Kia hora te manno
Kia whakapapa paumamu te moana
Kia tere te Karohirohi

May the calm be widespread
May the sea glisten like the greenstone
And may the glimmer of summer dance across your pathways

Monday, March 09, 2009

OK Mother Nature, I will try to be patient.

Yesterday, the weather changed from quite cool in the morning, to a warmish 46 degrees later on in the afternoon.
I donned a sweatshirt and down vest, which came off as I warmed up, the vest, that is *grin* and went outside to do a little more work in the vegetable garden. As usual I took my camera along to record what I do.
As I went down the steps onto the driveway, the bright purple of this pretty clump of crocus hiding under some bamboo caught my eye. I had forgotten I had planted them here. What a nice surprise to see them. Perhaps I should read the labels once in a while!



Another pretty plant given to me last year. I am looking forward to seeing the flowers of Delphinium - Guinevere.

The delphinium came to me from a friend who used to work for a large gardening retail store. On occasion, the store would throw into a dumpster, plants which were not up to snuff to sell. My friend could not stand to see all these plants thrown away, so she would bring them home, and with a little TLC they would grow into strong healthy plants.



The Dwarf Greek Oregano received a haircut, revealing lots of nice new growth at the crown.


A spearmint plant got the same treatment as the oregano, also revealing much new growth.
Ahh! signs of spring, which begins on the 20th of March. I hope Mother nature is paying attention. Last year, our season started way late and I am hoping it will not be the same this year.



Last season, as the strawberry plants threw out runners, I placed pots of potting mix, around the strawberry beds, and pinned the runners into the soil. Now I have many new strawberry plants, some of which I planted in this large pot which had housed a large shrub. Before putting anything into a used pot, it is always a good idea to thoroughly wash out the pot. I use a little bit of bleach in water to wash the pot, then give the pot a good hose out.


The French tarragon was well on it's way to overtaking a corner of one of my raised beds. I was not happy with this, so decided to give it a home of it's own. I had a large pot not being used for anything else, so the tarragon is now transplanted, and can take over the whole pot. Be aware, some herbs need a place of their own, or they will spread and take over your garden



A little patch of daffodils, and some other bulbs I can't identify at the moment. The bulbs I can't identify, were planted by the previous owner of the property.


As I sat here at my PC writing this post, this handsome fellow came to visit. He is a Spotted Towhee. He has lovely red eyes, rufous sides and flanks, white belly,and white spotted, black back and wings. I had to be quick to take his picture, as he was rather nervous by my proximity.


Mother nature is being rather fickle, promising spring,with warmish temperatures, then reminding us she is in charge, by giving us a cold dreary day, such as it is to day. I guess we will just have to be patient, which, as an avid gardener, I am short on when it comes to getting my garden planted.


5 comments:

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

You have lots of new growth there! I love your little bird picture. It's snowing very hard right now, and everything is covered. I'm trying hard to be patient with this weather, but it's getting hard!

tina said...

I did not realize you were in New Zealand! How exciting for me. I've visited other New Zealand blogs and find them very interesting. It seems like your zone is similar to ours here (Zone 6/7).

I love the color of your crocus. It is such a bright and vivid purple. I say naw to reading labels. We only forget anyhow:) I too have the towhees. They are such sweet birds. Sing you so many songs-especially when you disturb them. Do enjoy your day. Spring is coming...as it feels like summer here already. Soon we'll be begging for winter again.

Anna said...

Such a magical time of year isn't it ? I was given some strawberry runners last year and was pleased to see signs of new leaf growth this last week or so. We are enjoying similar temperatures this side of the pond but the mad March winds have made it seem a lot colder:)

tina said...

I was wondering what was up. I guess I read your about me and only saw the New Zealand, I just knew something wasn't right:) Thanks for setting me straight. I will change it on my blog. Still, it is cool you were born there.

VJJ1692 said...

Your garden looks like its in the same pre-spring stage as mine. My snowdrops have just ended.. crocus are opening. Now a variety of daffs are beginning to flower and tulip leaves are getting taller. Got my first batch of annual seeds to plant soon.. I too love the anticipation of whats to come..