Pineapples and Dahlias

 I have been very neglectful lately where blogging is concerned. The weeks seem to fly by and we are now almost at the end of a relatively mild summer weather wise although as I type this I can hear thunder around and severe storms have been forecast due to the hot and humid weather of the past two days. The forecast 'wet summer' didn't eventuate in this area anyway although we have had a few heavy showers that have resulted in the many dahlia bulbs in the front garden  showing their 'true colours' so to speak. 

Actually it is a bit of a jungle in that garden and the dahlias are even growing on the pathways. 

Once they have stopped flowering I will move them off the paths as I have almost fallen while trying to get past them. One of the joys of getting older seems to be a loss of balance on uneven ground. 

My hubby loves dahlias and has planted a lot of them over the years and they look resplendent when we have good rainfall. 

The bees love them and lots of people walking past comment on them as they are so pretty.

6/12/2020

I discovered last December that we had a pineapple growing and I took the above photo on the 6th December....

23/2/2021

....and here's what it looks like today on the 23nd February. It is probably about five or six inches in height so I don't think it will end up being very big but there are five pups growing on it. The young chap up the road who grows them in his front garden told me to plant the pups once the pineapple is ripe and they should produce in two years which is a tad quicker than this one which was planted about four years ago but it isn't in full sun which is probably why it has taken so long to grow. 

So spurred on by my one pineapple out of about eight that had produced fruit hubby came home from the Farmer's Market with ten pineapple tops for me to plant. I just wish he hadn't paid for them 😏

So I thought I would experiment with them and put some of them in water till they grew roots....

...and then planted them in pots...

...and the rest I planted in the soil. I will move the pots around in winter so that they catch the most sun and also so as to avoid any frosts we may have if it is a cold winter. It will be interesting to see how long it takes before we see any pineapples if indeed we ever do. Mind you, I am not all that fond of pineapples and prefer some of the other fruits but it fun to try and grow them as we don't live in an area which is known for growing pineapples. 🍍

I have made a few more scarves and beanies for the homeless to wear during our cold winter nights.

 I think it will be a few months down the track before it gets that chilly but I should have quite a few contributions by then. 

Have a wonderful week!