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29 July 2010

flower power!

These sweetpeas were cutout from our garden. To get this photo, it wasn't a easy-ride. Maybe you could help?

Must admit I am not a green-finger. I was brought up in the city in Japan and am used to live in a small house with no garden. Now I am living in a sort of country town in North England. It’s only been the last four years that I've actually experienced so-called “gardening”. Anything to do with gardening are all new to me. Plus, I am quite bad at growing any indoor plants. I either forget to water or over-water them and usually end up with killing them. It’s just so easy to look after, you may say. But it’s just so easy to kill them when coming to me. This is how bad I am sadly...

Up until now I was given quite a lot of potted plants on many occasions. Somehow I did the same mistakes and those poor plants looked dried up or no energy, including this white orchid and hydrangea that my mother bought for me when she was over here. So I’ve left the orchid pot in the bedside table and hydrangea in the corner of our garden. For some reasons, maybe due to the lovely summer this year, I have noticed the new green buds were shooting out from “looking-dead” hydrangea and orchid. I was surprised that they have survived for a few years like that! So I located the orchid on to the staircase window sill and replanted hydrangea in a garden pot. Then guess what? They both started to bloom! Oh, how lovely to see your face again, flowers! You must have toughened up by me! Now I enjoy viewing them everyday. Nice to have a sense of living around. They have a magic power to add a positive energy to our soul, don't they?
Sweetpeas are my first trial this year. I love their beautiful scent. I really enjoy having them at home as well as watching them grow in the garden. They seem to flower well after cutting some too.
If you know any tips for keeping them well, please let me before I do wrong again! Your kind advice - much appreciated! (both for me and poor plants!) xm

11 comments:

  1. I think sweet peas can be hard. They mildew in the Pacific Northwest. Yours look like they did well. Oh the deer get mine - they came and ate all my roses so I have given up. Keep trying lots of flowers and enjoy experimenting.

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  2. to me that all looks like doing well. but I fear I am even worse at gardening that you! And I grew up in the country.

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  3. Your flowers looks lovely and I love your shelf installation. I would love to have a close look at that one :) I'm fresh at gardening myself, but are figuring it out a little step each year. I've had my garden for four years. And a few of my solutions are to photograph the flowers as they flower during the summer, and then I can find out more about them at wintertime. If you have a notebook you can draw your garden and write in the names of your flowers there. When you get to know the names you can google to find out more about them.

    It's also allowed to move your plants around, if they don't like it where they first has been planted. As your story is showing well ;)

    And most important. Nature needs wintertime. Even people are more "grey" during winter. So is the nature of your flowers. When they have bloomed, they need to relax before they flower again.

    So I think you are doing well. You have just ended up throwing your plants during their wintertime...

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  4. Love your blog! And thanks for including my
    blog in your blogroll.

    I think you are doing great with sweetpeas;
    I have found them to be a great challenge,
    but perhaps our climate (In upstate NY) is
    not that suitable.

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  5. using a bit of compost- don't go overboard! and then mulch around them will help. if you are unsure about watering i would say wait until the ground feels dry when you stick your finger in around the base of the plant. most potted plants- if the leaves start turning brown around the edges need more root room. sometimes just changing out pots and new fresh dirt is all they need. nice blog fellow flyer!

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  6. Sweet peas do better when you cut the flowers off, and don't let me go to seed.
    I absolutely love this post, your photographs are stunning.

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  7. Thanks for lots of advice! I feel I got one step forward already!
    Oh dear Pamela (I mean deer!) We haven't got that problem here yet! Yes, I'll keep trying and experimenting. Keeping a notebook sounds a good idea, Tone. Yes, you are right about "grey" season. I did throw away without being patient, oh poor plants! Thanks for advice re; watering, Rebecca. I'll do that way before I over-water them from now on...
    Sounds like sweetpeas are difficult to grow in US climate, maybe you can try one there, Moyla? Which part of UK are you, Suzzane? xm

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  8. I'm not very good at gardening so no advice to give :) Lovely photos though, would like to see more.

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  9. Hey Maki, I just love all these pictures of your home, and your flowers in it. I am the same with plants, especially herbs that grow indoors, but now we have a little garden I am going to have to learn!
    Hope you will come and visit us down the road some day
    BethXx

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  10. Thanks Veronika. Yes, Beth we must catch up one day. That would be lovely. xm

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  11. Those Sweet Peas look fantastic growing on the gate! I may have to try that next year :-)

    Lovely blog by the way :-)

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