I spent the last couple of mornings working in the garden. Sometimes when I have too many things to do, I can’t decide what I should do first. I was planing to weed a flower bed, but halfway through it started raining. Then I decided that edibles were more important than flowers, so the next day I spent the entire morning cleaning the backyard and pruning. I’ll get to the flowers sometime later. 😊
I weeded the empty raised beds, removed several dead tomato plants, and pruned lemongrass bushes. There's a lot more to do, but I'm very happy about the work I did so far. I thought I'd show you some of the plants I have in the backyard. 😊
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| Pruned lemongrass and empty raised beds. I haven’t decided what to grow in them yet. |
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| In this bed I have Serrano pepper, two types of basil, two types of parsley, thyme and oregano. |
I bought a blue pea vine (Clitoria ternatea) for $5 and planted it near the back fence. Blue pea flowers are so pretty, and I wanted to have it in the front yard, but it needs shade. So I planted it under the oak tree in the backyard.
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| Blue pea vine. |
Kauk (Sauropus androgynus) and moringa (Moringa oleifera) plants are growing well. Tropical plants like these thrive in this warm weather.
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Katuk
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Moringa
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Curry leaf (Murraya koenigii) flowers
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| Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) |
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Ginger
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Pineapple
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Last but not least, look what I have here! Passion fruits! Before I went on vacation I was thinking of removing the passion fruit vine because I thought it was dead. I'm glad that I didn't. While working in the yard, I just looked up and saw one passion fruit all the way up. The vine has grown over the fence and climbed up a cherry laurel tree! I was literally dancing with excitement. I hope my neighbors didn't see me. I really have to put up the side fence. 😀
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| Passion fruit |
It's raining again. I can hear the rumble of thunder, and the rain pattering outside. It's time to read a book. ⛈📚 I'm reading Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon. Thank you Beatrice at The Frog and Penguinn for reminding me of Inspector Brnuetti!
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Nil
Thank you for the tour of the garden! I so enjoy seeing all the plants you have! Yay, your passion fruit vine is producing fruit! How wonderful! I am so envious of your pineapple plants! I managed to get some tops to root, but they died after being planted!
ReplyDeleteTry another pineapple top, Bless. I normally keep the tops in a small glass of water for several days, and then plant in the ground.
DeleteYour lemon grass is huge! I just bought 2 this spring, and they are about a foot tall now. And woohoo for passion fruit 😊
ReplyDeleteLemongrass grows very quickly Lady Locust. You will have a huge cluster in no time. 😊
DeleteWow, congratulations on the Passion Fruit. How exciting! You are doing so well with your gardening.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stephenie. Passionfruit is one of my favorites. 😊
DeleteWe love Donna Leon books too, and my DH has a collection of them. Like you, I sometimes find that there are so many tasks waiting in the garden that it is hard to know what to do next!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I make to-do lists to organize my thoughts, but at other times I can get overwhelmed.
DeleteYour back yard is spectacular! You're right about the blue pea, very pretty flowers.
ReplyDeleteAnd according to Ayurveda medicine, blue pea has medicinal properties. 😊
DeleteGood thing you didn't remove the passion fruit tree! Your gardens look very nice, especially considering you were away for so long. Happy gardening! Andrea
ReplyDeleteThank Andrea😊
DeleteToo hot to really comment...
ReplyDelete💧💧💧💧
Stay cool, Wisps.
DeleteAnother Donna Leon and passion fruit fan! Congrats on your garden! Laura
ReplyDeleteHehee yes I love passion fruit and love reading mysteries.
DeleteThank you for reading and commenting. 😊
How exciting to have the passion fruit, Nil I love that! I remember one summer when we thought our peach tree hadn't borne any fruit and I looked up and there was one peach at the top of the tree. It was so neat. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh I wish I had peaches too. 😊
DeleteNil, our passionfruit get eaten by the wildlife here. You have a lot of lemongrass growing. I have been growing it for years but never use it. I do use it for mulch though.
ReplyDeleteThere are squirrels here, but so far passion fruits are safe. Mom told me to leave them until they turn yellow, so I hope squirrels won’t eat them..
DeleteI use lemongrass when cooking chicken curry. I’ve been wanting to make lemongrass tea, but haven’t done it yet. Using for mulch is a great idea. Do you cut it up?
Thanks for the garden tour, Nil. I have never tried passion fruit, but what a nice surprise you found growing! You are most welcome for the Donna Leon recommendation and glad you enjoy her. I am just finishing her latest book, Onto Us a Son is Given and recently finished The Temptation of Forgiveness. Another favorite author, Alexander McCall Smith has just released a new series and I was able to get a copy at the library last week.
ReplyDeleteOnce I finish the current book, I'll check Alexander McCall Smith. I don't think I'v ever read his books. :)
DeleteLooks like you've been busy. How exciting to find passion fruits on your vine! I grew lemongrass for a couple of years and would cut it up, dehydrate it and use it for tea. I still have a ton of lemongrass tea, so I didn't plant any this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try your method and make some lemongrass tea. Thanks Julie. :)
DeleteYour garden looks so interesting Nil and quite tropical which I find amazing. How wonderful that you can grow ginger, and passionfruit. We have given up on growing passionfruit for now, need to find a better spot. They seem to love a treee to climb. I'm not sure what Kauk and Moringa are, I will have to check them out. Thanks for sharing your amazing garden with us. Pauline.
DeleteHi Pauline, I think passion fruit needs sun. I was trying to grow it along a fence, but there was too much shade. Then it climbed up and once it gets sun, started producing fruits. 😊
Deletehi Nil
ReplyDeletei wonder - is blue pea vine the same or similar to butterfly pea? they use butterfly pea in a local gin, so it is a beautiful blue colour. cheers S
Yes Sherry. I googled it and blue pea and butterfly pea are the same. They are also knows as Asian pigeonwings.
Deleteit makes the most beautifully coloured gin!
DeleteWow..you have plants a whole Sri Lankan garden there, isn't it? It's so good to see a Sri Lankan having a wonderful blog. Best of luck!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lucky for reading and commenting.
DeleteWe have sub tropical climate here, and most plants found in Sri Lanka grow here well. 😊