As I was watching the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II, I was happy to see a less formal funeral wreath on the top of her coffin.
This poignant touch brought home the fact she was a human being who would more than likely have seen the plants these blooms and foliage came from, in her walks around her home.
The wreath on the coffin.
The wreath included foliage from a myrtle which had been grown from a piece of her bridal bouquet. Growing a part of a floral tribute for a major event is a beautiful way of keeping that event ‘alive’.
Some pieces from bouquets I’ve had success in growing have been Chrysanthemum and carnations. Keeping a bouquet in good condition by changing the water frequently and removing any dead pieces quickly will give you some pieces to work with. Why not give it a go next time you receive a bouquet?
The funeral wreath also included Rosemary for remembrance and Oak leaves which symbolise strength. The flowers were picked from the garden. Such a sweet tribute to a beloved family member.
Well, here we are and Spring has rolled around again!
Traditionally Spring is a very wet season and if the forecast is anything to go by it’s going to be true to that. We’ve had some very dreary days leading up to now so it’s nice to start to see a bit more sunshine in between the rain, showers, sun showers, drizzle, and fine Scotch mists we’ve been having. Seemingly forever…
I’ll be honest. My garden is a shocking mess. All the water from the sky has made the weeds explode out of the ground. One good thing is, if I get on to it soon, they will be easy to get out.
I haven’t been out in the yard to take many photos lately, but I’ve been working on using old pics to create some ‘art’. The pictures featured in this blog post are composite pictures using the ‘double exposure’ function on the Snapseed app, each photo includes one which has been altered using the ‘healing’ function to create an interesting background.
A photo featuring a Dahlia
These photos and others have been uploaded onto my redbubble.com site and are for sale on various products. My shop can be found under ‘Ambrolen’ as I didn’t realise the name couldn’t be changed. The things you learn when trying to enter the digital marketplace! If you check it out, don’t forget to follow me!
A photo featuring Chrysanthemums
The photos will also be available on my website theflowerpotpen.com in the coming days (who am I kidding? It will be weeks…)
Back in the realm of reality, my garden is slowly coming to life again. I have gorgeous new pink leaves busting out of the Cedrela chinensis, bright yellow splodges of flowers on the Forsythia, and gorgeous, rusty red/brown leaves are popping out from the cut ends of my roses. My Jonquils are ending, there’s still some daffodils to come, and the few Tulips I have are struggling to push out their flowers. There’s leaf and stem growth aplenty, but I haven’t been close enough to check if there are any buds. I might get out and have a closer look today. I’ll let you know.
One good thing about a holiday is it puts your life into context, it helps you sort out your next steps. The ‘chill’ vibe of Hawaii, both the place and the people, reminded me to stop and smell the Hibiscus. Take the steps to make your life a fulfilling one.
Since getting back from Hawaii it’s been a whirlwind of playing catch ups but also of putting my holiday thoughts into practice. It’s been a week of books, photos, and podcasts; setting up processes and updating information to round out my online presence.
Stop and smell the Hibiscus. Or at the very least, admire their beauty.
I have updated my website, theflowerpotpen.com to include a page detailing the three books I currently have for sale, including links to buy the Ebooks at Amazon and GooglePlay. Two Books, ‘Food for Survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse’, and ‘Unexpectedly Edible‘, are available as both Ebooks and printed, while my third book, ‘Little Brown Frog’s Pond’, is only available in print form. All details are on the website.
A single flower.
Also being updated is the ability to buy any photos of mine from my website via PayPal. In the next day or so my details will be amended to allow for photography purchases through this function, meanwhile any enquiries should be directed through the contact page at theflowerpotpen.com
The third thing I’ve been working on is to upgrade my technical access to record my podcast from home should I feel the need. So far my podcast, The Flowerpot Pen available on Spotify, Anchor, GooglePlay, and Apple podcasts, has had a variable reaction, but an extra ‘push’ will see it improve in leaps and bounds. Watch this space!
The Flowerpot Pen podcast logo
Luckily it’s been quite wet and raining here in the Western Districts of Victoria, which has given me the extra time to spend indoors on my laptop getting everything done. The ornamental blossoms and bright yellow Acacia blooms are in abundance which tells me the days are getting longer and Spring is headed this way. I haven’t finished my rose pruning but I’m mostly there, I’m dreaming of the flowers and trees I saw in Hawaii, and planning when I can go back.
Wow. That’s probably the best and most succinct opinion I have of the beautiful island of Oahu in the US state of Hawaii.
I could wax lyrical about all of the deliciousness I could see as I had my first glimpses of this magical place, but where to start?
Obviously one of the most interesting things for me was the plant life (that pretty much goes without saying as far as I go) but there were so many interesting sights and sounds, it’s hard to pick a favourite thing.
Living its best life on the beach
The Honolulu Zoo was extremely beautiful but it turns out the animals I particularly wanted to see are nocturnal. Not one peek at a Sloth unfortunately. The grounds were very picturesque but there were lots of garden areas that felt like they needed a bit of love. We were extremely fortunate though, we were able to see Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles in their wild state on a beach.
Not Hawaiian, but gorgeous.
We loved the Waikiki Aquarium, the indoor displays of the vividly coloured local sea creatures was highly informative and well presented. The sea dragons and corals were particularly beautiful, unfortunately though, the Monk Seal enclosure was being renovated so we didn’t get to see them.
A Seadragon
Some of the other highlights were a quick stop at the Honolulu Museum of Art (we really needed to spend longer there, so much to see!) and a moving visit to Pearl Harbour with a trip out to the USS Arizona Memorial.
All in all, I am very pleased to have visited that magical place, I would love to go back to Hawaii and explore the other islands. A particular wish is to be able to see the lava flow of an active volcano; rather than see it locally, I’d prefer to see it in a far away place.
The lush mountain ranges that feature so prominently on the island and continuously draw your eyes toward them, provide a beautiful green backdrop for all the palms, trees, and shrubs, alongside man’s footprint on the island. A solid and permanent reminder of nature’s ultimate dominance over our world.
I’m writing this post today from somewhere completely new to me.
I’m in Waikiki on the island of Oahu in Hawaii! I still can’t really believe I’m here!
I’ve followed the sun and landed in a crazy world of sun drenched beauty and seething humanity. This spectacular setting attracts people from all over the globe, and now I see why.
Banyan tree on Waikiki Beach
On our very first stroll along the famous Waikiki Beach this magnificent Indian Banyan tree was a visual treat. The size of the tree and the complexity of its aerial root system and trunks is a truly amazing sight.
On the drive from the airport and wandering around the streets of Waikiki there were a lot of immediately recognisable plants and trees, quite a few we grow in our much cooler climate albeit to much lesser size. Trees such as Jacarandas, Eucalypts, and of course the ubiquitous tropical sight of the Palm, along with shrubs and smaller plants like Monstera, Gold Dust Laurel, Rubber Plants, and many more.
Palms on Waikiki Beach
I’m looking forward to seeing a whole lot more of this magical place, the scenery, the plant life, people and places. We’ve got a tour around the island coming up, a trip to the zoo and botanical gardens, so I’m expecting a lot of plants to admire. Can’t wait!
Frost warnings have been set for the whole of my state, my toes are cold, and the heater is having a bit of difficulty keeping the temperature even.
The last few mornings have been frosty and some plants in my garden are starting to show the signs of frost damage.
Elephant’s Ears have gone ‘mushy’, Impatiens in pots have collapsed and virtually disintegrated before my eyes.
Still, it’s to be expected. Both those plants have originated in much warmer climes so they haven’t evolved to cope with their cells filling up with water, which turns into ice, and collapsing if they thaw too quickly in early morning sun.
The term for plants not being able to cope with frosts is ‘frost tender’.
If you’re aware of any of your plants being frost tender you can either move them into a sheltered position for the duration or cover them with a sheet or even shade cloth overnight, or when a frost is expected.
The aforementioned Elephant’s Ears and a few annuals are pretty much the only things in my garden badly affected by frost, but as I know the Elephant’s Ears will grow back in Spring/Summer and the annuals are often past their best anyway, I don’t really bother too much doing anything special.
I haven’t got any photos of my frost damaged plants, that’s not really the thing to take pictures of is it? So I’ll just use one of my generic pictures of a pretty flower to add visual interest to this post.
A pretty flower for visual interest
Keep warm if you’re here in Australia, and best of wishes to anybody in the Northern Hemisphere who is suffering from heat, drought, and/or fires. I feel for you x
I haven’t been doing a great deal in my garden lately. A combination of rainy days, a bout of ‘the flu’, and a general lack of motivation have kept me inside, gazing out at all the pruning to do. There’s a few more weeks before the deciduous trees and shrubs start busting out their spring leaves so I’ll have to plan a big pruning push very soon.
I have, however, had a burst of creativity and am messing about with a few creative activities.
I’ve played about with flower photography for a while now (check out my Instagram @TheStolenFlower ) and have dabbled in other things like eco-dyeing paper for book binding among other things. But one thing I had never heard of was ‘Flower Hammering’!
Freshly hammered flower images
I can’t remember where I saw it first (probably on Pinterest) but I thought “this is something I have to try!”
What fun!
The process is easy, just have a solid base and place a piece of water colour paper on that base (I used a piece of thick cardboard). Gather the flowers you’re going to try and place them over the paper in an artistic fashion. 
Next, place another piece of water colour paper on top (that way you will get two pictures), then add another piece of thick cardboard on top of the whole lot.
It can pay to tape everything down so it stays in place.
Next comes the fun part!
Get yourself a hammer and start hitting your stack of cardboard, paper, and flowers all over. Make sure you get every section.
It’s a bit strange doing this to flowers, generally I like to preserve them as much as possible, but sometimes we have to sacrifice for art 🙂
When you’ve had your fill of smashing the hammer down, undo everything and slowly peel the water colour papers apart. You will find a mushed up layer of plant material so that needs to be carefully removed and discarded.
When everything has dried, you’ll find the watercolour paper has been stained by the flowers. Different flowers will give different colours, so experiment and have fun.
When everything has dried you can add your own artistic touches with whatever medium you like, to make it look how you want.
I’ll be adding the finished pictures on to my Instagram account so head on over and check it out!
I find this time of the year quite exciting! Apart from having a good clean up around the place, you can also use the cold days planning for the year ahead.
The best part for me is choosing which rose(s) I’m going to add to my collection!
The choice is always made easier by having local shops stocking bare rooted roses in abundance.
A gorgeous rose
I know there are a myriad of sources for roses both online and irl, but I find the selections at local supermarkets are usually reasonably priced and diverse, so I usually just go with what is there.
This year so far I’ve chosen two new plants for my garden (I’m going to have to expand the beds but, hey, that’s no kind of a problem is it?) One, ‘Loving Memory’, was chosen as a gift for my husband in memory of his mother, the other one, ‘Megan Louise’, was chosen for more practical reasons; it’s pink and I need more pink, it’s fragrant, and I need more fragrance.
My two choices thus far…
A long term plan I have is to grow flowers both for sale and to use as subjects for my photography addiction, these flowers will be useful for both.
The packaging will usually give very good instructions on how to plant a bare rooted roses so it’s best to follow that advice. A well planted rose can be expected to perform well for many years.
The packaging will usually provide planting instructions
Long term planning before you plant any new plant is a good idea, having an idea of the long term use of your space will decrease the risk of putting plants in where they’re just going to have to be moved from. Knowing what size your new plant should be and what they will need is bare minimum knowledge before planting anything.
The main thing for roses is to ensure they will have enough space between them to allow for good airflow and to decrease the risk of diseases spreading. A good amount of sunshine and easy access for watering are also things to keep in mind.
Those magnificent queens of the garden are done for the year, so as the days get colder, it’s time to dig them up.
Dahlia
If you’ve followed my blog posts or listened to my podcast, The Flowerpot Pen, you might have realised I’m a bit of a lazy gardener. As a result, some jobs don’t get done all the time; lifting and dividing my Dahlia tubers is one of those jobs.
In a perfect world, I’d dig them up every couple of years but that hasn’t happened, as a result, the clumps are quite full and the last season’s flowers weren’t what they could be.
*just a quick note, the photos I’m using here aren’t from my garden, they’re from a garden I work in but they’re pretty much what my Dahlias look like too.
A clump of Dahlia tubers.
As you can see in the picture above, Dahlia tubers can become overcrowded quite significantly in only a few years. This isn’t conducive to having large blooms and the clumps can harbour disease.
The first step to take is to cut the stems right back when the flowers have finished and they’ve mostly died off. At this stage, if you’ve divided the clumps recently (in the last couple of seasons) your job is done and you can get on to other things. If, however, you’re a gardener like me and you haven’t touched them for a few years (or more 😳) you should dig them out.
Stems cut back.
To do this the best tool to use is a garden fork. (My trusty fork has a few bent prongs so I need to be careful where it goes)
Gently push the fork downwards and under the clump as much as possible and gently lever the clump up. It will usually go down deeper than you’d think, so keep that in mind. When you’ve loosened the clump, gently pull it up out of the earth.
A dug up clump.
Now you can start the process of pulling the tangled tubers apart until you’ve broken the large clump into smaller clumps or even singular tubers. Yay!
Some tubers will be damaged, some may even show signs of rotting or fungus, just throw these ones out as they’re not likely to grow well, if at all.
The next thing to do is to decide if you’re going to just put them back in the soil or if you’re going to store them, or even give them away to share the joy. Here in my part of the world we don’t get snow so I usually just put them back in the ground.
Tubers ready to go back in.
If you decide you’re going to store them til Spring, line a cardboard box with newspaper and put them in a cool, dry place until then. Generally they will start to sprout new growth which indicates they’re ready for planting.
Planting tubers back in the ground really just requires you to place a tuber (or a small clump) into a new hole, add a bit of fertiliser if you like, or dig in some compost. I always put a stake in now so growth can be directed upwards.
And there you have it. Another early winter job done!
As an interesting side note, Dahlia tubers are one of the plants I cover in my book ‘Unexpectedly Edible: Common Garden Plants You Can Eat (If You Had To). At one time some species of Dahlia were eaten as a starchy root vegetable in their countries of origin in Sth America.
Over the years they have been hybridised so the tubers are often less palatable, but if you wanted to try eating one it’s quite possible!
If you want to find out a bit more about eating Dahlia tubers or discover some other unexpectedly edible plants, my book can be found as an ebook at Amazon and GooglePlay, or printed copies can be purchased by contacting me on my website theflowerpotpen.com
The patchy rainfall and chilly air aren’t really conducive to getting out in the garden, but sometimes I’ve just got to bite the bullet and get out to the jobs that are screaming at me through the windows. Pruning this particular Chrysanthemum is one of those jobs.
This chrysanthemum really needs cleaning up!
In my latest podcast episode I talk a little about some jobs that can be done in gardens of SouthWest Victoria at the moment. Jobs like pruning this chrysanthemum, lifting and dividing Dahlia tubers (to be covered in another blog post), and rose pruning (I’ll get in to that later in the month or even July). My podcast, The Flowerpot Pen, is available at Spotify, Apple podcasts, Anchor, and Acast; episode seven will be available soon!
Anyway, back to pruning this chrysanthemum. The Kikuyu has been running rampant so the first thing to do is get rid of as much as you can. This will let you see what’s going on.
Now you can see what’s there.
Now you can see properly, you can see the old growth at the top of the old stems and fresh, new growth at the base of the plant. All you need to do now is take your clean, sharp secateurs and cut the old stems off to just above the new growth. In episode seven of The Flowerpot Pen podcast I go into why you need to keep your tools clean and sharp.
New growth at the base of the plant with bonus daffodils.
In this particular case I’ve also managed to uncover some daffodil (or Jonquil?) growth. They should grow better with a little more light. I’ve left the stake in, so as the stems grow again, they can be tied up to keep the stems straight. Leaving the stakes in also keeps me from forgetting to putting them in at a later date.
If the basal clump has become too large for its position, or if you want to share the plant around, it can be divided by gently prying off a section of the basal growth with some good root growth. Sometimes there are pieces that have grown separate to the main growth, but you can also use a sharp shovel and cut a piece off. Dividing the clump every couple of years will keep the flower growth strong and discourage diseases.
A piece off the main clump ready to be transferred or given away
Chrysanthemum can suffer from both viral and fungal diseases so it’s important to make sure there’s no signs of disease if the piece is going to end up in a new garden. This plant unfortunately has suffered from Chrysanthemum Rust so I won’t be giving any of it away or selling it until I’m sure it’s ‘clean’.
Chrysanthemum Rust
The piece I have pictured above (and the original plant) that will go back in the ground will be treated with a baking soda anti fungal spray and grown on. If the rust appears on it again, I’ll know not to share it. Any pieces I’ve cut off will also need to be sent away in the rubbish, not composted and returned to the garden.
I’ve got four or five different chrysanthemums in my garden, so I’ll have to duck out between showers and get them cut down before they start to grow again!
Don’t forget to look up, and listen to, my podcast, The Flowerpot Pen, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor, and Acast. Subscribe to it so you never miss out, and leave a review as that helps with the algorithms!
