Gardening and growing plants.

Those British are a-maze-ing.

The brits have gone to great lengths to promote some of the unique places of interest in and around the West End. The have built a temporary maze in Trafalgar Square. It is 18 by 25 metres and from the pictures, appears to be grown in modules that could be moved around quite easily with a forklift.

The first thought that came to me is what a great idea this would be for the Melbourne Internatonal Flower and Garden Show. Although that sounds like a pretty simple project, I guess as a grower, there are a lot of logisitics involved in growing, maintaining and installing such a crop all for one week of entertainment. From the photo below, it looks like they have used more than 1 type of plant. Maybe a conifer and a photinia. Maybe they can lock black plastic pots into the modules and the whole project is achievable by using plants out of stock available at the time. C'mon fellow Nursery and Garden Industry members -  we can make one of these. Then we can all get lost !

These photos were from The Age website. For the full story from The Age, click here.

 

The May nursery report.

  Last month the garden show in Melbourne had over 110,000 visitors. Two weeks later here at the nursery we were inundated with hundreds of people wanting to save water and swap their old twist nozzle hose for a free trigger one. We ran out on day 2. On top of this nurseries all over Melbourne recorded excellent Easter sales and the state government announced a relaxing of water restrictions. All in all it has made me realise that the joys of gardening are being appreciated by more and more people every day. It makes me so pleased for the wholesale growers, because like many agricultural pursuits, in some years it can be a heartbreaking occupation. 

The reason it can so quickly go from joyful to heartbreaking, is of course because of mother nature. Take the roses this year. With cooler weather and more rain and dampness around, black spot has proliferated.  High humidity in March only added to the problem. So you need to work out a strategy. Remove all fallen leaves as they will house the fungus. Never water the leaves on the plant, and prune back affected branches to healthy wood. Spray with lime sulphur in winter and keep roses well fed throughout other times of the year. Wow this sounds like a lot of effort yet we will sell over 3000 roses this winter. Why? Well yes, there could be some pain along the way - but when those first buds break into bloom, you know it has all been worth it. 

Those cymbidium orchids you had hiding in the shade over summer can be brought out to a sunnier position now to promote spring flowering. Check for snails under the rim of the pot as they love hanging around for new flower buds. Raising the pots on couple of bricks will also make a big difference with the increased airflow. Water plants regularly during periods of dry weather.

New Plants Revealed 2010

At this years Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIFGS), an evening was held called 'Revealed'.

This is where new release plants are revealed to the industry, so it is your chance to take an early peak at what is coming out soon. Some of these plants have been years in development and represent the latest in plant performance. Not all of them will end up best sellers, but they will give us something to look forward to in the coming seasons. Here are just a few of the selections:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That strange pot on 3AW - The Big Backyard.

This morning I was on air with Darren James and Jane Edmonson 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:

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.

Jane Edmanson releases new book.

 As reported by James Wall.

Last night was one of Melbourne's night of nights. Horticulture's media elite were gathered for the release of Jane Edmanson's new book FromThe Ground Up. Fittingly it was held at Flemington Racecourse where the rose gardens are sacred.

This book was originally instigated by Neutrog, a South Australian company famous for their quality fertilisers, including Sudden Impact For Roses, as used by head gardener Terry Freeman at Flemington.

Rose Pruning from The Rose Society of Victoria.

Our first rose pruning demonstration was held last Saturday and the huge turnout proved that gardeners young and old still love growing roses. It was presented by Dr. Bruce Chapman from the Rose Society and included his lovely wife Joyce, assisting. Bruce is famous for breeding the Amazing Grace and the Melbourne Town roses.

Some of the tips I gathered from this event were:

Around The World In 80 Gardens

 Last night I watched the first episode of  Around The World In 80 Gardens. (8.30pm Tuesday nights on ABC). As the BBC say: "In this stunning series, Monty Don set off on an enchanting journey to visit 80 of the world's most celebrated gardens, from ancient to modern, large to small, and grand to humble."

I must admit that I wasn't disappointed. Monty is a bit of a puncy pom, but he is rather dapper and presents the show with that initimable English charm. Last nights episode took in Mexico City's floating gardens, other Mexican delights and then colour and charm in Cuba. The scenery was sensational but also showed the simplicty of good garden design. Every gardener would have come away with at least one idea they could use.

 Next week the show includes gardens from Australia and NZ and includes Dame Elizabeth Murdoch's Cruden farm, in Langwarrin, Melbourne and Alice Springs Desert Park in Northern Territory. Well worth a watch I would have thought

Links: Around The World In 80 Gardens

The 60 Minutes 'Backyard Revolution' Story

Last Sunday on Channel Nine's 60 minutes program, vegetable growing went primetime. Yep, there was the ever energetic Peter Cundall harvesting potatoes in front of disbelieving Liz Hayes eyes (although some of his spuds were gigantic). The reporter then went on to inform us that people are digging up tennis courts and replacing them with vegie patches although I don't believe Leyton Hewitt has done this yet! However give Peter Cundall 5 minutes with him and I am sure he would love to get his hands this dirty.

Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show 2009

By James Wall

It was with much anticipation that I entered the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show on Wednesday morning. I was seeing the show at its freshest, and the weather was perfect. I was not disappointed. This years show had a real edge to it. You could feel it in the air. The management have long ago worked out what people want and they have catered for it. There are just so many plants and so many garden ideas to see, it is almost overwhelming. There was just enough major displays and the quality of their work was simply outstanding. Many displays had also used the existing trees and incorporated them into their design. This gave the show a real classical look.

Another major change to the show was the moving of amenity buildings from the front of the exibition buildings. Deservedly, the garden beds their now play a much more prominent role and it seems to open up the whole show. The plants in the beds are still very young, but in years to come, these beds will only get better. It was so nice to see people sitting on the grass around them and just taking it all in.

 

I love the metal work here. Designer is Paal Grant and the metal art comes from ..........