Ordering Plants Online

Monday morning, and I wanted to buy a small tree.  After recent gardening endeavours, I've been left with a much nicer and neater courtyard.  Much more sunlight is encouraging me to plant edibles.  No privacy, though, is rather disconcerting.  I can see right into my neighbour's rooms.  Obviously, they can see right into my living room, too.  Hence the desire for a small tree.

Instead of wandering into local nurseries and finding out what they have (or not), I went online to find nearby nurseries, intending to phone them and find out their small tree stocks.  I found, however, online nurseries that deliver.  Perfect!

I spent quite some time checking out different providers, and different plants.  There were quite a few from interstate - not so keen on that, despite their assurance of quality.  When I found nursery direct online (find them here), I was much happier.  They service South East Queensland only, and include free delivery.

Eventually, I decided on a Lilly Pilly - fast growing, screen plant, native, full or part shade, suitable for pots - yay!  They require a minimum order amount so they can keep the delivery free, so I kept looking.  One bit that is bare but gets lots of sun is against the fence which has the clothes line, and I picked some kangaroo paws for there (although they won't stay there, I didn't think that through); I also bought a 12-pack of herbs.

The Lilly Pilly

They arrived today.  So exciting!  I had a call earlier in the week to check something, and the driver this morning was lovely too.  And I had forgotten how beautiful kangaroo paws are.  My grandparents had some in their front garden so this made me all nostalgic.

Kangaroo Paws

I'm going with pots for a couple of reasons: I want to keep them when I move; and the soil in the borders is fairly poor.  These photos were taken immediately after they arrived, I've been stocking up on pots and soil over the last few days.  My local gardening supplies place is probably getting suspicious.

Herbs!

The herbs looked so bright and enthusiastic in the morning sun - they reminded me of kindergarten kids.  I'm not going to the extent of naming them though.

Today's photo:

From the garden, of course.  I removed some excess garden stuff, some weeds and some - I don't even know what it was.  It was covering a stump, and (I discovered) a big fat worm and some new aloe growth.  Which looked like some sort of alien growth.

Gardening, Part 3

Yes, I did more gardening today.  It made me feel better.

I planted mixed lettuce seeds (I don't really like lettuce, so I'm hoping the 'I grew this myself' factor improves my appreciation).  I also planted spinach seeds.  After buying the seeds a few weeks ago, I then read they need to have cool sowing conditions.  I thought I'd have to wait until next year.  However, it's not warm enough to plant the rosemary yet, and we're still having winter temperatures (mainly), so I took a gamble.  More seeds and plants to come!

I also staked my tomato plant.  This is the first time I've taken so much care about a tomato plant.  The plants themselves seem to just appear, produce flowers and occasionally green tomatoes...  I thought keeping them up, off the ground, in the sun more, might improve the chances of producing and maintaining growth.  I'd had some thoughts about what to use for a stake - I really didn't want to go to a store to buy one, that seems ridiculous.  After a few trials, I realised there was a perfect supply in the garage.  A previous gardening experience, still waiting to be removed... I'll leave it there, but  I took one of the branches, chopped off the little twigs and chopped it to about a metre (although I'm really bad at estimating distance and length, so it could be a whole lot more...).

I also took a photo of the back of the lettuce and spinach seed packets so I can remember instructions and keep track of how many days til germination and things.  I don't think I've ever been that organised.  And I watered everything with fertilizer.

Today's photo:

From the garden, of course.  I found a tomato today!  First for this actual plant, and on a bit of plant that looks rather dead.  Maybe it is...

Gardening, Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I got stuck into the garden.  I needed help, and this resulted in a much-reduced hedge.  Although this has had some negative repercussions, I'm dealing with it as best I can.  More developments are planned, but in the meantime I needed some privacy again.  Stat.

More mock oranges were planned, but as they were the source of the disagreeable red berries, I wasn't totally keen.  Plus, my local plants supplier didn't have any.  They did have crotons, though, so I bought a couple of them.  The problem of course was sunlight.  The above photo was taken mid-morning, and sunlight is strong there for about 3 hours (depending on the time of year) and then non-existent.  Fertilizer and perhaps some added hanging plants, at least for now, will I hope keep things a bit more private.  It does feel rather exposed out there right now.

The above photo was taken maybe an hour later than the top one, and you can tell the difference in sunlight.  I also potted a camellia, hoping it will cope better than the last one.  Since planting the parsley recently, I've taken greater care with the garden so I'm hoping my green thumb is returning.

Today's photo:

The gig today was so cold.  Although it was a sunny day, the temperature was not terribly high (low 20s), and we were playing on the shady side of the hotel, right next to the river.  And it was windy.  Before long, I had donned my post-gig warm top and scarf, and I was still cold.  Viola Man even borrowed a jacket from another violinist playing inside!  Thankfully, the mother of the bride was wonderful, told us to stop playing early because we must be so cold, got us drinks and food, and talked music and musicians.  Just before we played our last piece, the river and sunset were stunning - a silvery river and a sky of solid pastels.  By the time we'd finished, the sky colours had faded somewhat, but the effect was still present.  The whole time we were playing, I was wanting to be running - my 15+km runs take me past this point, and it's been a while, not to mention the cold factor!

Gardening

...or, Going Berserk.

...or, Dealing with Plants as if They are My Hair.

...or, Getting a Gym Workout in the Backyard.

...or, Turning Into My Mother (part 347).

For those of you who like me to cut to the chase, the end of this story is this:  I started to trim the hedge.  Realised my limitations.  Called a gardening service for help.

For the rest of you...
Part 1 of the story goes like this.  I like shade.  I like green.  Whenever someone would 'help out' with the garden and end up demolishing it, I'd get a bit upset.  Well, a lot upset, but I would console myself with the knowledge that it will grow back.  I do remember years ago thinking I should trim the top of these hedge plants, but they were too tall, and I never asked anyone for help.  Eventually, of course, they grew way too tall, and I gave up even thinking about it and just enjoyed the shade and the green.

Part 2.  I saw a blog post recently about a friend's kitchen garden.  It is stunning.  Gorgeous photos help, but the amount of produce growing on a balcony in Switzerland is inspiring.  I felt a little ashamed of my meagre selection of basil, mint and occasionally tomatoes (parsley is still going strong too!), especially as I live in subtropical Australia with a decent-sized courtyard.  Shade is a problem, as well as the fact that it is east-facing so only gets morning sun, sometimes only for 3 hours if that. 

Part 3.  I popped into a bookshop while I had 10 minutes to wait last week and checked out their gardening selection.  I didn't buy any (nor any of the cookbooks tempting me), but had a bit of a browse.  Some brought back memories of primary school science experiements - anyone else remember growing sprouts in a plastic cup?  And I thought, if I was nearly anywhere else in the world, what I have to work with is luxury.  Better find a way.  In one of my extended nap/doze sessions later last week, I had a brainwave.  That brainwave will be dealt with later.

Part 4.  On Wednesday, it was a public holiday in Brisbane and we had beautiful spring weather, so I pulled out some weeds.  I also noticed that an animal (or maybe more) has eaten the berries on the bushes and it hasn't been a good mix.  Evidence of this can be found all over the courtyard.  Then I had this urge, which reminded me of how I often feel on the way to the hairdresser (which is usually when I start thinking about what I want done to my hair):  I felt like trimming these hedge plants - but knew I didn't have the right tools. 

Part 5.  Today I went to Kmart and bought a lopper.  I came home, and I lopped.  This was harder work than I anticipated (hence the gym reference above).  I lopped anything I could reach that was about 2cm wide or less.  This turned it from overgrown and bushy to sparse and ugly.  With half a hedge in the middle of the courtyard.  Some of those bits were really heavy! 

Part 6.  I thought about it for a couple of hours - how should I deal with the hedge debris?  Should I leave the remainder looking horrible until bits grow back?  I needed help.  Hello Google.  After looking through a few options (how do you choose, really?!) I went to the company I see around here all the time.  Option for a free quote - yay!  He could swing by within half an hour, and he talked me through what he saw needed to be done.  By the time he arrived I was at the 'just rip them out' stage but he thought that was crazy.  A decent trim to a manageable height, and then dealing with the ornamental vine that didn't originate on this property, and removal of the randoms that have sprung up as well as all the stuff I lopped today.  Knowing what I'm like, I figured if the quote was reasonable (not that I had much idea, but within my immediate means) I would book the job - and it was.  So much cheaper!  He comes back early next week, so I have a courtyard looking like it's been hit by a cyclone for the weekend.  I think I can deal with it though.

Lopping time:  about 45 minutes.
Booking of quote until departure of gardener:  about 1 hour and 45 minutes. 
I'm pretty happy with both these times.

Today's photo:

In the shade of the overgrown hedge, the troublesome berries, still unripe here, looked so tropical and slightly tempting.

Outfit #40 - Peppermint and Cherry

Outfit details:
Skirt and top: Portmans.  Long sleeved top: Dotti.  Shoes: Pulp.  Jacket: Sportsgirl (from Jeannie).  Earrings: made by me.

Last Wednesday I was going to wear this outfit, but with different shoes.  I seem to pair those shoes with this skirt frequently, so today I decided the cherry platform stilettos would do better.  I know I'm biased but I think I made a good choice.

With the change in weather, shorter daylight hours, and knowing I need to replace at least one light globe, I do like taking photos outdoors.  The colours are more easily distinguished - and I just realised today (yeah, I'm a bit slow with some things) that if I just turned the flash off there might be greater success.  Phew.  And it's not that my tripod went wonky (or maybe it is...) but the courtyard is unevenly sloping.  Or maybe my surroundings are turning all Escher-like on me. 

I finished so early today I could take photos after work, outside.  Score.  And I still went for a really long run.  I'm about to enter the Gold Coast half marathon...  Meanwhile, I haven't worn these earrings in years.  Possibly due to the origins of the beads, but I think I can be over that now.  Once I'd worked out the peppermint top with cherry red shoes I was looking for earrings that might fit that theme.  I know these don't really fit that, but I like the green quality.  Maybe they will come back into circulation after all.