Flowers Update

Spring has come and so did spring showers and strong winds. It still feels cold most days with a few warm days in between. Last year, I planted three lily bulbs (Lilium LA Hybrid) in the patch next to the garage. The flowers were 'so so'. I am so surprised but very pleased to see them come back this spring. At first there were two rosetting green heads appearing when I was doing work at the patch. Then there is the third one. I hope the flower quality will be better this spring/summer.

This pretty yellow daffodil under the plum tree was part of what I bought from the reject shop. Two which had opened was white and yellow which I was not a fan of. I did not realise that the pack was mixed daffodil bulbs. So far only three daffodils and lots of green leaves. Hope the daffodils under the plum tree next year will be more numerous, showy and impressive.

My 20+ tulips are growing...but slow...I am almost certain the flower quality will not be too fantastic this first season.

The numerous tiny pink flowers of the jade plants are withering, not a pretty sight now.

Annabel dwarf maguerite daisies have swarmed the whole bush.

My purple pak choy (left) and green pak choys (right) have towered more than a metre. The flowers of the purple pak choy has an amazing perfume. I am waiting for seed harvesting.

The seed pods...I did not know that pak choy seeds are packaged this way.

Look at my pretty pinkish white cyclamen flowers! What a sight out of my kitchen window. I just cant get sick of looking at them while at the kitchen sink.

Pretty butterfly-like flowers.

And the red ones too.

I took a picture of my trailing kalanchoe. This picture does not do the look favor. The bell-like red flowers with jade-green caps are very pretty. I beam with pride seeing them flower successfully through winter to spring.

How about earring designs like these? So dainty and sweet.

Lilium LA Hybrid and Onions

Cool and windy day. I prepared the patch where I am going to plant more lemongrass as well as planted one rosemary shrub into the ground. The second Lilium LA hybrid flower has opened. It is gorgeous compared to the first one because it is a single flower. See http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/11/sweet-potato-creepers.html for the first Lilium LA Hybrid.

I pulled up the onions which were dying down and revealed four shallot-looking onions. I think I can eat them as shallots in my cooking. See http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-more-month-of-winterhows-are-some.html on how they originally looked like.

Sweet Potato Creepers

A windy and cool day with sunny breaks.

By far this calendula flower is the largest bloom and it is produced by one of the calendulas at the patch next to the garage. Great stuff!

One Lilium LA Hybrid flower has opened. Was not as white or spectacular as I had imagined.

I found and bought four sweet potato creepers from bunnings. I thought it is a wonderful idea to grow them on the mulched areas where my golden sheen hedge is. My original intention was to either leave the areas mulched with red gum bark chips or grow some succulent crawlers to control weeds but having sweet potato creepers to do that would be even better. They can weed control when they spread out and they can be eaten too. The only concern would be winter as sweet potato cannot withstand cold. I will have to protect them when the time comes if they survive summer and autumn.

Lemon verbena which I transplanted into the lavender area outside my bedroom window is doing well. It is really a good idea to minimise root disturbance and plant the whole rootball + potting mix in. The plant did not show a single sign of transplant shock.

My sunflower Sun king...5 of them...do not look very fantastic this season. I think the soil here is not very good and I have to improve it after this. I have added more composted rooster manure and watered them with charlie carp today and hopefully they can grow bigger. At least they survived because in the beginning, they did not even look like they were going to make it.

I worked on this mulched area behind our bedroom wall. I removed all four existing shrubs which did not look fantastic nor were useful. The area has a lot of pebbles. I am beginning to understand that the pebbles were added by the landscapist to curb potentially extensive/invasive root growth since the plants were so close to the house. Strange that the lavender area has not a single pebble. Since this area is pebbly and does not get lots sunshine, I contemplate planting aloe vera here.

Two holes around the dripline of the plum tree area were further deepened and I put in a soft drink bottle tube (cut at both ends) each for watering/fertilising purpose.

Patch Next to Garage - Fresh Faces.

This challenging patch...with its very clay soil...leaving me clueless on when I should work on it...digging is tough on dry and warm days as the soil is hard like stone...digging is not easy on cloudy wet days as the soil clumps up and hardens into lumps. But with all the effort I have put in, I am beginning to see incredible results.

The tiny pot of annabel daisy has grown 6 times. I keep on with deadheading its flowers which encourages new blooms. So far this daisy is growing faster than any plant here. I hope the space I have designated for it would be sufficient. Compare with http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/09/calendula-germinates-patch-next-to.html

The little rosemary bush is also doing well. Compare it with http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/10/patch-next-to-garage.html

So is this oregano. Strangely, I am expecting it to spread outwards but it seems to be growing upwards. I would want it to be an edible ground cover here. Compare it with what I saw in the botanical gardens : http://organic-is-better.blogspot.com/2009/02/botanic-gardens-potting-on.html

The two candy tuft plants are also well. Notice that the annabel daisy, rosemary and oregano have been mulched but not the candy tuft. I was waiting to see if I need to pull up the candy tuft plants in case they did not survive.

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Tip : It is better to wait and see if a plant establishes itself well after transplanting. If it does, then apply mulch. Better to mulch later in case you need to dig the plant up for some reason.

The Lilium LA hybrid plants are budding.

3 of the 5 gladioli plants are growing big. But 2 others have not appeared.

These 3 calendula officinalis plants are the fresh faces of this patch. I have just transplanted them here. So far very good results.

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Tip : During transplanting, minimise root disturbance and maintain potting mix shape. Transfer the whole potting mix with plant over. Water with seasol after that and make sure the plant is hydrated daily.

Here's another new face...my bay tree. It is very tiny now and it is a slow-growing plant. I have planted it in the centre of the patch and it should be the tallest and the focal point of this patch in years to come. Edible too!

Patch Next to Garage...Spring's Ending.

This patch next to the garage has been a challenging one and I have spent intermittent periods of time working on it. So far so good. Results are slowly getting better. The plants went through a period of establishing themselves in the poor clay soil, looking not too good and then now looking much better. There is still space for more work and more plants. Colour theme here is a mixture of yellow, white, pink, orange and blue (if everything flowers at the same time). View from the back. Daffodils (dying down), Diosma Sunset red, Lilium La Hybrid, oregano, rosemary, blue maguerite, annabel daisy are all mulched with composted pinebark (ornamental mulch).

View from the front. The whole patch is surrounded by strings looking like a boxing ring because my dog would trot on it and even nip off my plants. The two candy tuft plants (front right with tiny white flowers) have bounced back and doing well. :)

This rosemary which I have propagated from the original pot looked really bad some time back but it is now doing well especially with the addition of mulch. I did find one caterpillar wrapped up among its leaves. The same caterpillar which I have been finding among many plants in my garden recently.

Oregano too is doing wonderfully on this soil and has been growing. Also found one or two caterpillars here but all is well besides that.

The two Lilium LA Hybrid plants are doing well and have put on some flower buds. The third one was nipped off by my doggy and will not flower.

I planted one calendula seedling here just to see if it will survive the soil here. As last two days were scorching, it withered in the heat. However, with constant watering and application of Seasol, it is doing fine and will bounce back in the evening. If this one does well, I will probably plant a few more seedlings into this soil.

Patch Next to Garage

The three Lilium LA Hybrid plants have emerged and looking quite good. I hope it will survive the not so good soil here.

One of the gladioli plants has emerged as well. I have since fenced up this patch because doggy has been trodding on it and even nipping off some of the plants.

I only got two yellow daffodils this season while the rest all did not flower. They are probably on the way to die down. Hope for a better season next round.

The two candy tuft plants that I have planted are not doing well. There goes my twenty bucks!

Rosemary is also not doing well.

Oregano's not doing too bad at this point of time.

The blue and white daisies are doing just alright.

Potting On Chilli Padis, Lilium LA Hybrid White Lilies & Others.

Today, I removed the cayenne pepper plant from its pot as there was not a sign of life. Surprised to find fat earthworms around its roots. Are they feeding on the roots since they are dead?

I potted up my three chilli padi plants in the cayenne pepper pot :

Hope that as the weather warms up, the chilli padi plants will grow quickly :

I am excited about the many new leaves the kaffir lime is putting on, as well as flower buds :

Did some pruning to my mint pots :

Harvested some snow peas for lunch. Oh they are so tender and sweet :

Planted 3 white lily (Lilium LA hybrid) bulbs in the patch next to garage, right behind the lime mist daffodils :

Strawberry plants are doing well. I could have planted them too close for comfort :

The pretty succulents which I have propagated from their parents at our rental place are growing well and even flowering :

Nice fleshy leaves. Wonder if I should plant them under my golden sheen as groundcover. Still thinking :

This ivy which I also propagated from its parent from the rental place is doing even better over at our new place. However, I am still unsure if I should grow it in the ground for a shady spot. Concern is that it may become weedlike and dominate the whole area and leave me to regret :