By James Wall
Well it was a beautiful Melbourne Day today and I was fortunate to be invited to do a talk at the Box Hill Horticultural Society Floral Exibition at the Box Hill Town Hall.
Here are a few snaps of some of the exibitors work. A lot of hours have been spent in doing these displays and it was work of a very high standard. I observed good colour use and excellent balance and structure.
Continue reading "Box Hill Horticultural Society - 60th Anniversary Floral Exhibition" »
Last weekend the annual orchid show was held at the Springers Leisure Centre, just around the corner from Gardenworld. Folk came from all over Victoria and even interstate. Once again it was a packed weekend, and the standard of entries this year was high. The main reason being there was plenty of rain this year. In fact some orchids had 8 or more flower spikes yet were still well proportioned because of the bushiness of the plants.
In case you missed the show, here are a few photos. If you would like to see more spectacular flowering orchids, then get down to Collector's Corner at Gardenworld as they have hundreds on show and for sale.
We got some new bulbs in last week. These varieties are summer flowering and include the uncool gladioli. I say uncool, because of course Dame Edna Everidge used to grow them in Moonee Ponds – how uncool ! Smiles come to mind remembering her cuddling a big bunch like it was a baby. My wife actually grew some last year in a terracotta bowl and did they stand proud with lipstick red flowers. We found them quite easy to grow, and most rewarding.
Other available bulbs and tubers include Canna lilies, alstromeria, bearded iris, asiatic lilies and peonies. There are also Jerusalem artichokes which are nothing like globe artichokes. They have a sunflower like flower and form a tuber, which can be harvested and cooked. They are selling well since Billy on Masterchef had to cook with them during the New York week. He had to slice them into little chips, deep fry and then poke them into the top of soup.
If you haven’t got strawberries in, now is the time. If you plant them later, you don’t get as much foliage growth which means less fruit. GardenWorld is pleased to announce that we have secured an exclusive variety from Sunnyridge Strawberry Farm in Red Hill. These will be the tastiest strawberries you have ever grown. Plant in pots or garden beds, and when they finish fruiting, next winter cut them back and they will go again for another season.
If you only do the vegie patch for the spring season, start weeding now. Dig the beds over to get oxygen into the soil, and fertilise with chicken manure. We recommend Attunga’s Organic Life, as it also contains fish meal and seaweed. Attunga are a local company based in Dandenong that also supply us the famous Humus Plus, a secret formula that will give every garden bed a lift.
Pruning fruit trees is a slow process. Don’t rush it because you can’t sticky tape the branch back on ! Go for a classic wine glass shape, cutting out any weak internal branches so as to open the middle of the plant up a bit. I also like to control height, because when harvesting, the ladder only goes so high. Even little blueberry bushes could do with a culling of the weak internal branches.
Of course this is the month to watch and enjoy the magnolia flowers literally open befrore your eyes. Towards the end of the flowering period, fertilise big trees with a bucket of Organic Life or Dynamic Lifter and this will ensure nice dark green leaves and vigorous growth. A prune after flowering will make them bushy, but you might like to leave yours tall and lanky. Thats the other beaut thing about these trees - all, the different shapes and sizes.
Camellia Dr Clifford Parks and Magnolia denudata
a close-up of the same Magnolia denudata
Also feed azaleas, camellias, daphne and trim back evergreens lightly, including box hedges, so as to ensure the new growth takes off from nice bushy plants. Sow spring seeds of petunias, marigolds, capsicums and tomatoes. GET READY, as the frenetic spring season is almost upon us.
Bulbs to plant this month: Dahlia, Gladioli, Canna lilies, Alstromeria, Asiatic Lilies and herbaceous Peonies.
Foodcrops: Asparagus, Beetroot, Broad beans, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Coriander, Lettuce, Leek, Parsnip, Onions, Potatoes, Rhubarb, Radish, Strawberry runners, Shallots, Snowpeas
Magnolia soulangeana
Eremophila – Nivea ‘Gubburra Bells’ Photo by Bonnie-Marie Hibbs
Soil types for E. Nivea; it isn’t too selective, but it is recommended if you have heavy clay to use gypsum instead of compost. In the case of sandy soils, use compost that has had time to dilute itself for a good period of time therefore reducing the phosphorus levels.
E. Nivea is a great drought tolerant plant, which is also suited to coastal conditions once established. E. Nivea can be difficult to grow in humid conditions, However it is defiantly worth taking up the challenge. E. Nivea is also known to be frost sensitive, but that certainly hasn’t stopped me giving it a go in my own garden.It’s beautiful silver foliage and mauve flowers can really give a great contribution to any garden. E. Nivea is a good contrast plant and can really bring out the beauty of other plants, but is also a great single specimen. E. Nivea is also great to attract honey eating birds and other garden friendly insects.
If you have ever seen a garden bed of Russell Lupins in full flower they are nothing short of spectacular. They make a perfect background plant and while not flowering, also have very interesting foliage.
Now I can remember when the nursery inductry sold lots of lupin seedlings. They were even available in single colours. Suddenly, a ban was put on the importation or Russell lupin seed. As growers, we were told that the seed may harbour the fungal disease anthracnose. This is a disease that causes bending and twisting of stems. The branches eventually collapse.
At first I was a bit disappointed until someone pointed out to me that the commecial lupin industry in Australia was perhaps worth $20 milllion, and so why should they tolerate a few home gardeners causing potential damage. Fair point. Now the seed for the nurseries is produced in Australia and the risk is therefore minimised.
Commercial lupins are mainly grown in Western Australia where they are grown to conditon the soil including generating nitrogen. It is also used for livestock feed, and as it turns out, these cows must have very low cholesterol and a minimised risk of heart attack. This is because some scientists have just got together and done some trials which include using lupin beans in flour. The results have been extremely postive in benefits to the body, that should reduce heart diease - in humans !
There is an excellent story on this at a website called Fresh Science. The link to their story is here.
Photo courtesy of Oasis.
By James Wall
My house has a northern garden. There is quite a bit of shade, but the midday sun still filters through in summer, and the northern winter sun also pokes through. It seemed like the perfect position for a few hellebores - long living winter flowering perennials of beauty.
The plants like a cold winter, are frost hardy and will do well in Melbourne gardens. If however you have sandy soil, add plenty of organic matter to improve the structure of the soil. You could grow them in pots, but the rhizome forms an extensive root system after a couple of seasons so they would be better suited in the ground.
Hellebore are closesly related to delphiniums and ranunculus, two of my favourite flowers but which prefer sunnier positions. But the shadier areas are where the hellebore shines, and it often works in that difficult situation like under a tree. In fact they would be perfect under a decidous tree - protected from the hot summer sun, but open in the winter.
In late autumn, new shoots will appear from beneath the ground. For many varieties, you should then remove the old foliage. This is also a good time to feed the plants with a balanced fertiliser and help them through this growing period. As winter drifts away, you will be rewarded with magical medium sized round flowers that really lift the garden at this time of year.
We currently stock a range called Winter Elegance (trademarked name) which have been developed from one of Australia's finest specialist collections.The breeders have rigorously selected the best stock plants and painstakingly hand pollinated to achieve more certain results. The result is a collection of quality strains of strong plants in amazing colours, and some with double flowers. This range sells out every year and is only available in limited numbers. Their main flowering period is June to September and they eventually grow to about 45cm wide and high.
Another awesome hellebore is the Ivory Prince. These plants are produced from tissue culture, so there is even less variation in quality. The flower colour is both classy, but unique in that they start off ivory white, and fade to a musky pink, and finally are brushed with a taint of green. They come from the renowned UK breeder David Tristram whose has selected a strain with lots of flower power and heads that sit up nicely, with very little droop. Six spikes with up to twelve flowers each is not uncommon. We will have good numbers of these plants for the next few months.
These strong plants could even take a sunnier position, but I would still mulch them well in summer, and give them some deep waterings. In winter, hellebores can survive with little watering.
So there you have it. A little bit of undergrowth with a really pretty flower, and a plant that you can get quite addicted to growing.
By James Wall
In the aftermath of the show, it has given me time to think about my involvement and the efforts of others. This year was particularly relevent to me as we are looking at building a new garden and some retaining walls at home. You suddenly see things in a different light when they are plausible ideas you can utilise yourself.
got these plants the week before from a growers excess stock - lucky !
I used to be involved with the flower show (MIFGS) many years ago as a seedling and potted colour grower. The task was to grow the plants and have them flowering just on time. It was someone elses
Continue reading "Melbourne 2011 Flower Show after thoughts." »
The Royal Horticultural Society are a group of people that really love their horticulture. Each year at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, they hold a hanging basket competiton and this year there are over 250 baskets entered. The members involved put in hours of work to make this a success. Here are just a few of the baskets entered. If you would like to enter next year, you would be most welcomed. Beware, the competition is fierce !
This is an annual industry event held at Ball Australia in Keysborough. The theme for this year was colour and I think after a few years of pointy and grassy plants, their is a definite trend towards smoother, rounded and colourful flowering groundcovers and bushy plants. These days of course it's not just about the plants but also the peripherals like furniture and pots and the importance also of their style and colour.
The picture above is of a new dianthus from Touch Of Class, a company usually related to hardy cordylines and native shrubs. They can see the trend towards colour and have found a dianthus series that is long flowering and disease resistant.
Well I am very lucky working at Gardenworld, because as well as being spoilt by the collection of orchids at Collectors Corner, there is also the once a year event called the Melbourne Orchid Spectacular and it is just around the corner from the nursery at Springers Leisure Centre in Keysborough. It is on this weekend, and I manged to visit at 9am on friday. The hall is split into 2 areas - the showcase area which is full of displays from orchid clubs around the state, and a sales area which is full of vendors selling an amazing array of plants.
At this time of the show, the showcase area is empty because the sales area is open for the first time and the die hard serious collectors are there to find the bargains and rare finds. There is a real buzz about the place, and it is a an icy cold Friday morning !
The following is some quick snaps I took of just a small sample of what was on display. I will get Earn from Collectors Corner to add some commentary to these picks, sometime during the week. Enjoy.
