Showing posts with label lemon verbena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lemon verbena. Show all posts

Friday, November 20, 2009

Patches A, C, D & E

The recent warm and long day time have made growth explode in my garden.

At patch A, the three purple king bean plants and the tomato beef steak plant are growing. I cannot seem to see any tomatoes developing at the moment even though there are flowers. I did not remember having trouble with my Mighty red tomato. Puzzled, I consulted fellow blogger 'Scarecrow' and she gave me this useful link : http://www.grow-tomato-sauce.com/tomatopollination.html

Putting veges and edibles aside, I am feeling really proud of this pot of Annabel daisy. It has grown in size about 6 times.
My beloved capsicum plant is developing its fruits steadily. It is ahead of most plants because this is its second season. Feeling more secure with it in a larger pot.
This is one of 5 calendula officinalis plants I have germinated. They are subject to caterpillars like many of my edible plants in the garden but with much vigilance, I have picked and squashed most of them. This one is budding already!
My strawberry delight at Patch C is doing well in its pot although also subject to caterpillars. Its strawberries are very sweet!
Lemon Verbena at Patch C is also doing well and I have allowed one stalk to flower just to see how the flowers look like.
Wow my lemon grass at Patch C which initially did not look like it was going to make it, has actually gone into growth spurt! Hopefully the eggplant supreme and passionfruit panama gold will speed up in growth as well or they could be overtaken by the lemon grass!
After treating my kaffir lime plant at Patch C with chelated iron (not much organic solutions for this), it leapt into growing beautiful healthy-looking new leaves and more fruits and flowers almost immediately...indeed it was iron deficiency!
Eggplant Supreme at Patch C is also doing well except having its leaves munched on probably at night by some insects. In the day, I cannot find any bugs on it.
This is Patch C : strawberries, kaffir lime, eggplant supreme, lemon grass, passionfruit, lemon verbena, capsicum and pixzee peach. Quite an assortment of plants cramped together.
This is Patch E : coriander and continental parsley both flowering and seeding. I did not care as I am surely alright for them to seed and grow new ones, which means new supply of herbs. There is another clump of lemongrass and my pot of bay plant there.
I was cleaning the dusty leaves of my three cyclamens when I saw this. A search reveals them as the fruits of the cyclamens. I read that using seeds is tough so I am just going to leave them alone. I wonder if there are corms in the soil. Hopefully! So that cyclamens can cover the whole of Patch D and under my pomegranate tree and grevilia. They have glorious blooms! See http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/09/golden-sheen-pittosporum-and-cyclamens.html or click on 'cyclamen' label on right side of my blog.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Sick days.

Okay. I have been sick for two weeks. Coughing really badly especially in the nights. Hardly had the energy to do much. Sometimes when that burst of energy comes, I will be out in the garden doing work...just whatever is required. Noticed that the strawberry delight in the pot has flowered.
Hubby and I worked on this little bare patch a week back - sown some grass seeds and sprinkled potting mix, watered..and the grass is growing. We have many other small bare patches to work on.
This is the second season for my capsicum in the pot. It has gone through one winter and survived it. Now it is flowering and fruiting.
Many things are happening in spring. One of the most obvious is my little bay plant. Many new leaves burst into existence.
Strangely my lemon verbena is having rusty-looking leaves. Not sure why.
My peach (pixzee) has put on a handful of peaches but they are really congested. Not much chance to further develop with that small space. I thinned the fruits.
Despite giving fungal spray in winter, some leaves are having leaf curl. I plucked off and dispose them. More spray next winter.
Just fed my golden sheens with charlie carp and cleared any growing weeds near them. They are doing fine in that good soil.
Apricot (Moorpark) is not doing too well after planting it into the ground. Somehow I already had the feeling that it would not do well. I am too lazy to uproot it again. If it has to die, I will buy a new one this winter.
Been harvesting snow peas recently. Been sick of eating them too. Haha...

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Herbs Galore!

First thing I did when I returned home after 2.5 weeks is to take a peek at my precious garden. I was very glad that things were under control (all thanks to my friend Paul for tending to it while our family was away). Great to be back to see wonderful growth of my herbs. The mints in the 50cm and two 30cm pots are so fat. I had to quickly harvest them to give them away : The two rosemary cuttings which I have propagated have also grown bushier :
The mother rosemary plant (which was attacked by powdery mildew previously but won the war) has put on so many new growth and gone bushier. Time for harvest :
Three new cuttings which I have propagated from the mother rosemary are also showing signs of growth :
My lemon verbena has grown but I wish it has grown bushier...there must be a way to do that :
The spring onions from seeds were straggly at first but after 2.5weeks (charlie carp treatment before I left), they are doing well and can be harvested anytime :
My curry plant has gone really really bushy in a neat way with all the trimmings I have done beforehand :
Bay tree put on so many new leaves...wow! :
Thyme was completely chopped off low but returned with a complete bushy hair-style. Time to harvest :
Vietnamese mint is spilling over th 40cm pot with wonderful growth. Time for harvesting again :

Friday, June 26, 2009

So Much Work!

Work at new house : Vege patch D : Work with cow manure and lime. Planted and mulched 3 pots of cyclamens. Hope they will grow well in this shady spot.
Rake up fallen plum leaves.
Place leaves in make-shift netting in backyard to let them turn into leaf mould.
Succulent plants flowering beautifully.
Lavender growing new leaves.
Work completed for patch next to garage. Hope not to see weeds!
Work in rental house : Calamondins not doing well. Fruits attacked by aphids. Treated with pyrethrum.
Lemon verbena growing lots of new shoots after last trimming.
Cayenne Pepper under netting since finding out they were attacked at night.
Curry plant growing more shoots in the new house after trimming off lots of aphid-infested shoots.
Buk choy planted from pot to vege patch.
Treated oregano root ball with pyrethrum as it seems it is attacked by gnats.Repotted the oregano and wonder if it will survive the treatment.
Re-potted the aloe vera into a shallow wider planter. New pups emerging. Delicate...broke one.
Potted the Pixee dwarf peach with aged manure and premium potting mix.
Peach tree is losing all its leaves. (below)
Rake up to make leaf mould.
"All that mankind needs for good health and healing is provided by God in nature...the challenge of Science is to find it." - Paracelcus, the father of Pharmcology, 1493 - 1541