whatever

MIG

2010-11-08T11:44:00.000+02:00

Hi All
I went MIG . missing in garden.
Winter was cold and dark and I did very little treading in the Garden.

At the End of winter I'm pregnant . The kids are eagerly awaiting their little sister.

I was busy with other things too .. like a framing course (see the white frame on the table) and a 3000 piece puzzle

Also the kids got silkworms which has kept them busy

Arums still growing

2010-01-12T09:55:00.000+02:00

I could hardly believe it , but the arums are still there

and still going strong

not sad and sickly

as they have been in the previous years

this is the best arum year .I have ever had

and it must only get better

happy blogging

first blog of the year

2010-01-11T16:29:00.000+02:00

This is a tiny yellow flower at koppies dam last week.

you can see my hubby and car in the background, close to the waters edge.
And can image the dirt that traveled home with us.

these zebra's where amazing , they came really close for a treat

:)

I have not been in the garden much since I discovered a bunch of addictive books,
from Twilight to Harry Potter.
but even with my neglect , it continues to grow beautifully

the bumbles are quite happy without me

this bee buzzes arround , legs heavy with pollen.
I caught him taking a break on my overgrown broccolli
you can see the seed pods and flowers.

Sadly I had to rip them out the other day. It seems this bee is a secret agent to all kinds of fuzzy bugs and soon their whole family moved in on my overgrown trees.
I weighed carefully the possiblitiy of spraying and waiting for the seeds , but decided it was not worth the infestation.

this pumpkin perched peculiar on top of the rung , it's a dare devil this one

it didn't care , living on the edge

and to end a red rose .. hopefull I'm forgiven for not posting as often ..

happy blogging

Some Summer Pics

2009-12-09T09:45:00.002+02:00

some summer pics , what more can be said. After being to John's winter wonderland , I needed some summer pics.

a sleeping bumble bee

wild garlic and orchids complementing each other

no need to guess what this is , check out the drop of water

really love the bumblebee

sunlight on Nicole

two arums are better than one

these red daliahs happy up my garden

and make the bees happy too

summer is all about buds

I've never had so many on the Durban July before.

I've been good this year , with Epsom Salts and compost and liquid fertilizer

agapanthus in progress

some grass on death row .. in time

corrianda soften the beds and add a wonderful smell when watered

mental note to add more randomly to all the beds

fantastic fressia

happy blogging

ps, if you first found this post empty , it's becasue I pressed enter too many times , my apologies

Roses at night

2009-12-08T09:48:00.000+02:00

all taken on the same night as the orchids.

these are red bella-somthing roses from Ludwigs

This yellow rose is a flori-bunda called Fressia and it smells heavenly

this peach beauty is the biggest rose in my garden and has the strongest smell .

It's in the wrong spot though , it does not get enough sun

and I'm not that brave yet to move it

Her name is Just Joey

you would have met Durban July in a previous post.

and next to her is the shy Johannesburger ,

but that is only because Durban July has been getting all the attention

will end with the white arum at night

you can barely see the nicole in the shadow , unfortunately those came out to blurry

happy blogging

Orchids at night

2009-12-04T09:11:00.000+02:00

It was an evening to be out in the garden , the last bit of light was stretched out till late.

And the coolness of the night called.

the orchids are on their last two flower stalks

And then they will be ready to be divided

I used the night sky as a background

And was very impressed that all the orchid pictures came out clear

I love the way the orchid flower lasts for so long

it is worth the wait

can't resist putting in an arum

happy blogging

2 dollar garden changes

2009-11-30T16:26:00.001+02:00

well I think that is how much a bag of compost costs in dollars , it is about 18 South African Rands.

How did I do it .. I divided and everything multiplied.

the soil is heaped over the spot where I robbed this wild orchid.

I was rewarded with a leaf cut for my theft.

the kalancho on the left was as big as the right.

from far you can't really tell he has been butchered

this guy looked the same , couldn't even tell some of his sides were removed

the wild garlic that wasn't flowering well in the shade was split and shared

put them all together with a bag of compost and you get a brand new bed.

the garlic collapsed immediately.

but today I've seen a few flowers peeping already.

Two types of seeds were planted ... they should be out in 4 - 6 weeks

All this in aid of de-grassing. And economical gardening

and what is a post without an arum , especially when they are in bloom.

Potato in a bag

2009-11-26T10:00:00.001+02:00

When I started my veggie garden ,

I planned on planting the potato in a tyre ,

and it did grow

I have seen many wonderful sites on the internet about it.

I dug up a nice bed for green beans and radish and then something else started growing ..

At the bottom of the bed ,

we had thown in all the kitchen waste ,

including the potato skins

and from way down the bottom of the bed , they started to grow ,

it was very strange

Any way there was no place for a tyre,

so I stuck in two poles on either side and put a compost bag around it.

Lets see if it will also produce vertical potatoes

Happy Blogging

Honest Scrap and Best Blog Award in one

2009-11-24T16:37:00.000+02:00

Rebecca @ In The Garden has given me two awards and I am really honored. but very very very happy to accept.

My first award is the honest scrap

The rules are:

A. Brag about the award.
The person who receives it ,feels really really awesome ha ha
and is inspired to keep on blogging and gets to ackowledge fellow bloggers who inspire you , so that others can also be inspired by them.

pumpkin flower

B. Link back to the person who gave it to you.
done on the top
C. Share 10 honest things about yourself.
1. I am a christian , my whole life revolves arround Christ and becoming the person He made me to be.
2. I am usually quiet a happy person , which means I annoy the rest of the unhappy people
3. I love my husband and kids , I have been very blessed with a great family
4. My in-laws live with me. I didn't like it at first , but now I really appreciate them in my life and don't know how others survive without parents in the home.
5. My dad died just after Nicole was born and never got to see his first grandson Daniel and that makes me sad , especially when the yellow arums bloom.
6. I am a computer programmer and love it, it's the opposite side of my life inside and surrounded by technology versus outside and surrounded with nature.
7. I really don't like speaking in front , my heart beats terribly and my hands shake and I stutter. Terrible for me and the people who have to hear me .. *grin
8. I don't like to cook , but I like to eat
9. I don't like house work , but I like things to be neat and tidy
10. hmm I know my husband from 1993 , so that makes it 16 years

pink salvia

D. Give the award to 7 more bloggers who inspire you.
1. Fairegarden , Frances inspired me to start my own blog. I loved her pictures and sence of humour and she is not afraid to try anything.
2. Clay and Limestone Gail is as sweet as Frances and has grown so many beautiful plants
3. The Galloping Gardner what an amazing woman , she travels to all the gardens open to the public and is also helping build a hospital in India. very inspired
4. Gardening Tips and Ideas Scott has created http://www.blotanical.com/ go there and you will be inspired by his blog and by all the other gardening blogs there , it would take a lifetime to see everything there.
5. http://sequoiagardens.wordpress.com/ Jack is a fellow South African , so many of this things on his site will work in my garden
6. Go Away - I'm Gardening! Amy has a lovely blog , she is really enjoying it and she is funny
7. Janie is very very clever , she has lots of knowledge about different things in your garden , her site is sure to inspire you to buy lots of plants :)

lavender

I have more .. but then I may never finish this blog.

The next award is the best blog award

Here are the rules :

Post the award on your blog along with the name of the person who passed it on to you and link to their blog. Choose blogs which you have recently discovered and you think are great and pass it on to them. Don't forget to leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Thank you so much Rebecca ,

Here is my list

dalia

awake with charm

Sequoia Gardens

my secret garden

The Garden Of Eaden

Japanese Garden

Crafty Gardener

Evolution Of A Gardener

Garden Chronicles

Liza And Johns Garden

Liz and the Proffessor

yellow flower

There are a lot more .. but you will find them all as you follow the trail back.

To all I have awarded it to. I hope you accept it. It was very nice showing off the blogs I really like.
What is a gardening blog without some pics inbetween and to end .. a fairy

happy blogging

11 arums

2009-11-23T16:05:00.000+02:00

4 & 5

6 (this was the first one out .. and still going strong)

9 & 10

11 arums

happy blogging

Roses - Durban July

2009-11-19T14:30:00.000+02:00

Durban July is actually a horse racing event here in South Africa , in the City of Durban.

and it is the name given to this rose

it's beginings has lots of yellow

and then a little less

and then nothing

Pretty cool rose

happy blogging

strange looking flower

2009-11-17T15:03:00.000+02:00

In one one of my previous post, I popped in a picture of this plant

I was hoping to add it's progress to each post but now it has already opened

and it is the strangest looking flower in my garden

close up it looks like the skin of an animal

and it feels soft and leathery

and it has the most disgusting smell

so sorry to dissappoint but this is no rose

it's fills the pot very nice and compact

and even without the flower it's stems have a range of green to purple colours

it transplants easily with a stem

and is drought resistent

unfortunately I don't know what it is called ,

this is another plant from my neighbour

happy blogging

while I was away the arums have grown

2009-11-16T20:09:00.000+02:00

I am very excited to annouce .. um display the wonderful changes in my yellow arums.

I have been away for the week and this is what happened to the yellow arums.

one has turned brilliant yellow

another is getting there

it's not as big as the first

and something took a nip out of it .. I wonder if it died ?

others are just peeping

My mom called to say her garden has an impressive 6 flowers
..
But I think I've counted 7 in mine
woo woo and a little dance

I didn't tell her though

I'm waiting for her to come visit

and see for herself

A garden fairy was captured on camera

2009-11-08T17:01:00.000+02:00

I was taking pictures one afternoon

when behind the yesterday , today and tomorrow I spotted a tiny pink and white movement

it was is so many pictures , of my wild garlic

my petunias

even the ice berg roses

it wasn't alone . There was a fairy guard also by the geraniums

they came riding on two white fairy beasts by the orchids

she liked the blue salvias

she found something interesting

and went in for a closer look

she called her fairy guard to come see too

the white beasts were on watch.

the fairy guard gave them strict instructions, by the newly purchased varigated leave plant

he made sure the garden fairy was safe by the yellow flowers from the silver leaved plant

she could be seen even at the geraniums

and at an angle by the alysums

she peered in at the red salvias when she was finished with her garden magic

and claimed some flowers as a reward

Arums are coming

2009-11-04T22:09:00.001+02:00

After the rain , especially this time of the year,

I search the spots I have memorized where the yellow arums are planted.

They used to be all on the east facing wall. Until last year when my husband and the neighbour decided it was time to redo the wall !

And in a frantic , furious frenzy I had to relocate the precious bulbs all over the garden.

I must confess I left some behind and I also forgot some of the places I replanted them.

the first few flowers are starting to show

it's there , trust me. It's green now but soon I'll send you bright yellow pictures.

They are my favorite because it was my dad's favorite , that he got from his mom.

He passed on five years ago.

His theory was that if the second leaf is a flower then the bulb will flower

else it won't at all. So far it's held true in my garden.

this only has a yellow sun tinted color .. the white arums have been flowering already

and will continue long after the yellow have died off

if anyone knows how to make the yellow last that long ..

I'm all ears .

The Afrikaans people call Arums 'varkies oorer' (mind my spelling)

which translated means pigs ears

And

every part of the arum if eaten is poisonous

I still love them ..

macro monday

2009-11-02T20:48:00.001+02:00

It's still 8 o' clock here in South Africa . I haven't missed macro monday yet.

inside an ice berg rose

inside a johannesburger rose (a Ludwigs)

marigold

I'm getting better at macro shots with my Nikon , you can see the pollen inside this arum

I cropped the top picture from this one

wild orchids .

These are a favorite for landscapers there is rarely a garden done at an office block that does not have these.

The marco really shows it;s true beauty.

The dark spots and the fluffy rich yellow

and the delicate blue

just perfect

a shy gloden oldie rose. I've had so many blooms on this rose already.

This lady loves the sun.

And the sun loves her.

looks like an orange bursting open.

the flower from the pomergrante

The articles on the internet says it should fruit after 3 years.. this is my third year

Sadly , some of the flowers have already fallen

but there is still hope for those hanging in.

I think it's a yellow wild orchid .. the plant's leaves look very similiar , but the yellow does not flower as abundantly as the white.

And it has these attractive dark spots on it

white Alysum .

When you find the right spot for this ground cover , then they will easily self seed.

Just be sure to shake the bush well when your pulling it out.

And to end .. this is a flower that will eventually open ..

Anyone ever seen this before ?

I will try and pop a progressive picture of this guy in each post until it opens.

Did I say it was 8 ? It's now almost 9 .. blogging must be fun

the time is flying

happy blogging

Praveshree

towering pics

2009-10-30T16:11:00.002+02:00

not all of these are very big plants , but I suppose that does not make a difference to the bugs , everything must tower

Spinach is not so towering

these are the dried stalks from a succulent

Yellow Iris leaves .. or rather the leaves of a Yellow Iris

Red Salvia .. I love the sky there

geranium underneath towering blue Salvia

from the opposite side you can see the low mint brightened by the flash ..

geraniums just behind and the blue Salvia stalks in the sky

towering wall ..

not really a plant

but I like the drop of water

so sparkling

TOWERING Pecan Nut

I wish

It is no higher than my knee

And has been that way for the last two years

Towering inquisitive investigator

couldn't resist putting in this fancy face

purple salvia

that little yello hook at the bottom is a yellow arum

they are coming

I must not be impatient

(repeat 5 times - to calm down)

this picture was the reason for this post

It's an Arcacia tree that is one of the two trees from the original garden

I ripped out everything else.

it just goes and goes.

this is a new Arcacia that has sprouted from the many seed pods that fell.

There are many that have popped

lets see how long it lasts

I'm daydreaming about bonsais

morning pics

2009-10-28T15:32:00.001+02:00

It would have been wordless wednesday , but I have so much to say

one day I'm going to have a better picture of these woodpeckers

the sun rising over the rooftops

wild orchid , waiting to open when the sun gets higher. These delicate flowers only last 2 to 3 days , but they are well synchronized and come out at the same time.

my second best flower the white arum .. my best is the yellow arum

water droplets on the kalanchoe - love these guys , they look nice all year round. In winter the leafs edge turn red. You can divide them and plant them. And they are not invasive.

A wild garlic about to pop

A Margret Roberts Lavender unfolding

grass against the morning sky

red salvia - also a great plant that has self seeded in my garden.

cheerful orange nasturtium.

sun peeping through a blue salvia

after many attemps .. drops of water from the tap

bugs view of a palm tree

happy blogging

Praveshree

We are not alone

2009-10-27T13:08:00.001+02:00

It's late , it's dark , I'm the only one awake and I hear a scratchy noise at the door. Is someone trying to break in ... Again ! I set the emergency number on my phone , just in case I need to call it quickly and slowly approach the door.

I look out and see nothing but the dark night.

...

scratch scratch scratch

I hear it again

Is it an invisible intruder ?

Is it a very small crook ?

no more wondering the culprit walked by the door making his scratchy noise and making me go jump for my camera.

By the time I got out he was already making his getaway

This guy scares me .. I know I'm bigger than him, but he tends to jump always in my direction.

and sneak up on you.

The other day I was happily planting seeds in some pots when from the corner of my eye I saw and antenae twitch from behind the potting soil

looked a little closer

and out popped another creepy crawly

eeeew it makes my toes curl just remembering

he scuttled of behind my seedling tray to hide

He is called a King Cricket , or locally known as a Parktown Prawn.

And he is one cricket , even though ugly , you want in your garden.

Why ?

His staple diet is snails and other crickets and other critters that are bad for your garden.

I can never kill a snail , they look at me with their little googy eyes and I feel too bad.

so these guys have moved in to do the job.

They are like the bug mafia , their armour plated suit make them difficult to kill

and even with one leg missing they can still give you the hibby jibbys

If I could I would catch one for you guys ..

but since I usually scream like a girl and run away from them , there is no chance of that.

sorry !

weekend

2009-10-26T13:19:00.000+02:00

What an amazing weekend.

I have decided to change my mindset.

My weekends are times of activity and fun and doing stuff.

And my week is for resting.

That way there are no blue mondays , there is just the first day of recovering from my weekend.

It began with bee watching , the art of following a bee until it rests long enough to take a picture with a 3 zoom camera. What joy it is when your camera finally focuses clear and the bee moves.

on the first one you can see the pollen bags on the bees legs. Aren't they amazing little critters.

Next on our agenda was to an animal farm. It was my first time there and the 'regular' people found us a bit strange oohing and aahing over the geese.

even the goose found me strange taking a picture.

If I ever own a large property ... um WHEN I own a large property, I'm going to own geese!

and a grass hut.

The animal farm had an arrangement of cacti flowering plants in the middle and the color is ... is

well you can see for yourself .. it's too beautiful

This little boy, Michael was so kind as to teach my children all the animal sounds. From the pot belly pig's 'oink' .. or rather 'guggling nose snort' .. to the squawking geese. He was promptly rewarded with pancakes for his effort.

This is his monkey act.

We purchased leashes and chains for our extended family , 2 white german shepards.

meet Storm, the lady sitting and Rex the gentleman standing. Actually there is nothing polite about either of them , when they stomp though the plants on a mission to catch the bee. Yes! they think that one of their dutys in the garden is to rid it of bees. The alien species that attacks, by stinging them on the nose.

We gave them both a much needed bath

and took them for a walk. There are no pictures of our walk , because I needed both my hands, for this task. My wrist is still sore from Storm yanking on the leash.

Next and best part

The heavens opened up in the garden shop with the sound of angels on high. A light shining down on a plant obscure on a shelf ,

my new purchase of a pelargonium citronellum

a pretty geranium that repells mozzies.

What more could I ask , I am a spoilt child.

overwhelming

2009-10-23T15:15:00.002+02:00

So I joined http://www.blotanical.com/ ... also the reason for starting to blog in the first place. I started blogging just so that I could blot ..... it was worth it , the people.. um bloggers are overwhelming. that is a good overwhelming I'm getting to know people all over the world and for someone who has never travelled out of South Africa .. that is pretty qool.

it's going to take me some time but I promise to reply to everyone

if you haven't blotted at blotanical yet .. your missing out.

this rose is called Nicole .. after my daughter

this is another plant from my neighbour a green-yellow orchid . It looks like it's about to fly off ,

a Flowercopter.

the 2 white bits could be where the 'flower' fairies sit and control the flowercopter.

it has flowered every year faithfully

The red in this red rose does not look like this , it's much much darker

it's a bella-something or the other from a rose shop called Ludwigs http://www.ludwigs.co.za/

I have a number of his roses , will do a post on it when I have nice pics of all of them.

I added this to keep the balance of pink and yellow flowers ..

did you notice ?

it's pink yellow, pink yellow, pink yellow

if you scroll up then it will be yellow pink, yellow pink, yellow pink,

can you say that fast ... I sound very funny

hope you enjoyed the blooms

blog you later

focused

2009-10-20T16:37:00.001+02:00

I love these pictures where the background blurs

these are the crazy pink flowers , I would call them weeds if they didn't have such pretty flowers.

wild garlic , these are soooo awesome you just divide and fill the bed. And they look good all year round.

geranium from the neighbour , everything she gives me just grows grows grows

ice berg roses .. love the masses of flowers

Salvia Blue - grown from seed last year , I'm soo proud

tiny lambs ears .. oops that the backgroud clear and the object blur

aahh much better :) this is a cheap bulb from the R5 store

can you see whos watching me ...

little guy on the right of the fire red salvia ?

hidding on the geranium leaf !!

are these the homes of fairies ?

2009-10-14T10:43:00.009+02:00

my white arums - they are slowly emerging from the clumps of green, with milky whites and delicious yellows on the inside. If fairies lived here they would be long and elegant with flowing gowns, they may be royalty. Maybe the king and queen fairies of my garden live in the arums.

the white flowers on the cacti. these beauties smell like heaven so the fairies that live here must have great big wings like these petals, so they can fly all the way to heaven to fetch some heavenly scent for their homes .. which of course is in these flowers

the amaryllis which was bought when my son was born is now 2 years old and is flowering for the third time. .. I know it's pink .. and yes it was for my son's birth... I didn't buy it!!! .. anyway

the fairies that live here must have the same spirit as my son... lots of energy and charm. Can you see the resemblance ?

I guess you have to meet them first ?

First blog

2009-10-12T14:57:00.002+02:00

Everyone is doing it , so I finally got my gear in and now look at me , I'm blogging.

the name ? I used to say "So much to do, so little time" and then very little got done. So now I say "Whatever". It comes from Barbra Johnson , one of may favorite authors. She was going through a very difficult time in her life and when it had reached more than she could handle she handed it over to God saying "Whatever Lord" (my version of her story). For me it just means my life is in God's control, He is in control of what is in it. And He needs me to go through whatever life throws in my life pot.

why blog? .. hopefully somebody would read it and enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying living it. And if not , years from now I can read it and say "wow" I forgot I had done that.

interests ? .. always growing. At the moment I'm into gardening on the outside and cross stitching on the inside. I really like the idea of eating from my own garden , and this is what the menu will look like in 2 months time, except for the orchid .. that is so pretty , I could just eat it up .. but not really.

since this picture was take I've added marrow and radish and borage.

I'll send more details on the cross stich when it actually looks like something.

other important things about me is that I love the Lord with all my heart, my soul and my mind. He comes first before anything else in my life.

next comes my husband , Peter .. I have been spoilt in my life having an amazing man like him .. I feel like God's youngest, most spoilt child. To have a good husband is truly something to boast about.

I have two children. Nicole is 5 and Daniel is 2 and thanks to them , every day is a surprise. Who needs a perfectly organized day .. thats boring.

till next blog

Whatever ! :)