Gardenworld

March in the Melbourne garden.

Wow, these two large frangipanis, just a block from the bay are looking stunning.

Autumn is here and to gardeners it is a turning point. It is the time when we get lots of glorious weather but without the harshness of the summer heat. It is also a trigger for seasonal plantings of many great plants, and here are just a few: 

Aquilegia or Granny’s Bonnet looks spectacular in spring, but you must plant the seedlings before the winter, as they need that winter chill to inspire them to flower. Delphiniums also fit into this category and are best planted from seedlings as the seeds seem to take ages to germinate. Another one is foxglove, and even though it won’t flower for many months, it has beautiful foliage. 

That strange pot on 3AW - The Big Backyard.

This morning I was on air with Darren James and Jane Edmanson on radio station 3AW. Of course it was Sunday morning on their show The Big Backyard. It was also the day after one of the biggest storms to hit Melbourne in years and there was certainly some damaged gardens reported out there, particularly in Eastern suburbs.

It was also the last show for Darren and Jane at the South Melbourne studios, as next week they move into a new building in the city. It was kind of weird, because there was quite a bit of water damage at the station, so somebody up stairs must have been saying its time to move on!

I did have a strange looking pot on the show that is adjustable, and sits on fences. It was certainly very hard to descibe on radio, and Darren did not take a fancy to it at all. It has been huge in Europe however and is particularly good in small gardens, increasing your capacity to grow herbs and flowers. I did mention we would put it on the blog, so here it is here:

A little bit of inspiration.

By James Wall

A few years ago in another life, I had some spare garlic bulbs and had given them to Southmoor Primary School, a little school situated in Moorabbin. This school has been at the forefront of kitchen gardening and the headmaster had managed to chase me up to see if we had a few spare vegie seedlings. This morning I dropped them off.

To see what had been achieved over those few years was nothing less than inspirational.

Fruiting Fig Trees In Pots

By Dennis Ting

In the nursery a common question I am asked is what is a good fruit tree to grow in a pot that will also produce a useful yield.  While we have a good range of Dwarf Peaches and Nectarines (Trixzie), Apples (Ballerina) and Pinkabelle and Pear (Pipsqueak). I believe a forgotten fruit is the Fig Tree. 

Many people are afraid to plant fig trees in the ground due to the vigorous growth and massive size and a reputation for a vigorous root system.  Then at harvest time it is almost impossible to pick on a daily basis the ripening figs on the tall branches and beat the birds.

Possible cancer cure found in blushwood shrub | The Courier-Mail

CANCER patients are offering themselves as human guinea pigs as researchers investigate a possible cure for cancer found in north Queensland rainforests. Scientists have identified a compound in the fruit of the native blushwood shrub that appears to "liquefy and destroy cancer with no side-effects", according to latest research.Found deep in the remnants of a 130 million-year-old rainforest, the fruit extract may yet hold the secret antidote to Australia's No.1 killer disease.Victoria Gordon, of EcoBiotics, an Atherton Tableland-based company, said they hoped to go to human clinical trials later this year.Dr Gordon said a single dose injection of the extract, known as EBC-46, had been effective in 50 critically ill dogs and about a dozen cats and horses.

February 2010 gardenworld happenings.

 Growing your own fresh produce is a trend that has grown immensely and is sure to be even bigger in 2010. Whether it is just a few herbs around the back door or a full blown vegie patch or orchard, there is nothing sweeter than picking your own food and using it to its maximum potential. There are many seasonal cookery books coming out that show you how to better use your harvest and minimise wastage.  A lot of schools are now educating our younger members of the community on food gardens and hence it is often families who are coming into the nursery together to learn about what crops they could grow and use. And of course there are many nationalities that we can learn from who have been food garden experts since they migrated here to Australia, whether it be Italians growing tomatoes or Vietnamese growing lemon grass, everyone can delight in their flavours with a little bit of knowledge.

Some trees are less dangerous in bushfire zones.

It seems this Poplar 'Veronese' tree from Flemings is better suited to planting in bushfire proned areas than eucalypts. This is probably not a surprise to many, as eucalypts contain a 4% of oil in their leaves. According to an article in todays Age by Jeremy Francis who owns Cloudehill Nursery and Gardens a row of poplar trees can act as a shield and prevent radiant heat, as well as the leaves soaking up and extinguishing flying embers.

Conifers were also cited as dangerous as they contain 2% resinous oil and have lots of dead or dry branches that act as great kindling type fuel, while wattles were considered relatively safe.

This article has certainly created some debate judging by the comments people have made on it, and I think it is great people are looking beyond the square. Councils too often are taking the indigenous views and making them law when in these densely populated regional areas, that could be contributing to a higher fire risk for those citizens.

And as for protecting from erosion, which will happen if we strip the earth of foliage, this Poplar is stated on Flemings website as being shown to have good potential for erosion control by the New Zealand Forest Research Institute (NZFRI).

I love my natives, but if we get more 45 degree days in Melbourne this summer then you would have to suppose the world is warming and therefore bushfires will be more dangerous and that we must consider that our actions may need to change in order to better protect ourselves from avoiding further tragedy.

This inciteful article I am referring to is on The Age website HERE.

Lawn builder project from plant cells.

by James Wall

Ok,

so some workers had ruined my nature strip at one end and replaced it with low grade dirt and thrown a bit of grass seed on the top. This was great news for the gang of pidgeons that live on the next door neighbours eaves and they spent the next 3 days frantically stuffing every single seed they could find into their gullets.

Well I could have just left this bare patch, but I thought I'd have a go at patching it up. Firstly I dug out about the equivalent of 2 potting mix bags of the low grade dirt and put that in another garden bed. Then I emptied out two 30 litre bags of Attunga Topsoil that comes with a wetting agent. This was then smoothed evenly, except where I had found the concrete cover to a Telstra pit - no wonder nothing had ever grown near that little bit !

Hortivations at Ball Australia

by James Wall

 

Hortivations is an industry only event for businesses involved with and related to horticulture. It has been going for a few years now and is one of the premier events in the Australian horticultural calender. The thing people seem to like about it is that it is a fun event and a great place to catch up with whats going on. There is everything from new plants to new potting machines, but more than anything, it is a place of new ideas. Its a bit of fun, and we need that.

Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation

By Sarah Naumoff 

I first heard about the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, when I attended the Australian Landscape Conference in September 2009. Stephanie Alexander was one of the many wonderful experts who spoke at the conference.