Mary Mary Quite Contrary

[gemfyre]

I'm a pragmatic gardener. If I can't eat it/cook with it/use it as a herbal remedy, I generally won't bother growing it. I'm also in a rental so most of my plants are in pots so I can take them with me. My previous rental already had an awesome garden with a rose bed and all, the house I'm in now has some tatty lawn, a gum tree and a stunted looking hibiscus stuck in the corner.

View from my back step. This is my backyard. To the right is a shed and carport. To the left is a gum tree and stunted hibiscus. That blue thing beyond the Hills Hoist is my compost bin.

Lemongrass This is a recent purchase, just potted out this evening. Anyone know the best way to harvest it without killing the whole plant? Or is that impossible?

Aloe Vera This poor Aloe has been through so much. It was growing in a hanging basket at the old house and mostly dead, so I cut part out of it and put it in a tiny pot, where it greened up a bit. Then I put it in a larger pot so it was happier. Over Summer it went kinda brown again but since I've been tending it closely again it's bounced back. This is an unkillable plant.

Garlic Chives This recently flowered and set seed. I cut the seed heads off today and put them in the garden bed, if they grow, they grow. This one took a while to take off but is now growing great.

the First Basil For my birthday last year I got a pot with a cherry tomato in the middle and about 6 basil plants around it. I quickly separated them into a few pots and they promptly grew (and flowered). This pot actually had the tomato in the middle, but that's had it's Summer so I removed it. Should I continue to prune the flowers off? Whever I do they just grow back again within about a week.

Oregano and Marjoram The oregano has been going a bit mad and I had to give it a good hacking to make space for the marjoram, which was planted today. The last marjoram died over Christmas when it didn't get watered for 4 days, this one should do better.

More basil Purple and curly type. Also flowering madly.

The Last Basil More of the same. I wish nuts weren't so expensive, or I'd make a heap of pesto.

Rosemary This took forever to take off but now it's doing splendidly.

What! ANOTHER Basil? This basil is about 8 months older than the others and is also flowering like there's no tomorrow. It started off as such a little plant and now it's a small tree.

Mint I'm glad I have this in a pot or else it would take over the garden. It's getting cold again now so it's not looking as good as it could.

Kaffir Lime I had to stop myself plucking leaves off this to smell. I got this at the same time as the lemon. Anyone know if I can use the fruit in cooking? I know I can use the leaves.

Coriander Another one potted today. Hopefully this one gives me some leaves I can actually use.

Thyme & Savory These two are going crazy. Once I get my own house these will probably become ground covers.

Sage This goes to an ugly dead looking thing in Winter. In Summer it gives me profuse leaves.

Catnip Another one that dies off in the Winter. Pity the cats don't react to it at all.

Italian Parsley Another one just planted. My previous parsley is just flowering now and not producing any leaves.

Dill It still has some green bits so I hold some hope. Do you think it will come back? This is the third dill plant I've lost.

Rocket Finally I don't have to worry about my leafy greens going soggy in the fridge. Another of today's batch.

Comments

[lotus79.livejournal.com]

Well, I know nothing about gardening; in fact I am pretty much a murderess of plants.

But you have put Scarborough Fair in my head now! :P

Okay let's start from the top

[indescribble.livejournal.com]

Lemongrass - OUTSIDE leaves, just peel them off and leave the inside leaves

Aloe Vera - They like their water, but while they pretty much are unkillable, it's the water you give them that makes their leaves plump up and be useful for burns etc.

Garlic Chives - When starting garlic chives from seed, use only seed which has just been harvested. Garlic chive seed must be planted immediately after harvesting. I also give the advice to hack back the plant if you have no immediate use of for a bit taking away the older undergrowth which will allow the nummy young shoots to come forth :)

Basil (all) - If a stem successfully produces mature flowers, leaf production slows or stops on any stem which flowers, the stem becomes woody, and essential oil production declines.To prevent this, pinch off any flower stems before they are fully mature. Because only the blooming stem is so affected, some can be pinched for leaf production, while others are left to bloom for decoration or seeds. It's very normal and a sign that yes they are very happy and healthy, although looking at some of your photos some of the lower leaves are yellowish which means they either need more water or more sun.

Dill - how much sun is the dill getting? because i hestitate to say it may be getting 'sunburnt' and drying out quickly. i say put it in the shade and give it plenty of water, maybe a little 'mix with water' fertiliser (only a little!) and hopefully it might survive

Sage and Catnip - Completely normal, not much you can do about that.

Thyme and Savoury - hack 'em :) Hack the older stuff off (try drying in the oven at a low temp for awhile to make dried :)) this will allow new growth.

Kaffir lime - My mum pointed me toward a post she read recently I thought could be useful -> http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0405154227223.html?10
It's all about someone asking what they can do with all their kaffir limes :)
I also point you in the direction of this article -> http://www.fourwindsgrowers.com/lore/kaffir_lime.html


Due to my mum (being a gardener of an 8 acre block with a herb garden the size of 1/2 my flat), I have picked up a few things. feel free to poke me with questions, cause if I don't know - i'll email her and she lives in Chittering so country climates vs. city

[sternenglanz.livejournal.com]

No advice, but those are some beautiful plants! You've inspired me to only acquire useful plants; I have nice basil (although not as nice as yours), but the rest are non-flowering non-edible green things -- philodendron, Christmas cactus (which should flower but hasn't bothered yet), etc.

[bubblishpop.livejournal.com]

Beautiful plants! I want to get some little pots of my own. ^_^