Mulch, propagating and gifts from neighbours

My favorite gardening show Gardening Australia talked about growing plants solely for mulch.   A waste of space I thought while watching it.  I recently cut back my lemongrass for mulch, but still harvest it for cooking and tea.  One plant that has not been used for much is the cardamom.  I was so excited  upon finding my first plant.  Gosh I could grow my own cardamom seeds ... but no!  It seems that the only cardamom I can grow here is called false cardamom.  The leaves have a very strong smell, and I suppose you could use them in cooking, but mostly the plant gets overgrown and I eventually cut it back and use it as mulch!  I set some aside to see if any of my neighbors want some.  I have the idea (totally un-supported) that strong smelling leaves such as lemongrass and cardamom used as mulch will chase away bugs.

 I planted a clump behind the pawpaw and comfrey,  and then I moved my little "potting bench" out into the garden.  I started off some cuttings of plants that I particularly like that I was trimming back.   No reason - I just wanted to sit out in the garden in my folding chair and it kept my hands busy.  I sat there way, way longer than the time the job required.  Such a  pleasant pastime -  sitting in the garden, admiring it, and reflecting on how blessed I am.

I planted another block of corn further in than the first block, and lay down some mulch as the weeds between them were going crazy.  Against the fence I planted some more green beans - my corn does not look strong enough to support beans, so the three sisters will be neighbours but not right on top of each other.... the squash to come later.  I also planted sweet peas (the flowers) along this fence.  I just adore sweet peas and I got some seeds from MrFothergills in my package.  I know they like a colder climate, but if I could grow some I would be very, very happy.  These are a high scent variety - Oh gosh I can almost smell them. :)  I remember as I child being thrilled with flowers that loved to be picked and put into vases in every room of the house.  The next day the plants would be filled again with lovely sweet smelling bounty.

 This caladium is one of my favourites - it looks paint spattered.

Butterfly season!  I have some caterpillars on my lime tree - it also looks as though there are some bugs or disease on the leaves? - anyone know what I should do about those spots on the leaves?  What are they from?

 I gave my new neighbour some plants and lent her some tools, and she showed up with this for me!

Isn't this a pretty little flower?  this little pot is quite cheery next to the front door.

I blame it on the moon

Ever since I put the little moon badge on my blog I have been noticing how fast time flies.  I have had all sorts of blog posts forming in my mind, but not got around to posting them...
One is about how I cut back and weeded the area alongside the swimming pool.  The lemon grass makes lovely mulch, now hopefully I can keep it looking neat and tidy.

 Along with the lemongrass, there are other herbs for use by any of the local residents.  There are a couple of cherry tomato plants, sawtooth coriander, a couple of basil plants, and this plant, mother of herbs, which is a little like oregano, a little like thyme, in fact very much like a bouquet garni, in a  tropical package.  I am hoping it will spread all over as a ground cover, keeping the weeds out of the garden.

Then I also thought about writing about the colour in the garden.  this little section always brings a smile to my face.

Even the area behind the gate is settling down and looking  nice, although it does need a bit more colour, after I took away the wooden arch and cleared away some excess plants.

 Then also I could write about the veggie garden, and how I planted a million bok choy seeds, and every one of them germinated.   No worries though, as I love the tender leaves in salads, so they get whisked off to the salad bowl as soon as they start to grow up.  Thanks again to Tracy at Sunny Corner Farm for the seeds I got ages ago on a seed swap.

 My cucumbers are looking great - much higher and healthier on this side of the trellis than on the other side - I wonder if it is because this side gets more sunshine?   I don't think so, but will keep an eye on that over the weekend.

Both sides were planted at the correct time for moon planting, but I suppose if I don't have a control how will I know if it is working or not.  Oops that reminds me, I better plant some more radishes as the moon is waning....  The moon waits for no gardener.

Wandering through the garden, camera in hand

I had a little time over the weekend to plant out some of my little seedlings, and give the garden a good drink of seaweed tea.   The honeyeaters have a great time when there are little droplets of water of the plants, and they seem to chatter back and forth excitedly - way too fast for my camera.  In the shady area alongside the path this lovely little bush has started flowering.  I have forgotten what it is called, so for now it is just the white butterfly bush.

 It doesn't really attract butterflies, but the flowers remind me of a butterfly. I used to have a plant with blue flowers just like this when I lived and gardened in Florida USA.

 I also have another plant settling in - it is like a mini caladium.  These areas of white are great in the shady garden - they seem to pop right out at you.

 The pink ginger is going great guns, and in fact I still have to cut some of these branches back as it is quite overgrown.  They always look a little dirty, though.

Also in the shady area is this red  antirrhinum - I sometimes have to pinch myself when I think that I am growing these very exotic flowers right here in my own backyard!

 The weather is lovely - the humidity has died right down, so it is a real pleasure to be outside in the garden.  Isn't this cordeline beautiful as it unfolds in the morning sun?  As the leaves age they turn to a rich deep burgundy.

I don't think there is anything in life much more pleasurable than wandering through the garden, camera in hand, admiring Gods creation.

A kookaburra keeping an eye on my veggie patch

We often used to get kookaburra's sitting on the fence posts, but since my neighbour decided to grow a hibiscus hedge that towers above the fence, we have not had our regular visitors. We have them in the area since we are alongside a creek and every evening is filled with them calling to each other - roll call I suppose!    I don't think there is a more Australian sound, and their laughing just makes me smile.
Yesterday I went around the corner to water my seedlings, and saw, perched on one of my new veggie supports .... A kookaburra!

 He was not worried about my presence, and I was glad to see that my plant supports remained firm and stable.

 He was looking up into the tree, I am not sure what he was looking at.

 then he got bored with posing and turned his back on me.

I am always pleased to see birds in my backyard, and glad that they now have a new place to perch as they survey the surrounding area. 

Finding treasures in the garden and bringing them inside

As I mentioned previously, the back section was getting rather overgrown, so I ventured into the heleconia/ginger section with my loppers.   Heleconia stalks flower and then die, so I decided to cut back some of the flowering branches and bring them inside. These red heleconias are my favourite, and I am so glad that they are now flowering profusely.  I need to figure out how to divert the new shoots so that they remain inside the bed, and I think continually cutting away the dying branches will allow the room for them to stay contained.

 There is still way more to cut back, but for now I am enjoying flowers in the house.   The sexy pink ladies are so hard to put into an arrangement - maybe it would have looked better with another one in the center instead of the cordeline.

 I was cutting back the lemongrass and found this tiny creature -  his skin had a metallic sheen to it.  I am still trying to find a way to make the perfect lemongrass tea.  I dried some leaves and will use those as well as the crushed base next time.  I was spoiled with a massage for my birthday and the Thai lady massaging me recommended boiling the tea for a few minutes to get the most flavour.  Do you also find gardening creeping into every conversation?

 I also moved most of the ground orchids around to the front of the bed - all the better to see them than around the side.  I put some of this fern,  a beehive ginger, and quite a few heleconia plants aside for a friend who is creating a new garden.  I love being able to share my garden around.

I removed the wooden trellis behind the gate and replaced it with a tepee, and after stomping around on that bed cutting things back it all looks a little sad at the moment so you will have to wait awhile for the great reveal.

I am linking this post to Catherines slow-blog-linky.  

Getting the soil ready

At the change of the season I always seem to have some crops that don't seem willing to move along, so that I can rip them out!  The Rosella were like that this year. They took up the front half of the bed where I plant  most of my veggies. They were inundated with some kind of bug, and it did not look as though they were going to produce flowers or fruit, so in the end I ripped them out.
Some wet season plants are only now starting to fruit - notably the loofas!  This has been a  strange year with the wet season running late.

Already the temperature has moderated and the humidity has dropped so it is lovely outside, although we are still getting a fair amount of rain.   I dug out the few sweet potatoes that I had planted - there were one or two tiny ones that the grubs did not get - a very disappointing crop.  The big bin against the fence started out with just shredded leaves, but has had cuttings and seaweed added over time since the lychee tree was pruned and my leaf supply dropped dramatically.  I took off the top layer of dried cuttings and moved them to fill up my other compost bin, and then tipped this bin over onto the bed.  Oh my!!!! does that look like good stuff.-  the bottom half is clearly what is referenced as leaf mold.  Dark and rich and crumbly.  Some of the top leaves were not completely decomposed, but with the rain we have had lately it now looks wonderful, and I planted zuchini in these mounds.

 I added a bit of Rocket fuel organic fertilizer - it basically seems to be a mixture of manures - they were out of the 5 in one mix that I have used before.   ( This is a bit more expensive, but I had a gift card, so it was basically free. :), and it supports the Stephanie Alexander school gardens.  This was all covered by a layer of hay, and wet down.  I erected two of my wooden trellises and put in a row of lebanese cucumbers.   The little lime mandarin tree that I moved over here seems to be doing ok - I am sure it will also appreciate the extra goodies added to the soil.
Four metal trellises have been constructed from the uprights that belonged to my now deceased gazebo.  Very happy with them.
The mung beans were slashed and dug in, and the bigger leaves of the turmeric and galangal were cut back to make room for onions and parsley root.  I only need to leave a few sections of the galangal and turmeric in the ground so that they can take off in next years wet season. I can harvest them as needed through the year. That gives me quite a nice large area to grow the slow crops like onion and parsley root.   The "plant and forget" crops I call them.  This is California red onion tape from MrFothergills.  I also put in a row of bok choy seed tape.  The tapes were laid out and then lightly covered with crusher dust.  I was originally going to grow carrots, but found at the last minute I did not have carrot seeds, and pak choy is a fast crop - so will sow the carrots later, after I have harvested the pak choy.

The grands started their little veggie pots, and I planted out a  couple of pots of leafy greens. I got the little gardener pots from MrFothergills, but nothing came up so I added extra seed.  They were a bit disappointed. Two problems: 1.  I think they do need a drainage hole. 2. The tiny seeds are very hard for kids not to smother with soil, and I think it would be better to have a little circle of tape with seeds impregnated that they can just lay on top of  the soil. I have forwarded these suggestions onto MrFothergills.
I really like the seed tape - the onions are on seed tape and I have some other seed tapes ready to go into my main veggie bed.
  I am going to loosely adhere to the moon planting and since the moon is starting to wax  now I will start to get ready to plant crops that grow above the ground.  You don't plant anything for a week or so though while there is no moon.  I am also hoping that the excessive rain stops.  We need some sunshine to help pull the new plants high and strong.
MrFothergills also sent me some heirloom tomato seeds which I am excited to try in my wicking worm beds and they have been started in crusher dust in little pots,  so slowly my dry season veggie garden is coming along.

Making the garden seem bigger than it is - landscaping tricks learned along the way

I was talking to my neighbour the other day and she said that a visitor had commented on the lychee tree in their back yard.  They don't have a lychee tree - we do!  Because we grow the same type of plants along our fence lines both of us can use the illusion that our gardens are bigger than they actually are. This large tree and the palm trees are in her garden, but who would know?

 The heleconias and gingers are a bit overgrown now and are going to have to be cut back to contain them, but I also don't want to lose the illusion of space.  Once a heleconia stalk has flowered, it dies, and sends out another stalk.  So the ones that have already flowered are taking up use-able real estate.  This bed is full of these lovely big red heleconias.

 The red ginger are way too cramped and overgrown.  Here you see them from both sides of the fence.

  There is a little path that leads just to the back fence, but because the fence is not visible one might think it leads further into the garden.

 Along the side fence I have also tried to build up some vegetation, now with the taller trees at the back, and smaller plants in front.   The path going around the tree opened up the garden so that one can wander through and see more plants up close.  I removed plants to make this path, so in actual fact it now has less growing space, but because you can access more, it somehow seems bigger!  All  illusion :)
In the veggie garden I have another advantage in that those neighbours have a hedge of hibiscus and they have grown so tall they peer over the fence.  Instant pollinator attractors.  I wonder if that is what has made this loofa vine suddenly set loofas?    I have a male pawpaw tree, and it serves well to service the female trees in both my and my neighbours garden.  Pollinators don't seem to see fences.

I never set out to use all these landscaping tricks but they have developed along the way.  What landscaping tricks do you use in your garden?