... turn over the damp dust... you get the picture....
Until I got to the point were the water would soak away into the soil without any further turning...
By this time I was quite knackered... 

So... The iris remain awaiting patiently in their bucket...
I've told them that tomorrow.... once they are all safely planted in their new bed.. will be the first day of the rest of their lives...
Fingers Crossed! 


To be continued.....

16 comments:

  1. Our ground in the UK is the complete opposite... maybe it will penetrate all the way through to Australia!!
    Sx

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    1. Yes.. I belive that things have been a little damper than usual in your parts Miss Scarlet... " Citizens are required to carry floatation device at all times" I believe is the latest edict from the government crisis management depatment....
      Do try to stay high and dry...
      A little moisture has been attempting to fall here... The latent result of "Cyclone Christine" over Northern WA. Sadly by the time it has crossed the country there is less moisture falling from the sky than could be held in a thimble...

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  2. Will there be wetness left by tomorrow ? Maybe it dries so fast - pufff, sandstorm ?

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    1. Mr Mags... this could well be the case, I will venture forth soon and return with pictures to verify your hypothesis or otherwise...

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    2. MJ darling... Are you quite sure it is not Ice melting in your knickers from your recent attempts at writing your name in the snow?
      *passes MJ a nice fluffy warmed towel*

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  3. I was getting moist looking at the flower pix. Sorry.

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  4. Thanks so much, it has just been so grey and nasty here lately, these brought me a little hope for the spring.

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    1. "Hope Springs Eternal" Wallingford.... The skys are grey here too at present but the temperature is warm and balmy high twenties and if anything a little humid. I think that will all change very soon with full wrath of summer heat just around the corner....

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  5. I love what you've done with your garden! The pictures of your garden are fantastic! It's so very lush and colorful and full of life! Very verdant and vibrant! I admire your excellent gardening skills and I applaud your commitment and dedication working hard to make the soil right for the plants. You really do an amazing job of planting and growing such beautiful plants. I am the grim reaper of plants, so I always admire those with talents in growing and tending plants.

    Are those birds of paradise (heliconias), or crab claw flower as I know them, growing in the background?

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    1. thanks for the kind words Mr Eros... The plants that you are refering to in the pictures i think may be the Canna Lilly's. "Bird of Paradise" or Strelitzia does grow in this part of the country tho sadly I do not posess one in my garden. the haliconias are a more tropical plant and given that we are prone to frosts here in the winter do not do well. When i lived in far north Queensland I did have them in my garden and they grew like weeds! I miss them and their stunning shapes an colours...

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  6. P.S. Now, I am curious. That huge eucalyptus tree. Any koalas up there? Tree kangaroos?

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    1. Sorry... there are no Koala's living in my back yard gum tree or Tree Kangaroos... Which I think are pretty rare and are only found in small pockets of rainforrest in the tropical north of the mainland. The nearest tree kangaroo to me is in captivity at the Melbourne Zoo as pert of their breeding program. Regular Kangaroos abound and i often see them when driving through the rural farmland here abouts.

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  7. It's so dreary and miserable here now ...that it warms the heart to see your beautiful garden!

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    1. Thanks Jason and happy new year to you. I am aware that you are in the middle of winter in the northen hemisphere... And it already is sounding like it's going to be a coldie! Stay warm.

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