Six on Saturday 20.02.21

Thistles and Kiwis,

It is another lovely, sunny summer Saturday today. Our terrace gets the sun in the afternoon, and it can be almost too hot to sit outside at times. Of course, this is quite lovely, and we enjoyed our Saturday afternoon cup of tea outside, watching the cabbage white butterflies eat the plants. I can’t add in the sound of the cicadas, so you will have to add that sound in your imagination. 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, something seen in another garden if that is allowed. I was travelling for work this week, flying up to Hawke’s Bay. In a break between meetings, we took a stroll to look at the vineyard, greenhouses and garden area used by students studying viticulture and horticulture. I loved this sign on a shed door, lying in front of which were these squash and marrows. Why I don’t know, but it was fun to see, and I hope you all don’t mind me including them in this week’s SoS.

Returning home, I found a few developments in the garden. My single sunflower, will be in full flower soon, and will feature in next week’s post I am sure. More dahlias are appearing too, something that really brings a big smile to my face with it being the first year I have planted that flower. The sunflower is a pygmy sunflower to grow in pots, and the dahlia is art fair.

Over to the herb garden, the budget lavender is proving a great success and has flowered really well this summer. The lemon balm has made a wonderful recovery since I cut it back, and we have lots of parsley and sage for using in the kitchen. There are still a few gorgeous echinacea flowers brightening up the deck too – we have had such a lot of joy from this plant this year. And when I bought the bee house, it came with a packet of mixed seeds which I just sprinkled into a pot to see what happened. Well, there are marigolds and also this borage, which should be flowering soon I hope.

Last week I picked and pickled a handful of nasturtium seeds, which should be ready to try in a couple of weeks. Below you can see this week’s ‘harvest’ that I might add to a carrot pickle perhaps? Suggestions, as usual, always welcome. I also picked a couple more radishes, both of which were really peppery and fresh tasting. I confess feel as excited as a child picking my first vegetables!

Finally, the beautiful and serene Japanese anemones are looking gorgeous. There are lots more to come, judging by the number of buds I can see, and it looks like we will be graced with a lot more of these wonderful flowers.

Finally, where we began this post with a sudden invasion (well, I counted at least three) of cabbage white butterflies, enjoying almost everything from the wild strawberry, to the radishes, to the sunflower…you name it. While looking at the butterflies, I noticed that there are lots of flowers on the wild strawberry plant, so hopefully I can grab a few mini berries before the birds do in the weeks to come.

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

  1. Your garden’s looking lovely! Great photos, as ever. There’s nothing wrong with being excited about your first crop – I think the first thing to be ready on our allotment will be the rhubarb, and I can’t wait!

    I very much like top photo of the cabbage white, by the way 🙂

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  2. Such a light and bright post, it is of course raining and windy here! I’ve never tried a pickled nasturtium, must give them a go, we have plenty here and I am sure they will follow us to our new garden, wherever that might be. I can hear the cicadas, you paint a wonderful picture. Have a great week 🙂

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  4. Gorgeous dahlia, and also the windflowers. I’m hoping that when I get a bit more shade I can grow some windflowers in my garden.

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  5. Good morning from England. Well we’ve yet to see the butterflies are judging by the weather is getting warmer my not be long. Hope those strawberries will end up on your plate before the birds get them 🙂

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  6. I use nasturtium seeds in vinegar like capers or pickles. Once picked, I cover them lightly with salt for 24 hours, I rince them, and put them in a jar with vinegar and a mix of coriander, rosemary, pepper and chili : Ready to eat after 2 months

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  7. I delight in reading about southern hemisphere gardens – my part of South Africa is still battling with drought, so every plant that survives is a bonus.

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  9. I love your dahlia, I must start planting more dahlias as they are so rewarding. And yes, I agree your Japanese anemones are looking gorgeous…we have some too this year, I think because we have had so much rain.

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  10. Those tiny strawberries will be delicious, I remember them from our previous garden. Will the nasturtiums from your seeds be the same colours as the parent plants? I’m sure we shall see next season. Nice, summery Six-on-Saturday .

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  13. Ah, the delights (and warmth) of a summer day. Simple pleasures. Watch out for the borage though – once grown you’ll never be without it, it self-seeds all over the place! But bees adore the flowers and they (the flowers not the bees) look pretty in a cold ice glass of G&T.

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  14. Beautiful photos. Love fun sunflowers. We do the same sometimes sit on the veranda & watch the beautiful destructive bugs flit around us & in the garden. lol. Any harvest is always fun. My first ever dahlia was just about to open & then the humidity & rain came, it just went yuck half way open, it has more buds so here’s hoping, if the rain stops for a bit. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend.

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  17. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #231 – Thistles and Kiwis

  18. A lovely six – and I was mesmerised by that cabbage white. Beautiful, but strangely familiar! YES – too familiar. Also delighted to read the suggestions for pickled nasturtium and the borage ice cubes. I must try Fred’s pickling recipe – and with chillis too. I use capers quite a lot while cooking – particularly summer salads, pasta sauces and fish pies. I wonder if the nasturtium seeds could be substituted in all?

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  19. I put my second batch of nasturtium seeds to salt and will move them on tomorrow. I love capers too, and have heard that nasturtium seeds have been called ‘poor man’s capers’. I will be very interested to try.

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  20. Out of curiosity, Barbara, what time is sunset for you now?
    The dahlia looks great, and is likely to continue flowering until very late autumn.

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