A Circle of Orchids

Sydney Garden Talk Wednesdays 5pm, Saturday 12noon
Feature Interview:Eastwood and district Orchid Circle secretary-Bernadette Williams talks about the 70 year history of the club, and a bit about the cultivation of Phaleanopsis or Moth Orchid. The club meets on the first Wednesday of every month at 8pm un the Uniting Church Hall, Acacia st, East Denistone, 7.15 for Novice and Intermediate growers in the back room.

Vegetable Hero:Cabbage or Brassica oleracea "Capitata." Cabbages do best in a reasonably firm soil, so leave it for several months between digging and planting. Why firm soil? So they don’t fall over when they grow those heavy heads.Pick a reasonably sunny spot for the site where you are growing cabbages. If you can, use a site where peas and beans (Legumes) where grown the recently-dig the pea and bean roots into the soil to provide nitrogen. I’ve been told that transplanting cabbage seedlings helps them to grow strong roots , so if you are starting from seed, sow them in a punnet.

Design Elements:small herb gardens for small spaces. Why not make it a herb spiral of about 1m high by 1.5m wide. Place rocks around the base and gradually build up to a conical shape. Drier herbs like Marjoram and Sage at the top, shadier herbs like Mint around the back and sunnier herbs like Parsley and Coriander around the front.

Plant of the Week: Camellia Japonica-large green leaves, showy flowers in winter. Pale coloured flowers prefer a dappled aspect in the morning particularly, or semi-shade most of the day. Dark coloured flowered Camellias can take full sun in the morning. Mulch with 2.5cm cow manure now and fertilise with Camellia fertilser after flowering.
Camellia japonica "Duo de Chartres." (pictured)

What's On:Camellia Show-Henry street Gordon at Ravenswood School for Girls. Sunday10-5pm.
Orchid show Sunday 11th July at Eastwood Mall

It's Camellia Time

Sydney Garden Talk 2RRR 88.5fm, Wed 5pm, Sat 12 midday.

Feature Interivew:Bill Parker from Parkers Camellias and http://www.camelliasrus.com.au/
Tried and true Camellias-Camellia japonica"Lovelight,"-large white flowers, semi double, with central gold stamens. C. japonica "Red Red Rose,"-vibrant red semi double flowers, C. japonica "Don Herzilia de Freitas Magalhes," purple informal double flowers.

To enter a Camellia flower or photograph of a Camellia, advise entry by 1st July to NSW Camellia Research email:nswcamellias@hotmail.com or 9449 8989.

For show schedule http://www.camelliasnsw.org/
Vegetable Heroes.Onions-Allium Cepa
Onions are a good companion plant. Grown around the garden they repel pests. They contain sulphur which is a strong disinfectant. In the past it was used to heal gun shot wounds and during World War 1, sphagnum moss was soaked in the juice as a wound dressing.
Remember to always lime your soil well a week or two before planting onions. They love a sweet soil. Don't forget avoid applying manures and blood and bone to the beds in which you're about to grow your onions because they prefer alkaline soil. You can use spent mushroom compost instead of cow manure.
Onion seeds are can be sown into seed raising mix into punnets. Or if you want to sow them directly into the garden, make it easy for yourself, mix the seed with some river sand-say one packet of seed to one cup of sand and sow it that way. Bit like sowing carrots!
Design Elements: Reviewing Perennials-Salvias-all kinds-eg. Salvia "Limelight"-Green and Purple bracts. Salvia leucanth "Santa Barbara."-Puple velvety bracts and grey foliage.. Helichryseum petiolare or Licorice plant grey felty foliage. Full sun, drought hardy.
Anisodontea "Pink Star."-small shrub to 1.2m. in full sun.
Arthropdium cirrhatum or Renga Renga lilly for light shade-pale green leaves and white starry flowers.
Clivea mineata or Clives. Full dry shade.
Plant of the Week: Diamond Pittosporum or Auranticarpa rhombifoliium.According to the Lamington National Park website, the common name is Deamond Pittosporum because of the shape of its leaves.
As it matures the natural shape of the tree can form a pyramid, but the ones I’ve seen around Gladesville reserve haven’t reached that stage yet.It has a smooth, grey bark.. The leaves are simple-diamond shaped, alternate, glossy and a bit leathery. About 75 mm long with toothed margins and distinct venation ,clustered at branch ends.Flowers are small, white, bell shaped and perfumed in terminal clusters in summer and are followed by colourful orange berries (5mm dia) in autumn and winter. The berries are carried on the tree for several months and each contains 2-3 black seeds.The Diamond Pittosporum naturally occurs in rainforest regrowth. Usually sub-tropical rainforest, but it can tolerate drier conditions. The ones growing the Gladesville Reserve, don’t get any additional water and survive dry summer quite well.
What's On.Catchment connections is planning a Bushcare bus tour on Saturday 3 July. The Monash Rd site has been chosen to showcase Bushcare in the City of Ryde. Phone Ryde Council.
NSW Camellia Research Society's 41st annual show 10-11July at Ravenswood Girls High School.