589 Otaraoa Road, RD43, Waitara 4383, New Zealand
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Tikorangi Notes: March 19, 2010
19 March 2010
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Latest posts:
1) March 19, 2010: The simple purity of Lapageria alba and praise for the Chilean climbers which are almost never without a flower for us.
2) March 19, 2010: Outdoor Classroom on lifting and limbing – aka: a little bit of judicious pruning can make a significant difference.
3) March 19, 2010: In the Taranaki garden this week : With autumn approaching rapidly, we offer advice on garden tasks for the week ahead, including our usual plug for green crops and compost, along with advice on using animal manures.
The growing collection of birds's nests
We have recently started a little collection of birds’ nests here and Mark is regretting that he did not start recording his observations years ago so he could chart the changing materials our feathered garden inhabitants have used over the years. While we try and minimise litter here, it is frankly alarming to see the number of Tuflok labels, plastic ties and budding strips that the birds find to line their nests. They are also stripping the threads of fibreglass from a clear roof here. I was particularly taken by the little chaffinch nest constructed from dried grass and lichen and lined in what looks like dog fur (I did trim our long haired sheltie for summer) but which Mark disappointed me by telling me was in fact the fibrous thread from our tree ferns (pongas). We have been bringing in the abandoned nests we find in good condition and arraying them under cover up the vinous stems of Tecomanthe venusta.
Tikorangi Notes: March 12, 2010
12 March 2010
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Latest posts:
March 12, 2010 The ephemeral delight of Rhodophiala bifida in late summer.
March 12, 2010 Early autumn garden tasks for this week.
March 12, 2010 Who should pay when a garden is uneconomic to run? Transferring the costs of running Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust to the wider public.
The case of the nonconformist sunflower.
The non conformist sunflower
As anybody who has ever grown sunflowers knows, the flowers face the morning sun. All but this one. In a row of sunflowers standing around two metres high, all are obediently lined up to curtsey to the east, bar one which is defiantly facing west. Theories abound. It has a contrary nature. It is a northern hemisphere sunflower, confused by the southern orientation. It was planted back to front. Mark is of the opinion that the other flowers voted it to be the watch flower to ensure there are no ambushes from behind. I just think it wants to be different.
Tikorangi notes 5/3/2010
5 March 2010
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Latest updates
March 5, 2010: In the Taranaki garden this week – from growing buckwheat as a green crop to constructing individual hammocks for metamorphosing monarch caterpillars.
March 5, 2010: Angelica gigas – feeding the bees this week and if they would make some space, it would also feed the butterflies.
March 5, 2010: A step by step pictorial guide to chip budding – the horticultural equivalent of micro surgery.
One country's treasured plants are another country's roadside plants, even weeds
One country’s prized garden plants are another’s roadside wildflowers and weeds. The South African agapanthus grows so easily here that it is regarded as a low value roadside plant bordering on a weed though it must be said it is a real feature up and down the roads of our area in summer. I was completely confused by some English garden visitors one summer who asked what was the giant bluebell which grew everywhere in our area. It wasn’t until I next went out our gate that the penny dropped and I realized they were referring to agapanthus. Mind you, as they also asked about the yellow lacecap hydrangea on our roadsides (which I worked out was wild fennel), I don’t think plant identification was their strong point.
Wind anemones and agapanthus on our road verge
This is a particularly good dark blue agapanthus which grows beside the little row of rustic letterboxes serving the houses here. Being on rural delivery, the flag up on the letterbox is a message to the postman that there is also mail to be collected – yes, in this country, the rural mail service picks up as well as delivers mail to individual properties.
Agapanthus are on the banned list in more northern areas of New Zealand because of their invasive and seeding habits. In our area the giant gunnera (Chilean rhubarb), so prized in cold climates overseas, is on the pest plant list banned from sale and scheduled for eradication – both tinctoria and manicata.
The Japanese anemones (hupehensis var. japonica) make a great roadside planting but are rather too strong and invasive as a garden plant in our conditions. I have a sentimental attachment to these flowers which we know as wind anemones. On the night before our wedding a few decades ago, Mark turned up to see me with an armful of white wind anemones he had gathered on the roadside. How romantic is that?
Categories: Tikorangi, in the garden this week
Abbie Jury, abbiejury.co.nz
Tikorangi notes 26/2/2010
26 February 2010
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February 26, 2010 Monarch caterpillars and butterflies – a safer mid-life obsession than buying a Harley-Davidson.
February 26, 2010 Flowering this week: Justicia carnea (the candlewick bedspread of the plant world).
February 26, 2010 In the Taranaki garden – garden tasks and hints for the coming week.
There are good reasons why we are always green in Taranaki. In this case it was summer rain yesterday morning – around 10cm in a very short space of time. The water disappears nearly as quickly as it arrives and within ninety minutes of taking this photo, the sun was shining again and the flood waters had receded entirely.
Categories: flowering this week, weekly garden guide
Abbie Jury, abbiejury.co.nz
Tikorangi notes 24/2/2010
24 February 2010
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Latest updates
February 24, 2010 A guide to T budding, shown on an apple tree. Outdoor Classroom.
February 23, 2010 The bulbs section of Plants for Sale has been updated with many offerings which are very hard to source in New Zealand.
February 20, 2010 Magnolia Diary 14 – a summer update on the fragrant Michelia alba and magnolias.
February 20, 2010 Flowering this week – Michelia alba again, as published in the Taranaki Daily News.
February 20, 2010 In the Taranaki garden this week. Our weekly diary of garden tasks – from stratifying bulbs to the pros and cons of growing vegetables in raised beds
Summer flowering Crinum moorei in our rimu avenue, February 24, 2010
