The Bougainvillea

I’m satisfied with the various areas I’ve created for growing vegetables and they seem to be producing reasonably well, so this year I’ve been thinking about different ways to beautify my garden.

One feature in the garden that lends itself well to being beautified is the pergola. So I decided to grow a bougainvillea vine over one half of it.
The plant I chose was a bright magenta variety that’s pretty common in NZ. I've seen these growing in various places in both public and private gardens and they’re great for adding a stunning display of colour in the summer. But they look their best when grown over some kind of structure like a fence, trellis or pergola.
As usual I like to show a BEFORE shot:

I planted the vine in a small triangle space between the pergola and the BBQ (October 2010). Then as it grew I started training it toward the back right post cutting off any lateral shoots to encourage a single stem to grow in that direction.

As it grew nearer to the post I allowed one of the laterals to grow so that it forked off in two directions. Then I just started winding it around the post in two different directions to try and create a plaited effect.

I’m reasonably happy with how it’s grown so far over it’s first full season. It’s reached the top and started flowering. I’ve discovered how easy they are to grow. In fact if you weren’t paying attention they'd quickly get out of control and grow every which way, so they need to be pruned regularly especially when training them to grow a certain way.

I have made a point of not winding the stems too tightly around the post as these will gradually thicken and therefore tighten as the plant matures. I'm pleased with the plaited effect so far but I’ve had to keep trimming any lateral shoots to maintain the effect, (it’s also a good idea for safety reasons as the Bougainvillea produces hundreds of sharp barbs – pretty lethal if you stand too close or brush up against it). I'll probably let the laterals go wild on the top of the pergola next season which I’m hoping will create a nice display of colour.

One thing I’ve learned about the Bougainvillea is that the bright magenta part of the plant is not actually the petal of the flower. The petals are white as can be seen in the above photo.

I'll be sure to add a few pics later to show the final effect.

Palms in the Garden

Palms are great for creating a tropical atmosphere in the garden.  I’ve purchased and acquired several palms over the years, half of which I've kept in pots. There are so many different kinds so I’ve been trying to learn how to identify the difference between them. The learning curve involves understanding how they grow including knowing how big they get and hence where to plant them.

One palm I bought about 6 years ago and planted on the edge of the bush was a Bangalow palm. I bought it when it was small but it was starting to get quite big for the place where I put it so I realized I needed to move it. However, transplanting it was not going to be easy.

It was in a very awkward spot and the root ball was so big it was going to be too heavy to lift. As usual rather than asking anyone to help me, I figured out how to do it on my own using the McGyver approach. I used a couple of ratchet ties strapped around the root ball to lift it out of the hole. Then I wrestled it into the wheelbarrow ready to move. 

What I love about mature Bangalows is their lovely smooth bright green trunk. I knew just the place for it on the approach to the sleep out. 

The bangalow will grow a lot bigger than this yet. I wouldn't want to transplant one that's any bigger than this. I love the way it catches and filters the afternoon sun in its new location. 

My next task is to move a nikau palm which I now realize is also in the wrong place (pictured next to the Bangalow in the picture at the top). I also have a Phoenix palm which I've decided to remove altogether as these grow to a massive size, far too big for my garden.

The Sleepout #7: Getting it finished

I've been terribly distracted over the last few months with some difficult personal issues that have taken my attention away from the garden (or at least keeping my blog up to date). Anyway, I was determined to finish off what I started last summer when I built the sleepout. It has been in a semi-finished state for months while I waited for the summer to roll around again.
One of the more pressing jobs I had planned this summer was to finish off the deck as it's been a bit of a safety hazard.

I'm pleased to have finally got it finished, but it's a shame it took so long because as you can see, the part I did first (last summer) has already discoloured compared to the bit I just finished. This is also one of the drawbacks of being surrounded by trees.

Another important job that needed doing was to brace all the sub-floor foundation posts...

The fact that it wasn't braced properly was bugging me all winter especially when I was lying in bed and my wife got up and was walking around on the deck or inside the sleepout. It's really amazing what a difference the bracing makes. Now when she walks around, I'm barely aware of it.

Next, I need to get some underfloor insulation organised before winter. It gets pretty cold in the sleepout at night from June-Sept even though it's well insulated in the walls and ceiling.

Oscar — The Dog-Cat!

Meet Oscar. He's a cat who thinks he's a dog!

I'm hardly ever alone in the garden as Oscar always follows me into the garden. He loves it when any of us humans go up there. He loves rolling around in the dirt, on the grass and waving his tail around my legs and chasing skinks. Unfortunately he's not been doing a very good job of keeping the birds out of the plum tree. The fruit is ripening on the tree and the birds are making a mess of it, pecking holes in all the fruit. I might have to dock his pay.

To tell the truth I think he's actually scared of going up there by himself as there are a few stray cats in the surrounding bush. He also takes the opportunity when we go up there to mark his territory, to let them know that this is HIS place and that they should stay away.

When he's in the house at night and he hears a strange noise outside, he growls like a dog. He scratches on the door to go in and out, just like a dog.

But I must admit, he climbs trees better than any dog I know.

The Garden Archway

One of the things I always wanted in my garden was an archway. There's something romantic about archways that creates a beautiful ambience in a garden. Besides, my father had an archway in our family garden years ago. I just loved it – it had grapes growing all over it and it was my favourite place in his garden. The archway brings back some happy childhood memories for me, working with my father in the garden. If there's one thing he passed on to me it was his love of gardening.

So I managed to acquire an archway a few years ago and it's been a feature in my garden for some time now. This year I decided to grow passionfruit over it.

I've attached a couple of old bed frames to it. On the one in the foreground I'm growing cucumbers.

The passionfruit flower is spectacular, unlike any other flower I know.

I'm looking forward to tasting the first fruits... that's if I can get to them before my wife and daughter do.

Myoga Ginger

When I was first establishing my garden I promised my wife a special place for her to grow some of her weird Japanese vegetables. One of the first things she ever planted was Myoga Ginger. You can see more pictures here in my post about the 'bottom garden'.

The plants die off and come back every year without us caring for them at all. As with most ginger plants the roots are invasive, so in an effort to contain them I buried some fence pailings to try and stop the roots from taking over the whole garden. When most people see our little ginger plot they think it’s sweetcorn.

It’s only the tender new flower heads that are harvested. You can see one here...

I think you have to be Japanese to truly appreciate them. Izumi slices them up and uses them in asian style salads or as a garnish in noodley soups. This is what they look like when they’re harvested. She often gives her Japanese friends a handful when there’s more than she needs and they always appreciate this little taste from home (you can't buy it in the shops here).

There’s a lot we can learn from the various cultures when it comes to things they eat. 

Mutant Tomato – Update

This is an update to a post I did back in August 2011(read here). 

At the time, the tomato pictured below (which self-seeded in my garden) was 4 months old and hadn’t shown any signs of breaking down or decomposing. It is now 7 1/2 months old and apart from changing colour it’s still completely whole!

Would you eat it?