blue and purple

After three weeks of looking at lush tropical greens, it is wonderful to return to the blue and purple in my garden.  The deep blue bearded iris is outstanding and as I have planted them in different parts of the garden it is providing the colours to contrast the white blossoms of the Manchurian pear.  Different coloured hyacinths have opened up but this purplish mauve one looks stunning.  I have left the hardenbergia in a pot, allowing it to climb on a support.  Then there is the masses of violets.  At the moment I don't mind its invasive nature as I am seeing the cheerful flowers all over the garden. Once the flowering stops in summer I will thin out the different patches.

Harvesting the yacon tuber

I harvested the yacon tuber eventually, even though the plants (3 clumps in different parts of the garden) are nothing more than dead leaves and shrivelled up stems.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the size of the tubers.  The second picture shows the yacon in summer.  By autumn the plants were over half a metre tall and showing splendid display of leaves.  This year none of the clumps produced the sunflower like flowers.  I attributed the size of the tubers to the compost dug into the ground, before planting.
The yacon came from South America and I have yet to see the plant in nursery.  I was given some tubers many years ago, and this has been my best harvest so far.  Check out http://www.culture-wise.com for the March 2008 Ingredients page on yacon.  Even if you don't care for the tubers, (delicious steamed, baked or raw), the plant makes an attractive bush in the garden.

water chestnut

About a month ago I harvested the water chestnut.  I should have done that as soon as the leaves started to die and avoided losing some of the corms.  The pots had stayed in the water too long and some of the corms rotted away.  I managed to salvage what was left and had some to eat and other to replant.  I should have taken the pots out of the water when the leaves started to go yellow and to harvest when the leaves die.  I have planted the corms but they will remain out of the water until I see some shoots appearing.  I hope to get bigger corms in the next harvest, that is if this lot will sprout.
The water cress is doing well and I must look at dividing the big clump.  The leaves are delicious in salad or in a sandwich and if you are tired of parsley, the curled leaves of the water cress make a pretty garnish.
The garden is looking a bit bare and I have to think about spraying the peach trees to stop leaf curl but when I am ready the wind is too strong or it is raining.  I am not complaining about the rain.  I don't have to get up at six in the morning to water the garden but I am checking the pot planys as the wind do dry the soil pretty quickly.  I am watering the pot plants, (especially the ranunculus), with sea weed solution to help them along.  The vegetables too are being fed.  I have been harvesting snow peas and brocolli and of course, the rainbow chards and silver beets are doing so well.  The Chinese mustard green is sprouting all over the place so those not picked for the kitchen are thrown into the compost bin.  I always make sure I have a couple of the Chinese mustard go to seeds so I do not run out of this slightly bitter vegetable.  I bought the seeds over twenty years ago and from that packet of seeds I have passed on seedlings to other gardeners, over the years.  If you think you do not have a green thumb try growing the mustard green.

This is a very mature mustard green, much too bitter for consumption.

The dandelion flower and leaves are fine to eat but I am not sure about the oxalis.  A patch of my outside garden has been taken over by the oxalis.  I pull them out and squash the nuts or corms and hopefully I can reduce the weed in this way.  Digging up the ground only encourage more growth.  I can put up with them in the lawn but they are a nuisance in pots and amongst the vegetables. For non-gardeners the sight of the yellow flowers in the lawn must be better than no flowers at all.  Children do love the flowers so we cannot condemn the poor weed.

tree dahlia and cyclamen

When I bought the tree dahlia tuber from the Kew garden club almost a year ago I had no idea of the colour and I did not really care.  The mauve tree dahlia cutting from my previous garden had managed to die in the process of moving.  I love the tree dahlia for its gigantic stature.  In autumn and late winter I see the clusters of flowers way above the fence.  It did not take long for the tuber to send up gangly stems well above the fence top.  The flowers are a pleasant surprise as they turn out to be double flowered in pristine white.  The look magnificent against the blue sky. The main problem with the tree dahlia is the easily breakable stem.  After the storm last week I found three stems down.  The flowers are beautiful in a vase but I do prefer them out there, swaying in the breeze.  When the flowers have dies down I shall prune the tree and I will be taking cuttings.  While the stems may strike quite easily, the biggest problem is keeping the shoots safe from snails.  When the shoots have achieved a safe height, the dahlia will send out five or six stems to form a clump.  It is advisable to tie the stems to a stake to avoid losing them in a storm.  In the early stages of growth it is important not to let the plant dry out.  Dividing the tubers may be a safer way of propagating.

Down at ground level and in various pots I have a collection of cyclamens.  Over the years I have been given pots of cyclamens which have managed to multiply.  I have the pots in the garden and each year the corms would send out new leaves and flowers.  In some pots I sometime find tiny baby cyclamens that have grown from seeds.  These I transfer to other pots.  To avoid having too many pots of cylamens I have planted a few of them in one big pot, ensuring a longer lasting flowering season as the different plants take turns showing off their blooms.

soaking wet

It has been raining since last night and I am not complaining.  There is no need to water the garden for at least a week, I hope.  There are spots in the garden that are not quite wet and I know this when I am digging to put in new plants.  These areas I would have to water by hand.  My violets must be loving the rain.  They are beginning to bloom and I hope to be able to pick the flowers for the house.  A small vase of violets can brighten up a gloomy, wintry day.  I have been spreading the violets in semi shady areas since late summer. Those too exposed to the sun had withered and I know not to replant the violets in those areas.  They enjoy dappled sunlight and they look brilliant when the sun's rays fall on them.  I usually have my vase of violets near a window to bring out the gem like quality in the sunshine.
Violets spread easily and can be a nuisance but they are easy to pull out to feed the compost bin.  From now till late spring they will be flowering.  Teach your children or grandchildren to pick the flowers if you find kneeling impossible.  I help the violet patch along with the occasional seaweed watering. 

My one capsicum plant and numerous chilli bushes are laden with green fruits.  I hope they will eventually ripen.  From past experience I know they will take their time ripening during these cold dull days.  I can use them green but they are at their best when fully ripened.  To enjoy chillies you need the fire in them.  They will shrivel up in the cold but will send up fresh shoots when it warms up in spring.  I wait till mid winter brfore pruning my chilli bushes and that is the time when I will pick the last of the unripe fruits.  They will go into my pickles or curries, usually looking pale, without the fire in them.

cumquat and other citrus

In spring almost two years ago I planted the spindly cumquat tree in view of the house.  I imagined the plant to be fuller, sagging with golden fruits and a pleasure to view from the house.  It is still spindly but the thin branches are sagging with golden fruits. I used to make marmalade and pickles from the cumquat in my previous garden but these fruits will remain on the tree to add colour to the garden.
My lime and lemon tree have fruit buds but I don't know if I'll be getting any fruits at all as they seem to drop off after reaching pea size.  The leaves look healthy and I wonder if there are grubs gnawing away at the tiny fruits.  I found a huge caterpillar making a big hole in one of the lime leaves.  The butterflies and moth are wonderful to look at as they flit from flower to flower but you just do not know where their eggs are and when the hungry caterpillars will be feasting on your leaves.
I don't use spray and will check the different plants that are most conducive to hosting caterpillars, such as the brocolli seedlings, which have more holes than leaves.  I have to make a habit of checking them daily to remove the pests if the plants are to survive.  The chores are never ending but when the sun shines through and a warm breeze blows gently, I can sit and watch the butterflies and bees doing their chores.

Changing colours

It is mid April and the Indian summer we are experiencing seems to slow down the autumnal process.  The colours are beginning to change, though, in the Manchurian pear tree.  It is at its best when all the leaves are in different hues of plum red and gold.  The peach tree is begining to turn yellow but the other deciduous trees are still green.  Even the rhus tree is taking its time.    It will take more cold weather before we can enjoy the autumnal colours.  It is not quite changing colours but the different chrysanthemums in my garden are blooming.  The small bush with bright yellow flowers looks brilliant even on a dull day.  The mauve and white ones look so open and friendly.

Chrysanthemums are so easy to grow.  I bought a few pots over a year ago and planted them in the garden, where they thrived with the help of compost and sheep manure.  When they finished flowering I pruned them back quite hard and took cuttings which had given me a few more plants.  Chrysanthemum flowers are sold in May for Mother's Day.  If you are interested in collecting the different colours, that is the time to buy a few pots and transfer them into the garden bed when the flowers have withered.  They need full sun or they will go scraggly.  Apparently chrysanthemums that have been treated to remain as a dwarf variety will also go scraggly when transferred into the garden.  The solution is to pinch the plant back about three times in spring and summer so it will stay compact.  I will be looking out for different shapes and colours of the chrysanthemums soon to add to my collection.