1150. A botanical saunter

Inspired by the daily wonder-wanders of my blogging friend, Derrick of Ramblings , I have decided to take a springtime saunter around my own garden to celebrate the 1150th story on this blog.

There’s little colour other than green! There has been almost constant rain since last April. The lawn has been under water for a good part of the winter and still is.

The turnips, Brussels sprouts, cauliflowers, and onions, have all gone to seed without producing anything edible. Among the brassicas a single cabbage is the only one to have made an effort. But heartless!

The silverbeet (Swiss chard), peas, and shallots are doing fine.

The globe artichokes are thriving, and the Jerusalem artichokes are just starting to put their heads above the ground. We had a huge supply of Jerusalem artichokes throughout the winter. They keep in the ground but quickly deteriorate when dug up. The filled bucket (pictured) are just some of them that I dug up to stop them from taking over the world. That’s a huge 10 gallon bucket!

Most of the spring bulbs have rotted with the rain. Mainly what’s left is a couple of irises in a pot!

The banksia rose, the clematis and the potato vine are starting to look pretty.

The wattle has finished its springtime flowering and is now dropping a mess on the lemon tree below. The yellow-flowering kowhai is inundated with nectar-feeding birds called tuis.

The cyclamen in pots have almost done their dash. The cineraria on the driveway are also winding down.

The Christmas lilies are getting ready to show off through the holiday season.

The apple tree is just beginning to flower. I’ve hung a trap to catch the codling moths – it’s a plastic milk bottle cut open on the side, with a potion of molasses, cider vinegar and ammonia. It works well.

The ponga (tree ferns) are starting to unfurl their fronds. The hydrangeas are in leaf.

So it’s cheers from me with some homemade wine! With all the mud, don’t forget to wipe your feet before you come inside!

As some of you know, we are going to move – this place is too small, too muddy, and has too many noisy-nosey neighbours. The house (pictured) we would like to get (to rent, fingers crossed) is next to Mount Egmont (aka Mount Taranaki). Mount Egmont is a volcano that could erupt at any stage, but anything’s better than mud, isn’t it?