It’s the very middle of winter. Naked trees and heavily clothed humans abound. There is crispness in the air that feels like someone has left a big fridge door open. The plants are at their most dormant and the birds and bees are just trying to survive. Frosty lawns sparkle and days turn to night well before the 6 o’clock news. Summer is but a dream away and singlets under shirts are a must for chilled businessman waiting at train stations. Yes it is the very middle of winter but there is lots happening underneath this dormant facade.
This magnolia shows an abundance of little signs of what are ahead. (25-07-2010)
My vegies have been very slow over the past 2 months. Its seems that Melbourne is having a real winter this year. The silverbeet seedlings haven't moved, and the normally very fast mini cos lettuce have only doubled in size once, although the green ones are growing much quicker than the red. I am busy feeding the garlic and broccoli regularly and I just hope the garlic didn't go in too late. Vegetable seeds that could be sown now include early tomatoes, capsicums, chillies, lettuce and red onions. Sow them in trays or punnets and grow in a heated environment, leaving transplanting in the garden until early September. Pot the young seedlings into small pots if you need to hold them, slowly exposing them to the elements.
Fortnately one crop not in short supply are the lemons. Having already picked 200, there is at least another 200 to go. Everyone coming through work has really appreciated them.
Lettuce mini cos red and green.
Potatoes can be planted soon, although its still with caution in heavily frosted areas. I think a good variety is Nicola. It’s a long but chunky shaped spud they are awesome for roasting whole with the skin on. Rhubarb and Asparagus crowns, and strawberry runners are also ready to get stuck into. If your rhubarb has green stalks, it probably always will, but it still tastes good. Commercial rhubarb growers cull green plants so as to have only the reddest survive as the years go by.
Tasks include pruning back the hydrangeas, making sure to only prune back the stems that flowered last season. This will ensure that running up to christmas you will get some awesome new flowers. Prune the dead looking canna lily stems to the ground, and feed rhododendrons, daphnes, japonica camellias and gardenias with a fertiliser high in potassium like Thrive Fruit and Flower. The extra potassium (K) will bolster the already forming buds, producing stronger flowers in spring. Check any saucers under pots and empty the excess water at this cold time of year. Watch out for scale on roses and citrus and plan to use pest oil to conquer them.
Lime sulphur is a low toxic spray many people use at this time of year on roses and fruit trees. You would call it a clean up spray to control hard to kill pests and diseases such as mites and leaf curl. It forms a protective film of sulphur, which prevents entry of fungus into plants and trees. Another spray people like to use on peaches and nectarines is a copper based spray that needs to be done just at bud swell. Use it especially if you had problems last year.
Don’t forget to water the plants under eaves and right next to the house, as sometimes these can miss out on the rain we assume they are getting. They can actually be quite dry and would fully appreciate an early morning drink. Fortunately I have just had a good fill of the tanks and can enjoy watering in the middle of the day.
first iris flowers (25-07-2010)
First clivia flowers (25-07-2010)
Well, I am going out to cut our Crepe Myrtles back by a good third now. Hopefully, the response we get of summer flowering will be worth it – and all that secatuer work should warm me up !
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