Six on Saturday 06.02.21

Thistles and Kiwis,

Today is Waitangi Day, the national day of New Zealand. It marks the anniversary of the initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, which is regarded as the founding document of the nation.  There are no fireworks or military parades, though the current Prime Minister does help to serve up breakfast after the dawn service at the Treaty Grounds. And…Monday is a holiday so I should get some time to get out there and rearrange pots, tend to the nasturtiums and hopefully also sit outside with a cup of tea. 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. 

This week’s post is more about progress rather than anything new. So starting with the herbs, the basil is still doing well, especially considering it was a supermarket plant. I found some cinnamon basil seeds from last year, and have just put them in a pot and will see what happens. Actually, there are already a good number of small seedlings, so should be able to pot them on next week. I don’t really mind how well they do as I found this a bit of a disappointing plant last year. The echinacea is still flowering, and of course the hyssop and oregano are also flowering.

Progress is also being made with the eucomis, and there is even more life on the one begonia left. It rained during the night, hence the wet leaves. I haven’t had much luck with the begonias this year, so will have to reconsider the approach for next year.

And so to this week’s nasturtium pictures! There are some bright orange ones that I grew from foraged seeds, a few more of the dark red ones, though these are beginning to fade. I managed to get the picture below of a bee enjoying visiting one of the flowers.

As well as the cinnamon basil seeds, I recently also found half a packet of radish seeds. Hopefully this time I will get at least one crunchy, pink and white root to eat! Also in the last year’s seeds corner, I have managed to grow one sunflower. One because as I was planting the seed packet blew away…I keep expecting to see a sunflower or two popping up in odd places.

As the alstroemerias come to an end with their attractive seed heads, the first buds are appearing on the Japanese anemones. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be able to fill SoS posts with pictures of these really attractive flowers.

Finally, the highlight of my week, my first dahlia. I know… but having lived most of my life in flats without a garden, this is so exciting. I know none of you will laugh at me for feeling so happy! I came home from a horrible day at work on Monday to see this beautiful flower in bloom. Can you imagine anything better? The first two pictures below were taken today, the third one on Monday.

So that is me for now from Wellington. 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

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

41 Comments

  2. Love the selection, but especially the dahlia. But then the nasturtiums fascinate me. No matter how much I try, my nasturtiums always revert to orange and yellow!

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  6. Dahlia Delight! It’s a beautiful white, a chara. Long may it last.
    Hyssop…. Do you use this as an herbfor cooking? I bought two last year and later found out it has medicinal properties as well.

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  7. Pingback: Six on Saturday 06.02.21 – Moda-Creative thinking

  9. Your dahlia is absolutely magnificent! I can imagine how happy it made you feel. Fun to hear about your successes (and not!) with seeds too. What didn’t you like about the cinnamon basil? I tried it a couple of years ago and was quite impressed – although I did find it hard to use in anything but salads. Thanks for sharing!

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      1. I couldn’t get the seed this year – so I’ll look forward to your 2021 thoughts! I did get some lemon basil seed, however.

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  14. What! Radish with intact leaves! The acclimatisation nuts didn’t introduce flea beetle to New Zealand then. Nice to see a Dahlia in February too, remind us lot up here what we have to look forward to.

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  16. Your dahlia is definitely something to feel proud of. I can relate to the uplifting effect of a pleasant surprise in the garden after a trying day of work. Thank you for sharing the lovely picture of bee foraging in the dark orange nasturtium.

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  19. Your photographs are stunning! I really must use my camera instead of my mobile phone. I can relate to seeds blowing away in the wind. LAst year I opened up a packet of seeds (gold plated) and was staring at the six seeds and 3 of them blew away.

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  20. Pingback: Delights: February 5 to February 11 – Fashioned For Joy

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