Resurrection Shuffle
Aug. 12th, 2007 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stephbgWanted to catch some more sun today and thought about going for a walk along the beach but Husband was knackered and I wanted to stay in his vicinity. We managed the walk to the shops and back, and then I hit the kangaroo paw of doom.
Most kangaroo paws should be pruned hard after they flower, and that was quite a few months ago. It encourages new growth, and helps to prevent mouldy diseases in old growth. But you knew that. I've got a few roo paws, but I'm particularly fond of one big clump with orange flowers that looks like a ball of fire nearly 2m across when in full flight.
In previous years I've pruned, fed, protected and generally done the right thing, but the whole garden has been sorely neglected the last year or so. This one plant came to symbolise failure. It wouldn't flower and it was All My Fault. I'd thought it was too late to save this one for the season, but today I took to it and not only pruned off all the old canes I pulled out a huge amount of dead foliage. It's amazing how big a pile of stuff was created (which I confess I left for the garden fairies to drag away). Now it looks green and fresh and civilised (albeit still unfed and untreated) and it may yet flower properly.
Once I finished I discovered about 10 splinters, so the final score was roo paw 1 : stephbg 1.
Oh, and plunging my hand into the depths I made the intimate acquaintance of more than a few snails. Now my hands are all red and rough and I feel great :-)
Most kangaroo paws should be pruned hard after they flower, and that was quite a few months ago. It encourages new growth, and helps to prevent mouldy diseases in old growth. But you knew that. I've got a few roo paws, but I'm particularly fond of one big clump with orange flowers that looks like a ball of fire nearly 2m across when in full flight.
In previous years I've pruned, fed, protected and generally done the right thing, but the whole garden has been sorely neglected the last year or so. This one plant came to symbolise failure. It wouldn't flower and it was All My Fault. I'd thought it was too late to save this one for the season, but today I took to it and not only pruned off all the old canes I pulled out a huge amount of dead foliage. It's amazing how big a pile of stuff was created (which I confess I left for the garden fairies to drag away). Now it looks green and fresh and civilised (albeit still unfed and untreated) and it may yet flower properly.
Once I finished I discovered about 10 splinters, so the final score was roo paw 1 : stephbg 1.
Oh, and plunging my hand into the depths I made the intimate acquaintance of more than a few snails. Now my hands are all red and rough and I feel great :-)
