Winter is supposed to be a time of rest. Instead, Mian and I find ourselves Red-Queening our way through the days, scrambling to not fall too far behind. We were travelling for the last two weeks and returned to find the persimmons clamouring for attention.And the 50Kg of Malta we had ordered arrived. So I am now back to the relentless peeling, pulping, boiling, bottling that means winter to me.
But here is what is going on in my garden:
1. Veggies: Miraculously, we are still eating quite a bit from our garden. True, radishes seem to make up a rather large part of our diet, but did you see anything as simultaneously summery and christmassy as these tomatoes?
2. Raat Rani: Or the night-flowering jasmine. I tried and killed two plants before this one survived in a frost-protected spot. The first blossom is out, and I am in love.
3. Dianthus 'sooty': The jasmine is a surprise, the dianthus is an old reliable. It never has too many flowers, but always manages to produce a scent-filled jewel or two throughout the winter
4. Aphids: Otherwise known as the bane of my existence. I presently have them on my strawberries and my star jasmine. I spray with a mixture of soap water and neem oil, but it is another Red Queen struggle. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
5. Decisions: Here is the view from our patio where we spend most of our afternoons. I am undecided what to do about the suckers around the persimmon. One option is to remove them, of course. Then I get an open view (but lose privacy) and the tree looks pretty. The other is to just thin them out to maybe a half dozen stems and then in a few years remove the tree so that I get a multi-stemmed short persimmon tree which will be easy to harvest. What do you think? And please excuse the poor beheaded plum on the left- that was before my time, and I don't have the heart to take it out entirely
6. Dianthus Imperialis: This is the fortnight of it's glory. And what glory it is! My oldest bunch is now five years old, and for the last three years, I have been planting a stem or two every year. All for this joy.
Please do go on over to The Propagator's blog to visit other Six-on-Saturdayers!
But here is what is going on in my garden:
1. Veggies: Miraculously, we are still eating quite a bit from our garden. True, radishes seem to make up a rather large part of our diet, but did you see anything as simultaneously summery and christmassy as these tomatoes?
2. Raat Rani: Or the night-flowering jasmine. I tried and killed two plants before this one survived in a frost-protected spot. The first blossom is out, and I am in love.
3. Dianthus 'sooty': The jasmine is a surprise, the dianthus is an old reliable. It never has too many flowers, but always manages to produce a scent-filled jewel or two throughout the winter
4. Aphids: Otherwise known as the bane of my existence. I presently have them on my strawberries and my star jasmine. I spray with a mixture of soap water and neem oil, but it is another Red Queen struggle. Does anyone have any other suggestions?
5. Decisions: Here is the view from our patio where we spend most of our afternoons. I am undecided what to do about the suckers around the persimmon. One option is to remove them, of course. Then I get an open view (but lose privacy) and the tree looks pretty. The other is to just thin them out to maybe a half dozen stems and then in a few years remove the tree so that I get a multi-stemmed short persimmon tree which will be easy to harvest. What do you think? And please excuse the poor beheaded plum on the left- that was before my time, and I don't have the heart to take it out entirely
6. Dianthus Imperialis: This is the fortnight of it's glory. And what glory it is! My oldest bunch is now five years old, and for the last three years, I have been planting a stem or two every year. All for this joy.
Please do go on over to The Propagator's blog to visit other Six-on-Saturdayers!
7 comments:
What will you do with the bottled persimmons?
I do like you for aphids, but sometimes I add 3 tbsp white vinegar soup with 1 liter of water and soap
My method with aphids is to squash them by hand to reduce the numbers to where they’re doing little harm and hope that predators/parasites move in, which they usually do. I suspect that even “harmless” sprays impact predators/parasites as much as the pest so you get locked into spraying.
Hello, Jim and Fred.
I haven't tried the vinegar, but will now. I do squash them, rinsing my fingers with the spray all the while. Yucky job!
Fred, I freeze the persimmon pulp and use it in cooking. It makes a lovely cake, and I love adding it (with sweet spices) to my oatmeal. The 'bottling' was for the Malta (a citrus fruit) that we are planning to process soon.
Aphids! I had a lot of greenfly on my roses (some lots, some none, weird) and a lot of blackfly on my beans. First time I have been thus afflicted, the conditions in our unusual summer must have suited them. I employed the squish and spray method. It was successful up to a point.
I wish I had your enthusiasm for persimmon. Mine have done very well this year but I know I won't eat them! I will share them though. I am not really convinced they are right for a UK garden but they fruit does look wonderful on the tree right now. I love the colour of that dianthus.
Persimmons -you either like the or don't. They have to be eaten when just right too.
I have apple garden and after reading this post I want to plant Dianthus Imperialis...
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