Sharing My Garden

David and John pose in the garden with wheelbarrows fully laden with plants

we took over to my friend, Betty

David and John pose out on my pavement/sidewalk.

They love being photographed!

David and John wheel the barrows down the street; Betty lives just one house down the [dirt] road to the left

David, John and Petrus in Betty's beautiful cottage-style garden

My friend Betty with the three gardening friends

Last week my friend, Betty, who initially motivated me to make a garden in the empty plot next door to me (you can read about this here) called and asked if I had extra plants in my garden. Their church minister is changing his exotic garden into one with water wise plants and asked for plants from his congregation. Betty knows that I have a primarily indigenous garden filled with plants and that I’m busy with thinning out many of my perennials and shrubs at the moment.

John and I systematically worked through the garden. First, he dug out five white stinkwood (Celtis Africana) These have been prolifically shooting up since September last year and I’ve supplied many other people with this wonderful shade tree. We went onto dig out five false olives (Buddleja saligna) which although it’s specified as a large shrub in my gardening books, grow into trees in my garden. Next we dug the shrubs out: three Giant Honey Flower (Melianthus major), three Cape Honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis) and five Cape Leadwort (Plumbago auriculata). After this we moved onto the perennials: ten stalked bulbines (Bulbine frutecens) were added to the pile as well as five aloe spp and last but not least, as many succulents (Lampranthus spp) as I could spare.

David and John then loaded our cache into two wheelbarrows and after posing for a photograph, they pushed the plants out into the street. We walked around the corner to Betty’s house and while she and I were waiting for Petrus to pack the plants on her patio from where the padre will collect them, my two gardeners wandered around Betty’s beautiful garden taking in ideas and enjoying the sights and smells. I could see Petrus performing this task as fast as possible so that he could accompany my gardeners through his domain! David, John and Petrus know each other pretty well. I’m not too sure whether they socialise in the Township, but these men have definitely become friends through the activity and sharing between the two gardens.

Before we left for home, Betty and Petrus had loaded various plants into our barrows to plant back in my garden.

A very pleasant morning’s work indeed.