May flowers

 There are still plenty of flowers in the garden this month. We have had one or two light frosts but nothing too serious, so there isn't much dieback yet. Still lots of seedheads and berries.

This month I tried my hand at ikebana flower arranging. I read a book which got me inspired - I love the sculptural aspect of the arrangements, and the fact that they are always seasonal and inspired by what is growing in the garden at the time. You also don't need very many stems or blooms. 

This is my attempt at a slanting moribana arrangement, using azalea branches, chrysanthemums and an unknown shrub with red berries (it was growing over the neighbour's fence).

The berries are hiding away behind the flowers - they are better viewed from above! The arrangement has been fresh for nearly two weeks now, though I may need to replace the flower heads soon.

What's blooming in your garden this month? For more inspiration, check out Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Crochet vintage stripe footstool

 This is a footstool cover I made recently. I wanted to make a sort of sampler of rows of different stitches and colours. I imagined it being a good winter evening project, with my interest being held by the changing stitches. Well, it was really fun to work, so much so that I had it finished in a week. That includes sewing in all the ends - that's how keen I was to get this baby on display!

 I worked double crochet in white around the edges and began decreasing around the corners from the 5th round. One thing I know from having made a footstool cover before is that it will stretch and eventually begin to sag, so I made it fit as tightly as possible.

There are a range of stitches in here, mostly double and half double crochet. Some rows were worked in the back loops only to leave a textured line. I also did shell clusters, spike stitch and a few lacy stitches.

I have seen some vintage blankets which use this technique - it's a great stash buster, and maybe a blanket would work up quite fast. Anyway I do suggest it if you have a hankering to try out some new stitches - it's very fulfilling.

Around the garden with Mr Lui

 On autumn afternoons Lui likes nothing better than to scamper through the leaves. He ducks under branches and sharpens his claws on trees. Sometimes he takes a running leap at the tree, gets about halfway up, then realises he's not getting any further. (And so this is a good tree to feed the birds in.)

 Often I pull a piece of flax off the bottom of the flax bush and drag it round the paths of the potager. He hides in the vegetable shrubbery and pounces when it goes past him.

Do you like my new arches? They were a Warehouse bargain, which I couldn't resist and so got two. One at each end of the main axis path. The one at the far end will have beans growing on it, and I'll extend the bean fence to go on either side of it. I'm not sure about the front one yet - I'm not sure if I want something as permanent as a rose. Maybe sweet peas? Or possibly a scented climber?

 I'm very happy with these arches. They help the potager feel more enclosed. When the lavender hedge has grown and gotten bushy it will be even better.

 The fuchsia has gorgeous glossy black berries on it. I've read somewhere that these are edible but I'm not game enough to try. They are just so black and shiny and... poisonous looking.

 These berries are from the rowan tree (sorbus). One of the streets I walk along has them growing along the roadside. The street is red zoned so they'll probably be bulldozed eventually, along with many other beautiful established trees and shrubs. The funny thing is, I'd just read an article in a library magazine about how easy it is to grow sorbus from seed. So I grabbed some berries, pulped and sieved them, and sowed the seed in a punnet outside. It needs the cold from winter first, so all going well the seed will pop up next spring. Yeah right... I can't help thinking, but there is nothing lost by giving it a go.

Autumn colour

 In the late autumn sunshine, the garden is a blaze of colour. My chrysanthemum is in full bloom, and though yellow is never my favourite colour in the garden, I can't resist these perfect sugary blooms. The interesting thing is that they won't stay this colour. The buds while opening were more of an apricot shade, and the petals will gradually deepen in colour until they are a dusky mauve. It's fascinating and lovely to see.

 The lowering sun means colours are intensified. Petals are backlit and leaves are rimmed with gold. Most of the plants are filling out and blending with each other in the blowsy, cottage garden way I was hoping for, but there is a major flaw in the scheme.

 Ugly ugly orange chrysanthemums! Oh, these make me shudder every time I step out here. They were given to me as seedlings by my neighbour from his garden. He wasn't sure what colour they would be, and I imagined there would be a bit of a colour range represented. I put the seedlings in, planning to wait and see what came up, and pull the ones I didn't like.

Well... I can't stand any of them! 1) They clash with everything. 2) The colour is just awful. 3) They remind me of the dandelions I went to such trouble to spray and remove from the lawn. Oh, their days are numbered all right. 

 I can't believe the sweet peas are still going. I sowed these in spring, and they have flowered madly from December onwards. Along with the flowers they've set plenty of seed which I'll sow again next year.

I do love autumn afternoons.

Salad Days - April

It's autumn and though the tomatoes are finishing up, there's still plenty to forage up for an interesting salad. (I posted here about the tough Juliet tomato plant - it's still hanging in there!) Luckily green tomatoes continue to ripen if you bring them inside.

This pot of mixed lettuces is almost finished. I have another pot growing on in the glasshouse which will be ready to switch out soon.

Grow, my darlings, grow.

For the coldest days of winter, I have sorrel. This is one tough little plant - even frost won't knock it back. It has a delicious lemony tang which livens up any sandwich.

A yummy mixed salad of lettuces, sorrel, rocket, tomatoes and feta cheese.

This post is part of the 52 week Salad Challenge hosted at Veg Plotting. Once a month everyone posts to show how they are getting on producing salads from their garden. Here's this month's post. I missed last month's due to my internet problems but now I'm back... and I'm aiming not to miss any more!

Avenues

 Last year I was interviewed for an article in Avenues magazine, about Christchurch bloggers. The article was meant to be published around December/January, but though I peeked there was no sign of it. It wasn't in February, March or April either, so I figured they had decided not to use it after all, and got on with my life. Then last week my workmate brought a copy in for the staff room table. I was flicking through it on my lunch break and to my surprise, came face to face with myself. The article highlights five bloggers in total and all are worth checking out.

Mr Lui is SO impressed that his mum is in a magazine. (He did find the article useful for sitting on - as the muddy pawprints will attest.)

It's the May issue, and if you would like to read the article it's online here.

Welcome to everyone who's found my blog through the article - I hope you'll want to visit again.

On my reading table - Vintage Flowers

 When this book and I met at the library, I eyed it somewhat dubiously and imagined its pages to be full of kitschy, retro arrangements featuring genuine vintage silk flowers. (An impression strengthened by the way my library has cut and pasted the cover, making this arrangement even more funerary.) Well, granny chic is hot right now, it could be interesting, I reasoned, and tucked it in my bag.

Upon arriving home I opened the book, and realised that my first impressions weren't too far wrong, except that the arrangements are made (mostly) with real flowers. However, it is still kitschy, retro, granny-cool and gorgeous. Also, I must point out, it's a new book - from 2011.

The layout of the book is beautiful. There is a chapter dedicated to roses, and thanks to the quirky vintage vibe, the arrangements are classic but never boring. It's not a how-to book, but the gorgeous photos and juxtaposition of the images will give you inspiration aplenty.

There are plenty of seasonal ideas too.

While it's not a how-to book, there are still some basic techniques explained - how to make a hand-tied posy, how to make a satisfying jug of flowers, how to use floral foam. But really it's all about the images. I'm already missing this book (I had to return it to the library) but it's on my wishlist, and I'm hoping we'll meet again in the future.

I'm linking up again to HolleyGarden's monthly book review post. See here for more gardening books to read.

April afternoons

I did the big almond harvest recently. A grand total of 6! On the tree almonds look very much like unripe peaches. The green fruit eventually splits open to show the kernel, which in turn splits open to reveal the almond inside. Basically, when your fruit is shrivelled and mouldy looking, the nut is ready to be picked. Anyway, I was pleased with my 6, since I didn't baby them or protect them from frosts in the spring, so I think they did pretty well. I'd like to get another tree to plant this winter (they are ornamental as well) so having two trees might increase the yield.

We have been having lovely autumn afternoons. Just perfect times when it's a joy to be outside. Cold in the evenings though - I don't think the first frost is that far off.

April flowers

 Flowers and arrangements from my garden in April. It's still very much the season of the dahlia and they are flowering like mad. I am still getting the odd rose (Queen Elizabeth is now on her second flush) and the cosmos will continue bravely until the frost. I saw a flock of greenfinches alight and begin to feast upon the seeds, so it must be time to start putting out birdseed cakes again.

 I've read a couple of books about flower arranging this month and got inspired. Hopefully I'll have some reviews to share soon. My favourite arrangement turned out to be the simplest - the glass jar that I put a wire handle on and hung on the wall. It looks best with one beautiful stem in it - simple and perfect.

I also learned to make a hand-tied posy, hooray! (It's really not hard at all.) It makes all the difference when putting your bunch in a vase and stops the stems flopping everywhere.

And I've recently joined the Succulent Appreciation Society, with my little pot featuring a sedum sieboldii, dichondra silver falls (not technically a succulent but its silver foliage blended beautifully), and little rosettes which I took as cuttings from a plant already in my garden, unfortunately I don't know the name. I've never really been a fan of succulents but I needed a little pot to put in a dry place, and when I saw the pretty purple blush on the leaves of the sedum I was smitten. The pink candy floss flowers are a bonus!

I'm linking up to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

The potager in April

 It took two weekends, one of which was the long Easter weekend, to get the potager into shape. I weeded, pulled out old plants, weeded more, and planted out cabbages and broccoli and spring onions and lettuce. Small seedlings had plastic bottle cloches placed over them to help them put on a bit of weight before winter.

 Baby lavender seedlings are along the front path - I want a lovely bushy hedge next spring.

 Looking towards the glasshouse and it looks pretty tidy if I do say so myself. I'm impressed with the upright rosemary which will make a striking winter focal point - a couple of the plants already have flowers opening.

 This little pot of lettuces is still going strong. I have some more sown in the glasshouse to take over soon. Behind them, the bed is full of broccoli.

 At the back left a squadron of leeks is lined up. The big monster on the right is a zucchini which is just about at the end of its life. I achieved my goal this year of having the inner edge of the outer beds all lined with calendula, hopefully I timed it right so they will flower through winter.

 Two tomato plants which were neglected by me over summer (I was too busy being mad at the weather) have flopped everywhere but are still producing fruit. One is Juliet, which I grow every year because nothing seems to faze it, and one is Baxters Early Bush Cherry which is being smothered by Juliet, so I haven't really been able to form an opinion of it.

It's funny how a hard wooden chair is always more comfortable if it's intended for humans, than a soft mat which is intended for cats. (He's actually quite lucky the seat didn't tip up and send him flying!)