Gardening in Fuerteventura

[Perrypower1]

Noooooooooooooooo...

[Emmi Smith]

Madre mia!!  That was certainly drastic action.  Are they fast growers?

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

They'll come back better than ever, a good prune of hibiscus is worthwhile every few years. Alternative is to blast the bushes with strong jets of water to clean them off. 
Unfortunately we are now suffering from 'after the rain' symptoms of a fly explosion 😥 I'm having to apply mossie/fly repellent to be able to work in the garden. Not got mossies that I know of it's just a multi repellant, works really well, called Incognito.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Madre mia!!  That was certainly drastic action.   Are they fast growers?

Yes, give them a bit of feed including some iron and they'll bounce back.

[Can the Man]

When I move out there for retirement first thing I will do will be to hire Tamara as a consultant for my patio flowers, plus I will grow a few herbs and things.

Talking of herbs Can - today I cut 6 bin bags of fresh basil while clearing by the walls for the builder. Pesto production tomorrow   
Self seeds and grows like a weed in my garden while local friends have trouble keeping a plant going in a pot with lots of TLC.

example here between Swiss Cheese and Banana plants.
The smell in my garden today has been amazing as bits got trampled underfoot and there was no breeze to dissipate it.

My basil doesn’t last the winter even though it’s inside the poly tunnel. So jealous Tamara

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Thought this might be worth mentioning.

Cochineal infection is not always immediately visible. You have probably seen cases where it has taken up residence in leaves and /or flowers or for example on the pads of prickly pear, but it can also be a hidden pest under the soil. If you have a plant that is failing to thrive it's worth gently scraping back the soil around the base of the stem for an inspection. If you see cochineal you really have no alternative but to dig the plant up, removing all the soil the roots reached into as well. This soil must be disposed of in a general bin, not a compost heap! Dust the inside of the hole and the surrounding ground with ant powder - it's the ants that farm the colonies! If the plant is special to you and you want to try to save it, place the whole root ball in a bucket and gradually hose off all soil/compost. Use a soft paint brush to ensure all bugs are removed from the stem. Swish the roots in water a few times, changing the water, don't pour the water on the garden! Leave root ball in soak for a few hours to drown any remaining critters. Keep the plant in the shade and out of the wind while you are doing this.

Replant using fresh soil/compost, water in using a kelp mix if you have it - this promotes root growth. Don't use a general fertiliser until the plant looks perkier in a few weeks/month. Provide complete shading and wind protection from the moment you replant until the plant is obviously happy - this may be several months. Remove shading gradually. If it is in the peak summer it's probably a lost cause.

Example from a weed I dug up today:

  I squashed a couple to show the colour from inside the blighters. There was no evidence of infestation above the ground. Most chemical treatments that you can buy are contact only so have limited effect above ground (leaves etc) and virtually no effect below ground.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

New blooms started on hemerocallis:




and the bougainvilleas that I cut back a couple of weeks ago in prep for wall restoration are throwing out loads of new growth!

 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

remember the agaves from a few week's ago?  link to start of agave discussion)

after their mad growth spurt to put up flower spikes things have calmed down and they are putting their efforts into filling out the flowers/plantlets:

  

and I shed a little tear in my garden today. My honeysuckle started the day like this:


and ended like this:
 

hope the goats enjoy it. It will recover, it will, it will 

[Tardis]

Definitely Monarch caterpillars - the colours/stripes are clear now.



Wondering if I should cull now so a few have plenty of leaves to munch on? Would gladly share the caterpillars but obviously not possible at the moment.

Wait until they are about 1 to 1.5 cm long and then cull.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Took a few pics as I walked through a couple of backstreets in Corralejo today on way to bank:

  

This garden just up from the Belgian embassy has some beautiful stephanotis plants wrapped around the trunks of palms, the scent was delicious!