Tag: flowers

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Annuals Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features

What’s Hot and What’s Not

At every turn, you can find a gem of a flower or you can hit a gremlin!! Today was my day! I stuck my head out on this cold day and to my surprise found lots to photograph! So my post today was suitably named “What’s Hot and What’s Not!” Let me show you what I found …..

WHAT’S HOT: Lemon season!! Love them for salad dressing and for Lemon Cordial!

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: Lots of lemon blossoms!![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S NOT: Lemon tree leaves are yellow![/one_half_last]

WHAT’S HOT: MY first peas are coming out!! I have sweet peas and mange tout!

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: Beautiful Spinach[/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT: Delicious Broccoli[/one_half_last]

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: More peas – mange tout![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT: My first potato!![/one_half_last]

WHAT’S NOT: Argh!!! Ahipds!! Tons of them! They seem to be just sitting on my Artemesia! I thought that this plant was a pest repellant! Perhaps it is acting as a trap crop – is this possible??

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: Blue berry blossoms![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT: Borage about to bloom.Growing wild![/one_half_last]

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: Almond blossom! This year a crop?[/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT: Bees!!![/one_half_last]

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT: More blossoms with a lil’ visitor![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT:More bees!![/one_half_last]

[one_half]WHAT’S HOT:Love my lavender! Bee friendly![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S HOT: Calendula-great medicinal flower![/one_half_last]

WHAT’S HOT: My JoJo Tanks are FULL!! So I am happy that I have enough for my summer!!

[one_half]WHAT’S NOT: Totally overgrown! Needs a trim![/one_half]

[one_half_last]WHAT’S NOT: My Leopard Tree is not looking its best![/one_half_last]

So my garden is as active as ever before. So much happening! Love to see the bees!!

PLANT A BEE-FRIENDLY PLANT THIS SPRING!

Happy Gardening xxx

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Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features

Flourishing in my winter garden

I am so pleased to say that there is so much happening in my winter garden. Lots to harvest and even more thriving! Let me show you whats going on…….

Lots flowering….

[one_half]Broad bean flower- shoots are delicious in salads[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Pretty Mangetout pea blossom[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Garden peas are flowering[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Constantly flowering is the violets[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Waiting for my Chamomile that self seeds every year[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The roses are blooming – huh??[/one_half_last]

[one_half]A few roses and the fuchsia has started![/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Fuchsia has come out! So nice to see!![/one_half_last]

[one_half]A perfect rose in winter[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Self seeded Calendula[/one_half_last]

 Lots to eat …

[one_half]Wonderful variety with my new layout[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Can you believe I have tomatoes??Yellow Plum[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Broccoli florets-looking healthy[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Broccoli ready to pick![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Grenadilla dropping off the vine[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Swiss Chard abounds[/one_half_last]

 What is on its way…

[one_half]Parsnips – new this year[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cabbage – love growing my own[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Lets hope my beetroot thrives this year[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lots of love in this garden![/one_half_last]

What herbs do we have…

[one_half]Coriander everywhere-self seeded as well[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Oregano, rosemary,thyme, yarrow & lemon balm[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Parsley-flat leaf and curly[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Thyme is abundant[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Chives and coriander amongst the lettuces[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Artemesia -trapping the aphids?[/one_half_last]

Composting pals…

[one_half]Here is my active worm farm[/one_half]

[one_half_last]There’s my worms-working hard[/one_half_last]

I hope you are having as much fun in your garden as I am!!

Happy gardening xxxx

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Barbie's garden Bloggers Harvest Day Gardening Home page features

Garden revival

You know that feeling when you go away on a holiday and come back to your home – it feels like you are a stranger! It takes awhile to become familiar again with your garden. That’s how I felt!

I felt as if I had been away or hibernating – I had to spend at least a day just greeting everything that was actively growing or peeping out of the soil. So many plants that have re-seeded and started to take over. And the bulbs I was hoping would survive have not disappointed! The Chasmanthe and the Louisiana Irises just make me brighten with pride! I had to chop and carry away all the overgrown borage and nasturtiums – they were like monsters. I should have taken photos….. but I did take a lot of photos of what is happening in my garden revival…..

My first Louisiana Iris this spring!!

[one_half]Quince blossom[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Peach Blossom[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Love the blossoms[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Almond Blossoms[/one_half_last]

[one_half]New Almonds – can’t wait[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Blueberry blossom[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Borage[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fuchsias just starting[/one_half_last]

[one_half]This is a spekboom[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lovely lavender[/one_half_last]

[one_half]New rose leaves-patience![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Confetti bush-indigenous[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Angels’ fishing rods-Dierama[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Leopard tree is in seed[/one_half_last]

[one_half]My grasses are coming through-Pennesetum[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Chasmanthe and Iris in raised bed[/one_half_last]

And what’s happening in the vegetable garden?

[one_half]My edible greens-salads, rocket & spinach[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Coriander[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Chives and Pyrethrum – bug busters[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Flowers, fruit and herbs together[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Empty chicken coup[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fig tree budding[/one_half_last]

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From sunny calendula to the sweet peas – the blossoms and the blooms, I am so enjoying my garden again!!

If I can get this everyday, I am rewarded and grateful.

Happy gardening xxxx

 

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Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

October clean up

It is always a good idea to have a family visit to motivate you to get the garden looking great! This got me energized and I have enjoyed the manual labour! Got all the muscle groups working! I ordered bags and bags of compost and bark for mulch and got my act together! It might not look like much from the photos but the whole garden was tackled!

I also have some really beautiful blooms to show you!

My roses are finally blooming!

Apple blossoms all over. I can’t wait for these to become golden delicious apples this year!

Love my Irises – the white are my favourite!

My little broody Tara – I can’t snap her out of this! There are NO eggs and she sits and sits on the nest! So I have closed the door – but this makes me more sad! She sits on the balcony! What to do!?

[one_half]Apple blossoms![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fuchsias are looking so pretty[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Rose bush full of roses! Fab![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Buckets of Lavnder[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Wild corn flowers[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Chamomile are in bloom-Tea anyone?[/one_half_last]

Tea Tree bush is also in bloom

[one_half]Love the mix of peas with nasturtium flowers[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Chives in bloom[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Blueberries en masse[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Peaches growing! Yum![/one_half_last]

Angel’s fishing rods! Dierama – I love them!

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Favourite Figs for summer!

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[one_half]Everything composted and mulched![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cut and cleared! lots of work[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Attention shows its colours![/one_half]

[one_half_last]First rose in the rose patch[/one_half_last]

What I see is so many more flowers than I planned for when I originally started my vegetable garden. However, they are all linked. Every bloom gives a treasure or a pleasure – they are all welcome now in my part of the world!

Happy spring gardening xxxx

 

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Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Dull garden?

All seems bleak and colourless when you are forced to stay in bed with a bad flu. It has gripped all I know here in the Western Cape and with the weather as miserable as it has been, I did not have a hint of guilt. But the garden has taken a beating and after the hail storm, I though I would have nothing left. I though all would be dull and lifeless but to my surprise, not all was lost (to the weather and the chickens!) I have been able to pick something from the garden and there were some happy blooms longing for someone to take notice ……. !

my new feverfew

Using quince sticks to hold up the granadilla plant – or the other way around! Chasmanthe and Powis Castle surrounds.

[one_half]Tree bursting with lemons![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Guavas on the way – lots this year[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Tomatoes still growing[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Chillies always available[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Violas love the cool and the rain[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Love the broad beans from last year[/one_half_last]

Tansy always a useful plant to have in the garden – best pesticide!

[one_half]Gerbera never fails! Happy flowers![/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fully at home here! That’s Tara.[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The winter lilly is coming back[/one_half]

[one_half_last]My blonde tomatoes producing still[/one_half_last]

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[one_half]Swiss chard always welcome[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Veggie patch abit damaged, but producing[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Have new beginnings on the way[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Ripening on the sunny back deck[/one_half_last]

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So you see, through all the dull rainy and wintery weather, the garden still has a lot of magic!!

 

Happy gardening xxx

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Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

What’s growing in my backyard

After a week of work committments, my head has hardly moved away from the computer. This has left me with the feeling of “cabin fever”! I was so pleased that we had a holiday on Wednesday – International Workers Day (Labour Day) – and I was NOT going to spend another moment sitting! I was in the garden, playing with the newbie chickens and Skollie (who has calmed down quite abit!) and filling holes and racking leaves. Just your normal “getting-back-the-garden-feel” activity! All was looking quite alive and still a few flowers around. There was some new growth too!! Here are some photos of the back garden activity!

Dietes Grandiflora is blooming

Here, the Dietes is amongst flowering Stevia. Now stevia is used as a natural sweetner. I add the leaves to my herbal tea. It has a distinct taste, but the benefit of a non-sugar sweet is always a bonus!

The busy bees are still harvesting the nectar! Hey – leave some for me!

I love the Mexican Petunia in this patch of the garden. I think it prefers the cooler months in my neck of the woods!

One of my favourite favourites! Borage is growing again. This is a self-seeded plant!

I like Tansy alot – it is soft and gentle and the bees also love it. I can cut it down and within a week or two it is back! The leaves are the best in making a natural pesticide. I make a tea with Tansy and Artemesia! Works really well! I also add some soapy water!

I was worried the Ice cream bush would not last the hot days of summer, but here it is!! Bushy and beautiful. I love the colours and these change as the seasons move on.

As you can see under the Ice Cream bush I have a patch of re-planted thyme and my new solar light. I have 2 dozen of these in the garden and they light the way when I need last minute herbs for dinner!

Oh wow! My Chasmanthe is growing!!  Can’t wait for these to flower! This is their first grown since I planted them last season. They are bulbs that grow every year.

My grasses are in their autumn colours now – I really like this yellow look!

I hope you have lots growing in your garden.

Happy gardening xxxx

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Barbie's garden Christine's garden Gardening Home page features Miscellaneous

The Gardening Blog in the News!

I was so excited when Christine told me that “We are in the Fair Lady Magazine!!” It was such a surprise to the both of us that our “little” blog made it in one of the top woman’s magazines here in South Africa! We are both grinning from ear to ear and had to share this with all our gardening friends!

[one_half]The Fair Lady May Issue (cover)[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Article on the Gardening Blog![/one_half_last]

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And the Article reads:

“Life long friends Barbie and Christine are working moms who both developed a passion for gardening in their 40s. Their busy lives meant the didn’t get to visit each other (or each other’s gardens) as much as they’d like, so they decided to start a blog to share their successes, discoveries, photos and advice with each other.

The result is a warm, chummy blog packed with personality! Of course, you can get information anywhere, but what makes this site shine is the way Barbie and Christine – amateur gardeners, just like us – engage readers in their daily gardening lives, with beautiful photos to match. They also encourage readers to share their gardening successes and advice.

Visit www.thegardeningblog.co.za to catch up with them.

Look out for Barbie’s fabulous “1 Minute Tips” videos.”

I think it is just great that we managed to put together a blog worthy of being mentioned in the FAIR LADY!

Happy gardening everyone! xxxxxx

 

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Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Earth Day clean up

I normally miss all these important dates – like “Earth Day” and “Water Week” and read about them in the news paper I lay in the chickens bedding weeks later. So I decided that Earth Day (wednesday, 20 March) was my day in the garden. I spent time cleaning up and looking at ways to help the Earth in my own backyard. We have been thinking of adding a greywater system for the fruit trees and the non-edible garden and to harvest rain water for the veggie patches. More and more we are seeing water as a precious commodity that one day will be too expensive to use in the garden. So that is the plan for this year and to go solar as well will make a big difference to our electricity bill. I already have solar garden lights lighting the paths and creating glowing fairies in my trees.

So much to research and plan, but all good and necessary if we want to contribute to healing mother Earth.

Ok, back to the garden clean up.

The Back Garden

[one_half]Before[/one_half]

[one_half_last]After[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Before[/one_half]

[one_half_last]After[/one_half_last]

[one_half]The area is looking all neat now[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Cleared the walk area[/one_half_last]

Here I added indigenous shrubs – Confetti Bush (Coleonema Album) the lime green bush in the centre of the photo and Salt Bush (Rhagodia Hastata) the silver round leafed bush behind the Irises. Both can be trimmed to create round balls – kinda cute.

[one_half]Need a bench in this area now[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Such a nice part of the garden[/one_half_last]

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[one_half]Cleared and neat with new stones in the back[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Grenadilla vine is now happy here[/one_half_last]

[one_half]This bed needed lots of clearing[/one_half]

[one_half_last]The Tea Tree filling this area[/one_half_last]

The Front Garden

[one_half]New Dietes-mulched and fed to conserve water[/one_half]

[one_half_last]New Carex grasses to replace dried ones[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Waterwise and indigenous Dierama[/one_half]

[one_half_last]New feature for this cleared area-still deciding[/one_half_last]

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Well, everything looks great now – fed the garden with Neutrog BOUNCE BACK and mulched all the beds with bark to conserve water and to neaten up the area. I am ready to have the family over for the BIG Easter Egg Hunt this coming weekend!

Have a great week and happy gardening xxxx

 

 

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Annuals Barbie's garden Gardening Home page features Perenniels

Garden Colour

I have been in a gloomy mood of late, with my favourite chicken not doing well. Buffy has been suffering from Bumblefoot and had a major operation in December on both her feet. But alas, it is back – regardless of all the medication and the scrupulous cleaning of her feet and her New Hen House and the daily wrapping of her feet. The Vet warned of this and that it could possibly go systemic. Well, I fear this could be the case. Difficult in walking and she has pretty much stopped eating – I can manage to get soft food in – she likes porridge and yoghurt and blueberries. Shame – so I have been dismal these past two weeks and my garden has not given me joy – but wait……… what is all this interesting colour.

This is the lovely Ice cream Bush – given to me by my sister-in-law. I have always admired her garden and this bush in particular.

[one_half]Such beautiful foliage[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Pink, cream, green-what a combo[/one_half_last]

Love this little helper Lady Bug. They always make me smile when I see them.

[one_half]My Gerbera still delighting[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Tansy is bright yellow-colour of sunshine[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Love my garden art[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Hearts from my friend Christine![/one_half_last]

[one_half]Yarrow has such delightful foliage[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Happiness in my veggie patch[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Sweet and juicy summer figs[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fur on the quince-so peachy![/one_half_last]

[one_half]The sign of new things to come[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Fennel has charmed me this year[/one_half_last]

My poor, sweet Buffy. Never a moan and always trying to keep a brave face! Wish I could do more!! Let’s see how she improves!

 

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Barbie's garden Bugs & Pests Gardening Home page features

Bugs galore

Not only is my garden overgrowing, the good, the bad and the ugly have also arrived! The bugs are having a party in the veggie patch and the rose bushes, but the army of ladybugs have taken control. I have left the aphids alone in the Artemesia – Powis Castle. I think it acts as a trap for them as they seem to do no harm to the bush. Within a week the ladybugs and the larvae have devoured them – the good and the ugly. This is the first time I have really seen the beneficial bugs taking over.

Have a look whats crawling in my garden …. the good ….

The ugly – Newborn larvae look sort of like tiny alligators. After only a few days, the larvae will be large enough to begin to molt (shed their skin), and they keep molting for as long as they are growing. You can find the molted skins on leaves if you look very hard. Here you can see the larvae and the pupa it came out of. They are voracious eaters, I believe. Looks like mommy ladybug has chosen the perfect bush – tons of aphids.

On the roses too.

The Aphids -they are the bad …..

What bugs are in your garden – friend or foe?

Happy Gardening xxxxxx