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New GC & more plants

dwyllis

By dwyllis

9 comments


This is a test blog, to see if I can include a photo, as yesterday I wasn’t able to. This is a photo of my recently-planted Mary rose, now covered in buds. It has grown so quickly!

My OH has been working hard on getting the rest of the new side fenceline border dug out, ready to plant up, but a trellis, arch & gate still have to go up, before I can get the bigger-growing plants into this curved area. Thinking a rhododenron with a robinia tree behind, & some more old roses might look good in this corner. I just need to check out if there is enough room for the robinia & what conditions the rhododendron needs to grow well.

I have now planted up the greater part of that new side fenceline, so now it is a matter of waiting for everything to grow. At last I have a peony, which I have wanted for over 15 years, & it appears to be growing well since I planted it over a week ago. Lots of other things in there …. russell lupins in a variety of colours …. foxgloves in white & in pink …. some groundcover campanula in white & in blue …. several aquilegia of various sizes & in various colours (one of my favourite plants) …. a number of old roses in shades of white & pink …. some osteospermum in three different colours (a favourite of my OH) …. some taller campanulas in blues & purples …. two lobelia Queen Victoria to give a splash of red …. 2 nz native groundcover fuchsias …. & another groundcover Felicia Variegata …. some lovely daylilies …. two lovely nz native small phormiums in wonderful colours, & a few others that sitting here I just cannot remember.

As some rainy days had prevented my OH finishing off the digging out of that new side fenceline bed, we decided on Saturday to drive over to the city of Wanganui, which we both love, to visit a big GC which we had never been to … a 35 min drive through lovely hilly countryside. As we drew up in the carpark of the Springvale GC, the first thing I saw was two lovely clematis montana, one in white & one in pink, on a wall in front of us.

We soon discovered what a fabulous GC this is, with lots of native plants, including palms & beautiful tree ferns, & some quite unusual plants …. plus a great selection of gifts & christmas decorations & a lovely cafe to have lunch.

After lunch at the GC, we drove away with a good-sized Dicksonia (nz tree fern), a nz native Grevillia ‘Robin Hood’ plus 2 smaller varieties of nz cordylines (cabbage trees) … one in green which grows only up to 1m x 1m & the other in a very rich purple which grows up to 2m high, so will fit in will with my tall green cabbage tree in my back garden & one I recently planted, a deep red cordyline which will grow up to 3 metres high. Also came away with an unusual chocolate-purple aqueligia for my side border. We then drove down the main shopping street of this lovely Victorian city, as I knew from past years that there would be a lovey floral display of hanging baskets. I wasn’t disappointed.

Back home again, after a lovely few hours in Wanganui, & we were able to set out our new purchases into the corner of our back garden which we have designated to be our nz native area. This will be accessed via an arched entrance onto a path which will eventually wind its way between an avenue of shrubs on one side & nz native shrubs, small trees & ferns on the other. This area is the next we shall be working upon .. some of it gets afternoon sun, some of it is in semi or dappled shade, which only gets sun for around half an hour very late afternoon, so no real heat in it … quite a large area to work with running in an L-shape along the side & back fences. The only planting in this area at the moment are two arum lilies, a pink nz native pittisporum tree … both against the side fence …. & a nz native cabbage tree which will grow to around 7 metres tall, with a recently-planted red cabbage tree which will grow to around 3 metres tall. Our new fern tree which will grow to around 5 metres tall, will be planted in this semi-shaded area next to these, along with the two smaller cordylines in green & deep purple. The Grevillea will be planted further along where it will get several hours of sunshine.

More blog posts by dwyllis

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Next post: A busy weekend before I return to work.



Comments

 

Oh, well done Dwyllis! You've done a grand job getting your blog on and with getting on with your garden! It's hard to believe that it's coming into the spring with you, when it's so wet and flooded over here! Your plants are really lovely, and they look very healthy and looked after. The Gc looks to be a really good one! Hope you are still taking it at least a little bit easier, and you are still on the mend! I had the same problem as you with Goy last night, but it's nothing to do with your computer, Dwyllis, it was someone else's problem, poor them!
Don't be killing yourself putting all those lovely plants in now, just take your time...they're not going anywhere!;0)

26 Oct, 2011

 

looking great - love the brick edging - lovely selection of plants :))))))))))))))))

27 Oct, 2011

 

Great blog Dwyllis, you have done well. It is all looking good, and its so exciting, your enthusiasm comes over too. The GC looks great, and all those lovely colourful Heuchera in there. Look forward to seeing the progress.

27 Oct, 2011

 

GREAT PICTURES. You efforts to upload them before has now succeeded fully and in a very impressing way. And something else. When I was a boy I always wonder how people in Australia and New Zealand manage to stay hanging to earth and their head does hit the sky. Any answer please? Good morning from London.

27 Oct, 2011

 

Brilliant Dwyllis so glad you managed to get your great blog done, wow you have brought some wonderful plants, your garden will be a delight. Keep up the good work.

27 Oct, 2011

 

Great blog Dwylliss, its good to see OH`s progress in the garden, its coming along really well, I enjoyed the tour around the town and the GC.
Lovely photo`s, now you are sorted we`ll be expecting more to keep us going as our gardens slow down ....

27 Oct, 2011

 

Nice blog. Your garden is looking very good.

All the photos are great and I particularly like the colour of those mauve pansies with the white ones.

Costas' question has got me thinking and I would love to know the answer.

27 Oct, 2011

 

Thankyou to everyone for those lovely comments. I am getting an amazing amount of pleasure from building up this garden from scratch, & its pure joy that my OH David is really getting into it & I am having a hard time keeping him indoors nowadays! LOL Costas. I have often wondered that myself! Gravity would be the answer! When I was a small child growing up in NZ, people used to say if you dug a really deep hole you would reach China! I haven't fathomed that one out yet. But of course all this living an upside-down life, makes it very difficult to keep a good hairstyle! LOL. I see you are living in London. I lived there for a few years, in Chelsea & then Bayswater when I first got married at the age of 20 .... many many years ago now ... the era of the Beatles & Carnaby Street. Later, I had a home in Suffolk for a number of years, & then Buckinghamshire, where we lived for nine years, before I returned to live in NZ late 1998. I have very fond memories of England & would love to return on a holiday one day, so that I can pop over to Europe. But I do love being back home again, after spending the greater part of my adult life, from August 1969 until Nov 1998, living outside of NZ & away from my family.

27 Oct, 2011

 

Hi Dwyllis, your garden is coming on in leaps and bounds. I am enjoying every moment of the new growing year with you. That GC looks very promising, I'm glad you found it and its near to your home. Dont forget all that research you have done. I have ordered some chinese foxglove seeds after seeing them on one of your photos. Your large garden will get smaller and smaller as your wish list of plants gets longer and longer. Nice dilemma though!! lol

8 Nov, 2011

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