Six on Saturday 19.11.22

Thistles and Kiwis

There has been sunshine and blue skies, heavy rain and grey skies this week – a real mix of weather, sometimes humid, what people have been saying is ‘Auckland weather’. Another brief – and also green post – this week. I am off out again this evening (and next week too) so want to get this done before I go to watch some dance. Anyway, thanks to Jim at Garden Ruminations, for hosting Six on Saturday whose knowledge of all things plants and gardening makes him an ideal host.

First up, all the left over nasturtium seeds I planted are popping up, though no signs of flowers yet. Still there is plenty of time – we are not in a rush after all.

At number two, we have signs of life on one of the old dahlias that I just left in the pot, not bothering if it came back up again. The leaves are already being nibbled, so let’s see what happens. If I get flowers this year, it will be a bonus.

Over to herb corner now, with lots of things bouncing back into life after the winter, such as the lemon verbena and chocolate mint. The mint is doing OK, but needs repotting and a bit of love and attention. The nicest surprise is the return of the echinacea, which has almost tripled in size in the past week. If the rain holds off, I’ll try and move it to a bigger pot and hope that does’t upset it too much.

At number four, the serious vegetable growers may scoff, but here is my little sugar snap pea, grown from seeds for children given away at our local supermarket. Let’s see what happens….

Summer is coming…and the side of the house is already covered in our annual display of alstroemerias. The goldne flowers often feature in our Christmas Eve photos.

Finally, Charlie the cat has his fifteenth birthday on Friday. Here is is sniffing the bushes, checking who has been around and celebrating being well again.

That’s all from me folks for 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 enjoying your gardens in whatever the season is with you.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

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

Published by Thistles and Kiwis

24 Comments

  5. Nice to see Charlie again. A good age. Talking about mint, I saw someone repotting mint on a TV program recently. Mint tends to curl its roots around the edge of the pot, so he takes it out of the pot, cuts it in half and then puts it back in with fresh compost with the middle sections to the edge and the rooted edges together, so back to back if that makes sense? I haven’t done this with my mints yet, but will do in the spring.

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  10. As I crunch through brown and orange leaves in my yard, I rehydrate with all the beautiful green in your post! I particularly love the nasturtium (who needs flowers?!). And I’m delighted to see Charlie so fit and happy.

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  11. My sugar snap peas are now finished, and I’m wondering if I can plant some more or whether the weather will be too hot. They were very bountiful while they lasted. They’re great straight off the vine.

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  13. Charlie is looking good and I hope keeps well. I’ve not been successful with with Sugar Snap peas, something enjoyed them before they were fully grown. 🤔🐛 Your top flower is very pretty.

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