I finally decided what to plant in place of the old hebe. It was quite the odyssey in the end - first digging out the stump, then digging up piles of rubble and a few large stones. And today I had a disgusting shock. There were autumn leaves in the hole and when I went to pull them out, thought I saw wet fur. I tried to dig whatever it was out with a shovel, and what I believe was a dead rat split in half to reveal a bed of maggots. EW EW EW EW EW EW. So I dumped some dirt on it and dug some more to one side. It's well below the ground now, I suppose that even decomposed rats are good for the soil. EW.
OK now for a nicer image. I decided to plant a kaffir lime in the spot. It's a type of lime grown for its leaves and used in Thai dishes. It makes wrinkled little fruits but they're not really used. I do occasionally cook with kaffir lime leaves so it'll be useful to me, but because the fruits aren't important I'm not as worried about it being in a spot that's shaded all winter.
It's just a wee little seedling at the moment but it's still big enough for me to pick a few leaves as I need them. I decided to be clever and put an agricultural pipe in the planting hole, so I can water it down to the roots when I need to.
The striking thing about kaffir limes, if you're not familiar with them, is that they have double-leaves. Look closely and you can see they're in a sort of figure-8 shape. Nifty, huh? I'll have to plan for a few Thai dishes next week.
And whilst I was walking along the path I noticed that my transplanted camellias are starting to bloom. They've taken their move well; they didn't drop their buds and the first one is now sweetly blooming. I'll leave you with this lovely picture.
![http://www.alexareynolds.com/garden10/camelliajune.JPG](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sehidghk4iJqMY7ZR7MrvRsGND-YajsaNkrfJyFWgg_Q7gnEfJMwlTbI1UN1wnm8tVqIJxQRhrpmzRWeUZLeChWcwvi4_m9reo7dI7CHzKiTAtwMCMJdhf=s0-d)
![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uGAsTJppF-KU-XsLKVjUrNtM_SjwWJbOrrId69OijNTlcm3U4C7LEL4LB-WPVvQlDKFhdhNqVhBLqbpbPBwUlH_liC411GlrnPzQRdBpqgpbOyU_5cyAqhRw-cC46fLCIZfc8LGU9Sr8MP4A=s0-d)
It's just a wee little seedling at the moment but it's still big enough for me to pick a few leaves as I need them. I decided to be clever and put an agricultural pipe in the planting hole, so I can water it down to the roots when I need to.
And whilst I was walking along the path I noticed that my transplanted camellias are starting to bloom. They've taken their move well; they didn't drop their buds and the first one is now sweetly blooming. I'll leave you with this lovely picture.
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