Settling into a garden cottage in an unnamed neighborhood, stealing leisure from a busy life
An ordinary, unnamed neighborhood, where I bought a house with a courtyard, though the transport and shopping here are very convenient. Thinking back, buying the house was very wise; I made the decision decisively and have paid off half the loan. After buying it, the housing price went up rapidly.
The making of the garden was all done personally by me alone, hehe.
I do this by stealing leisure from a busy life. My husband neither opposes nor helps with my flower growing; I even move the flower pots myself, and he is only in charge of enjoying the flowers.
Water every day with a hose near the roots, and do not splash the flowers.
After planting the seedlings, remember to apply light fertilizer frequently, and the seedlings will grow very well.
Actually the flower balls are not very big, but when many flowers are placed together they still look decent. I often see the bulb-growing skills of those experts, and that is truly breathtaking.
The mixed-planted Fischer geraniums grow very slowly in winter, but they are quietly accumulating energy, and once spring arrives, flower buds emerge one after another. It was also my first time growing geraniums; I brought in seedlings in winter (I think it was December), and in early spring, when the seedlings were still small, I picked off the buds twice.
However, the heat tolerance of the angel geraniums still needs testing. Will the angel geraniums slow down their growth now? If they grow slowly, then just let them bloom.
Beautiful butterfly flower and delphinium
Some were grown from seedlings, such as various geraniums, marguerites, million bells, African impatiens, etc.; most are seedlings brought in last year.
Bacopa - Fairyland Blue Waterfall and Snow Waterfall
Some were sown by myself, such as butterfly flower, annual chrysanthemum, delphinium, lupine, pentas, and dwarf petunia; the seeds were all bought.
Beautiful butterfly flower with small white chrysanthemum and white lupine
Generally speaking, a sowing temperature with an average day and night temperature of around 20°C is suitable for most herbaceous flowers. For heat-intolerant herbaceous flowers such as pansy, horned pansy, Swan River daisy, lupine, annual chrysanthemum, delphinium, and lobelia, it is easy to sow early (at the latest before the end of November; last year, because I was too busy, I sowed several varieties a bit late), so the flowering period will be longer; dwarf petunia can be sown all year round in Guangdong, but autumn sowing, after growing through winter, will give a fuller plant shape.
Yesterday I sowed some summer-blooming flowers, such as cypress vine and morning glory.
Except for dwarf petunia, the other herbaceous flowers are basically no longer fertilized at full bloom now, so they are almost all watered with a hose, while dwarf petunia is watered with a watering can mixed with liquid fertilizer.
No need to water every day; depending on the situation, water again when the potting soil is dry. When watering, be sure to water thoroughly and then let it dry out, which helps root respiration.