16 OCT 2010

This is a canary creeper hanging from my other washing line pole - another plant from Mrs. F. The flowers really look like little canaries about to land from flight. While morning glory climbs by winding up objects with its main stem, canary creeper climbs more randomly by wrapping its small side shoots around thin objects. It kept deviating into the bushes so I attracted it to the pole with a wire mesh. Thought it was dying because the bottom of the plant turned dry and brittle but the top end is still flowering, producing small green, fleshy fruits. At first I didn't realise that over-watering can sometimes encourage a plant to continue growing rather than produce flowers. This was particularly true for canary creeper and cosmos.

Last year I didn't water my garden at all.  I used to think that watering was one of the more boring gardening jobs and didn't have the patience to do it, but it's totally different when you've nurtured plants yourself and watched them grow day-by-day. This summer I watered gladly nearly everyday.