Leaves and windfalls

I assembled this little still-life of garden windfalls this afternoon

and started to work up a painting. This is just a brief study. I hope the finished thing will be better.

Thomas looks a little overwhelmed by the huge leaf-pile I raked up for him!

Mainly red

Lots of red in the garden at the moment, and a ridiculously early "Paper White" narcissus - strange to see it flowering with autumn leaves all around it.

Pineapple sage flowers - vibrant!

Hydrangea flowers turn red late in the season

This is another salvia-type plant with a striking colour scheme

Thomas loves autumn

Dahlia imperialis flowers, about fifteen feet up in the air, against a stormy sky. I managed to get a stalk down and have the flowers inside in a vase. Being so high up, they are very vulnerable to bad weather, which is on the way, the pundits tell us.

New Zealand cranberry

I spent about an hour this afternoon picking my cranberries. These are not the cranberries that Northern Hemisphere readers will know, but rather a little bush that has the botanical name of Myrtus ugni. It is also known as Ugni molinae, Chilean guava, and confusingly, as New Zealand cranberry, although it has no relationship at all with the Northern Hemisphere cranberry. It does have a similar appearance and can be used in much the same ways; in jams and sauces and conserves, and can be dried in a dehydrator quite successfully. It is a small attractive bush, about 1 metre maximum, that I trim back after fruiting to keep compact and non-twiggy. It is very easy to grow once established and doesn't need much water. Mine grows on an average silty soil and is not fertilised, but manages to produce more than enough for me every year. The little fruits are like currants, with a pleasant fresh taste and sweet smell. I've never made jam with them, but usually dry them and put them in muesli. 

The only thing I find annoying about it is that the bush tends to sucker, which is OK if you want to propagate it to give to friends, but can look untidy poking up through other plants. Mine grows in a flower border with dry-loving plants like iris and lavender.

Lots of big, fat sweet berries this year! I've never noticed birds eating them, but perhaps this is because they are right near the ground and by my main pathway. I'm growing one as a standard and I've heard that they can also be used as an informal hedge. Apparently, these fruit made Queen Victoria's favourite jam. 

Still having great weather here for our autumn. Expecting it to turn nasty any day soon!

Mid-autumn

Our autumn here is progressing pleasantly. We've had nice warm weather, better than summer because there's no wind. The leaves are turning slowly and falling gently around us. My daily chore now is collecting the pear tree leaves from the lawn. I rake them up into piles, and Thomas comes and scatters them to make a nest.

The vegetables have grown - now, above...

....and then (about three weeks ago)

Katydids live on until the first frost - they've had a long season this year 

Camellia sasanqua "Yuletide". The stripy leaf is a Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax or harakeke)

My old boots are on their way out. I bought these when I was about 19 or 20. I am now 57. They were very expensive at the time, about $280, and I quailed at the expense and bought them anyway, because when I put them on, they felt just like gloves do on your hands. They are La Sportiva boots from Italy, and they have been wonderful. I've used them for hiking all over New Zealand and for my first hike in Tuscany, and worn them as snow boots and as gardening boots. How many miles they have walked through mud and water and over rocks and shingle I don't know, but now the soles are starting to separate from the uppers and the padding around the tops is frayed. I've had nearly forty years of comfortable wear out of them, and when they finally go, I'm going to bury them in the garden with full honours.

Camera/computer problems

       I took some pictures today, or thought I did, but there doesn't seem to be any new pictures on the disk. There is something wrong with my camera; a little green light that doesn't usually blink (except when using the flash) is blinking, and the lens takes its time about closing. Also computer problems, but not major, only with this site. I have lost my toolbar so must go in another way. I've posted this picture from February instead, just so you don't think I've forgotten you all.

Rest day - well, sort of.

Felt a little tired today, and I have to work tomorrow, so I didn't do too much in the garden today. I planted some spinach, transplanted a nectarine from a path in the newly- laid out vegetable garden into a large pot, (hope it survives) and planted ranunculus into the vegetable area to provide some colour there in spring. The photos here are of the crabapples ("Jelly King") and some lovely softly- coloured dahlias. I don't know the name of the pale pink one, but the pale orange one is "Shoreward Peach". Finally this is blooming! Twice before I have bought this one, only for it to turn out to be mislabelled. The first time I got a dark red dahlia, the second time a greeny-yellowy one that I didn't like at all - a very harsh colour and difficult to place in a border as it goes with nothing else. This is pretty though, worth waiting for.

Black spot

    This is one of the "black spots" in my garden. I use this name for areas that have become overgrown and are now lacking in interest. It's an area by my driveway that used to be quite attractive but has now become boring. There is a magnolia and hydrangea on the left and a rhododendron on the right, with a quite vigorous line of elephant's ears along the edging. The soil is poor here; a previous gardener stuck bark over the soil and this has removed much of the nitrogen as it has rotted down. The area is in strong shade except for right at the height of summer.
     I've tried to open up the canopy of magnolia and rhodo to get more light to the soil. A large ivy plant has come over from next door and this needs to be removed too, (on another day!). The area is also prone to convulvulus, threading its pale roots for yards. There is a very pretty single pink rose here too, which has been drowned out by the shrubs.
     I hope to underplant the existing shrubs with some "hard doers" - japanese anemones at the back, foxgloves, forget-me-not, Ajuga and aquilegia. These are all really hardy in this garden and will grow in strong shade, and will self seed or spread from stolons. A few more choice highlights - hosta, Barnhaven primroses, maybe some hakonechloa and a low-growing Camellia "Quintessence" can also go in here if I can get the soil right; lots of compost, some blood and bone and blood meal.
     For such a small garden (under 400sqm) I manage to keep busy!