Makeover Weekend

With last weekend being a three day one it was the perfect opportunity to get stuck in and start giving two areas of our garden a spruce up and a mini makeover. These two areas are the bottom patio (where the big goldfish pond is) and jungle veranda.

Despite being only classed as 'mini makeovers', they'll still take quite a bit of time to complete. So no finished product and after shots on this post, but rather just glimpses of what we have done so far, up to the point where we packed up on Monday evening.

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Plant Spotting in Venice

Venice was a beautiful dream, we really enjoyed our recent stay there. There was so much beauty in the place, and in almost every turn we made there was something noteworthy to behold.

More about this spectacular city on a separate post. For now I will focus on a few random plant vignettes that we've spotted on our walks in on the main island and a couple of nearby ones (Murano and Burano).

A rose garden on an exotic gardening blog? This will be a rarity for us but spotted this along the grand canal and couldn't help but note how quintessentially romantic the entire thing is: roses in full bloom, gently cascading on Italianate balustrades and statues, in a most desirable location of along the grand canal and surrounded by period buildings.

  
Ahh to be able to grow succulents like these on an outdoor windowsill! Not sure about an Opuntia though...

More likely Dasylirion longissimum (could be D. quadrangulatum) planted on urn. I understand the effect they wanted to achieve (i.e. fountains) but this is a harsh way of trimming these plants. They are best left with as much foliage as possible or just trimmed as 'half spheres' rather than just 'spurts'. Hope these still thrive well and for the long term.

Not sure about the identity of this climber, a Tetrastigma perhaps? The effect is beautiful.

Love this collection of plants in one of the many small squares within the main island. My eyes naturally zoomed in on the Aeonium perched on the slender shelf on the wall.

This Jasmine was everywhere and in full bloom, wafting a heady floral scent that makes strolling around extra pleasurable. Photo was taken in Murano.

Seen at the colourful island of Burano. Not many front gardens here but a few had a collection of potted plants at least. These ones were succulents.

And so was this one. Any ideas what those water bottles could be for?

More about Venice on a future post!

Mark :-)

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Camera Phone is the Way Forward

It was an intense weekend. There's no other way to describe it but as such as we got fully stuck in with gardening jobs especially as the weather was very favourable.

We managed to tick off several things from our spring gardening chores list. It helped that we were both in the mood to get the garden in shape for the coming warmer months ahead. But as it was intense, neither of us had the chance to chronicle what we've done with a series of photos.

Speaking of photos, during our lull from blogging I have already identified that the way forward would be to use our camera phones more than ever before. Doing so would make it much easier to juggle blogging with our increasingly busy life outside of blogosphere. 

Come to think of it, it's quite astonishing how it's come a long way with regards to the quality of photos taken using a phone. Gone are the days wherein the norm were hazy looking photos, nowadays it can be even better than ones taken with a compact digital camera. This is the very basis of Instagram I suppose, which has phenomenally risen in clout as the quality of cameras on phones has also increased. 

Anyway, I wasn't completely hopeless as I still managed to get a few random shots over the past two days...

Persicaria runcinata 'Purple Fantasy'

Loving this perennial, although I've heard a few grumbles already from other gardeners saying it's too aggressive in spreading. Not an issue for use, not yet at least. The name 'Purple Fantasy' is what it commonly goes round here in the nursery circuit but it is probably known as something else in other countries.

Ginkgo biloba 'Beijing Gold'

Really striking how zingy yellow the leaves of this variegated cultivar are, in contrast to the non variegated leaves of another cultivar as seen on this photo. The leaves darken up a bit later in the season but pretty much stay yellow all year round.

Have prepared several mixed succulent plantings this year, and with this one it's just a matter of waiting for it to bulk up now.

Schefflera taiwaniana

It's Schefflera flushing time too! All of ours are busy flushing away as we speak, and the photo above reminds me of a fireworks display.

Dicksonia antarctica

And so are the tree ferns!

Mark :-)

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Blue Pots, Bricks, Bins, and a British Gas Van

I seem to be collecting pots now almost as much as I do plants. But then again each pot is a planting opportunity.

Now time to give an update on the plants growing at the front of the house...

Three years ago we had a makeover of the front of the house by adding blue pots with drought tolerant planting. Later on we have also planted out a flowering cherry tree and added some railings to demarcate our space complement the house (it used to have railings back in the day). This year, sensing that we could add more pots to the corner seen above without compromising parking space, we proceeded to add three more to make the display stronger. Prior to that we wanted more height at the back so the Nolina nelsonii was repotted to a much taller blue one.

With three new pots to fill, we had to select new plants that will go in them and do well in this area. Taking cue from the plants already, we bought a few more drought tolerant plants on our recent trip to Urban Jungle.

First to be planted was an Agave parryi var. truncata. Upon removal of the plastic pot it came in with, I was rather fascinated by the pups circling the rootball - they looked like snakes or slithering creatures of some sort.

Fascinating they may be, they still got snipped before being placed into its new blue home. Next to be planted was a Dyckia 'Nickel Silver' followed by Agave neomexicana.

We're really pleased with the end result, and love the way the greens and blues from the plants themselves mix and complement each other (if I may say so).

What about the other plants at the front house? Here they are now:

The backdrop of the photo above is far from glamorous, with it being a parade of rubbish bins. It does tell a story though, of the our neighbour finally getting a house extension done after mulling about it for years. So the bins were out at the time these photos were taken to keep the side passage clear so the builders can do their work.

On the other side the backdrop is a British Gas van. One can easily guess what our other neighbour does for a living. The van is actually very rarely parked in that spot but by chance it was there then, and I actually like the way the paintwork coordinates with the colour of the pots!

My favourite backdrop though are the bricks of our house...

Mark :-)

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