The plan is that come summer, this garden renovation will have visitors will feel that life can be like a jewel-box, full of surprises. I've chosen the perfumed, the pretty, and the delicious, with creepers such as star jasmine and passionfruit doubling as clothing for pipes, gas meters, whatever wasn't there for its looks. The garden looking pretty good even now, with most plants merely infants. Silvery grey green foliage, blue, purple and yellow flowers are the colors I'm restricting it to, so it all feels 'of a piece'.
Plant Selection:Wormwood because it is silvery-silky and pretty, and to attract the green fairy sprit. I want to see if it will repel bugs from the nearby strawberry pots, ...we will see. No straw for these berries, but mongolian horsehair mulch...make the most of what youv'e got. Since at Buoyancy, lunch comes ready-made from the wonderful Tofu Shop, I've used instantly appealing edibles such as strawberrys, chives, and a lime tree. Things that don't need cooking. Organic limes are $2 each, and life goes better with limes.
The bead curtian is there to feel rainy when its hot, for playfulness, and for its friendly tinkling.Existing plants were re-arranged, so the tall, thin ones could feel elegant in tall, thin pots. Folksy, kitchen herbs were put in the reclaimed half-barrel.
The brooms got taken out of the splendid pot they were sitting in. The loveliest is out, at hand, inviting people to use it, cheering up a sunless spot. The other brooms and mops are unobtrusively awaiting a new hanging system, maybe out of sculpted wire....Go Frank!Most pots got a blend of Debco organic potting mix, and well-composted manure from Sheridan Sheeps Pty Ltd. Thank-you Andrew. The natives didn't because they adapted themselves to low fertility, and thats what they like best.
This basket was unraveling, ratty, and on its way to the rubbish bin. Mikoto put it back together with plaited straw. It will make a fine, free planter for a couple of years. Leftover straw was chopped up small and used as mulch. The taro was donated from my back garden, where it never got enough sun or water. No point in being the proud owner of an unhappy plant. Now its in its element, under the asian water feature.
With existing pots all the same size, it was starting to look like a nursery. So I introduced a bit of wildness for variety. Frank drilled extra holes for drainage - I think thats why the original residents of these empty concrete pots had long departed this world. No drainage, no air. No air, bad (anaerobic) microbes win, plant dies.
Collaborative co-creation by : Maki, Jun, Mikoto, Frank, Stuart from Fat Elvis, nephew Joshua (Debs, not mine, and Tomoko, under the direction of Cecilia) . Thank-you everyone. May the garden unfold into unexpecteded wonders, and so may we!
Before
This painting for the Buoyancy Foundation took:
and so are we
