Potheads Unite!!! (thats PLANT pots)

I got new plants!! It's a bit sad how excited I can get about new plants lol, especially in this case, as half of them are lettuces!
Still I made a lovely little discovery, and got a new rose that I've wanted for ages....along with 6 m of bird netting.

Sweet Dreams

I think we can dispense with pictures of green bird netting. It may well be useful, though the jury is still out on that one, but it's most definitely not an aesthetic treat. I do want to introduce a new plant tho, that I found quite by chance, at the local garden centre.
This is Sweet Dreams, which I've never come across before. I just love the colour, which is a little more apricot than the picture suggests, and the flower form which is cupped, and rather unusual in a miniature. It also has a delightful perfume, again, not something you find in a lot of minis. I now have this one, Sweet Chariot (and just typing that name I'm wondering if they're from the same breeder) which is a double red scented form, and the ever delightful Cecile Brunner in my little group of minis. I'm also wanting to get another mini called "Hurdy Gurdy" which i had years ago. Unfortunately, she got lost in the shuffle of a move, and I've been wanting to replace her ever since. "Hurdy Gurdy" has the distinction of being a striped mini, and always puts me in mind of peppermint sweets when I see her, with her deep red blooms striped with pure white. Hopefully I'll be adding her soon. I also didn't realise, but she was a McGredy introduction, from the famous NZ rose breeder.
The new rose that I also picked up is another David Austin, this time it's "Pat Austin". I'm a sucker for the unusual colours, and this one is really unusual for the English Roses. She was looking a little sad when I brought her home, as shed been sitting out in the heat in a black planter bag on conrete at the garden centre, but a quick deadhead, and a drink seemed to set her right, and hopefully I'll very soon have her stunning flowers to look at.
Now, I know that listening to me, anyone would be excused for thinking that I only have roses in my garden, but truth to tell, flowers are quite a recent addition for me. There was a time when, if I couldn't eat it, i didn't grow it (although,by that criteria the roses and the lavender would still be in as both can be used as flavourings).

Daphne in front, gardenia corpse in back

First though, i have to confess to something. I'm a serial killer! I can't begin to count the number of Gardenias I've murdered over the years, and, yes, the latest one has succumbed *sigh* It's slightly depressing being of Island background, and not being able to grow Gardenias. They're loved in the Islands. Women wear them to church, and in their hair, and they're cut to bring indoors to perfume the houses. All the aunties seem to be able to take a stick and from it produce the most wonderful waxy flowers. Me? I just kill em, but for some reason I can't leave it alone and always have to try again and again. This last victim succumbed over a month ago though it's taken me 'till now to admit it. Funny thing is it was in the same position as it's predecessor, who I have to say, lasted the longest of any of my gardenias, and in fact, and most annoyingly, would probably still be alive if it wasn't for the fact that I didn't water it. Unfortunately, most of the plants at that time suffered the same fate, bar one or two that I managed to save. What happened was that towards the end of 2010, my partner ended up in hospital, with a serious issue, and unfortunately the garden was neglected, and as it was summer at the time, suffered accordingly.

My Meyer Lemon, back from the dead

While a lot of things just died, some hung on, and one of my favourite plants now, is my meyer lemon, which the "summer of neglect" had turned into a stick, literally. Spring this year, I decided that I'd see if I could get any signs of life from it, but after weeks of watering and feeding not a lot was happening and I'd almost given up. But slowly she started to recover, and now she looks lovely and healthy. It was definitely one of "those" gardening moments when I realised she was going to make it.
I think the reason that I like growing fruit and veg is because of that feeling of providing for yourself, even if you've no more than a few herbs in a pot. One thing I have found though, is that the size of the plot doesn't have to be a big factor in what you grow.

This years capsicums

I first started growing veg in pots when I was living in flats, often without an actual garden. What i found was, you can grow almost anything in a pot. I would often have carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, peas, beans etc etc and all in pots. I still do grow a lot of veg in pots, only now it's more due to a bad back and the pots being easier to tend than a garden bed. I recently harvested a shopping bag of potatoes off the deck which isn't bad going. The other beauty of growing things in pots is that you can grow smaller quantities which is great if you're a single ar just two of you, and you can grow specific types. I like to grow several different kinds of potato for example, and pots and grow bags make that easy.

White Alpine Strawberry

And its not just veg. Many fruits grow very well in containers too. Most people are familiar with strawberries grown this way, though I've never had much success with them in containers myself, probably because they need regular and thorough watering and I admit, I'm a bit slapdash in that respect, though if you're not, go for it. You'll probably do very well. I prefer to grow alpine strawberries, which are smaller fruits, but I think, with BAGS more flavour, and a real strawberry scent thats just delicious. This strawberry is apparently the one that the commercial berries are descended from, though to my mind, the modern berry is pretty tasteless in comparison. My alpines are white, but you can also get red ones. It used to be said that the white ones weren't attacked by birds as much as the red, and that used to be the case. Not, I'm afraid, any more. In fact I've barely had a handful of berries this year thanks to the blackbirds (no, i will not rant, I will NOT rant...) The alpine strawberry does't spread by runners like modern strawberries, but by seed, but if allowed to it will self seed merrily. My plants are in a 40 lt storage container which is now full, and i started out with one plant 2 years ago.

The other berry fruit that I'm growing is raspberries. It's the first time I've tried them so were kinda sizing each other up this season, and I still have to get to grips with pruning them (google is my friend) but just going on the growth they've made, I think they're doing ok. I have two kinds here, ebony and ivory, which are funnily enough, black and white and both from the "Incredible Edibles" range. The black is actually VERY dark maroon red, and the white is golden yellow. I DID have them covered with netting but they grew through the top so I removed it. They have flowers showing on the tops of the canes though so i suspect I'm going to have to cover them again soon. Ahh the joys of trying to stay one step ahead of the damn blackbirds!