It has been two weeks since I spent any time with the plants around the house, partly due to the weather, partly due to being back at work 5 days a week. We have had lots of rain, not much sunshine (6 minutes this week apparently), and even today, though there is no rain, the skies are grey. Ah well….it is winter after all so I shouldn’t really be complaining. Anyway, I did manage to get a bit of weeding and trimming back done this afternoon at least. Thanks once again to The Propagator for allowing us to share what is going on in our gardens.
First up, the tecomanthe speciosa. There are still a few buds, but the flowers are looking on their last legs as you can just see below. I love this plant as you can tell!
Two weeks ago I posted a picture of the first bulbs peeping through, and here is how they are looking now. The first of the daffodils are already showing signs of life which is so nice to see when the weather is so miserable.
At the back of the house. you can spot the buds on the magnolia, lots of buds on the two camellia bushes, and some flowers too. Unfortunately, the flowers are all on the sunny side of the bushes at the moment, and since I failed to find a passing tui to take a picture, you will just have to imagine things at the moment! The camellia bush on the right should be in full flower by next week I hope.
At the front of the house, ‘the big camellia’ is looking good, covered in bright pink blooms. If you look closely at the flower in the middle, you can see a large bee enjoying a feast.
And so to the herb pots…and while the parsley seedings are thriving, and indeed need potting out into larger containers, one of the tarragon plants has turned brown and soggy as you see below. Of course, tarragon is not completely cold hardy, so I have trimmed the plant back and moved it to a nice sheltered spot for the winter.
At number six we have the berries on the mahonia plants. The clusters of berries are quite pretty, and should be turning blue as the days go by. I have read that the berries are edible – has anyone ever tried them? I thought they were poisonous and so don’t want to risk trying one!
That is all from me this week. As usual, I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens in other parts of the world. Hope you are all well and are having better weather than us!
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 
Your camellias are a delight. That shiny foliage sets the flowers off very well. Looking forward to seeing those mahonia berries in full colour.
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It is always lovely to see a camellia in flower. Yes, mahonia is called oregan grape and the “grapes” are edible. I am not sure whether or not I have tried one or not. I often have a go. This week I drank the nectar from a flowering phormium – it was delicious! Have a good week 🙂
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Maybe I will try one when they are ripe…maybe! Enjoy your week too.
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I’m looking forward to seeing the mahonia berries ripe and I didn’t know they were edible ( Thanks to Gill ) . I thought they were only for birds. Never try to sow them though.
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Does mahonia spread all over the place if you sow the berries?
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I don’t think so. It depends on the varieties and some of them need stratification. I had to google to know more and I found that website http://mahonia.canalblog.com/archives/2007/09/14/5786358.html ( sorry in French but with a translator, you’ll easily understand).
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Oh I will go and have a look! Thanks for that.
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Love seeing your camellia. Nice to see it thriving. Mine was a gift and is misreable. Frosted through winter and now burnt through summer. Might be going to make room for something else.
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Camellias grow really well around here – they are everywhere – gorgeous!
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How wonderful it’s so strange here we are in England in summer talking about the warm weather the wet weather today and how things are blooming well et cetera et cetera. But there in New Zealand you’re talking about daffodils. Well it’s so so different. Thank you for such a wonderful wonderful blog even though you’re back at work you do wonderfully well. I am oneOf those that do not work not by choice but by necessity. I getting some gardening from time to time though.
https://gardeningmyway.home.blog/2020/06/27/six-on-saturday-27th-june-2020/
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It is lovely to see summer in the northern hemisphere! It took me a while to adjust to winter in June and July when we moved here, and the fact it is always so green, but I do love it.
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Winter is ever so mild in New Zealand. To this Mainer, it looks like spring, especially with the emergence of the daffodils.
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Here at least – they do get snow down south! I don’t miss snow at all 🙂
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That is one healthy mahonia! Our native ones look a bit different and I’ve never seen so many berries on them. Fun to see life from your early daffodils.
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This year there seems to be a lot of berries on the mahonia. I’ll keep watching them as the colour turns.
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Lots of life for the middle of winter! Your camellias are loaded with flowers and wonderfully healthy. What a good show to look forward to.
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Yes we are so lucky here with camellias everywhere.
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Six minutes of sunshine in one week. Oh my that’s quite a statistic!
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I know….I knew it had been grey and gloomy all week but not as bad as that!
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Ghastly!
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Yes!
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Lovely to see green shoots and those stunning pink camellias💕
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funny seeing your daffs coming through, i’m just ordering mine for next spring, adding to the small army i already have.
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I think seeing different seasons is one of the things I love most about SoS. Good luck with daffs planting!
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Still need to try my hand at herbs. The few I have had mixed results. Camellias…now those I find easy to care for.
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Some herbs grow easily eg thyme. Maybe start there?
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Will do. We managed rosemary. Dill was disastrous.
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I’ve never had luck with dill either..
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It’s a mystery. If I am successful I will share how.
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Glad to see your bulbs growing so well. My camellias are flowering well and nearing the end of their flowering period. We are also lucky enough to be able to grow them here. Your Mahonia is loaded with berries…..I have not seen one with so much fruit. Not here at any rate. That is a very healthy parsley you have there.
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The mahonia seems to be doing really well this year. I hope there are still some flowers left on the camellias…it has been quite stormy back home. We are away just now so I hope all is OK!
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I so love to see the first sign of emerging bulbs. Mine are mostly in pots and now removed to a shaded corner to die back naturally. You are, of course, six months ahead (or perhaps behind 😀) and looking forward with excitement to the first flowers of spring.
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There are already a few daffodils in the Botanic Gardens in one very cosy spot under a tree. Most of my bulbs are in pots too – in face I am taking over the decking and there is not much room to sit any more 🙂
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Best in pots as they can be moved away after flowering. Best on decking to have them nearby in view. Great minds think alike…
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