Night Shift

[Kurra]

I've got 2 more days of freedom and then I work the next 5 days @Former-Member. I'm working Thursday to Monday and then I've got 3 days off. It's good to have time to do my own stuff like the garden etc. 🎶💕

[Shaz51]

Hello @Former-Member

It is frustrating.so I am doing some homework about Chronic Kidney Disease

I suppose to see a dietician regularly but have not seen her since february

Sending you hugs too my friend

[Former-Member]

Best if you live up those two days of freedom @Kurra. It is a good time of year to get in the garden.  I have these great big really prickly weeds I've not come across before I'm trying to remove. I think I need some heavy duty gloves for them. I can't wait to have the time and enough money to make the garden mine. I have the plants but need some gypsum and sandy loam to help all my native plants grow. It's full on clay here. Anyway enjoy, hoping your getting a bit of sun too. 

[Appleblossom]

I was digging in gypsum again this year.  A neighbour donated it and soil to the court garden. Looking forward to the results over time.  Things like that make me realise how hard it was for the early settlers to grow food.

Natives are great @Former-Member but love poppies too @Kurra

[Kurra]

I'm on full on clay here too @Former-Member. I just get the crow bar out and dig a hole a bit bigger than I need then pop in the plant with a mix of broken up clay and garden soil at the nursery. I tend to grow whatever will survive with minimal attention and minimal water. Ye old fashioned daisies seem to be particularly hardy and put on a good show. I've also found mesembranthum to be good value and spread very easily. Lavender is another diehard that seems to flourish.

The poppies are the Flanders poppy. They are very hardy and a fabulous touch of colour.

[Former-Member]

The poppies sound wonderful @Kurra. I have terracotta pots with petunias and other annuals for colour and then hope to make my front yard easy to care for with minimal watering. I have a variety of eremophilas that are drought hardy desert plants when established. The birds love them. It's sounds like you've been having a good time rediscovering your garden. I've recently discovered that I quite like lavender so am going to try and transplant the one that thinks the lawn is its home. 🌱🌺🌻🌾🌼🌷🌹🌸

[Former-Member]

I hope all your hard work digging the gypsum and new soil pay off @Appleblossom. I could not imagine what it was like for the early settlers especially in the drought years. I have a feeling you and @Kurra would have been survivors through those times 💜🤗🌾🌱

[Kurra]

I tend to steer clear of annuals @Former-Member and mainly opt for perennials and self seeders. Even 'weeds' like forget me nots and violets are good value as they give good ground coverage and make it harder for the weeds to thrive.
Pot wise I tend to avoid them except for my dwarf fruit trees soo that when or if I move from here I can take them with me. I'm looking for a curry tree at the moment. They need similar treatment to citrus so will need covering for the first few winters until they develop some frost tolerance .
I just looked up the eremophilas. Do you know if they cope with frost? 🎶💕

[Decadian]

I like the self-seeders too @Kurra

I have some different coloured lettuce and some herbs to plant tomorrow - I have been rather busy over the last few days - and I was affected by the shingles vaccination for a day or so - I got a large flare on my arm - luckily this is a one-off - but for a day or so I felt off colour. This doesn't happen with flu shots

But I am happy to have new plants and plenty of potting mix - and will be glad to get them started

I have a lot of violets growing from one little slip I took years ago - and also a ground-covering plant my dd tells me is a noxious weed. I like its little pick flowers and it grows fast - and my cat doesn't roll around in it as dogs tend to do and get mange

And I have some oxalis - I was told that once you have it you can never get rid of it - and I like it and it's pretty mauve flower.

What's the difference between a valuable plant and a weed? A weed is a plant that will grow where it is not required and a valuable plant is something we really value

Interesting

Decadian

[Former-Member]

Most of the eremophila species do tolerate frost being desert plants @Kurra. We lived in a frost prone area and they grew really well. I have a curry tree in a pot. It gets burnt off every year from frost but not completely and recovers. Also had one in the high frost area I used to live. It did the same although we put it under the veranda during winter. 

I have some myoporums to plant up as ground cover. There is a native plant wholesaler not to far from me that opens to the public one weekend a month and throws out natives that are a bit straggly or ugly for $1. I have collected a few over the years. Mostly they reshape themselves after being repotted.

Like you everything I owned has been in pots because I rented. I'm scared to plant my travelling plant collection in case I move but have been taking cuttings of those I can. The plan is still for me to buy this house but right now it seems like such a long shot. I will have to earn $45k a year to do it which seems like a big ask just now. I have about 16 months to work it out. Whilst the kids are still here they can help out a bit but once they've left I need to be earning that. So my garden is on a wing and a prayer that I sort my :pile_of_poo: out and get a good job.