Water wise planting

Succulents are nature's gift to lazy gardeners! They need little or no water. They thrive in hot and dry spots. They are so easy to propagate - cut and plant!

We had such an unloved spot at the back of the house. It is a sunny spot but the neighbour's trees don't allow a single drop of rain to reach the soil. It was the perfect spot for us to try out a new species of plants called Succulents. Succulents are quite attractive and come in great variety.

Echeveria Elegans 'Mexican Snowball' had a nice rosette of pale green fleshy leaves. The leaves were rounded at the edges. It also has a a tall pink stem growing out of the rosette which has a flower at the end. Unfortunately, that flower died all too soon.

Echeveria

Aeonium Schwarzkopf is a maroon coloured succulent with leaves arranged in a rosette on a taller stem. These leaves were much thinner than the other succulents and the stem was much taller too.

Sempervium are the most organised looking succulents to my mind! They are perfectly symmetrical and have layers of fleshy leaves. Their leaves are pointed at the end so they look more formal than the Echeveria. And it started sending out 'pups', or new shoots, very soon!

Sempervium 1

Sempervium 2

Sedum Jelly Bean had fleshy beans on a stem, with a tinge of red at the tip of the bean.

Jelly Bean

Crassula Surprise Party is a hairy bluish green succulent.

Crassula Surprise Party

Crassula Gollum is very interesting to look at! It has green fingers that resemble an underwater plant.

Gollum

Mesembryanthemum White Pig Face has an interesting name, but I am not sure why it is called 'Pig Face'. The plant has spikey, fleshy leaves and has equally spikey flowers.

Actinotus helianthi Starbright looks like the whole plant has been made by velvet cloth! The leaves look unreal and are shaped perfectly. The flower is the same colour as the rest of the plant and also feels like velvet.

Starbright

Kalanchoe is a difficult to pronounce succulent! We ended up confusing one of the younger staff at the nursery when we asked for this plant. It has round fleshy leaves and very compact flowers that grow in a bunch.

Kalanchoe

Our succulent planting area is not fully setup yet. Their hardy nature and ability to withstand anything has made us a bit complacent in finding them a settled spot in the garden bed. 

Fragrance in the garden

I love fragrant flowers. To me, the fragrance completes the beauty of the flower. Having said that, I do not like Rose but love Carnations!

Anyway, we thought fragrant flowers would be perfect for planting around our outdoor seating area. I wanted a mix of flowers that would lend their fragrance all year round. Most fragrant flowers flower in spring, so I had to do a bit of research.

Daphne Odora was the most popular choice for winter flowering. It flowers in the cold winter months when everything else in the garden is feeling a bit low! However, it is a fussy plant and needs lots of care. We bought ours in 2011, but it took two winters for it to flower!

Daphne Odora

Daphne Odora in flower

There is another hybrid Daphne called Eternal Daphne which flowers in spring and spot flowers during the rest of the year. This one is bred to be more tolerant of sunshine. We picked this one to be right next to our seating area.

Eternal Daphne in flower

Magnolias are fragrant too, but deciduous. I am not a big fan of deciduous trees, so luckily we found a fragrant Magnolia that is evergreen. It was also going to provide us with some more privacy is the garden.

Magnolia

Magnolia in flower

Another typical summer fragrance is from Gardenias. They love shade and have white flowers that give out a very powerful perfume. My only grudge with it is that they look ugly when they finish blooming (usually 2-3 days for each flower). Constant deheading of dead flowers is required to keep the shrub looking clean.

Gardenia

Gardenia in bloom

Finally, we wanted a climber to cover the trellis which demarcated our sunny area of the bed from the shady area. Jasmine seemed like a very good option. It climbs well and has fragrant flowers in the summer.

Jasmine

Jasmine flower

Spring is here!

Nothing says spring like the first show of flowers! After almost a year of nothing new to report from the garden, spring was a welcome change.

Last autumn I decided to try my hand at some flowers. Personaly, I find it difficult to keep a spot vacant for most of the year for annuals. But a garden needs flowers. So we decided to start with the easiest way to grow them - bulbs. Bulbs are convenient, they sprout up every spring and then die back, only to multiply by next year! Bulbs have to be planted in autumn for them to flower in spring.

Flowers from the Narcissus family are my favourite, having seen them blooming in the Himalayan hill stations. They have a beautiful smell and look very cheery.

Narcisuss Jonquil

We also tried our hand at growing tulips. The bulbs were a mixed bag of colours - red, white and yellow.

Tulips

White tulip

And finally, we picked up Hyacinth, which was unknown to us. It turned out to be very beautiful! The three bulbs were different colours. The flowers grew in a cluster on the main stem and smelt heavenly.

Purple Hyacinth

Blue Hyacinth

White Hyacinth

The biggest joy of all were the 10 or so oranges from our tree! They say that you never know when an orange is ready to be plucked until you have plucked it. Which was true because the first one we plucked in August was still too sour!

Oranges ready for picking

Orange harvest