Welcome back to Sunday Selections!
This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a
way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to
showing on our blogs.
Kim spends more time writing at The Shake these days.
The rules are very simple:-
1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections
title
2. link back to me, River, somewhere in your post
3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and
see what you've posted.
Kath and Andrew often join in as well, although Kath has been quite busy
lately and unable to join us.
There are several other participants now though:
I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I'm continuing with photos of the gardens surrounding these flats I live in.
buddleia flower bud. I took a couple of cuttings from K's garden and one died, but this one is a survivor. I'm looking forward to the blossoms opening.
the dwarf sunflowers have tiny, tiny flower heads forming in the centres of those leaves.
me, age four. You can see I already had the gardening bug.
see that tiny green speck down there?
it's a miniature rockmelon. The plant grows to the size of a tomato bush and the melons are about cricket ball sized. I'm hoping to get more fruit than last time when I only got one. There were more but the rat that got my mini roma tomatoes also took the melons.
the ornamental plum trees planted along the western wall of my flat are developing fruit.
because the trees are ornamental, many people think the fruit is inedible, I thought so too until last summer when I tried one and found it juicy and sweet, so of course I then picked a few more.
they don't grow much fruit, they're developed for their foliage, not for fruit and the birds get most of the plums, but I'm keeping an eye on them this year and I'm hoping to be able to pick at least a dozen.
The trouble is finding them. As the season wears on, the leaves turn a rich purple just like the fruit which makes the plums hard to spot.
afternoon sunlight through the leaves of the plums.
this is the sea of lomandra growing in front of the plum trees and stretching all the way to the mail boxes.
just look at those thorns! this particular spike is jutting out right by my mailbox and stabs me when I collect my mail. It won't be there by tonight. Where's my secateurs....
beginning at the end of "my" sea of grass is this bigger sea of smaller lomandras, much softer looking and with less thorny flower spikes. About halfway through this sea is the path leading to the flats that back on to mine. Because they are softer, they look prettier, especially when a breeze ruffles them.
.png)
The landscaping is lovely around the flats and how nice that you can do some gardening yourself. So many rentals don't allow that.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pretty garden, I lived in a block of flats when first married and we had a cement slab and a bit of lawn now it has about 5 small gardens around, so much nicer.
ReplyDeleteMerle.........
Love the gardens. And hopefully the butterflies will also come to your buddleia. And yes, those thorns would have to go...
ReplyDeleteSeems you are on a mission this year to go green.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if lomandras is what I rather generically call pampas grass. Does it grow feathery spikes in the fall?
Delores; my gardening is confined to pots on my miniscule porch. getting in and out of the front door isn't as easy now with all the pots there.
ReplyDeleteMerlesworld, nothing worse than a cement slab, no wonder you've created such a heaven where you are now.
Elephant's Child; The thorns will be gone before the sun goes down. I'm not real happy about "my" sea of grass, I'd love to dig it out and plant something prettier, but it's such a huge area, I may not be allowed to.
Joanne; no, pampas grass is quite different, much taller and no spiky flower stems. This stuff is about chest high to me, I'm short, and in between the thorns the flowers develop into what looks like millet seeds.
Pampas grass is a no no as it impossible to get rid of without wearing overalls and long gloves. Very scratchy.
ReplyDeleteI await seeing the buddleia flower as I don't know what they look like.
Must try and find miniature sunflowers and rockmelons. Love the idea of the latter in particular.
The ornamental plum is beautiful and I didn't imagine you could eat the fruit. Well done you.
There are other grass type plants that don't have prickles which would probably be much better but it would be a big job for one person (that's if you were allowed to do it).
Did you have to use tongs or similar to hold the prickles while you got rid of them. They look really nasty.
I have really enjoyed your Sunday Selections today so thanks a lot for sharing them
Lovely River takes lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteI love gardens more than anything and you are lucky to be just entering that season. BUT my favorite picture is of you when you were four. How adorable that you loved gardens then. I did too. No pictures to prove it, though. Ha
If it is anything like here this spring, the plants should be looking lush and happy, and it looks like they are.
ReplyDeleteThere's you kind enough to mention me and my blog and I don't post for three weeks! I am back now! Love your four year old self!
ReplyDeleteMimsie; the buddleia is flowering now and I'm surprised to see it is a white one! I was sure I'd taken cuttings from the purple one. I would never plant pampas grass anywhere, the strappy leaves are razor sharp along the length of them; we had one once in the front yard of a house we moved into in Melbourne when the youngest was a baby, hubby fenced it off so the kids wouldn't hurt themselves.I wore thick gardening gloves to trim the thorny stems off the lomandras. I bought the miniature rockmelons from The Diggers club online several years ago, a neighbour gave me the dwarf sunflower seeds. I could probably send you seeds from the sunflowers later in the season.
ReplyDeleteManzanita; funnily enough the watering is the part I most often forget now. And look at me wearing a dress for heaven's sake!
Andrew; everything is looking lovely and green now.
Gillie; you're entitled to a break just as much as the rest of us. Thanks.