Garden Diary: July – Soaring Temperatures and a Destructive Blackbird

The temperatures over the last week have soared above 30 °C. We don’t have air conditioning, so not only were some of our plants suffering, but we were as well. I barely had enough energy to refill the bird baths I had scattered around the garden yet alone hump extra water for the plants. The joys of getting old, eh? While I am a great believer that age is only a number and it’s all in the mind, the body has yet to embrace that logic, as I continue to downsize the number of container-grown plants moving forward.

1. How do you eat an elephant?

I have divided the upper terraces into six sections. Each needs a LOT of work!

2. Section 1 – LESS is MORE!

The pot overhaul and clean-up is long overdue. The plants in pots have multiplied, and now we have finally said a sad goodbye to the beautiful mosaic table, whose base had rusted away. The new table is half the size, so we have more space. No piglet, you will not fill the area with more plants. Absolutely not! Adopt the mantra – LESS IS MORE

After a lot of work cleaning, huffing and puffing, weeding, moving pots and pruning back the bougainvillaea

working in 25C… I have removed most of the small pots

and

Even as I’d finished, more bougainvillaea leaves had shed onto the clean patio. Sigh …

3. DESTRUCTIVE BLACKBIRD

Does anyone else have problems with blackbirds?

Yep, Mr. cocky blackbird overstepped the mark. This is just three pots. The third was my pot of cyclamen seedlings I had carefully nurtured. HE also uprooted my yellow cherry tomato plants and chives. I saw red and wanted to commit murder. The moment you sweep up the earth and go back inside, he is back.

4. TOO HOT!

and the Aeoniums in full sun really suffered! The one on the rockery needs to be dug up and replaced with a succulent or cacti that tolerates full sun.

5. PARSLEY: Heat and Thrips

I’m unsure what to do with the parsley. I don’t want to eat leaves with thrips, so I will probably cut to base level, treat the soil with an appropriate product and hope it regrows.

I also forgot to water my mint, so both pots are brown bread.

6. THRIVING DESPITE NEGLECT

This passion flower started as a cutting about ten years ago. The mother plant was a profusion of glorious flowers. I had high hopes. IT struggled. Yellow leaves and minimal flowers. This year it surprised me.

Despite the heat and my neglect, this is the first year it begins to resemble its mum. I fed it some of my homemade liquid fertiliser, which I made from green waste.

That’s my Six for this Saturday, folks. Do check out Jim’s blog to catch up with the other Six on Saturday bloggers.