晴れ Fine weather

2016.9.26

一昨日までは、一週間以上雨が続いた。庭の鉢植えが腐ってしまわないかと心配だつた。私の心配を他所に、鉢植えたちは結局秋の日の光の中で元気なようだ。

Until the day before  yesterday, it has been rain for more than a week. I was afraid all the pots outside would go rotten.  Regardless of my fear, it looks like pots looks great in an autumn sun after all. 

私は秋の庭仕事を再開した。供したことの1つは秋にやろうとは考えていなかったことだ、というのは早春にやるべきだと思っていたからだ。あまり確信はなかったので今日幾つかのサイトを調べてみると、今やるのだと知った。何かというと春に買って小さめの鉢に植えたプリムラの株分け、植え替えだ。去年までは、うちのプリムラは夏の間に弱るか枯れてしまう事が多かった。いつもやや乾かし気味に育てていたのだ。しかし、今年は毎日水をやり日陰で育ててきた、それが結果的に良かったようだ。その結果、鉢は満杯になった。

I resumed my autumn work in the garden. One thing I did today was not planned to be done in autumn because I had thought it should be done in early spring. As I was not sure about the time I checked several net site and found I had to do it now. It is repotting and division of a primula that I bought this spring and planted in a rather small pot. Until last year, primulas in my garden mostly got very weak or die during summer. I was keeping them in rather dry condition. But, this year I kept it watered everyday and in the shade, and it turned out very good for it. As a result the pot was filled. 

始める前は、幾つかに分けて少し大きい鉢に植え戻すつもりだった。しかし、株分けしてみると、10株以上が皿の上に残った。鉢は1つでは足りない。これが、植え替えた内の二鉢だ。

Before I started, I planned to divide the plant into several parts and plant them back to one larger pot. After I divided them, however, I found myself with more than ten small plants in a tray. Then, I needed more than one pots. 

These are two of them.

これが残りの2鉢。私の作業はがさつなので、幾つかの株は根が殆どなかったり、全く無かったりだった。小さな茶色の鉢にあるのがその根が殆どないという奴らだ。葉まで少ない。どうなるか暫くはよく見ていないといけない。

These are the other two of them. As my work is not so delicate, some of the plants were divided with very little or no roots. The ones in a small brown pot are the ones with scarce. Even leaves are scarce. I have to watch carefully for a while how they will be. 

 他の植物はいつもの秋のごとく普通に育っている。この亀甲竜と呼ばれるのは長い夏の休眠の後バリバリ育っている。
Others are as normal as the regular autumn. This one called elephant's foot grow a vine fiercely after long sleep during hot summer.

リンドウもやっと咲き始めた。葉は少々いたんでいる。
Gentians started flowering at last with some damage on leaves.

アガベをもう一つ門の外に植えた。
I planted one more agave outside of the gate.

アガベって棘で門を守っているみたいに見えない?
Aren't agaves looking like protect our gate with those spines?

これは、セイリギア・フンベルティという名前だ、よく育っているのは枝2本だけだ。なんとかもう少し背が低く枝が広がるように育てられないものだろうか?もっと日照が必要なのかな?
This one named Seyrigia humbertii grows well, but only these two branches. Is I wonder there is anyway making it grow with more but shorter branches. Maybe more sunshine?

我慢 Patience

2016.2.23
たまに園芸店に行くと、「これ欲しいな〜」と思う植物を見つけて我慢するのは一苦労だ。
Occasionally when I visit a gardening shop, it is very tough to refrain from getting plants that look really attractive.

我慢の理由はたくさんある。多肉、観葉、蘭などの室内植物だと冬の置き場がない。既に一部の丈夫な鉢は外で冬越しという可哀想な状況だ。屋外に植えるものでも、もう植える場所がない。どこも既に一杯なのだ。残っているのは歩く所か、一年中日の当たらない場所ぐらいだ。余りに高いものは枯れたら勿体無い。手のかかる物は世話が益々大変になる。

There are lots of reasons to resist buying. For indoor plants such as succulents, foliages, or orchids, there is no more space to have them stay in winter. Some relatively winter hardy plants pitifully bear winter outdoor. For outdoor plants, there is no land to plant them. Everywhere is full. The remaining space is pathways or the area with no sunshine all year round. Plants expensive is too risky to challenge. I don't intend to increase my labor any more for the plants that require attentive care.

されど、この季節は園芸作業も一休みが続いてきているし、ついフラフラっとなってしまいそうになる。要は何かやりたいのだ。

However, this season is when I have not been tasking myself for gardening for a while, and I tend to be tempted. The point is I want to do something.

今日はダッチ・アイリスの芽出し球根、クロッカスの芽出し球根、大輪ガザニアというあたりに手が伸びかけた。芽出し球根は地面から目が出ていてもうすぐ花が咲くよ〜ッて感じで置いてある。咲いたら綺麗だろうなぁと思ったが、いやいやうちだってチューリップの芽が出ているし同じ頃に咲くよ。と思いとどまった。ガザニアは15cm以上はあるかという大輪で色も派手だったので、いいなぁと思ったが、年中日の当たる場所でないと育ちが悪そうだ、と思いとどまった。

So, today I almost reached for the pots of budding Dutch iris, also budding Crocus, and large flower Gazania. Budding bulbs looked like saying we will bloom in any time. Although I imagined they would be beautiful when bloom, but I resisted reminding me that there were many tulip bulbs budding at home and it would be bloom about the same time. Gazania were the ones having big flowers of more than 15cm, the colors were showy, looked attractive. I also resisted thinking it requires the place with full sunshine around the year, and there is not any more such spaces.

Buds of tulips coming among violas planted in a planter.

Buds of tulip on the ground.

我ながらよく思いとどまったと家に帰って庭を一周りしたら、鉢植えリンドウの芽がもう出ていた。桔梗と一緒に植えてあるので、去年はかなり狭苦しそうになっていた。サイトを検索すると桔梗は2、3月、リンドウは3、4月が植え替え・株分けの適期とある。しかし、今年は例年よりずいぶん暖かいから、やってしまえと植え替えた。同時に、桔梗とリンドウは別の鉢に分けた。探せばすることはあるんだ。これから爛漫の春になると次々とすることが出てくる。迂闊な買い物は禁物だ。

I walked around in my garden after I came back home thinking I did well to resist increasing my collection, and found buds of Gentians came out from the pot. As they are planted with Platycodon, balloon flower, the pot seemed too crowded last year. They need to be repotted. I found the proper seasons for repotting are February and March for bell flowers, and March and April for Gentians. But, it is much warmer than the average this year, so I dared to repot them. At the same time I separated the two species into different pots. There are things to do if I look for carefully. It will be real spring soon, and there'll be a lot to take care. I have to prohibit myself from careless buying.

buds of Gentians

roots of Platycodon

Gentians flowers last year

Platycodon flowers last year