an indigenous and specialist nursery to check out their range of indigenous plants, on the way home today. 2 years ago

the underplanting is already beginning to have.

Realised that I need more of each kind of plant – so will havre to return to the nursery over the weekend to get:

4 more scilla krausii;
4 more tulbaghia;
2 more drimiopsis maculata;
3 more diascia.

And that’s just for a start. 2 years ago

to do some underplanting in the garden bed right near the entrance. We plan to tackle 16m2 tomorrow.

Look: lush, indigenous, solid, not too neat, some sculptural form plants.

Leaving at 9am for an indigenous nursery about 50km away.

Have some ideas, such as bubine, erythryna, knipophia, velhelminthia, diascia, cyrtanthus etc. 2 years ago

bloom, bright orange and indigo, blooming next to the dec and about 3 metres from my desk. It is such as PROUD looking plant. 2 years ago

who have stayed over recently have both remarked on how lovely the garden is.

YaY! 3 years ago

from the garden bed.

I plan to take views of the bed at various times of the day to check on sun/shadow to facilitate effective planting.

The next step in for the ground to be thoroughly turned over and rocks removed.

Also,the soil need a good deal of enriching. 3 years ago

We are leaving the climbing roses on trellis against the wall.

Everything else is coming out, we are going to dig deep, remove all stones,import rich loamy earth and compost. Then the idea is to plant up a cttagey kitchen vegetableandherb garden in a formal planting style.

I have broached the idea with Ben the bossy gardener and he (surprisingly) agrees with me.

He might start on this plan today. 3 years ago

of bulbs have been planted up. Two containers have been placed at the feet of the ‘flying lady’ bench. Two are near the front door for easy monitoring of growth progress, and another narrow rectangle has been planted with graceful white ‘chinks’ or ornithalgum bulbs, which I will see on the front patio every time I step out. A final, large round container has been placed on the sunny deck and planted up with freesias in mixed colours.

Have some bulbs left over – must find suitable spots for them and set up a proper watering schedule.

I think I would like to deviate from the 100% indigenous rule and get perhaps 1 packet of tulips – even if they struggle to de well here. (We can only plant them late in the season and they never produce re-usable bulbs.) 4 years ago

several packets of indigenous spring bulbs (babiana, ixia, ornithalgum, freesia, sparaxis) and some super teracotta pots so that I can plant them up for the patio outside my office and for the wooden deck outside the living room and family room.

Yay! Will start preparing the pots later today, after I have done some proper work. 4 years ago

waiting for a bat family to take up residence. 4 years ago

for a half moon shaped bed off the deck.It’s partly shaded, so only certain plants will be suitable.

A goal for this weekend? 4 years ago

She now adorns the front paved area, looking out onto the street. I shall post a picture when I figure out how to do this.

Immensely pleased about this.

Quirky, in your face,original …. I love her already. 4 years ago

this afternoon, weeding the garden paths. A masked weaver has been stripping its nest and the greenery dropped onto the path makes it difficult to see if there is any grass or weed growing. However, I did tidy up a bit and also spent some’mindless’time sorting bark that had washed on to the gravel. (The path has alternate sections of gravel and bark for contrast.) 4 years ago

told me that I had not planted those lovely primulas and aquilegias properly. He was very annoyed with me. (Apparently I should have planted them deeper.)

He took up my work and re-did the whole bed. 4 years ago

With 24 pots of primulas (three plants per pot) and five lovely aquilegias.

Need to do that before 6pm tonight when dinner guests are arriving.

(Not cooking – have organised a catered dinner.) 4 years ago

in the dark.

Need more -only 1/3 of the area was covered. They look lovely though, drifts of soft pink, white with a few that are a darker magenta.

Will buy the rest today (use up the remaining stock in the nursery, and plant them tomorrow. 4 years ago

I know, I know, they are NOT indigenous and they will only last until the end of September – but I want to brighten up a spot at the edge of the deck for a dinner parrty on Friday.

And the pale colours will glimmer in a ghostly fashion in the twilight.

Now I have to turn the sod and plant the 16 trays out. 4 years ago

I know, I know, they are NOT indigenous and they will only last until the end of September – but I want to brighten up a spot at the edge of the deck for a dinner parrty on Friday.

And the pale colours will glimmer in a ghostly fashion in the twilight.

Now I have to turn the sod and plant the 16 trays out. 4 years ago

Great soccer-ball sized heads of vivid orange five-petaled florets are beginning to glow in the dim shade where they grow. The startling contrast of colour is what makes them so beautiful that my heart leaps every time I spot them in a little grove outside my bedroom window.

The pale lemony yellow clivias have not burst into blossom yet.

Outside the room where I am working, there is s fan of at least five orange and blue strelitzia blooms, underplanted with a bright buttery orange rock rose.

Uplifting. 4 years ago

Sitting in the sunshine, pulling weeds out of the pathway or beds, and tidying up even a small area at a time, is very satsifying.

There are many weeds this summer as there has been so much rain. 5 years ago

Need to decide what to put into a small half moon shaped bed that is partially shaded. NO! NOT IMPATIENS! Too many people have it, it’s too easy – and it’s not indigenous.

It must also survive the cats who regularly repose there as it is near a small water feature that they like to sip from occasionally and from which they often chase the bathing birds.

And dear Ben,in his bossiness, has planted that cliche, cosmos, on the front pavement. Oh dear! What it is to be under the (very green) thumb of a very bossy gardener. 5 years ago

I have a brainwave!

I want to make a mosaic for the wall outside my study, onto which the window looks,so that I have something interesting to see – I thought an abstracted tree shape with our five feral cats sitting in the branches and our dear departed lemon coloured beagle called Blue, gazing wistfully up at the cats -she knew and loved the first four.

A kind of garden ‘hardscape’. 5 years ago

and i can only have anti-deer plants, in since we have a lot of deer that eat flowers around here. I’m hoping to expand my garden soon. The marigold are coming up really nice, as well as the geraniums…and the pink flowers and purple ground covering flowers. (I forget what those were called) but anyways. I hope to add some blue veronicas, those would be pretty…
and rene, can i see a picture of your garden? It sounds realllyyy pretty! 5 years ago

1. Replace the Anisodonta – pink mallow

2. Semi circular bed at the foot of the sun deck planted with freesias, ixias and sparaxis bulbs

3. Turn around my Shona ‘fat lady’ sculpture so that she can be seen from inside the house

4. Have the gardener polish my ‘lizard man’ hardwood sculpture from Zimbabwe. 6 years ago

Continue to refine and develop my garden which is 80% South African indigenous plants. I would like to enter the indigenous garden competition run by a well known estate agency, next year when I have developed a section around the swimming pool. My vision for this is a formal planting but with indigenous plants. The rest of the garden is woodlandy, with no lawn but wide gravel and bark paths, so the pool area, which is demarkated by a camellia (non-indigenous!)hedge, my mother’s garden cottage, the west side of our house and two boundary walls, is a rectangular shape and therefore lends itself to a different treatment.

Jan 29, 09:39PM PST6 years ago