All Things Gardening 🌹

[janeababe]

I’ve only been interested in gardening in the last prob 8 yrs, so, by all means, I’m still learning and I have had many plants die despite me *nursing* them, sometimes, even lovingly 😂…. But such is the life of a plant I guess. 

I’m hoping that on this board, we can share our plant pics, what works, what doesn’t, give some handy hints and some solutions for those hard to grow plants.

I confess, I prefer my plants in pots, and now that I actually have a sort of greenhouse area, I’m loving it immensely.

And to top it all off, I’ve just right now purchased 3 x pink princess philodendrons 💋

Oh Lordy lord….. I’m so excited about these babies. These ones will stay inside with me until they grow a bit stronger. 

. 

[janeababe]

my husband enclosed this space at the side of our house originally, as a catio/dog run, with the pet door leading to inside the house, and there’s a huge purpose built bird cage at the end for our much loved Terrence (cockatoo)  but once we put shade cloth on top, I just KNEW I had to put some plants in this space 😆 ….. the grass is the only *plant* that doesn’t love it in here lol, so we’re replacing it with synthetic grass soon.

Every single plant in this area is in pots.  

I hope you find some inspiration papermoon….. plants can really *make a space*  I believe 💋

[tasfleur]

This is probably irrelevant to this thread, but perhaps someone else here may have noticed  a problem with packaged seeds this year, even the usually respectable branded ones?

I bought packets of sunflower and marigold seeds.  The seeds looked "scrappy and crushed" but I planted them anyway.  Many weeks in now, and only two of the sunflowers have come through, and no marigolds whatsoever.  Marigolds usually are strong and self seeding once established.

Talking to friends, they have had the same problem with various seeds this year which have not proven viable. 

The garden is very healthy and well looked after;   soil is composted, mulched and moist.

[janeababe]

Hmmmm… I can’t say I can help there as I don’t buy packet seeds, and I grow my sunflowers from bird seed 😂😂😂 which we have plenty of, and it’s bulk cheap 😉

Marigolds are great for bringing the bees, so a great flower to plant, but I’ve never grown them. 

Hubby bought a pkt of tomato seeds on the weekend. I KNOW from YEARS OF EXPERIENCE that they will sit in that packet until they expire in 2026 😂

….yet, out the front garden where we pulled out the rose bushes, there is a quite large and thriving self sown tomato plant lol…. So I popped in a stake and gave it a drink. It’s currently in flower, so fingers crossed 🤞 (the ground and dirt condition is absolute rubbish in that spot too, so it must be a strong bugga) 😉

Time will tell……

[tasfleur]

Thanks Janeababe.  I didn't realise that you could grow plants from bird seed like that.  I throw a handful of wild bird seed out for the doves each morning, I'm going to experiment with those straight away ... 😺

[springyzone]

I promise this is sort of related to gardening. 😁

But maybe some bits on a tangent.

Has anyone ever had success with poisettias? Ever? I was given 2 for Christmas. I have been given them in the past and I just expect them to look pretty for a while then expire and they have always lived up to expectations.

My 2 are still alive but have lost most of their red leaves. I do water them when I remember and they have some sunlight but I guess not a lot.

I have another pot plant (don't know what it is) that I bought last weekend as a gift for someone but can't give it till Monday and I am anxious about that, can't wait to unload it before it dies too.

And just a shout out to people to be careful what you grow in your yard. We planted a few natives down by the back fenceline and have lived to regret it. One gum tree we had removed yesterday, had 4 different quotes and went for the cheapest and that was.. wait for it... $1300.

But it had to go, it had high, heavy boughs I was worried might drop on our pool.

A couple of years back we had an accident with a tree branch. It was a hot day and we had the grandkids in the pool (it is just an above ground one, not a fancy one) when all of a sudden, without the slightest warning, a big branch from a banksia tree cracked away and onto the pool. The very side of the branch just missed my granddaughter (then aged 5) who was on the steps getting in. The branch was extremely heavy, it took 3 adults to lift and move it. I have been a bit worried about branches ever since.

[countessalmirena]

I know what you mean, springyzone. I think I've posted before on these boards about the neighbour's (back neighbours) trees which were planted far too close to the fenceline, and one in particular was uprooted during recent storms so that it fell against the back fence and spread its long branches over much of the back yard. I chainsawed it in what I subsequently realised was a hideously unsafe manner, and I'm still looking for a ladder that is robust, safe, able to be adjusted on a sloping garden, at the right height (adjustable), and with a steady platform so that I could possibly, just possibly, use my beautiful red chainsaw again in such a situation.

[janeababe]

Springy, can you give us a pic of your poinsettia and we’ll take it from there. I’ve got a small one atm that I have brought back from the brink of death, so hopefully, we can sort out yours too. 
👍

[janeababe]

Countess, can you hire a small cherry-picker so you can reach the branches better? 

I also have a new red chainsaw. Happily used it on Monday to rid the lattice of a dreadful thorny climbing rose 😎 Then hubby used the car to pull out the stump… god it was satisfying to see it gone 🤣

[springyzone]

---

@janeababe wrote:

Springy, can you give us a pic of your poinsettia and we’ll take it from there. I’ve got a small one atm that I have brought back from the brink of death, so hopefully, we can sort out yours too. 
👍

---

----------

I will do that later this morning and upload.

Oh, the photo of shame.😩

[countessalmirena]

Cherry picker might be the answer…

I’m looking forward to the “photo of shame”!