Category Archives: gardening

Happy Easter

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babianaBabiana. (Click for larger view.)

This will serve nicely as my Easter greeting to all who readers care to be greeted in that way (Happy Easter!), but especially to my mum and sister who actually sent me Easter greetings cards in the post. Thank you!

I picked the lovely Babiana because (besides loving the name …this led to an ichat conversation with my sister about whether or not I’d name somebody this, to which I replied (not fully seriously) that I happily name a daughter Babiana… only to withdraw that when my sister suggested that the name would be shortened to Babs… and I was immediately put in mind of Carry On movies – I mean no offense whatsoever to any Babs in the readership, of course)…. because these were planted, partly with mum’s help when she was last visiting here, and so she gets to see how they are doing. They are in the same batch as the gladiolus plants I mentioned about two or three weeks ago, and I still have yet to get to tell you the story about my getting these bulbs, which is sort of interesting, […] Click to continue reading this post →

Hummers

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hummingbirds

I mean the good type of Hummers: Hummingbirds! (Some types of which are already visiting the garden even though the flowers they like are most not ready yet. One of my Budlea plants died – from the frosts I think – and another is ill. I expect to get three more of them from the market this week. The hummingbirds like them (butterflies love them), although they prefer the Mexican Sage plants which are right […] Click to continue reading this post →

Jasmine Tower

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jasmine towerNo, not the name of a new Jazz singer as far as I know. Instead, it is the single most powerful source of a sweet scent in the garden. What has been happening is that the Jasmine has steadily crept up one of the palm trees, and is engulfing it in hundreds of tiny flowers. (Click for larger view.)

The scent from this is huge. For better or worse, the web does not allow communication of scents, and so I can do no more than offer this rather odd picture (the tree is quite tall, and so it is an odd one to take, and hard to get the right sense of the situation while letting you still see the plant), and leave the rest to your imagination.

The only downside to this wonderful scent is the fact that it is close to the group of […] Click to continue reading this post →

De-Gaussing

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I accidentally used the term “de-gauss” (or perhaps “degauss”) in conversation the other day, referring to something I had to do for my well-being. I was asked for an explanation. Thought I’d explain what I meant to you too:

One of many effective ways to de-gauss: Get the best gin ever (Hendricks’), a decent tonic water, the very tastiest of lemons (it’s from the tree in the garden), a glass, some ice…*

gin and tonic

…and a really comfy chair. Hey, it’s been a long and busy day.

-cvj

P.S. Oh. There’s some other use of the word involving getting rid of trapped built up magnetic fields, etc., etc. You can google that.

(*Yeah, I know it’s not a great snapshot, but you get the idea.) Click to continue reading this post →

Happy New Year!

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I’d like to wish a Happy and Successful New Year to all readers, whether you be regular, occasional or first time visitors! In a very short time, you’ve all helped make this blog into a pleasant, informative, and fun place to visit (certainly for me).

succulent starbursts

I’d hoped that this could be -and it has indeed become, with your help- a place that […] Click to continue reading this post →