Marigolds

Julia Jones
Marigolds
2024

The marigold flowers were bright beacons in the garden over winter, their splashes of orange, red and yellow appearing amidst the violas and early sweet pea seedlings.   

Now the sweet peas have grown tall around them, and the marigold flowers have faded back to their dried pods. I’ve gathered most of the pods, saving their collections of seeds for later. I left some plants in place, where they can eventually scatter seeds spontaneously when they’re ready.

I also scattered some of the seeds in a little pot and have now found that they’ve sprouted into seedlings very quickly.

It looks like marigold season is starting up again already!

Summer lima beans

The lima bean vines are starting to take off for the season. New shoots are leaping out like twirling acrobats seeking structures to wind around.

Soon their small white flowers will appear, yellowing over time. They’ll then morph into tiny seedpods, and lima bean season will really be underway. The tiny pods will stretch out and become large green sails, then dry into pale brown brittleness.

Each season I end up with a collection of dried pods ready to crack open. They’re often partially split already, revealing glimpses of the incredible seeds inside.

Lima bean seeds are treasures. Speckled like a galaxy, they’re one of the most decorative harvests found in the garden. Their surfaces are intriguing – a myriad of variations of dots, splotches and curved shapes in purple, burgundy or chocolate juxtaposed with pale white.

Finding the lima bean seeds is one of my favourite parts of the gardening year. I’m looking forward to this season’s collection of interesting colours and speckles. All will be revealed in the upcoming cycle of growing, drying, splitting, taking the stage...and generally being spectacular.

Broad bean flowers and the winter garden

In the winter garden many plants have taken a step back. The mint has diminished. The lemongrass has eased off. The oregano has retreated. The basil is barely there, just a few green sprigs on sparse stems.

Yet some plants are gearing up and ascending, doing their part to bring about the constant change that occurs in the garden, even in the middle of winter.

Broad bean flowers peek out amongst folded leaves. They’re quintessentially winter, a bouquet for the cooler months. Their energy and optimism is like that of a musical conductor, encouraging the surrounding growth. Sugar snap pea stems gather momentum. Daffodil leaves stand tall in a stripey row, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Sweet pea plants veer to one side, their softness making their leafy mass tumble. In time they’ll grow longer and ascend the bamboo stake.

Small bursts of winter flowers keep the garden theatre humming. Amidst the quietness there’s bright marigolds, enthusiastic lavender, a peppering of perennial basil and colourful violas…the more you look the more you find. While the flowers are less profuse in winter they’re still there, it’s just having the expectation that you’ll find them.

All around the garden expectation persists, steadily growing.

Nasturtiums

Julia Jones
Nasturtiums
2022

Spring has arrived in the garden and the nasturtium plants are exploring like tumbling adventurers.

Their umbrella-like leaves hover here and there in clusters. When it rains the silver baubles on their surface form a shimmering glamour. Their stems embody the spirit of curious enquiry, full of intricate lines and meandering pathways. Discovering their rounded, striated seeds is like finding treasure.  

While various other plants are now flowering as the spring season unfolds, it’s not so long ago that nasturtiums were one of the rare flourishing features of the garden. In winter they were a steadfast continuing presence. Their flowers, even when just occasional, were bright sparks that illuminated the garden when it was in a much quieter, more subdued mode.

Looking at their flowers now they appear as one of many types of intermingled colourful beacons amongst the greenery. Yet they also remind me of their continued persistence throughout the variations of the seasons.   

Sweet pea season

Julia Jones
Sweet pea flowers
2021

I really look forward to sweet pea season each year. In March this year I planted the seeds that I’d harvested from last season and they’re still flowering now. The plants grew slowly at first but eventually there was a forest of tall sweet pea plants with a sea of green buds and tiny tendrils.

Waiting for the first flowers was exciting. Just a hint of colour started to peek through here and there and then suddenly there was a field of luminous pink and purple with a magical scent. After a while some pale pink, mauve and burgundy flowers emerged too.

In the upcoming months I’ll be saving the seed for next year. There’s going to be a lot of seed, as there’s a myriad of seedpods on the plants now. Then I’ll be looking forward to the next sweet pea season. I’m sure that I’ll be completely amazed by them all over again when they flower next time.