World Environment Day

Sydney Garden Talk 2RRR 88.5 fm Wed. 5pm, Sat. 12noon
Feature Interview: Anna Ainsworth-Community Development Director at Eden Gardens. Nilushi Disanyake, Kristin Gabriel-from Environment team at Ryde Council. All 3 talking about the events on Sat 5th June at Eden Gardens to celebrate World Environment Day. http://www.edengardens.com.au/
Vegetable Hero:Angelia-Angelica archangelica-a herb used to ward off diseases by chewing on the root of the plant in the 15th Century. Angelica likes moist, rich soil that is slightly acid, growing best in semi-shade. Find a shady, sheltered spot for growing angelica - it likes moist soil, so keep it well watered .Leaving the seeds to ripen on the stems, will mean they’ll self sow readily. The young angelica stems can be candied and used to decorate cakes and pastries, and can also be jellied. Do this when the stems are in their second season-mid to late Spring when stems are still green.
The leaves are used in herb pillows - it's said to have a calming effect - and the roots can be cooked with butter.
Design Elements:Plant up structure. Choose a shrub that you like and clip it to shape and put 3 or 4 around the garden as a way of introducing structure in a garden bed. Helichrysum petiolare is a good option-no need to let it sprawl. Box and Lilly Pilly's make good stand alone shrubs too.

Plant of the week:Arbutus unedo-Irish Strawberry tree. Native to Portugal and Spain but migrated to Ireland after the Ice Age when there was still a connecting land bridge. Grows to 3 metres with 2-3 main trunks. You can prune to keep it smaller. Dark green leathery leaves-6cm long with toothed margins. Bell like or urceolate white flowers hanging in bunches of 10-30, similar to Lilly of the Valley flowers. Flowering in late Atumn/Winter.

Aggregate drupe or berry starts off green and 12 months later turns to red. Rought brown/red bark peels to a smooth trunk as the tree ages. Slow growing. Grows in any soil. Sun, part shade.
What's On:Tuesday 8 June Eastwood Evening Garden Club is meeting at Dundas Baptist Town Hall at 7.30pm. Guest speaker this month is Stuart Read from the Heritage Council of NSW.He’ll be speaking on gardens of yesteryear. Visitors are always welcome at the Club.
If you have any questions call Ailsa on 9874 2306.

Monday 14 June, Free Guided Walk on Plants and People of the Lane Cove River from 1.30-3.30 pm. Start at Magdala Park in North Ryde, walk to Lane Cove National Park and back and learn about the history and environment of this area. Places limited, call . the City of Ryde on 9952 8222.