Princess Lillies, and Butterflies

SYDNEY GARDEN TALK  Saturdays 12noon-1pm 2RRR 88.5fm

Feature Interview: Lucinda Coates from Permaculture North, Hornsby.
http://www.permaculturenorth.org.au/
Vegetable Hero: Basella alba"Rubra" or Climbing Spinach
The plant is also much better suited for summer growing than Spinach itself.
Malabar spinach grows 2-3 metres or eight to ten feet tall and wide and produces almost unnoticeable white-tinged pink flowers in its leaf axils. When the flowers are fertilised, small, attractive, single-seeded purple berries will grow. The juice from the berries is so intensely purple that it puts beet juice to shame. A bit like Dianella berries I think. It's used as a natural food colorant for agar (vegetable "gelatine") dishes, sweets, and pastries.
Indonesian-Style Malabar Spinach
•4 cups Malabar spinach leaves
•3 tablespoons peanut oil
•3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
•½-inch piece galangal root or fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
•1 red chile pepper, seeded and slivered lengthwise
•1¾ cups cream of coconut (not coconut milk)
•¼ cup fresh lime juice
•¼ teaspoon salt
•1 scallion sliced into thin rings, including green tops
•2–4 fresh kaffir lime leaves, or 2 dried leaves pulverized in a spice mill
Plant of the Week:Alstroemeria or Peruvian Lilly or Princess Lillies.
I have several colours in large 20cm terracotta pots on some stone steps. In winter I move them into a sunny spot but in summer they don’t like being blasted by the hot summer sun, so I move them to the other side of the stone steps, where it’s shade by a building.
There’s no reason why they can’t be grown along a border instead of having annuals. There spread fairly slowly and I would say that the height of this plant is about 25 - 30 cm and about 40 cms wide in a garden
They will look their best if you position the plants so they receive bright light or full sun in spring and autumn then move them to a site with dappled shade during summer.
You need to make sure that the crown of the plant (the place where new shoots arise) is not buried too deeply when planting as this can lead to rotting and possibly death of the plant. The top of the crown should be just below or equal to the top of the pot, and as the grow, you’ll find that they’ll push up even higher.
Princess Lilies continually produce new shoots to replace those that have finished flowering. These old flower shoots should be removed regularly and this can be done by pull and twist action to remove the old stems completely from the plant..
That means that you need to completely remove the shoot that has finished flowering.

What's On
Tuesday 26 January. If going into the CBD is your thing for Australia Day, The Royal Botanic Gardens has a special ceremony at 8am – Woggan-ma-gule Morning Ceremony. This event acknowledges Sydney’s traditional landowners and gives recognition to the original shoreline of Sydney Harbour. Band Lawn, Farm Cove, Royal Botanic Gardens. Free for everyone to attend.
Friday 29 January 5-7pm “South Side Swing” in Lane Cove Plaza
Enjoy listening and dancing to some 40’s – 60’s swing numbers from the Big Band era and modern jazz tunes.Contact: Faith Wieland at Lane Cove Council on 9911 3594
Saturday 30 January. Opera in the Park. Opera Australia, in conjunction with the Sydney Festival, presents Leonard Bernstein's Candide. Put the champagne on ice, pack the picnic and head to the Domain for a night of music.