Beautiful purple echinacea with big orange spiky cones at their centres

Lime green/purple echinacea flowers with 2 bumblebees on them

Lime green / purple echinacea from above

2 bumblebees on the same echinacea flower

And then yesterday we were up in Tīmaru and decided to drive on for a wee look see at Ashburton Domain which I've long suspected might have quite a good garden, and also a stonefruit stand. Firstly, yes. Secondly, they've gone all in on echinacea in one area and it's 10/10 magic #nzgardens

A small garden strip on top of a wall. All the green parts of the agapanthus plants have been removed, so it's just a tangled mass of pale, fleshy roots looking like a million grubs swarming the ground.

The same view of the wall as before, but also showing the stairs below absolutely covered with roots that have been pulled out by the handfuls.

Today I started my eradication campaign against agapanthus in the yard. It will probably take years. #nzgardens

Lush lettuce fill a Vegepod.

Lettuce love the Vegepod. Salads sorted! #NZgardens #kai

A smallish bush/ tree, with smooth longish leaves (a reddish tint to the newer ones), making its way in my garden until I can figure out what it is exactly.

A long shot (of the plant in question, also a long shot that it’s anything edible, although it appears to be a volunteer from the compost, so…). Currently maybe four feet high?

A close up of the leaves in case that helps pin down what it is exactly.

#nzgardens What’s this growing in my garden? (Previously, a volunteer tamarillo has popped up here, via the compost… but I’m not sure this is that…)

Two courgettes,a handful of young runner beans and green beans, and a plastic container full of raspberries

Today's harvest
#nzgardens #marakai

I've bought an ice-cream making attachment on sale for my Kitchenaid mixer, because the dairy free ice cream options are not what they were a few years ago. Does anyone have any tried and tested recipes? #kikorangi #nzgardens #aotearoanz

Springtime #nzgardens

Rose. #nzgardens

A path through pollinating plants (including impressive banks of borage) and fruit trees, at Kelmarna Community Farm)

A long view of Kelmarna Community Farm across beds of veges and flowers towards the little farm shop where I bought some tomato seedlings, and crunchy radishes; they also have eggs and other farm fresh offerings.

Bees love blue and purple flowers, copiously planted along the paths at Kelmarna Community Farm

Another glimpse of Kelmarna Community Farm; which occupies a slice of Council land between Grey Lynn and Ponsonby… the high horizon in the background is the Jervois Road ridge route through to Ponsonby, giving you a sense of the location and the proximity to town.

Such a collective neighbourhood treasure: Kelmarna Community Farm, a “climate-friendly food system” happily thriving in a peaceful pocket of inner-city-adjacent Auckland. kelmarna.co.nz #nzgardens

(Just one of several spontaneous stops on a lazy local bike ride this fine day… ☺️🚲)

Has anyone grown Hokkaido squash? Also know as red kuri and Potimarron. I have some seeds from Kings, but I am in Tāmaki Makaurau and I am wondering if it is too late to plant them. My Austrian friends love this variety - it is pretty to grow & delicious roasted. #nzgardens, #aotearoagardens

Hey #nzgardens do you have any recommendations for accessible ways of turning compost? One of these bins was left with our house and I just cannot get things turned in there with the big stick I have. Should I just donate it and get a tumbling one? Or is there some magic tool I should get?

Help! My garden is being overtaken by Chatham Island forget-me-nots! What should I do? 😁
#nzgardens

A wooden planter box with two strawberries per side. They’re spacious. A red hole measure contraptions sits between the plants comfortably.

A wooden planter box with three plants per side, in a zigzag. The red hole measure is a little squashed between the two closest plants. It’s more like 15cm spacing.

Okay #nzgardens I’m prepping my strawbs for the summer. How many should I put per planter?

At 2 per side / 4 per planter, they’re a comfortable 20cm apart. At 3 per side / 6 per planter, they’re only 15 cm apart.

Closer and closer
#nzgardens 🌱

🌱 Spring seeds - Fundraiser for Gaza - Aotearoa 🌱 Get ready for spring sowing and support The Sameer Project <3 #nzgardens #mahimāra #mārakai

www.facebook.com/philip.wills...

I found a good clean copy of a NZ book online that a much loved family friend bought me in my 20's . I lent it to someone ages ago and they never returned it. It's on its way to me now and I'm so happy. #NZbooks #nzgardens

Last of the summer pomegranates, burst by the midwinter rain. #nzgardens

n this weeks episode of gardening in NZ with mum - it’s time to prune the roses which are looking lanky. A good prune should deliver us lots floofs in spring

#NZGardens

Seeing as the sun came out this afternoon, I actually got in and pruned back the black currant bush. #nzgardens

Shrub that stands about a metre high, leaves are rounded and lighter at the borders. There are clusters of small dark blue-purple berries.

Since my phone is too potato for talking to iNaturalist, anyone know what this NZ garden shrub is? Late autumn, definitely not deciduous. I'm not much at all of a botanist.

#nzgardens

Also, Hagley Park, especially the wooded bits (top of and bottom of Hagley South, bottom of Hagley North) and the secret garden by the hospital, is especially magic at the moment :)

#nzgardens

#nzgardens

Giant marigolds outside Christchurch hospital

#NZGardens

Picture of a capsicum/bell pepper fruit, ripening from green to red but going through colours of yellow and orange, all colours showing on the same fruit

Bright red evenly coloured capsicum/bell pepper in focus, green capsicum out of focus in front of it

Two plants producing beautiful capsicums grown from seed from the same store-bought fruit. There's quiet a variance! I'm saving seed from both to see what happens next year #nzgardens #mara

Oops. #nzgardens

Giant sunflower plant with one huge bloom and a number of smaller ones.

So, my giant sunflower made the usual huge yellow bloom (most of the seeds from which have now dropped), and then sprung all these smaller secondary flowers…do they normally do that?

#nzgardens

A black skillet with a colourful mix of green and yellow sliced vegies in it. They're sliced in little discs with frilly edges, and the yellow ones are hollow in the centre. There are a few flecks of red, which are bits of the goo around the seeds in the ripe yellow melon/gourd.

Frying up bitter melons that I grew from seed to have with our lunch. They were yum! The yellow one fully ripened on the vine (by mistake), and had fully ripe seeds inside that I've saved for next year. #nzgardens #kai

Bright yellow flowers on leafy vertical green stems against a trellis fence.

Welcome to the new members :-) I live in Aotearoa/New Zealand where it's late summer, and I'm currently delighting in the wall of Jerusalem artichoke flowers out my bedroom window. #nzgardens #FlowerFridayFamily

Watermelon 🍉 3 out of the garden this season. 3 more on the vi e #NZGardens

This summer was the first time having a vege garden and of course the vege to thrive was the one I hate eating. Harvested these after giving heaps away and now am making room for veges that I’ll actually eat!

#gardening #homegrownvegetables #nzgardens