Lavender and Vanilla; Friends of the Gardens

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

The garden in January;

Hot, dry and hopefully rain;

14/01/2014 Sunrise 05:06 AM

Over night rain, early morning woolly, grey clouds were still hanging around soon infused by the morning sun. It looked beautiful.

Intriguing flower of cicorino rosso;

Salvia Coral Nymph is long blooming and reliable. Plant multiples of this sage where you can appreciate the cool pastel flowers up close.

In my garden it reseeds regularly, but I do not regard it as invasive, as it is easily eradicated.

It is wonderful in a mixed cottage flower border.

If you can look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not, speak then unto me.

William Shakespeare

Moonlight; 07/01/2014 20:18 PM

A new Year lets your old worries slip into limbo of no return. Titania

Lemongrass; Cymbopogon is a genus of about 45 species of grasses, native to warm temperate and tropical regions of the Old World and Oceania. It is a tall perennial grass.
Citronella grass (Cymbopogon nardus and Cymbopogon winterianus) has magenta colored base stems. These species are used for the production of citronella oil, which is used in soaps, as an insect repellent especially mosquitoesin insect sprays and candles, and in aromatherapy, which is famous in Bintan Island, Indonesia and the Philippines. Therefore, its origin is assumed to be Indonesia. The principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household disinfectants and soaps. Besides oil production, citronella grass is also used for culinary purposes, in tea and as a flavoring.

A new planting project to hide the chicken fence. I plant a mixed border with three grevillias in between to add some height.

I planted dwarf cannas in red and various pinks, blue Agapanthus, many different tall Salvias,

Catharanthus roseus, commonly also called Vinca

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar rosy periwinkle, is a species of Catharanthus native and endemic to Madagascar. Other English names occasionally used include Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid".

It is an evergreen herbaceous plant growing to 1 m tall. The flowers are

white to dark pink with a darker red centre, or with variations with a basal tube 2.5–3 cm long and a corolla 2–5 cm diameter with five petal-like lobes.

In the wild, it is an endangered plant; the main cause of decline is habitat destruction by slash and burn agriculture. It is also however widely cultivated and is naturalised in subtropical and tropical areas of the world The species has long been cultivated for herbal medicine and as an ornamental plant.

A conflict between historical indigenous use, and recent patents on C.roseus-derived drugs by western pharmaceutical companies, without compensation, has led to accusations of biopiracy.

As an ornamental plant, it is appreciated for its hardiness in dry and nutritionally deficient conditions, popular in subtropical gardens where temperatures never fall below 5 °C to 7 °C, and as a warm-season bedding plant in temperate gardens. It is noted for its long flowering period, throughout the year in tropical conditions, and from spring to late autumn, in warm temperate climates. Full sun and well-drained soil are preferred. Numerous cultivars have been selected, for variation in flower colour (white, mauve, peach, scarlet and reddish-orange.

Such as we are made of, such we be.

William Shakespeare

I like to watch the morning awaken between the trees.

The new year has many empty pages, use them wisely. Titania

Sunset 06/01/2014 19:06 PM

Believe it or not:

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow”

Albert Einstein.

Friday, 27 December 2013

December; A long, hot Summer;

Summer days in the country are butterflies and bees, the rich, green smell of nature expanding its wings; wanting to dance to the tune of sun and rain. Ts

Summer days in the city, the hot breath of asphalt, the sound of tired feet and fast wheels, empty water bottles and discarded fast food wrappers lay defeated in the gutter. The city retreats into itself shivering from over exposure to sun light.Ts

Sunrise in the Valley;

Self sown miniature Zinnia in the herb garden.

“Summer's lease hath all too short a date.”

William Shakespeare

Rosa Iceberg, can be propagated from cuttings;

My mother had a beautiful white rose bush in her garden, as a child I loved to bury my nose into the fragrance with the result to be stung by a bee. As I am allergic against bee stings, my nose swelled to look like a small potato. It was very uncomfortable and painful and I had to get a calcium injection.

♫

Rosa "Elina" is a light yellow Hybrid Tea introduced by Dickson Roses in 1983.
Cultivars Nana Mouskouri X Lolita.

I have grown this one from a cutting.

Small mammals, like Possums use Elkhorn ferns as nesting place.

For my birthday the girls gave me a big blue pot, now it has become a fountain.

♥

“Life is short, Break the Rules.

Forgive quickly, Kiss SLOWLY.

Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably

And never regret ANYTHING

That makes you smile.”

Mark Twain

♥

Giant Heliconia, its spectacular flowers are emerging in summer;

Summer days; nothing in any season rings so much of careless, fun filled hours of sunlight , like lazy, warm summer days; Ts

Love thy Labour

Mangoes; this variety is called Kwan and is very tasty,

The pomegranate, Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between 5–8 tall.

I covered it with a fine net to protect the fruit from birds, bats and fruitfly; nothig will be left of the fruit if not protected.

Cantaloupe Melons;

Apples ripe in December in the subtropics.

Chllies, scots bonnets; slice finely and add some fire to the salads. They are actually quite mild when the seed and membranes are removed. they are also ornamental.

Small, pear shaped Tomatoes; the tastiest tomato around fresh, or used for sauces, salsa and soups, freeze also very well.

Morning Symphony;

I'm a very early riser, and I love to watch the sun rising over the hill infusing a new day with its light.

Mussaenda, a tropical shrub, semi climber finds its way through and up trees, winking from above with its red bracts.

♥

“it's a smile, it's a kiss, it's a sip of wine ... it's summertime!”

Kenny Chesney

♥

Sunset colours, tall hibiscus from Cuba.

Great is the sun, and wide he goes

Through empty heaven with repose;

And in the blue and glowing days

More thick than rain he showers his rays.

Though closer still the blinds we pull

To keep the shady parlour cool,

Yet he will find a chink or two

To slip his golden fingers through.

The dusty attic spider-clad

He, through the keyhole, maketh glad;

And through the broken edge of tiles

Into the laddered hay-loft smiles.

Meantime his golden face around

He bares to all the garden ground,

And sheds a warm and glittering look

Among the ivy’s inmost nook.

Above the hills, along the blue,

Round the bright air with footing true,

To please the child, to paint the rose,

The gardener of the World, he goes.

Summer Sun

from A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)

A basket filled with summer's colour;

♫

Believe it or not:

One swallow does not make a summer; Aristotle;

Wednesday, 20 November 2013

November; Gems found in my garden;

The temple bell stops but I still hear the sound coming out of the flowers. ~Basho

♥

FLOWER-SALUTE. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
THIS nosegay,--'twas I dress'd it,--

Greets thee a thousand times!
Oft stoop'd I, and caress'd it,

Ah! full a thousand times,
And 'gainst my bosom press'd it

A hundred thousand times!

1815.

Lichen on bush rock

Fungi garden.

'Tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes!
~William Wordsworth, "Lines Written in Early Spring," Lyrical Ballads, 1798

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1844

Flowers of the Cuban royal palm.

The fungi garden;

The flower offered of itself
And eloquently spoke
Of Gods
In languages of rainbows
Perfumes
And secret silence...
~Phillip Pulfrey, from Love, Abstraction and other Speculations,