The last day of November, and the sun is shining and I was outside in shorts enjoying the warm weather. Apologies to any of you with snow and cold weather…. Anyway, thanks once again to The Propagator for allowing us to share what is going on in our gardens.
First up, we stopped off at the garden centre today, and I have to say I was very disappointed with the choice of herbs available. They seem to have cut the area in half, and some plants were looking very sad too. I did pick up a Thai basil and another oregano plant, since the old one seems to thrive, and a new basil, which I will bring indoors at night at the moment. I also picked up a very sad looking dill. It is a herb I love to use and which is hard to come by in packets in the shops here. I doubt it will take, but let’s see.
Elsewhere in my herbs-in-pots garden, I think I already mentioned that I have replaced one of my parsley plants, but have kept the other gone-to-seed one going as I think the flowers are so pretty. This was an Italian leaf parsley, so I need a new one of those at some point. I have two decent curry plants (the one below looked like it had died at the start of autumn, but I moved it and it seems to be doing well), and lots of lovely sage leaves and thyme.
I did find this small packet of fertiliser for citrus trees in the garden centre at least. It was good I only had to buy one small packet, and there were instructions for how much to use for a tree in a pot, so I have administered the medicine, so to speak, and hope it works its magic. I also planted a few of cinnamon basil seeds, so will see what comes of those.
In other parts of our yard, the first of the Peruvian lilies are flowering. We should have an excellent display in the weeks to come. The camellia at the front of the house is still flowering, with many a late bloom on the shady side of the plant.
In amongst the lilies is this foxglove, rising above everything else. There are quite a lot of them around at the moment, popping up where you least expect them. I love them I have to admit, and so do the bees, which is no bad thing.
Finally, yes it is agapanthus time. These buds are beside the steps to the house, but they are popping up everywhere at the moment. I do like them, but they are an introduced weed, so shouldn’t really be encouraged.
For now though that is me. As usual, I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens in other parts of the world.
You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram@thistleandkiwis. As for Twitter….am totally inactive these days. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com
Thistles and Kiwis 
Foxglove looking good. I’ve not got many self-seeders coming up as I’ve dug the main area over planting new trees and shrubs and my seed grown ones are looking a bit pitiful so I may have to buy a few next year to top up. I’d hate to miss out on foxgloves. One of my my favourites. Love having the spires rise out of fern corner.
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I’m with you regarding foxgloves – would hate to miss out on them.
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These small single-use bags for fertilizing plants are original. We don’t have them here.
Gorgeous foxglove and altrosmeria : I just love both!
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sorry, alstroemeria … typo error
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I was quite surprised to see those small bags in amongst the larger pots. So useful and far less wasteful. Yes we do have some lovely flowers at the moment.
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I warmed my hands on your post, the weather looks wonderful. The foxglove is great, so are the peruvian lilies, lovely colour. Hope the magic works!
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Oh so glad I could provide some warmth!
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It was really appreciated!
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Beautiful foxglove and a nice selection of herbs.
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Thanks!
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It’s interesting that you regard Agapanthus as an introduced weed yet you like the foxglove, which travelled rather further. I was struck when in New Zealand by how many white foxgloves I saw naturalised in farmland. Ours are almost all pink in the wild. You have four introduced bumblebee species from introductions in 1885, which would likely be pollinating the foxgloves. One species even survived there after it became extinct here. Dave Goulson went looking for a New Zealand population of it, the short haired bumblebee and eventually found it on the municipal rubbish tip in Twizel. They didn’t reintroduce it in the end because it was not sufficiently genetically diverse, they think only two queens survived the original introduction.
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Thanks so much for your comment with the interesting story about the bee species. Apparently the 28 native bee species don’t produce honey. Considering how much manuka honey is now valued it seems somehow strange. Native species are now under threat.
Re the agapanthus…we see them, as janesmudgeegarden said by the side of the roads and all over the place. There is an experiment being carried out in the Botanic Gardens to find breeds less likely to spread. Foxgloves – interesting what you say about the colours. I will have to keep my eyes open regarding this! I like them as a flower, so when one pops up I am quite happy to leave them.
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Lovely to see the green shiny leaves in your garden as everything is quite dusty looking here. One of the things I love about NZ (there are many) is to see the agapanthuses blooming along the roadsides, along with a lot of other lovely flowers. The motorway into Auckland was full of colour last time I was there.
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Yes agapanthus do indeed grow along the side of the roads here. You see them everywhere!
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Nice to check in on you there in the spring sunshine. I’m interested in the citrus feed as my lemon tree never looks happy. Maybe I should look into some proprietary feed.
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I’ll see if the feed works…fingers crossed!
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