The Morepark apricot stones I put into the soil in the autumn are sprouting now, so I'm potting them up as they emerge.
The various and numerous cuttings I've taken over winter are likewise beginning to sprout leaves but I learned long ago not to jump the gun and pull them up too soon. I've figs, grapes, raspberries, wineberry and many other scions of fruit-producing shrubs, vines and canes that alreasdy grow here, as well as all sorts of exotic things I've managed to find when I've been visiting other parts of the country over the past few months. It's exciting to imagine how the garden will be, come summer.
As well, I'm dividing and relocating as many perennial herbs and flowering plants as I can manage, slicing them apart with my sharpened spade and tucking them into places that look suitable for clumps of golden rod, comfrey, hedge agrimony and alkanet.
The pruning of the apple trees is complete and grafting about to start. We've installed a new water tank to capture the rain water from the veranda and I'm about to plumb another to hold the water that falls onto the south-facing roof of the garage. We've a greenhouse half-built and in need of a few hours of concentrated work and a gigantic tunnelhouse on it's way from Christchurch that's going to require a community of Amish to raise when it gets here. A bus-load of women from Te Anau is due for a tour on Thursday and the paths are still a little soggy from the wet winter, so I hope they don't turn up in heels. It's happened before :-)
2 comments:
How's your lemon tree getting along? I hope it has survived another winter.
Hi AC - the lemon is looking swell! It's certainly survived, unscathed too, despite several unexpected and severe-ish frosts, and is sporting fruits. I've fed it with chicken poop and heaped it with praise, but have otherwise let it be. I expect this spring and summer will see the tree become much bigger and fill the lemonry easily. I've sprouted 6 lemon seeds and they are growing well on the veranda,, under the protection of an up-turned aquarium. When they are big enough, they'll take their place in the open ground and having been born here, should be more robust than the store-bought lemon tree aforementioned. I hope your own gardening ventures are going well. I'm in Christchurch in October, Pukekohe in April.
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