Hello friends,

My specialty cut flower pansies have germinated, and were recently repotted into potting mix once they had developed two sets of leaves. With space in the glasshouse being at a premium while seed sowing is in full swing, it was time to plant them out in the garden.

I wanted to plant the pansies in one area so I could easily compare the different varieties as they grew. Luckily, I had some spare space at the front of the white daffodil growing bed, so on a sunny early spring day, I got to work planting out the first batch of specialty cut flower pansies.

It didn't take long at all to plant out the first batch of pansy seedlings at a distance of about 10 cm apart. I still have another batch of pansies waiting in the wings in the glasshouse, but they're not quite ready to venture out into the big wide world just yet.

Once the second batch of pansies is planted in the garden bed, it will be a matter of waiting for the plants to grow and start flowering. Then comes the fun part, seeing which varieties produce the best flowers for cutting and discovering which ones are worth growing again next season.

For now, the pansies are happily settling into their new home, and I can't wait to see what the coming months bring.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Cut Flower, Cut Flowers, Garden, Garden Project, Gardening, Pansies, Pansy, Spring, Winter

Hello friends,

I've been growing my own linen plants (Linum usitatissimum) for fibre production for many years, using the 'Essene' variety I purchased from Kōanga Institute in New Zealand. While there are other varieties better suited to producing textile linen, these aren't available in New Zealand and are difficult to import due to our strict biosecurity rules. So, working with what I have, I sow my own 'Essene' seeds each year, growing the plants both for linen fibre and to produce a fresh supply of seed for future seasons.

As you can see from these photos, our neighbour's cat Maisie is always very fond of my linen patch, and spends many happy hours playing, sitting, and sleeping among the plants. Luckily, linen bounces back into shape quite easily, so she doesn't do too much damage—and she's so cute that I just can't say no to her shenanigans.

Papahoa Fibreworks is a Canterbury-based Aotearoa New Zealand fibre business focused on developing locally grown, traceable natural textiles. They grow their own 'Essene' organic Linum usitatissimum (flax/linen) at their farm in Tai Tapu, where the plants are harvested and processed by hand to produce long-line linen fibre and tow for spinning. They also grow natural dye plants and operate a natural dye house, bringing together linen growing, fibre processing, natural dyeing, and textile production.

This year, Papahoa Fibreworks has started a Grow Along using their 'Essene' linen seed, following the plants from sowing through to processing, and I've decided to join them. I'm looking forward to growing their seed alongside other growers around New Zealand and joining their Patreon community over spring and summer. Plant growing can sometimes be a lonely learning experience, and I've found it's much more enjoyable when you can learn alongside others, and share tips and tricks along the way.

My seed packet from Papahoa Fibreworks has recently arrived, and contains enough linen seed to grow a 1 m² patch of plants. 

The next step is to prepare the ground for sowing, and then work out the 100-day growing season, so I know when to sow and when to harvest the plants. My plan is to grow the linen to the stage where I can harvest it for both fibre and a fresh supply of seed. I'm looking forward to following the journey from seed to harvest and seeing what I can learn along the way.

Have a wonderful day,

Julie-Ann

If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Garden, garden preparation, Garden Project, Gardening, Linen, Linen Grow Along, Papahoa Fibreworks, Winter

Hello friends,

I was running out of time this winter to prune our quince tree, and the job needed to get done before spring came and the tree began bursting its buds. So one warm and dry winter afternoon hubby and I got out our ladder, and the numerous pruning tools necessary for the job, and got to work taming our unruly quince tree.

My first aim was to get the vertical branches under control. If they were allowed to grow much further, the quince fruit would be out of reach, even with a ladder. The tree was also beginning to cast shade over my dahlias every afternoon, which definitely wasn't an allowed option either. With the area set up for the pruning job, it was time to look at the 4 'D's of plant pruning, remove dead, damaged, diseased, and dying branches, along with branches that crossed over other branches.

It didn't take very long at all to prune our quince tree, and turning it into a much smaller and tighter shape. With that done it was time to clean up the pruned quince branches.

Not wanting to waste the quince branches, I chopped them into smaller pieces and set them aside for a natural dyeing experiment. Apple and pear branches are well known among natural dyers for producing pink and peach shades from their bark, so I was curious to see whether quince being in the same family, might produce similar results.

As yet, I haven't had a chance to try this natural dyeing experiment, but in the meantime the quince wood chips have dried nicely and are now stored away for later. Hopefully I'll get a chance to see what colours they produce before too long.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Garden, Gardening, Natural Dye Plants, Natural Dyeing, Pruning, Quince, Spring, Tree, Trees, Winter, Winter Gardening

Hello friends,

It's been over a month since my sweet peas were sowed, and the ones that germinated are growing strong, so strong that building a trellis for them became an urgent priority.

On the same day that we set up the trellis for the grapevine, we also made the trellis for the new sweet pea space. We had about 4 metres of wire netting left over, so we stretched it out over the left side backyard fence as far as it could go.

With that job done it was time to plant out the sweet peas that had germinated. Unfortunately a lot of the older sweet pea varieties didn't germinate, so there were only about 50 sweet pea plants to plant out.

With the plants all set out along the garden fence, they had only taken up 1.5 metres of the garden fence, which left a huge gap of the fence line bare. Luckily my seed sowing space in the glasshouse was now set up for spring seed sowing, so I pulled out some long trays, and sowed another 100 sweet peas.

I sowed the following varieties:

• Sapphire
• Burlesque
• Blue Butterflies
• Blue Reflections
• Brilliant Fragrance
• Spanish Dancer (new variety from Egmont seed order)
• Appalachia (new variety from Egmont seed order)
• Nimbus
• Swan Lake
• Original

I really hope that all these varieties germinate well, so I can get them out into the garden as soon as possible. If there is still a large space remaining in the sweet pea trellis, I'll direct sow more sweet peas in about a month. The bonus of this is that the sweet pea harvests will be staggered in spring and summer.

Have a wonderful day

Julie-Ann

If you'd like to continue the conversation, you can find me on Instagram, Mastodon, Bluesky, and Facebook.

Tags: 2026, Garden, Garden Project, Gardening, Seed, Seed Sowing, Seeds, Spring, Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea Project, Sweet Peas, Winter