Another lovely, sunny day here in Wellington. We have both been enjoying a final week of holiday, with some of that time spent out in the garden, though quite often reading rather than attending to the plants I do confess. Anyway, thanks to The Propagator who encourages us to share what is going on in our gardens in all parts of the world. Check out the participant guide if you want to join in.
First up, all this warm weather and just enough rain has meant that the garden around the house has become a jungle. The man who comes to do all the hard work cutting lots of things back with the right tools is recovering from an operation, and although I’ve been out and done a bit, but it doesn’t look like I have! And I need to dig up and get rid of those agapanthus somehow too, but we are surrounded by them on the steps both up and down to the house, so I think it will be a losing battle.
Next up, the dahlias. I can see lots of buds on a couple of plants, and the pot dahlia Pablo is now in full flower. Something has been enjoying eating the ‘what will be very pretty’ pot dahlia Bellini. I have been so enjoying my dahlias this season.
And so to herb corner part one. I needed dill for a potato salad, and picked up this plant in the supermarket. I took it out of its plastic ‘tube’ and this is what happened. There is enough for the salad, but I don’t think I will be bothered to plant it out, do you? Meanwhile, the pot basil from the supermarket looks quite perky, and hopefully will keep me supplied with leaves for most of the summer
And so to herb corner part 2, with the still very attractive lemon bergamot (with, yes, a late camellia in the background), the beauty of the borage in flower and good to see the curry plants are thriving since I repotted them.
There are still a few alstroemerias in bloom, but really they are in their last days. As I was attempting to tidy up a bit, I noticed these white tufts, which are, I am afraid the eggs of the vine hopper, a real pain in the garden. I do have a good product to get rid of them, but there will be some in inaccessible places I know.
But let’s end with a glimpse of the sunflower that is to come. There are some marigolds on their way, a lot more nasturtiums (the one in the featured image is not the same one as last week but is in the same pot!) and hopefully some cornflowers though I haven’t seen any sign of them yet.
That is my six this week, and 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 @thistlesandkiwis. 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 pictures strikes me..
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Looking forward to seeing the Sunflower in flower! The Bergamot and Borage look lovely.
Could it be earwigs on the Dahlia? I don’t know if you get them in your part of the world, but they’re rather partial to Dahlia petals here in the UK.
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I checked and earwigs were introduced here in the late 19th century so it could be!
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What a lovely garden – mine has also turned into a jungle after some rain and the heat! Despite weeding and doing some pruning it hardly looks as if I have done anything!
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Oh I know that feeling well! So glad you have had some rain.
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If you want some gel to get rid of your agapanthus, ask us! We have that in stock here today!… Vine hoppers are unknown to me. Fortunately….
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If you want some frost to get rid of your agapanthus, ask us! We have that in stock here today!… Vine hoppers are unknown to me. Fortunately….
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A little frost, just localised, would be useful! Yes, you are lucky not to have vine hoppers. Pretty but nasty!
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I am in awe of people that can grow sunflowers – I rarely have much luck with them for some reason. I should give them another go. The borage flower is very pretty.
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I have had success with small sunflowers – they don’t grow too high so work well in pots. I am hoping for flowers.
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Digging up those agapanthus! Oh no, I’d love to have too many of those. How lovely to see beautiful summer flowers and blue skies. Sorry to hear about the vine hoppers which sound very evil! Good luck with controlling them
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Agapanthus are weeds here – I know hard to believe! The vine hoppers are evil, supping the sap from the plants.
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I am loving the greenery and flowers in your garden. Here in the US in East Tennessee it has been cold with some snow. So everything here is bare and colorless. I love marigolds they are my favorite and I can’t wait to see the sunflower. Thanks for sharing your garden.
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I hope my marigolds and sunflowers do flower – I like them both. Marigolds are lovely aren’t they? So many varieties.
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I’d love to show you our garden…but it is currently burried in snow. Thank you so much for sharing yours!
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You will have to let us see your garden in the spring and summer!
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It’s so exciting when there are a lot of buds it’s like a surprise waiting to happen. Exciting garden it’s all looking so great. We have had a lot more bug problems with the tropical weather we’ve been getting. Have a fantastic week ahead.
I hope your area didn’t have too big seas from the volcano in the ocean.
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There were some big waves in Northland but we were not affected down here.
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It is indeed a topsy turvey world where Agapanthus is considered a weed, and I find it amusing that one person’s precious plant can be another’s ‘to dig out’ plants. Lovely to see your summery garden,
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I love the jungly look and too many agapanthus? How can you have too many? Envying you your lovely sunshine.
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Agapanthus is an invasive weed here – I know hard to believe!
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Very nice post on gardening and it was a pleasure to see pictures of beautiful flowers.
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How lovely to see a jungly garden when ours in the uk have slowed down. Strange to think of Agapanthus as a weed.
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I have to say that when I first came here I thought ‘oh look at all the agapanthus’ but now I know differently! I still think they look good though!
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Your vine hoppers remind me of the wooly aphids in my garden at our old house. Lovely plants.
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You have a magnificent garden! I’m very interested in visiting NZ so I’m glad to have found your blog!
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Everything is bursting with life, even that drooping dill.
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Yippee! Nasturtiums! Beautiful, sunny post and lovely dahlias. I’m really hoping this will work, WordPress are still being difficult. I do comment every week but usually without success. Here goes…fingers crossed!
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We’ve been having a pretty good summer. I’ve been having lots of WordPress issues too – I don’t think it works well with Macs.
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