June glories.

There is something very special about winter in Adelaide. The garden is quiet and damp, and completely lovely in a scruffy kind of way. 

'Sophy's Rose' is my June stalwart. 

'Cramoisi superieur' putting on a surprise show. 

Hidden hollyhocks under the apricot tree. 

Terrible photo of Chocolate Cosmos and Pelargonium reniforme. 

Pelargonium sidoides, love love love this one. 

Salvia leucantha under the apricot. 

Alyssum 'Snow White'

Acacia iteaphylla goes nuts at this time of year (red-flowering Japanese quince behind)

Mini gerberas and blue lobelia in a pot. 

Dwarf calendula, my favourite buff yellow. 

Fairy pelargonium (forget species) with a saltbush I totally forget the name of (Maireana erioclada?)

Pineapple sage, birds love this one (lemon behind). 

Rosa 'Crepuscule' under our bedroom window. Can hardly wait until it's bigger!

Volunteer nasturtium (one of lots, no wonder it's a weed in these parts). 

Lastly, the new garden corner, most plants in except for the roses which should arrive soon. 

TLC

Today I was given three orchids in need of some TLC. Challenge accepted! They came via a relative who is too elderly and frail to care for many plants anymore. 

I can only find a tag on one of these, which reads 'Dendrobium "Victorian Bride Genisis"' [sic]. A quick Google shows me it might be white with a spotty magenta border. I believe the two other orchids to be Dendrobiums as well, I'm hoping I'll turn up more name tags when I repot these little plants tomorrow. 

I am very proud of my orchids, not because they are particularly amazing, unusual, or spectacular, but because all bar one came from the clearance tables of big-box hardware stores, and not one of them has died on me yet. Must do a post on them one day. My 'new' plants stand a good chance of a reasonable recovery. 

Rose round up continues

Skylark (DA) so perfect! Tried it a couple of seasons ago and lost it (unusual for me), tried again out the back and adoring those rounded pink blossoms. 

Miscellaneous Bunnings  clearance bench rescue miniature rose. Possibly 'Apollo' (Parade) (potted at present). 

 'Gruss an Aachen'. Lovely colours, though turns out to be almost identical in shade to the 'Paul Bocuse' planted right next to it! 

String of peas

This plant is commonly called 'String of Pearls,' but SP says it looks like peas and I think that's a better name so String of Peas it is. It's Senecio rowleyanus (although my label read 'Senecio rowleyana, I wonder if someone wrote that incorrectly deliberately... assuming that Wikipedia has the correct name?)

Anyway, I came across a cheap little pot of the plant in the local Ikea (I do like them for their selection of cheap little house plants) and snapped it up on impulse. Fortunately, the web tells me it's relatively low care (though not NO care; I don't believe any plant ever really is). I've potted it up in another Ikea pot I've had floating around for a while. It did have a baby bromeliad slowly growing in it... and then the cat ate most of it and so I had to turf it out. The pot doesn't have great drainage - only a very small hole in the bottom - so I've filled the bottom inch with gravel, then potted up the plant in a mix if about 1/4 sand (borrowed from the retaining work D is doing out the back) and 3/4 ordinary potting mix. Cactus mix would have also been appropriate if I'd had any.
 

Let's hope the cat stays away from this one; the leaves are poisonous and not to be consumed.

Reconstructive surgery

Sometimes a plant just isn't happy. Take this little kaffir lime (Citrus hystrix):  Miserable; wonky in it's pot; losing it's leaves; covered in scale with accompanying ants. What to do? I had grand plans to plant it in our retaining beds (still being built right this minute, in fact, but that's another post) but it's so sad I wasn't sure it would be worth it. But I can't bear to turf out a plant - especially a relatively expensive one - on account of being a victim of neglect (probably never got enough sun; shouldn't have put that competitive rhubarb in there with it; not enough love AKA fertilizer and water etc). Some drastic measures are required. This may work, or it may not.

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First: take a deep breath and lop off most of the branches:

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Second (no picture, had wet hands): Put the entire contents of the pot into a bath of lots of water with a big dash of seaweed extract (to help with transplant shock and root development). I used the wheelbarrow for this. Gently tease out the roots from the bulk of the soil. Express some horror that after nearly three years in the pot the roots have barely developed and are spiraled and twisted (this plant was bought before I knew anything much about gardening and I must have chosen a pot bound specimen). Cut off the worst of the twisted roots, and trim the remainder to a manageable length. 

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Third: repot the plant - straight this time! - into a bag of good quality potting mix and water the bejeezus out of it. Leave it with all the other pots so you don't forget to water it. 

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Fourth: Pray to whichever gardening Gods you choose that this will revitalize and refresh the tree and this will be successful. Or just wish it luck :)

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