July 24th, 2021
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Warm Bulbs What Are They?
Spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, freesias, bluebells, to name a few are all bulbs from the northern hemisphere. They do best in cool climates and once the main spring show is over, there's nothing left to excite.
- It's time to changeup or simply extend the flowering season to what garden designer Peter Nixon terms 'warm bulbs.'
- These come from warmer climates such as South Africa and South America, therefore are more suited to a large part of eastern Australia-the 'cool sub trops.' (Cool sub-tropical).
- The other benefits of these spectacular bulbs are that they flower much later and longer; late spring into summer and even autumn.
Warm Bulbs part 4-Dry Shade and Moist shade
What kind of shade? NOT GLOOM!
- We are talking Cliveas, and not just Clivea miniata.
Try the following Cliveas
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| Clivea nobilis |
Clivea nobilis -umbel with many florets, starting in late winter; variable colours from pale orange to deep orange red with green tips.
Clivea gardenii-tubular and pendulous flowers; orange to red, however yellow and pink clones are also sometimes available to the plant collector.
Clivea caulescens-flowers pendulous and tubular; orange-red with green tips
Clivea robusta-pendulous flowers with green tips
Bright shade will keep them happy. Full sun will fade the dark green to a pale washed out green and at worst, will burn the leaves
- Keep one thing in mind. Where the leaf union comes together, it has to be well above the soil otherwise the clivea will rot.
- As the roots push the upwards, DON'T be tempted to cover up the root system with more soil.
- Leaf litter or a leaf mulch is fine, but these grow in high rainfall areas and require their root system to be not sitting in water.
Moist Shade:
Eucaris amazonica, flowers in high summer, usually around February, with pure white flowers with a green cup centre, almost daffodil-like.
I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer from Paradisus garden design. www.dgnblog.peternixon.com.au; www.paradisusgl.peternixon.com.au
Instagram paradisus_sea_changer FB Paradisus Garden Design
July 24th, 2021
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Warm Bulbs What Are They?
Spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, freesias, bluebells, to name a few are all bulbs from the northern hemisphere. They do best in cool climates and once the main spring show is over, there's nothing left to excite.
- It's time to changeup or simply extend the flowering season to what garden designer Peter Nixon terms 'warm bulbs.'
- These come from warmer climates such as South Africa and South America, therefore are more suited to a large part of eastern Australia-the 'cool sub trops.' (Cool sub-tropical).
- The other benefits of these spectacular bulbs are that they flower much later and longer; late spring into summer and even autumn.
 |
| Thunia marshalliana photo P Nixon |
Warm Bulbs part 3-Northern Aspect with Shelter
So what do you plant in your shady area perhaps under trees where there’s usually dry shade?
As long as it’s not gloomy, such as really dense shade.
These bulbs are not for the harsh western aspect of exposed to harsh winds.
Thunia marshalliana from northern Thailand.
Expect to see a cycle where it dies down before fresh new leaves come through in spring, with flowers appearing in summer.
The leaves remind me somewhat of a crucifix orchid in the shape and configuration.
The flowers are a standout white with a slight fragrance and grow atop long arching canes.
You could grow these in a large hanging basket so you could see the flowers from below.
- When in growth, apply plenty of orchid fertiliser.
- Propagation is super easy; just like for the keikis (baby plantlets) at the ends of canes, and cut of and pot up.
Worsleya procera commonly known as the Red fox orchid or lavender hippeastrum.
 |
| Worsleya procera |
One of the world's rarest bulbs originating from Rio de Janeiro.
Flowering can take up to 7 years !
Leaves are deep green that have an unusual curvature giving them a sculptural look.
Listen to the podcast, it's rather long but very interesting.
Species Hippeastrum: Not your ordinary hippies!
Don't go past species Hippeastrum that originate for the most part, in south America.
- All of course are in Amaryllidaceae family.
 |
| Hippeastrum papilio |
You won't find much information about these hippeastrums in general so take note.
Some of these can grow as epiphytes in their natural environment!
- In the ground, they need superb drainage but not under trees unless the canopy is quite high, say 2-3 metres above the bulb.
Start your collection with the Hippeastrum papilio
or green
Hippeastrum calyptratum
Peter outlines quite a few of the species hippeastrums so have a listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer from Paradisus garden design. www.dgnblog.peternixon.com.au; www.paradisusgl.peternixon.com.au
Instagram paradisus_sea_changer FB Paradisus Garden Design
Warm Bulbs pt. 4-
July 24th, 2021
Warm Bulbs pt. 2-Harsh Western Aspect
Every garden has an aspect that’s hard to plant out because it’s either too shady or too harsh and dry or even spot that receives hot western sun .
Today I’m focusing on bulbs that can give you a long display in the warmer months but have evolved to withstand hot and dry months.
 |
| Haemanthus coccineus photo M Cannon |
These bulbs originate where they are not exposed to very cold winters but have evolved to withstand hot dry conditions.
The bulbs in this group are in the Amaryllidaceae family which consists of mainly bulbs with long strappy leaves. The flowers are usually in an umbel-like cluster on a short or long scape.
Quite a few are known to have large showy flowers.
Haemanthus coccineus or 'blood lily likes an exposed location.
It will refuse to flowers if in a shady, lush location.
Don’t be like me and put the blood lily in too much shelter so the leaves grow long and the flower season trigger is missed.
- A dead give-away is if the leaves are quite long and extended, then the bulb is in too much shade.
If you live in Adelaide, say a couple of streets back from the beach such as in Brighton, then expect your 'blood lily' to take off like mad. The low humidity and winter rains are a perfect climate for this bulb.
You can also look for the interspecific hybrid of Haemanthus albifloss x H. coccineus
If you love the shape of tulip flowers, then plant a row of these bulbs which will flower summer to autumn.
 |
| Brunsvigia greagaria |
Brunsvigia gregaria which has agapanthus like flower on steroids in a crimson coloured bloom.
Or even the combined genus of brunsvigia and amaryllis ending up with Amarygia.
Let’s find out more by listening to the podcast with Peter Nixon
from Paradisus garden design.
July 23rd, 2021
DESIGN ELEMENTS
Warm Bulbs What Are They?
Spring flowering bulbs like daffodils, tulips, freesias, bluebells, to name a few are all bulbs from the northern hemisphere. They do best in cool climates and once the main spring show is over, there's nothing left to excite.
- It's time to changeup or simply extend the flowering season to what garden designer Peter Nixon terms 'warm bulbs.'
- These come from warmer climates such as South Africa and South America, therefore are more suited to a large part of eastern Australia-the 'cool sub trops.' (Cool sub-tropical).
 |
| Scadoxus multiflorus var. katarineae photo P. Nixon |
- The other benefits of these spectacular bulbs are that they flower much later and longer; late spring into summer and even autumn.
We're starting of this 4 part series with 'bulbs for bright semi-shade.'
- The first group are Scadoxus species, some of which evergreen.
- This group DO NOT like low light levels, and poor drainage.
- If growing under a tree, the canopy must be well above so the bulbs are not shaded.
- Even morning sun would be good.
- Bulbs are the size of an onion.
- DO NOT bury the bulbs as you would a tulip are narcissus. The neck of these bulbs MUST be half-emerged.
Peter mentions these:
Scadoxus multiflorus var. katarinaea - Fireball Lily (but also grows in Southern Highlands equating to higher altitude South Africa).
Scadoxus membranaceus -entirely staminate and surrounded with pale bracts.
I have some of these warm bulbs-namely two varieties of Haemanthus.
One flowers easily, and the other, I’ve yet to discover where it prefers to grow so it puts out the red paintbrush flower.
PLAY: Bulbs -bright semi-shade_16th June 2021
I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer from Paradisus garden design.www.dgnblog.peternixon.com.au; www.paradisusgl.peternixon.com.au
Instagram paradisus_sea_changer FB Paradisus Garden Design
If you have any questions or feedback for me or Peter about these bulbs, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com or info@peternixon.com.au
July 22nd, 2021
PLANT DOCTOR
What's Wrong With My Dahlias?
Dahlias are collectible in that once you start growing them, it's hard to not to want more every time you look at a plant catalogue.
If you want more proof, then look no further than the dahlia societies
www.dahliasaustralia.org.au which exist in four states, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
But dahlias need some looking after if you want perfect show quality blooms.
One horror is holes in leaves of your precious plants.
What could cause that?
One culprit could be caterpillars or grasshoppers.
Another is one of the worst marauders appear in just about every garden, and every gardener wants them to be gone.
- Snails is what I’m talking about, those slimy leaf munching pests that multiply rapidly and even climb shrubs and trees.
- Did you know that inside a snail's mouth there is a file-like 'radula' that scrapes the leaves and flowers.
- Snails are also hermaphrodite, meaning that after mating, each of them can go off and lay eggs, up to 100!
Snail Patrol or Control:
So, what do you do to try and reduce their numbers?
The big tip is to be vigilant and control their numbers before they outnumber your plants.
Copper sprays are good to control those small snails that have climbed up into the foliage.
Coffee sprays are also known to control snails.
General prevention or control-bit of a mixed bag as to their effectiveness.
- Classic beer trap
- Diatomaceous earth
- Ring of ash.
- Crushed eggshells
- Thin copper tape is better to control snails climbing up into pots or into trees.
One thing we forgot to mention is that natural predators like ducks or blue tongue lizards are a great help.
You may not want ducks, but you can think about creating a blue tongue lizard friendly garden.
That’s in another segment.
let’s find out.
PLAY: Snails & dahlias_16th June 2021
I'm talking with Steve Falcioni of www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au
If you want more information about snails or have some feedback why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.
June 25th, 2021
TOOL TIME
Blower Vacs: Leaf Blowers: You Know You Hate them.
For many years I resisted buying a blower or blower vac because not only the noise emitted by these devices is deafening, but I felt that sweeping leaves would be more productive, not to mention quiet.
You can just imagine the 'swoosh, swoosh' of the rake as it sweeps up piles of leaves.
But do you find raking leaves instead of blowing them therapeutic or just a chore?
On the other hand and let’s face it, you’ve probably seen so many instances of people, not necessarily gardeners, just blowing their leaves out into the street so that there neighbours get the leaves with the next guest of wind.
That kind of behaviour has given leaf blowers a bad rap.
Sure you're exercising more than using an electrical or petrol driven device, but is it really the best way to use up your valuable time instead of the multitude of garden tasks?
Apart from the noise, is that all there is to leaf blowers and blower vacs?
Straight blowers can be hand held or back packs as seen by commercial operators.
- Battery operated leaf blowers can be as light as 2.5kgs which makes them very light to use.
- When buying a leaf blowers, consider how much air volume and air speed you might want for your purchase.
- Perhaps you want a blower vac, that sucks up the leaves and gets mulched by the impeller inside the bag.
- The leaves get chopped up, not always that finely, but still you get a reduction in the amount of leaf matter that gets sucked up.A good average amount of leaf reduction is 5 bags to 1 bag.
Well how things change.
I admit to having used a blower vac to vacuum up leaves on hard surfaces and to some extent in garden beds.
I love the fact that leaves are mulched up and can be put straight onto the compost pile.
PPE and Safety
To use blowers and blower vacs always use right protective:gear-ear muffs or ear plugs, and safety glasses, gloves, strong shoes, full length trousers or overalls and long sleeves.
Listen to the podcast
June 25th, 2021
Growing Bananas part 2
Harvesting your bananas
Now it's time to get down to the pointy end of growing bananas.
It is really easy to grow those banan plants so don't be discouraged.
- You may remember that the banana plant is actually the world’s largest herb and the stem is known as false stem or pseudo stem because it consists of compact cluster of overlapping and spirally arranged leaf sheaths.
- No bark, or cambium layer at all.
So what else is there to banana growing?
How much fertiliser?
To get your bananas ready for harvest, fertilise your banana plants well.
Fertilise well with a bucket of organic fertiliser around the base every month in the warmer months.
Or the permaculture way is to dig a pit right next to the trunk and put in fresh food scraps. Cover well so your chickens or rats and mice can't dig the scraps up.It does take quite a while, up to 6 months for the bananas to ripen after the fruits appear.
You can take down the whole bunch, but for the home gardener, that is too many bananas that will ripen at once.
- Instead, take off a single hand at a time, and bring them into the kitchen to ripen.
- Looking at the photo on the right, you can see that there are layers or groups of bananas that make up the whole bunch.
- Each layer can consist of up to 10 or more individual bananas or 'fingers' that are connected at the same point. This layer is called a 'hand.'
- Several hands make up a banana bunch.
Fertilise well with a bucket of organic fertiliser around the base every month.
Or the permaculture way is to dig a pit right next to the trunk and put in fresh food scraps. Cover well so your chickens or rats and mice can't dig the scraps up.
The big tip is to be patient because it can take up to 6 months before your bananas become ripe.
The other tip is the whole bunch is harvested when the angles on the fruit have almost disappeared and the fruit is evenly filled.
You can also take off a hand of bananas and see if they ripen in your kitchen perhaps in a brown paper bag.
Have a listen to the podcast.
If you want more information about bananas why not email
realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.
June 25th, 2021
KITCHEN GARDEN
Banana Growing parts 1 & 2
Did you know that bananas are the world's largest herb. Have you ever wondered if it would be possible to grow your own bananas?
You may have seen the plants for sale in a couple of plant catalogues and thought to give it a try, but never got around to it.
Would it help if I told you that a number of gardeners around Australia already do it and it’s surprisingly not that difficult.
- I'm growing the sugar banana or "Musa 'Ducasse.' The flower is pictured here and yes, it's a big plant.
- The trunk is actually layers of tissue that are wrapped like a swiss roll.
The key to fruiting is keeping the amount of stems or suckers down to a manageable number so the plant doesn't take over your garden.
A good number is three which includes the mother plant which has an active flowers on it, then one sucker ,and a smaller sucker.
- Get rid of all the others by chopping them to the ground.
Once the mother plant has finished flowering, it won't produce anymore, so cut the stem to the wrong and mulch it up for the garden.
 |
| Banana 'Ducasse' growing in my garden photo M Cannon |
NOTE: You have to buy banana plants from a QABN-Quality Approved Banana Nursery, that way you are buying a disease free plant.
You can't just take a sucker from somebody else's garden.
Bananas do like a lot of moisture so during periods of drought, the banana plant do not throw as many flowers.
The other suggestions which I thought was worth a try, is to bury some kitchen scraps in the ground near the main stem of your banana plant.
Have a listen to find out more.
If you want more information about bananas why not email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.
June 11th, 2021
PLANT OF THE WEEK
Banksia ericifolia and Banksia spinulosa: what's the difference?
Scientific Name: Banksia spinulosa
Common Name: Hairpin Banksia
Family: Proteaceae
Plant height: Mostly a multi-stemmed lignotuberous shrub. Varies greatly in height 1 -3 m
Position: Full sun, frost hardy including Canberra winter frosts.
Leaves:long and narrow, 3-8 cm long by 2-7 mm wide, and variably toothed. Leaf margins often recurved which is an adaptation to dry environments.
Flowering:The flower spikes range from 10-20 cm in length. A spike may contain hundreds or thousands of individual flowers, each of which consists of a tubular perianth made up of four united tepals, and one long wiry style.
Position: Prefers to grow in the open where it makes a nice rounded shrubs.
Shade makes it spindly.
Banksias are an import source of nectar during autumn and winter when flowers are scarce.
Scientific Name: Banksia ericifolia
Common Name: Heath Banksia
Family: Proteaceae
Plant height: Mostly a multi-stemmed shrub. Varies greatly in height 3-6 m
Position: Full sun, frost hardy including Canberra winter frosts.
Leaves: The linear dark green leaves are small and narrow, 9–20 mm long and up to 1 mm wide, generally with two small teeth at the tips.
The leaves are crowded and alternately arranged on the branches..
Flowers: cylindrical flower spikes are quite large at 4-6 cm wide and up to 30 cm long
Differences: Banksia ericifolia has much narrower leaves and is fire-sensitive in that it does not have a lignotuber for vegetative regeneration after bushfires. The species relies on seed for regeneration - seeds are retained in the cones for many years and are released by the heat of a fire.
Pruning:
People are afraid to prune Banksias because they think of them as being a bit tricky.
If you’re not sure what type of Banksia you have, then only light pruning.
If you know your Banksia has a woody rootstock (lignotuber) then it can be heavily pruned.
- Only low phosphorus fertilisers should be used if at all. I’d recommend Blood n Bone.
Here's an interesting tidbit: Historically B. ericifolia is supposed to be the first specimen collected by Sir Joseph Banks at Botany Bay in 1770.
For some reason, Banks did not describe this new discovery however and it was left to Carl Linnaeus who later named the genus Banksia in honour of Banks in 1782.
Have a listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, qualified horticulturist and avid native plant expert.
June 11th, 2021
PLANT OF THE WEEK
Winter flowering Grevilleas
Scientific Name: Grevilliea
Common Name: Grevillea
Family: Proteaceae
There’s a lot to choose from but before you run out to the nursery to buy up all the winter flowering ones for your garden. Let’s look at what conditions Grevilleas need to thrive.
Red soil is too heavy for many grevilleas. So if you live in Moree, you may not be able to grow many grevilleas because of the heavy soil.
Grevilleas like air in the soil, so a light sandy soil is preferable,but you could easily just plant them on a bit of mound mixed with good compost and some light potting mix in it so they can get established first..
Once they are older they don't seem to mind the heavier soil, but drainage is a must.
- superb. 1.5 x 1.5m. Red to yellow flowers, Yellow tips on the stamens. Tolerates frost to -30C Bird attracting.
- coconut ice2 x 1.5m. Reddish pink flowers through out the year. Dense semi-spreading habit. Not like coconut ice confection atl all. Tolerates frost to -40C
 |
| Grevillea Coconut Ice : photo M Cannon |
G Honey Gem, an old favourite although rather big. 4 x3m Large leaves which are deeply lobed, dark green above silver reverse. The flowers cylindrical and bright orange which drip with sweet nectar. Bird attracting. Tolerates frost to -30 C
Grevillea 'Peaches and Cream' grows to 1.5m x2m. with cream flowers which change to pink as they age. Flowers all year.
Have a listen to the podcast.
I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, qualified horticulturist and avid native plant expert.
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