Clever Clivias

Since we waved goodbye to our cubby house in our little backyard, we now have a view of what has always been an ugly little corner of our yard.
It has been home to the compost bins for years. One year at the local Richmond Primary School fete I picked up a few pots of clivia, lovingly potted up by a mum called Maree.
As with most people with teeny weeny gardens, I long to plant all manner of things but the reality is there isn't room.
But I couldn't resist the clivias.
So, at home I looked for some little shady spot in which to plant them. They ended bang up against the compost bin. This was good and bad. Bad because it wasn't the best spot for them. Good because they flourished thanks to their prosimity to the worm-rich compost bin.
They've been neglected but have made their own way. In the meantime, I moved the compost bins to another spot and transplanted a struggling standard Lily Pily tree.
The Lily Pily, a gift from my sister to my husband when his nephew died 12 years ago in lieu of flowers, has looked liked it was on its last legs. It had dried out in its terracota pot once too often.
But even now it is looking good. It is probably not the best showcase, tucked in the corner against the fence, with the neighbour's peaky ivy trying to strangle it. Luckily, we manage to get the secateurs to it before it takes hold of the tree.
But back to the clivia. Their orange blooms put a smile on my face. I would love to plant them right across the back, in front of the limes and lemons, where the gardenias once ruled. That was before the citrus cut all their shade and one by one by died.
In the meantime, I am enjoying what I have got.

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