Garden Diary: July Surprises

Another week has passed, and still no rain. Every day, I have been hoovering and cleaning the patio areas and trying to reduce the number of pots that demand my attention. Less is more. While I’m a sucker for plants and know I need to be ruthless, a friend said to me when discussing her challenges ‘there is not enough ME to go round’. How right she is. And I’ve not even looked at my vegetable area this week.

GROWING GINGER IN A POT

A while back I was kindly given, by a member of our local gardening group, a queen of the night type plant which also had ginger rhizomes growing in the same pot. A bonus, until it came to summer watering. The leaves were turning brown, but I did not want to overwater the queen of the night. I decided to split.

An unexpected surprise!

I’ve repotted the ginger roots with plants still attached and relocated in the semishade. They will either grow or not. I consider the ginger crop a bonus. I’ve tried to grow it before but without success. Maybe it likes a buddy.

and I repotted the Queen of the Night style succulent. I think the flowers will be red.

I have added a trailing succulent and a stone for now to stop the rogue blackbird pecking the earth out of the pot.

FLIPPING BLACKBIRDS

I have been saying for the last week or so that the hydrangeas were droopy, but with 100 other jobs demanding my attention, I added to my ever-growing list of things to do. Eventually,

On closer inspection, the leaves were also in distress, and some were browning at the edges. The soil felt bone dry. Then I spotted the reason. The irrigation tube had been pulled out. Of course. The blackbird was using it as his dry bird bath. Will I serve time for murdering this flipping blackbird? It is only one. The rest are very well behaved.

Probably not the right time of year BUT …. I deadheaded, pruned and fed with Miracle Gro. I am an optimist. Maybe it will flower again.

MALLOW OR HIBISCUS?

A few years ago, I brought some cuttings from my daughter’s garden in France. What a wonderful surprise to discover the initial reluctant cuttings eventually produced a flower! I thought it was hibiscus. Now I’m not so sure, as I’ve not seen these in Portugal.

Any ideas?

SNORING PLANT

Another surprise. My snoring plant has developed a condition known as Brewer’s Droop. Yep, the mini pineapple has finally turned yellow. I need to find a small cane to support it.

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QUEEN OF THE NIGHT – Epiphyllum Oxypetalum – Now the party is over …

Surprises good and bad

After flowering, strange marks appeared on the leaves… Does anyone know what they are?

one night only!

This year we had ten blooms in one night!

CYCAS REVOLUTA – SAGO PALM

I love Cycas. Apparently, I have male and female plants.

and the female CYCAS REVOLUTA.

The bottom leaves below the seedpods are turning yellow so they will probably die off.

Earlier in the year …

That’s my gardening Six for this Saturday, folks. Have a great week and enjoy the sunshine!

Now it’s time to pour a glass of wine, put my feet up and pop over to Jim’s blog to check out more Six on Saturday garden bloggers