Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cravendale - Cats with Thumbs

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Spring arrives in Corumbela


CeanothusGrevilleaWarminster Broom 
Happy days are here again! Plenty going on in the garden, birds singing  buds burstin' and much suddenly in flower. There is plenty to do and I, once again, feel like doing it. I certainly lost the enthusiasm over the winter but that's all forgotten now. Here above some of the items that have pleased  me recently, Wisteria, Ceanothus,Grevillea and Broom all making a wonderful display of bloom. The village, Corumbela, is not the liveliest or noisiest place around but it does have nice people and some wonderful views over the Med to Africa and Gibraltar.

 An illustration of the law of unintended consequences- a sprinkling of Osteospermum seedlings have established themselves in this very unruly and out of control Jasmin and are proving themselves to be accomplished climbers in their own right. Difficult to tell from the photos but they have reached at least 6 feet up into the Jasmin. that's going to another big job soon, getting that lot under control-severly cutting back the Jasmin before it takes over the whole garden. 







Photo left:- the first flowers on my Bignonia Venusta, not bad for an 8 year old plant! I just don't know why I can't get it to flourish. I lavish much care and attention and generous amounts of TLC for scant reward; this is the first time it has had flowers on it and they are few at the tip end of a 15foot stem; any advice would be welcome. Perhaps I should just forget about it and not bother. There are plenty of them around in friends gardens where they cover fences and pergolas with masses of bloom and foliage, what am I doing wrong?



If you have Agave americana be sure to keep it trimmed back right from the start for once neglected you have to risk serious discomfort to get them back in order again, they can certainly cause a painful prick and are very difficult to approach when allowed their own way for too long.
Happy Gardening