Saturday 24 February 2018

Onwards to Horticultural Glory!*



Bags are packed & ready to go.




It's Saturday again, time to write about six things gardening related, however tenuously.  If you've a place where you garden - no matter how small, how new, how neglected - why not share six things from it that grabbed your attention this week?


As to The Writing Closet itself, we're moving house.


In terms of the actual grunt work, I've been relegated to a mostly supervisory post, which affords me time for our weekly SoS confab - to read, comment on & re-tweet Sixes go leor.


But first, let's check in on the moving team.






1.  Container plants.

Gardeners have pots, but because of our frequent moves, mine are occupied mostly by trees & shrubs.  I used to plant & lift my roses with every move until one of my favourites nearly died on me.

I promised, if it lived, it could stay put.  It lived & I kept my promise, resolving that in future, nothing goes into the ground unless I'm willing to leave it behind.

Of course, some pot dwellers languish.  If nothing perks them up, they get slapped into the ground & I do a You-Better-Feckin-Live dance around them.

Watch this space.  Workshops on dance gardening are coming to a venue near you.

Back in the present, we knew a night flit was in the offing, so this year's garlic crop joined my little potted forest in planter bags of their own.



In the van queue, w/Mlle DoodleFace checking the All Clear.


2.  Cuttings

In addition to sinking pot haters into the ground, I plant anything that populates on its own, then lift a few when I go.

Having said that, I always take cuttings.  Rarely if ever do they survive, but other Six-on-Saturday-ers such as Fred & Chicu have encouraged me to have another go.

Here I am, once again, attempting the Great Cuttings Challenge.



Ever the optimist.


Curry plants, purple sage, buddleia alternifolia, plus a late-contender weigela because there were pockets left in the tray.  All easy propagators, so surely some of those babies'll live.


3.  Don't forget us!

Of course, my gardening crew's coming, too.



Mr BigNose, Mlle DoodleFace & Mizzy BunnyButt


This shot was only possible because of the Dreamies on top of the hat box.  Bribery rates right up there with dance gardening, in my experience.


4.  The Crypt.

Until we reach our forever home, no pet gets left behind.  That includes the dearly departed, of which there are four.  The first 3 are in their burial urns (decorative planters), but our most recent loss, 15 year old Bast, didn't quite fit inside the one we got for her.  She's currently on a weight loss plan.



Weight loss chamber.


Her crypt is properly secured from fox, corvids &, dare I say it, the dogs.  A collection of star shaped aquilegia, a handful of bulbs, & we'll forget what's happening underground.



Bast, pushing up columbine & various bulbs.


5.  Beehive composter.

Feel free to scoff at this one.  We sacrificed utility on the altar of an outdoor painting frenzy.


No, Big Nose, we're not going to take it apart.


6.  And importantly, the shed innards that someone forgot to pack up.



Whose job was it to empty the shed?


Once the shed's empty, we're off.  Apparently the new landlord's been slicking up the place since last we saw it, so I'm ready to be impressed.




The great, late Bast in the hammock 3 gardens ago.


Impressed or not, Tim Hewitt advised I go onward to horticultural glory, & so I shall!

For more rooted SoSers, tarry over to the Propagaor for his Six on Saturday.  In addition to his week's efforts, there's always a coupla dozen links to other garden blogs in his comment section.

Onward!

* Quoting Tim Hewitt's comment on my last week's blog.

16 comments:

  1. Good luck in your new home, I hope you are soon all settled and everything is in its place. I'm looking forward to seeing the new garden!

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    1. I'm excited, too. It's my first terraced garden! New things to learn.

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  2. I just interrupted my daughter's piano lesson with an out-loud guffaw at the idea of your dearly departed's weight loss chamber! How long will you be at your new place?

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    1. Sorry to be the cause of your daughter missing a brilliant musical career! We hope to be there 3 years.

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  3. Ha! Last time we moved house we had one removal van for the contents of the house and another for the contents of the garden!!

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    1. That's how we do it, too. Gardeners. They have to love us cuz we're pretty inconvenient.

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  4. I love your 'you better fecking live' dance! Lovely animals too.

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  5. We moved twice in one year with lots of plants in pots. You're right - the movers must shake in their boots when they see the magnitude of the task. I'm hoping we can stay put for awhile now. Like you, when the next move comes, the plants will be left behind in the ground. Good luck with your move, and please do sign me up for the dance class.

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    1. Once, I was involved in a docu film & on break, one of the women taught us to belly dance. What a hoot, so any booty shaking women in one room. Someone filmed us & it made the final edit. Dancing, it's great stuff.

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  6. After all the end of the afternoon to read the pile of Six, here is your turn (I keep the best for the end ...;)) I hope that your next garden will be bigger, brighter and that you will be able to plant in the ground all that you could not do until now ... Thank you for having followed my tips of cuttings ( and Chicu too) , we never know ... 3 years, it's possible to do something. Good luck moving and come back soon with new photos of your new home!

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    1. I'm so excited about getting out of here, you all will surely hear about it when I get there. 'Pile of Six' - can you believe how many of us there are this week? We're spreading like rabbits.

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  7. I'm trying to imagine the reaction of the movers when you point out Bast's container and say something like "Be careful with that, there's a body in it!" If I ever leave here, the three dogs have to stay. They're under fairly immovable objects - two trees and "Edifice 1". Good luck with the move, good luck with the plants and cuttings, and good luck with the new garden. As to emptying the shed, I guess son remains comatose and will be carried out asleep on the sofa.

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    1. Bast will be transported by her human, not the movers. As will the garlic, btw. Some things I do not trust to strangers, garlic & dearly departed being amongst them.

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  8. You made me tear up with your taking the dearly departed pets along. You are a love! Good luck with the cuttings. I feel quite invested in them!

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  9. I cart rocks from one garden to the next, so certainly wouldn't leave my furries behind. They've so enriched my life on several levels. Hopefully, the cuttings will feature in this Saturday's update. Hope to hear what's going on in your part of the world, too.

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