Happy New Year
Wet Bonica Rose
I looooooove my New Year's Resolution for 2016. It is terribly sensible and suitable for a gardener with a somewhat random attitude. So far it's worked really really well. OK, there's only been one day to test it out. Here it is : I resolve to be a better gardener.
Friday 1st January
Teacher friends have pointed out that a decent resolution needs to be specific. But the joy of mine is that it isn't. Say I have a hopeless day and only shift a hose. Well, I've still improved the state of my garden, and therefore my status as its gardener. If I'm feeling really fierce and weed for six hours - ditto!
A Shift the Hose Day...
Today has been one of those hose shifting days, mainly because the sun is rather hot. But I've also dead-heading the roses around the patio (Compassion in particular has finished its first flush of blooms) and tidied up the garage pots - the petunias look wonderful. I've trimmed suckers off a tree. All of these tasks are light-weight, but everything adds up. Nothing is too trivial.
Tiger the Cat
I've also planted out some divisions of Renga Renga in the shade of the Wattle Woods. These are Rock lilies, Arthropodium, and perfect for mass planting in dry shade. I divided up some old clumps to produce all the plants.
Proof!
The above paragraph is THE perfect proof that I have been a better gardener today. For it demonstrates my practical common sense and wisdom (working in the shade on a hot summer's day), garden knowledge and experience (I know that Rock lilies will grow here), and thrift (I 'built' my own plants). Ha! Q.E.D.
Saturday 2nd January
Ha! The end of Day Two of the New Year, and time for me to record how I have been a better gardener today. Because I jolly well have! I've finally sorted out the patio pots. Some of the big ones now have tomato plants therein. Others, more medium sized, have been filled with Calendulas and Nasturtiums rescued from the driveway. Everything has been well watered. And I've even swept the path and dead-headed the Westerland rose. Tick.
The Willow Tree Garden
Regarding Nasturtiums : I've done some 'infilling' of Pond Cottage's garden with pots of annuals. The white lacy Orlaya flowers look so delicate and pretty, but the dazzling fruity-coloured Nasturtiums are stealing the limelight. I've put their pots on the edge of the verandah to droop down into the garden.
Another big tick for my gardening performance - bothering to pop pots full of flowers (self grown) into garden spaces. Yes!!!!!
Minimus
Sunday 3rd January
One feels terribly virtuous having kept up the New Year's Resolutions for three whole days (three, because I tested it out on New Year's Eve, hee hee). Just think of all the ticks I might give myself by the end of the week - month - year! But I've decided that I'm only allowed to allocate one tick a day, to simplify things.
It rained all night (wonderful splattering noises of rain hitting the cottage roof). Minimus my cottage cat is on a diet, and as such tried several times to wake me up. Food, please! I semi-ignored the patting paw, but not the slow-bites into my arm. Ouch, Minimus.
Kaya (the black and white cat who lives upstairs) is slightly missing. Yesterday I wandered around calling her, but Buster (my black cat) thought this was great fun, and kept leaping out from hiding places. Blast! Wrong black cat! Now I'm off in the rain with some food, and without the dogs. Kaya is a free-ranging cat, and her parents are away. Eek. Here goes.
Phew! She's happy and dry in the hay barn.