It’s been a bit wild, weather wise this week, with some strong winds blowing, causing branches to break off trees and keeping our cat indoors. Then the sun came out again…and all was well. Not a lot new this week I am afraid. Monday is a holiday here in Wellington, so I hope to get out and get that tidying up done that didn’t get done today due to a rain shower, which luckily held off until after I got some pictures. Anyway, thanks once again to The Propagator for allowing us to share what is going on in our gardens. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.
First up, the echinacea still continues to bring joy, with its bright pink petals and fascinating centre. They did get a bit of a bashing by the wind, but survived to look beautiful for another few days.
Next up, there is still a lovely display of nasturtiums, in particular the Bloody Mary ones. One of the casualties of the storm, was one of the plants, which just snapped off. So I popped the branch in a large vase of water and they are still thriving and adding a nice pop of floral colour to the house.
And now to the sad corner of the garden. The picture on the left is of the lemon balm – compare to last week and it is hard to believe it is the same plant. A quick look this afternoon, and there is some lovely new fresh growth at the bottom, so I will cut it back and see what happens. The begonias are still not looking good. I am seriously wondering if I should have started them off inside. The wild strawberry plant is proving to be a very tasty meal for the cabbage white butterflies this year, though I did manage to eat a little strawberry off the plant today.
Meanwhile, there are flowers on one of the oregano plants, which I should harvest and use to flavour vinegar. I have decent amounts of parsley and mint at least which is great for these summer months.
We bought a bee house on our last visit to the garden centre. Here it is nestled in one of the pots with a raggedy straggly nasturtium. I haven’t seen any bees in it yet though. Anyone else have one?
Finally, I now have two flowers on the hymenocallis. This was one of the plants I brought in during the gale force winds, and it is still looking fine. Such gorgeous flowers, but nothing at all like the picture on the packet. They don’t have a particularly strong scent either.
So that is me for now from Wellington – a bit brief but some pictures of summer. As usual, I am looking forward to seeing everyone’s beautiful gardens in other parts of the world. Hope you are all well and enjoying your gardens in whatever the season is with you.
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 
The echinacea is beautiful, Barbara. I’m sowing seeds of it next week.
Enjoy your Monday holiday.
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Thanks! And good luck with growing echinacea – it is really lovely to look at.
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Fantastic photo of the Echinacea. Nice to see a bit of summer – it’s a bit nippy over here at the moment. I love nasturtiums – last year I had all sorts of interesting varieties from some saved seed. They’d obviously been cross pollinated and the results were varied but pretty interesting!
Cheers!
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Thanks! There are lots of lovely nasturtiums around as you say.
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Lovely nasturtiums. I have a bee hotel. I think the bees that used mine did so earlier in the summer. There’s a few guides online, including this one regarding where to site one: https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org/bee-nest-boxes/. I’ve just read it and didn’t realise I was supposed to replace the tubes every so often.
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Oh thanks so much for that link! Just had a quick read and the first thing that I can say is – I have to move it!
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I think you are quite right about the lemon balm. A good chop down and it will come back. Although I live in the UK, we grow many NZ plants because we are on the south coast with sandy soil and the lemon balm has run rampant through the garden before I moved in many years ago and still pops up where it can. It is a tough plant.
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My task for today is to sort out that lemon balm! Yes they are tough plants and at least my plant is in a pot so it won’t spread all over the place.
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Bloody Mary is so vibrant. You’re right about the lemon balm, which I have a lot of, it can start to look really messy, cutting right back should sort it out.
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I don’t care that we have seen some before, the summer colours are so encouraging and cheerful. Keep posting them.
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Love all those Nasturtiums! The one that you had to bring indoors – great to have handy for salads eh? They add a nice radishy flavour, leaves or flowers, although I prefer the flowers.
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Yes – am going to use the rescued ones today in a salad.
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Gorgeous echinacea! I love the first photo with the petal trying to hide the face.
I had built an insect hotel, with a part of which looks like yours for bees : it took me a year for the insects to come there.
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The link that One Man and his Garden Trowel is really useful about bee hotels. I liked the shy echinacea too!
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I will have a look at Graeme’ link : Tks!
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Thanks for the flowery smiles for my winter Saturday morning. 🙂
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That top echinacea is fabulous. I’m with Frank. Thanks for the flower smiles.
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It’s so nice to see summer through your post. And I totally agree that that echinacea is gorgeous!
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The echinacea is a beautiful colour. And as always I love your nasturtiums. Along with the herbs it just shouts ‘summer’ 😁
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Well after looking at your bee hotel and reading that article OMAHGT provided, I have done everything wrong with MY bee hotel! That’s about right with me! Will be looking to change it up! Very good post today!
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Oh me too! My bee hotel is in completely the wrong place.
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Love your little bee house and your Bloody Mary nasturtium – great name, must look that one up!
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I like the idea of pitting the bee house in a large pot as you have done. I have struggled to find the right spot for mine and this may provide the solution.
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Really interesting to see the effect of pruning on your Euphorbia mellifera. I am going to try Real Seeds this year too.
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Sorry this comment was meant for Jim!
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I keep promising to make a bee house as they like to get in the holes of the metal garden chairs. We once had a huge black bee that drove us mad every time we tried to sit on the tubular hammock swing. Fingers crossed a homeless bee or two will find it.
Do you add the nasturtium leaves and flowers to salads? If not they are delicious 🙂
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I looked at the link that OMAHGT provided and have since moved the bee house, so let’s see what happens! Yes I have been using the flowers in salads – really good!
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The Bloody Mary nasturtium is so aptly named, but they are all pretty. I have long intended purchasing a bee house……
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