Birds have been digging up the seedlings in the raised beds. I tuck them back under the soil only to find them dug up again a few hours later. It’s very frustrating, but I wouldn’t want a garden without birds. Your garden never belongs to you. You’re deluded if you think it does. It belongs to the wildlife. The good, the bad and the ugly. And the nondescript, the invisible and the beautiful. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind a garden without rats, that’d be a very fine thing.

It’s been one of those topsy-turvy weeks. I started the week deciding to set up a stall at a local market selling flower seedlings. I submited a request and got accepted. I ordered more seeds and bought some biodegradable pots. I spent every spare moment planning, making lists, sowing seeds and potting up seedlings.

By Saturday morning I was confused and exhausted. Why was I running myself ragged growing enough seedlings to sell? Wasn’t the plan to sell cut flowers? The only reason I entertained the idea of selling seedlings was because it was the only way to get in the markets. Suddenly it was all about having enough seedlings for people to buy. The cut flowers were all but forgotten. I’d lost sight of the very thing that I cared about. Flowers.

I’ve abandoned the market idea. I’m sticking to ‘Plan A’

The moral of the story: Don’t get distracted by ideas that seem to solve a problem. Before you know it they’ve become the problem.

I did some weeding and tidying this week. Both activities were great for sorting out my busy brain. The area in the photo above is in front of the old garage and faces north. This is the dogs domain. They’ve taken over the mini greenhouse, so I’ve abandoned it. I moved it to a dark corner and moved some big planting containers in its place.

I’ve planted Lathrys ‘Pink Pearl’ (a perennial sweet pea) in the container beside the wooden screen. I’ve never grown a perennial sweet pea before. It doesn’t have a scent but the it has pretty flowers.

I spent all of Saturday in the back garden tidying it up. A brown bird followed me around, kicking up the pea straw and eating worms. The bird stayed with me all day and only flew to higher ground when the big dog chased it. The bird is very outgoing and not at all skittish. I think she/he was just having a laugh at the big dogs expense.

Here’s a before and after of the back garden. Finally I’ve got rid of the pile of soil and planted grass seed in its place.

I was sick of the dogs jumping onto the raised beds so I made these frames out of string and bamboo. I trimmed the edges with loppers. They will double as growing supports for the flowers.

My perennial bed (photo above) is packed with oriental poppies, achillea, helenium and chrysanthemums.

I moved the bearded iris’s to the front garden over several days. I got so sick of all the weeds, which I tried to ignore but couldn’t. I was going to leave the weeding until winter but every time I looked at them I got mad. I’m not a neat-neat gardener. Not even close. I don’t hate weeds but I couldn’t bear to see my plants getting smothered by them.

My third mini greenhouse is already full of seedlings. I think I’ll need a fourth. They’re a really good design and easy to construct. They’re good value too. I have to weight them down with a bag of potting mix so they don’t blow away.

The glads are still flowering. I like this combination of plants: the glads, the grasses and a salvia with small orange flowers (that I transplanted from the Karori garden).

Here’s a forgotten corner. This is where I grew my heirloom sweet peas last summer. A good many of them have self-seeded and found their way up at the metal support. I bought the original seeds from Koanga Gardens. An old fashioned variety grown in New Zealand gardens for many generations. They have purple and magenta flowers and a rich scent.

I do love flowers that make themselves at home.

See you next Sunday.