Monday 13 August 2012

Pretty maids all in a row

Doreen, my gourd - she had to have a name as it was much easier documenting her progress - is producing a lot of dark green offspring, some of which I have now harvested and arranged on my window ledge. I'm not sure what else to do with them! But I've enjoyed growing them and will repeat the procedure next year but with more know-how. Since they are supposed to be miniature decorative gourds, I didn't expect such a large, persistent and thirsty mother plant and was hoping for some wrinkly ones. (but they'll have them at the supermarket soon). I've now removed some of the foliage to let the sun get at the smaller fruits so she's only drinking 2-3 small buckets of water daily, and of course, as I harvest the fruit, less water will be needed to sustain it. Add to this my miniature tomato plants, which have grown much too big for their containers and are laden with fruit. If I grow them next year I'll have to find a better way of housing them. The main problem is that if they are on my loggia tiles, too little sun can get at them. But I'll worry about that next spring. Maybe I should go for peppers instead. They are very decorative.

The photo shows 6 little Doreens with a tea light to give the idea of size! I had to pick them because they are a dead weight (rock solid) and since they are not growing on the ground they would have tumbled down and hurt themselves!

What else? Well, despite my neighbour's skepsis about my gladioli, which are up to 2 meters high, they are flowering. I've picked some of them because they, too, would tip over when the upper blooms flower. They are delightfully crooked. I've no idea what causes that!

And my hollyhock has reached the roof and is propped up my a bamboo cane jammed into the concrete at the top and a big container at the bottom. It's now past its best, but another one is also starting to get buds.  I hope it stays a bit smaller!

To crown it all, my old hibiscus got a new lease of life after being placed in full sunlight, and now produces almost a bloom a day.  One day it had 4 blooms at the same time. Inspiring! The most recent photo shows my new mini easel, bought to support miniature drawings and paintings for photographing. I was tired of propping them up against something. now I can go where the best light is! Below the hibiscus photos is one of my 4 leafed clover plants, which grew spontaneously. Presumably the seeds were in the compost I bought at the garden centre. They have thrived and flowered all summer!


Yes, if I could do it over again, I would certainly have a real garden. Fate has left me without one and it makes me very sad. But I've learnt to make the best of things, so if you'll excuse me, I'll just give Doreen her last water of the day!

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