Tickets on Herself: 01/14/16

Thursday, January 14, 2016

I have three.

The first came from Bunnings - $4 as stock they wanted to be rid of last winter. It went down to a couple of twigs, but Mum insisted I leave it to see what would happen.

And then..and then! Leaves, and then flowers! And here we are - it's all growing well against the front fence, whilst still quite small as yet.

PS - and with her new sugar cane mulch collar as of 20 Jan 2016

Pink coral, front fence - from little things, big things grow

What we started with -

Early new growth -

Getting bigger....

And now...positively fallopian!

Antigonon Leptopus

UPDATE: 30 September, 2023 I removed the pink coral from the fence some time ago, as it was becoming endemic everywhere in the garden, and just taking over, leaving brown 'bones' on the fence - unsightly.

I had to remove some lingering shoots, or it would take over and grow again. I dug up this large root (hopefully the last of it) which had formed from the very first small cutting! It was knarled and complex, and as big as my foot! Hopefully, that's the last of it, 8 years on. I'm replacing it with plumbago, jasmine and bougainvillea.

Two chooks

and finally, tolerance, or is it indifference?

Little ones - small plants around the place that I am trying to foster

Honeysuckle, back fence (between Andrew and Tracy and me) - sporting some flower buds this week! Great!

It's a tiny plant, really, as you can see from it's position on the fence (below) but hey - it must be growing if there are buds, right?

And now, the passionfruit and the bougainvillea (below pic) planted next to it, because, realistically, the passionfruit will probably die first, I reckon. So, the b. can take shape over that part of the fence, in its place.

Close up (below) of p'fruit and b'villea growing next to it, on the right. The p'fruit leaves are gradually yellowing and dropping off. Annoying. I have fed them some epsom salts for extra potassium, for heaven's sake! Stop it!

The above b'villea I bought from Bunnings in a sale for $4 before the end of last winter. It lost all its leaves and was just a twig in the ground for a long while, but lo! It grew leaves and then flowers and I have recently (11 Jan 2016) transplanted it into a place on the side street fence here. I hope it grows flagrantly and takes over with spikes there! I want it to grace the high wrought iron fence I plan to have put in there, and deter would be commers-in from climbing over. So far, so good. It looks like it's growing ok, if slowly. It's still very small, as you can see from the pic below.

Ahh, the crepe myrtle (below), bought from the grumpy woman at the Ippy Sunday markets. It seems to need a lot of water. It's still in its pot. I want to put it in the ground but am not yet sure where to plant it.

I'd like it near the sewer drain, to grow big and drown out the visage of the ugly power pole there, but will the roots invade the drain, and will I get in trouble from Council (ICC)? I don't know where else to put it yet.

Frangis (above) left to me by Tracey before she left for Harvey Bay in Dec 2015. They are actually sitting on the afore-mentioned sewer drain (re-the crepe myrtle, which I want to plant close to the fence, top left of the drain).

The frangis seem to be ok and need constant watering. I want to see what colour they are before I put them in the ground. I'd like a red one in the front garden, approx where the current bird-bath is, but I think these might be all 'fruit salad' colour,

The back

This little purple snail flower native is growing well on the back fence. Last weekend, I attached the wire to the fence to guide its growth up the pole and along the fence - perhaps espalier style. Not sure how that will go but will give it a try.

The front

A similar plant (actually the same) I have put at the front garden but it is not growing as well. Methinks the soil there is decrepit from the large trees (now removed) which sucked up all the moisture and nutrition. Not sure what to do to the area to fix it.

Star-jasmine

Also in the front is the star-jasmine. It's taking forever to grow any bigger although it does have some new leaves (see the light green new growth above?). I don't know what to do to help it along. Some weeks ago, I put some chicken wire on the slatted wall for it to climb but not much has happened since.

This little beauty (above) is doing well. It's at the back fence also, and I attached wire to the post to guide it too. It's actually flowering now, which I am happy to see. I hope it grows up and covers that fence. Perhaps it's time I painted that fence before it gets covered with vines.

This here ivy above does not grow as well as I would like. I've kept it alive with water but I think it needs a shitload of fertiliser, compost and decent soil to flourish. I'll get to that when I have some money. I really like this one and wish it would climb solidly up the fence.

A little bit of box hedge in a pot to grow into a ball, I hope.

The 'other' red grape vine which somehow does not grow as well at the back fence as the first one. I've fed it and watered it but I think there might be a lot of cement under there which is restricting root growth. I might put it in a pot and see how it does. Poor thing. It's valiant but can't compete with cement.

Front garden

This (above) was the front corner garden early on. I've since put hay down, moved the red robins back to make a hedge, a lily-pilly (one of the three) has died, and generally the plants have grown more. I've helped them along with regular waterings and fertiliser.

My wish is that they will grow strongly and fast, so I can have some privacy from the road.

Update 19 Jan - I bought a fourth lily-pilly from the previous Sunday market and planted it to make the three-in-a-row (Moira, Jenny and Anne).

Originally, I put the poinciana here. But I thought the shade would be better appreciated towards the corner garden, so I moved it there.

It seems to be doing quite well there, with regular growth from the center. I am chopping off the lower branch tendrils so I can hopefully create the 'divide' of the trunk higher up the main stalk.

I put a flame tree in the place where the poinciana. Trouble is, the ground is such foul soil there with little drainage. I need to dig a bigger hole with some potting mix and compost and try it again. It's just not sprouting any new growth there at present, at all. Poor thing. I hope it doesn't die. I think it's just hanging on.