Art for Heart's Sake

I'm Still Alive, I Promise!

Hi honeys, oh boy what a busy month September was and October is going to be even more busy.  I've just got back from spending four days in New Plymouth celebrating my gorgeous Mum's 91st birthday.  Wow - 91!!!  

I came up with the idea to do a ballet performance for her and oh I'm so glad I did.  Mum absolutely loved it, as did the 30 or so other residents that watched me.  I performed the day after Mum's birthday because I needed to check out where I would be doing it and make sure my music worked in their machine.  Needless to say it was a little tricky because I had to dance on very thin carpet in not much space but I managed with only a few blips.

I did four different variations (dances) including one that I've choreographed myself to part of a beautiful song ''Never Enough'' from the Greatest American Showman movie.  The other three were classical pieces, one of which I'm doing in my exam in December.  I wore my red leotard and white tutu skirt and Mum's face was just a picture.  She had no idea I was going to do it.  

I'll post some photos in the next couple of days.  Right now I'm catching up on emails and printing off orders etc so I'd better get back to it.

Smiles, Philippa

 

 

I'm Still Here!

Hi honeys, I'm still here, just absolutely frantically, ridiculously busy with orders, pre-orders, potting up perennials, weeding the garden (only at weekends sadly) and ballet.  There doesn't seem to be a spare second in any day lately!  

It's wonderful that my website is so busy and without my NMIT students two days a week I don't know what I would do!  Yesterday Penny and I managed to get the rest of the pre-orders that I have into a separate area - most of which are waiting for one or two other plants to join them before I can invoice and then ship them off.   

The weather is really weird at the moment.. the end of this week is going to be 20 degrees C which is around 8 degrees higher than normal for this time of year.  It truly is a worry and I hope their predictions of a very hot, dry summer are WRONG!  I have no idea how I will keep my perennials alive if that happens.. so fingers and everything else crossed - who needs to walk?

I'll leave this here and I will try to do just a short post every few days!  Smiles...

 

 

Spring Seems to be Here!

Hi honeys, blushing here.. crikey it's been almost 20 days since I wrote on here.  I can't believe it - where have the days gone??!!!  I've been frantically busy with all sorts of things - potting up perennials, sowing oodles of seeds, moving plants around, trying to keep track of pre-orders and doing my best to be able to fulfil them in the near future, plus handling all of the in-coming orders.  It is WONDERFUL! but extremely time-consuming for a one-person nursery like mine.  How lucky I am to be filling my days doing something I absolutely love.

It seems Spring is here!  Crikey it's so early - we have been having temperatures of up to 16 degrees C which is ridiculously warm for August - normally the coldest months of the year!  Needless to say all of the fruit trees are budding early which isn't good, especially for the orchadists in the district.  There is always the chance we will have more cold spells right through until the end of October so I'm sure they will all be holding their breath (as will I!).  

We have had the odd day of rain and the ground is really boggy which is making it difficult for me to get into my perennial garden to weed.  I have managed to do part of it but there is one area where the ground is pug so I'm going to have to work on that this coming summer to improve the general drainage in that area.  Lots of grit and gypsum needs to be added to help aerate the soil.

Oooh I've planted some new hellebores (winter roses).. here's a photo of one of them ''Anna's Red''.  I need to get outside and start gardening.  The weekend is the only time I can spend significant time in my garden so I need to make the most of it.  Smiles..

I Miss My Blog!

Hi honeys, oh how I miss writing my blog regularly.  I just can't seem to get myself back into the routine of doing it!  I have to say life is VERY hectic around here these days with plant orders, pre-orders and plant propagation coming out of my ears.  It's wonderful, it's just hard to get the balance right!  My brain seems to be on a permanent spin cycle at the moment.  I did think I'd get a break of sorts over winter but that hasn't been the case.  I'm not complaining believe me, I love sending my plants all over the country.  It's very special!

My NMIT student, Penny is a complete godsend.  Each Wednesday we get things done that I'm been meaning to do for weeks if not months and that gradually is lifting some of the weight from my shoulders.  My other student Sina is hopefully coming back at least one day a week later this month too which will be fabulous.  I'm so thankful Sina phoned me out of the blue a few months ago to see if it would be possible to come.

The weather is very Spring-like at the moment. We are getting cool, cloudy days pccasionally (like today) but not what I call winter.  The temperatures for the next 10 days are predicted to be around 14 or 15 degrees C which is ridiculously warm for August.  The plants are very confused and fruit trees are budding up earlier than usual which is not good!  

One development is I seem to have developed arthritis in my CMC joint at the base of my right thumb where it joins my wrist.  I tipped it over the ''edge'' opening the jars for the tui sugar water when the sugary substance had sealed them shut!!  Ouch!!  I have a splint to wear when I'm working at the moment and should also have it on while I'm typing.. ahem!

Well I'd better get out into the farm shed.  I have lots of punnets of seedlings to pot up today.  Smiles...

Beautiful Weather but....

.... EEEEEK it feels like Spring!  It is mid-winter and at the moment it feels more like Spring!  We have clear blue sky, sunshine, a light breeze and the air has the Spring feeling to it!  The temperatures are around 14 degrees C which is too warm for mid-winter!  Pookies and bother.. it's looking as though we will be having these temps for the next 10 or so days.  

We did get 20mm of rain on Sunday which was good but the slightly wild weather that was predicted didn't happen (AGAIN!!!).  I did get my studio tidied up which is something I've been trying to do for literally months.  I made the decision to fold up my easel and put it out of the way for a while.  It was torturing me, yelling at me do create some art but the truth of the matter is I simply don't have the time at the moment.  I could come out here in the evening and create and that is something I might just have to start doing because my days are full of admin for my website (orders, emails etc) and propagating plants for orders and pre-orders that I have for Spring.

Yesterday one of my NMIT students came to help me divide up a couple of clumps of Pulmonaria (lungwort) for a large order.  That was a HUGE help because if I'd been doing it by myself it would have possibley taken me 2 days.  We managed to do it in 4 hours.  We potted up 155 plants from two large clumps and one smaller one - amazing!

Last Saturday John and I put some edging at the back of the garden that goes from my studio around to our driveway.  It's always been a tricky garden to maintain and I'm determined to have it looking as good as I can year round because it is the first thing people see when they come up our drive.  Here are a couple of photos:

I need to go and sow some more seeds.  Smiles..

Oh my Goodness!!!

Hi honeys and oh my goodness, I can't believe I haven't posted since 25th of June!!!! Where in the heck is this year going I ask myself.  I've been so busy with NMIT students being here, working on orders, answering emails, sowing seeds and potting up perennials that I don't really know which way is up half the time!

I sowed 36 punnets of perennial seeds late last week and am now potting up perennials from seeds sown a few weeks ago.  I have some really exciting things coming up such as a tall double white Gypsophila and all sorts of woodland treasures.  I've also just sown several different types of named Delphiniums which I adore!  

We've had some very iffy weather lately and for the first time in a few years we had a stretch of almost 3-4 weeks where the temperature hasn't risen above about 10 degrees C during the day!  This is WONDERFUL.  Winter is meant to be winter and I'm loving it!  On Sunday we had a very blustery NW wind and it rained for most of the day but we only measured 30mm, perhaps because at times the rain was almost horizontal.

I was captured by a gorgeous hellebore (winter rose) when we went to Bunnings, a large hardware store on Saturday.  Her name is Madame Lemonnaire and she's HUGE!  Here she is:

Well I must fly out to the farm shed again and carry on potting up.  Smiles..

 

Feels Almost....

.... like a REAL winter!  Yay!!!  I'm so happy at the moment - finally we seem to be getting a ''real'' winter after what seems like years without one.  We still haven't had a loooong stretch of frosts the way we did around 7 years ago (I think) but we are getting quite a lot of days when the temp isn't reaching above 10 degrees C on our property.  We've checked back over the past couple of years and it's definitely colder this winter so far.  

One of the reasons this makes me so happy is it is good for the garden to have a rest.  There are a lot of confused plants out there because the weather patterns keep changing.  I really hope the winter continues to be colder and I would LOVE to see our pond freeze over.  It takes a lot of frosts in a row for that to happen because it is slightly sheltered in a dip with trees on either side.  It hasn't frozen over for years now.

Today we have a mix of sunshine and the odd shower and it's definitely on the chilly side.  We're also meant to get strong winds possibly later today and tomorrow so that will keep the wind chill lower.  

I'm busy packing up plants this morning.  Sina, my NMIT student isn't coming today because she's still not 100% with this virus that is going around.  I'm feeling a lot better - my cough has more or less gone - I'm just left with sinus but that will fade too eventually.  I swear by lots of fresh air when I have a cold, it truly does seem to help it get better more quickly.  I always make sure I have enough layers on too when I'm working outside in winter.

I'd better carry on packing up my orders.  Smiles..

Decent Rain!

Hi honeys, yesterday we got our first really decent rain in what seems like weeks.  On our property we only had about 25mm (1 inch) of rain for the whole of May and June was looking that way too.  So far this month we've had 46mm, 36mm of which fell yesterday! 

Life has been hectic as usual with the fun of a major head cold AGAIN thrown in.  John got a horrible upper respiratory virus 3 weeks ago and I managed to get it last Wednesday.  Very heady and a horrid cough right from the beginning.  I'm on the mend now thank goodness - on Saturday evening I was almost in tears because my head felt so clogged, ugh!!

I've been very busy with pre-orders - my list is HUGE!  Over the next few weeks I will be sowing seed and dividing perennial clumps etc like a crazy woman!   I've had a lovely order from the Malborough District Council so this spring some of my treasures will be planted in Pollard Park in Blenheim.  This is SO exciting for me - something I've grown being planted in a public space.  I'm so thrilled!  I'm going to deliver them when they are all ready in Spring and it will be such a delight to see where they will be growing.

Oh how I love what I do and even though I wish there were 3 of me at times, I wouldn't change things for the world.  I truly am living my dream - working with plants and especially making people happy with plants I've grown from seed.

We have to take Monty to the vet today for his annual vaccination and a general check up.  I'm hoping he is okay.. I can feel a slight swelling just under his ear which could be his thyroid gland!  He's on stronger thyroid meds so he now has an under-active thyroid but he's not showing any of the bad symptoms so we need to keep him on that medication at this stage unless the vet decides otherwise.  The main thing is to get his kidney function tested to make sure the tablets aren't having a detrimental effect.

I'd better go and get ready to take him.  Smiles..

 

Winter Light and Birds!

Hi honeys, it's been another fairly frantic week in one way or another with a bit of frustration thrown in for good measure!  A gorgeous cold snap swept up the country later in the week but as usual we missed it here - we just got a drop in temps but other than that, nothing!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  I know I'm weird but I love wintry weather and always feel so cheated because it always goes around us here.

The winter light is amazing at the moment.  Some of our deciduous trees etc still have foliage on them and the colour is just scrumptious.  Here's a photo of one of my gorgeous Rugosa roses and also the oak tree by the chook house in the paddock.

Today I've been busy packing up 6 banana boxes of plants to go to Waiheke Island tomorrow.  I'm sending them a day early because it can take a few days to get them there via Auckland.  I'm also packing up about 6 order tomorrow for despatch on Tuesday.  Here I was thinking things would slow down plant order-wise over winter.. it's not looking like that at all which is good but also frightening in a way - eeeek I need to clone myself!!

The duckling we rescued last week is thriving and I'm putting it outside into a pen each day and then bringing it back in to spend the night in the bird cage as it's warmer.  

Big news - this weekend John is wallpapering our spare room.  We chose a very pretty floral and it looks GORGEOUS - I'm really lucky because we both have the same taste when it comes to home decor.  Here's a sneak peak!  Yikes I have no idea why that ended up sideways!!!!

Well I'd better get back outside and try to get some gardening done.  Smiles..

 

Weirdly Warmish Today!

Hi honeys, it's been another busy week with some huge orders coming through from my website.  First and foremost I am so thankful and slightly stunned at the reactions/orders I am getting from my website.  It's so lovely to be be doing something I love so much that is bring pleasure to so many too.  

My pre-order list is now fairly enormous so I'm going to be working hard over the next couple of months, propagating so I can have them available as soon as possible in Spring.  It's daunting me a little and I really need about 8 hands but I will manage somehow!  Where there's a will, there's a way!  It is truly obvious how many perennial plant lovers there are in New Zealand and how limited the plant availability is in the large garden centres.  They stick to certain lines and new introductions are very few and far between these days.  

I have some very exciting additions to add to my website later this year - some plants that haven't been available easily for a very long time and gardeners love them!  I am striving to make my website a ''go to'' for unusual and old-fashioned perennials that are very hard to find elsewhere.

Yesterday I turned over an area that my NMIT student had weeded for me last Thursday.  It now is smothered in compost and I managed to weed another area too.  Today I've been working in the main perennial garden, cutting back hellebore foliage as I go and weeding.  

The weather has been a bit strange today - weirdly warm for the official start of winter.  We had a few drops of rain first thing but it's just been cloudy for the rest of the day and the sun even managed to peek out at one stage!  Perfect gardening weather I have to say.  Speaking of which, I'd better get back out there!  Smiles...