Have a look at this beauty! We’ve just finished this new border this afternoon. I moved almost all the agaves and cactii from the cluster by the pool into this new brilliant arrangement, even if I say so myself

I’m looking forward for them to mature in place and hope all visitors to our neighborhood enjoy my xeriscaped garden border.

]]> http://mahmoodsgarden.com/2011/11/18/the-xeriscaped-border-is-complete/feed/ 0 http://mahmoodsgarden.com/2011/11/14/the-witchs-cauldron/ http://mahmoodsgarden.com/2011/11/14/the-witchs-cauldron/#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:16:17 +0000 admin http://mahmoodsgarden.com/?p=680 It’s flourishing this year, thanks for my wife’s choice of filling it to the brim with red chrysanthemums And here’s a close-up of those gorgeous mums: If you wish, click the picture above for an original size which you can … Continue reading →]]>

It’s flourishing this year, thanks for my wife’s choice of filling it to the brim with red chrysanthemums

And here’s a close-up of those gorgeous mums:

If you wish, click the picture above for an original size which you can use as your desktop background, or flip it 90 degrees and use it as a background for your iPhone.

600 Allisum (white, pink, purple)
200 Geraniums (white, red)
300 petunias
100 marigolds
20 chrysanthemums
75 calendulas
100 stock (white, purple)
10 rose bushes (sultani)
10 jasmine bushes (full)
2 variegated hibiscus bushes
25 flowers, can’t remember there names at the moment!
25 colius

Did I paint a picture in your head yet?

Today I start the “hills” outside the house. This area was just lined with conacarpus trees hiding the beauty of the house and not contributing much to the environment.

Not going to divulge much now other than to say xeroscaping is probably be nicer with less maintenance.

Since the weather turned to the better about a week ago, I’ve put more effort into two things:

1. Golf
2. Gardening

Just a few weeks ago, this lovely hydrangea was doing well enough – considering it’s not supposed to survive at all in Bahrain’s climate. Alas, this is what it’s been reduced to in its first ever Bahraini summer. I’ve not lost complete hope yet though, you will notice that against all odds, it’s got some new growth showing.

I do fervently hope that it’ll survive the next few weeks and come back growing stronger come November.

Here’s for hoping for the best.

Update 3 Nov 2011 – Unfortunately the hydrangea didn’t survive much beyond the original post. It completely withered and dried out in the heat of the summer. I guess I have to simply give up on hydrangeas in this kind of climate.

We’re innundated with various kinds of tomatos from our vegetable garden; cherry, regular and also these huge monsters, the heirloom tomatoes. I think next year I’ll half the amount of plants in that patch just so we can handle the volume

What helped this year with the produce is that we regularly gave a large part of it away to friends and family. On second thoughts, I think I’ll double the plants so we can share more!

The lawn is on the mend, originally uploaded by malyousif.

If you’ve been following my gardening blog at mahmoodsgarden.com you already know my trials and tribulations with our lawn. From a lush, thick, carpet-like heaven, to a mud field just a few weeks ago.

I took matters into my own hands and seeded the lawn with Ryegrass. Now, three weeks later and after cutting it for the second time yesterday, fertilising it with NPK and Urea, rolling over the freshly cut and fertilized lawn to firm the ground up, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that it at least appears to be recovering.

It’s a pleasure now to sit in the garden, have a Turkish coffee and just while away the time, without having to scrape your shoes afterwards from the mud that would have caked them.

Cherry Tomatoes, originally uploaded by malyousif.

Last year my wife produced many kilos of cherry tomatoes in her rooftop garden. This year I thought I would plant them in the vegetable garden and try my luck. It looks like a successful experiment as all of the plants are growing nicely with healthy fruit.

Looking forward to eating a few soon.