GARDEN HISTORY

There are a lot of heritage items in Australia that get commemorated by a plaque but how many gardens get the same recognition?

So the Garden History Society started to take note of some historic gardens and with a local council in Sydney, are recognizing that it’s not just built spaces that make up the fabric of history.

Let’s find out about some of these.

TALKING FLOWERS

Meet Hyacinth Bucket! A bucket full of sweetly scented Hyacinth is this week's star in Talking Flowers with Mercedes Sarmini of Flowers By Mercedes. Mr Hyacinth will grace your home with scent and colour for at least a couple of weeks, especially if you grow it from a bulb yourself. Hyacinths can be grown in a special water vase. Colours include red, white, blue, pink, orange, violet and yellow. 

Asparagaceae family.

Hyacinthus orientalis; Dutch or garden hyacinth.

Not to be confused with Muscari which are also called “grape hyacinths.”

You can buy bulbs right now and plant before autumn is over for divine spring fragrance.

TIP: Don't forget to pre-chill them in a brown paper bag in the fridge crisper for 6 weeks. but away from fruits and veg.

This will allow the stems to grow nice and long

I'm talking with florist, floral therapist, and floraholic, Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au

Are you after a groundcover for dry shade?

Would you like something with more colour where nothing colourful grows?

Something different perhaps than native violets, dichondra or ferns.

Dry shade tends to be dark, and the main way of enhancing a dark spot is planting something with either pale or white flowers or pale or silver foliage.

Cheer up the gloomiest of corners in your garden with this suggestion.

Let’s find out how to grow it.

I'm talking with Karen Smith, editor of www.hortjournal.com.au and Jeremy Critchley owner of www.thegreengallery.com.au

What’s On The Show Today?

Join permaculture guru Margaret Mossakowska talking about beeswax in the Good Earth segment; how best to look after those saved seeds in Vegetable Heroes; brighten up dark corners in the garden with this new groundcover in Plant of the Week.

Lastly, a flower that’s strongly linked with perfume in Talking Flowers.

THE GOOD EARTH

Honey isn’t just the only thing that beekeepers produce.

Beeswax is a by product of honey making.

So how can we use around the home other than for making beeswax candles?

Let’s find out I'm talking with Margaret Mossakowska from www.mosshouse.com.au

TALKING FLOWERS

CALLA LILY Zantedeschia aethiopica  

Family: Araceaea

Known as arum lily but not a lily at all, instead an aroid.

Aroid because it’s a member of the 3,300 strong arum family and most have flowers that consist of a spathe (floral bract) surrounding the central pale yellow spadix (floral spike) bearing tiny flowers.

Think Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum,  Anthurium and Philodendron.

Zantedeschia aethiopica is a rhizomatous herbaceous perennial plant, evergreen where there's plenty of  rainfall and moderate temperatures but deciduous where there is a dry season. Its preferred habitat is in streams and ponds or on the banks.

The plant actually contains calcium oxalate making it poisonous to animals or people that may attempt to eat the plant raw.

This is basically a protection mechanism for the plant so that it can survive in the wild.

Apart from that, these flowers look fabulous in the vase ,just don't let kitty nibble on the leaves.

I'm talking with  florist, floral therapist, and floraholic, Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Paw Paw and Papaya, are they the same fruit?

Papaya (Carica papaya), also called pawpaw in Australia, is an exotic, tropical fruit with a juicy, sweet flavour.

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

Blubonnet: Northiella haematogaster

If I say this next segment is about parrots, do you go through a very short checklist?

This checklist might include, the Sulphur Crested, several Galahs, King Parrot, and Gang Gang Cockatoos.

You may even realise that Rosellasand Lorikeets are in the parrot category.

But what about this next parrot with a very different name?

Let’s find out about it

I'm talking wiht Dr Holly Parsons, Manager of www.birdsinbackyards.net

The parrots species have short, powerful bills that they use for cracking seeds, but some of them also feed on fruit, nectar, underground plant stems, and wood-boring insect larvae.

Blue bonnets have not only similar calls to other parrots but fly in a similar way as well.

From Graeme Chapman’s website comes this information “They have a particular liking for areas where sheoaks such as belah or bulloak (genus Allocasuarina) grow, mainly because these trees provide them with their preferred nesting sites.

Where available, they prefer a narrow split in the main trunk of a tree which opens out into a hollow that often continues down to (or even below!) ground level.

It is amazing just how narrow a split they can fit into and such sites are not uncommon in quite small trees such as Myall (an Acacia) out in desert regions.

These narrow nest entrances would provide good protection from the larger of the predatory goannas.”

If you have any questions either for me or for Holly, you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

PLANT OF THE WEEK