Pandemonium with Bromeliads!

Sydney Garden Talk Wednesday5-6pm, Saturday12-1pm 88.5fm, 2RRR
Feature Interview:Treasurer NSW Bromeliad Society, Ken Phelan talks with me about the different genera with the Bromeliaceae family.We talk about how to distinguish between, Neoregelia, Nidularium and Vriesia, as well as which of the genera are more sun hardy. Those with hard leaves and spines on the edges of the leaves such as Aechmea, and some Guzmania.
Vegetable Hero: Mustard Plant. Mustard seeds of the various mustard plants are among the smallest of seeds. The seeds are about 3mm in diameter, and may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional cuisines. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown Indian mustard (B. juncea), and white mustard (B. hirta/Sinapis alba).Mustard is grown like lettuce. It is more heat tolerant than lettuce, but long hot summer days will force the plant to bolt (go to seed). If you can get the seeds, sow them in early the Spring or early Autumn.
Sow mustard seeds 1/4 to 1/3 inch deep, and 3" apart. Thin seedlings to 5" - 9" apart.
They prefer cool weather, so leave the middle of the summer for the heat loving vegetables.
Mustard plants grow well in most good garden soils. They prefer full sun and cool weather. Planting successive small crops, separated about a week apart, results in a continuous supply of greens.
Mustard plants should be grown quickly. Use plenty of water, and ample amounts of fertilizer, to promote fast growth of tender, green leaves. Water plants during dry periods.
Mustard greens are eaten raw, or cooked. Harvest leaves while young and tender. Pick individual leave, or the entire plant. Leaves get tough and have a strong flavor during hot, dry weather.
Design Elements: Cool colours
Plant of the Week,Gordonia axillaris or Poached Egg Tree.Even though Gordonia is yet another genus in the tea family with flowers that closely resemble single white camellias with their large central boss of yellow stamens. The genus is now considered a strictly New World one, because the Asian species have been moved to the genus Polyspora.
Polyspora axillaris has the common name of Fried Egg Tree, so named for its 9mm wide white flower with its orange-yellow central boss of stamens. There’s a couple of quite good specimens near tennis courts in Hillcrest ave, Gladesville..

If you're looking for a small tree for your backyard, then you must check out this one.  better known to most by its old name Gordonia axillaris .
What's On:Bromeliad Society Autumn Show, 11 Wellbank St. Concord, 24th &25th Arpil 9-5pm

Save the Salt Marsh Please

Sydney Garden Talk Wednesdays 5-6pm, Saturdays 12-1pm. 2RRR 88.5fm
Feature Interview: Mia Dalby-Ball, ecologist specialising in salt marshes, and river systems.
Saltmarshes are considered to be important coastal habitats because of their role in filtering surface water and  run off from land before it enters the estuary and the sea, their contribution to coastal productivity and because they are a source of organic material and nutrients for a wide range of marine communities.Salt marshes are the spongy layers between Mangroves and the land that may occur inland or near the sea.
They support grasses and succulents plants, but also small crabs, about 2-3 cm in size. The spawn from the crabs supports fish called small fry that are an essential food source for the bigger fish and so on up the chain.
Large numbers of crabs burrow in saltmarshes environments. These crabs excavate burrows over large areas in the saltmarsh, changing the physical structure of the environment.
From studies about mangroves and crabs, it’s been found that when the crabs bury the plant material in their burrows, this enhances the efficiency of microbial decomposition in subsurface mangrove sediments..
Crabs in mangroves are recognised for the role to the structure and function of mangrove habitats because of their burrowing and feeding activities, where they are high order predators.
These crabs are important to the foodweb because they process the leaf litter into more palatable forms and so contributing to nutrient recycling.
Vegetable Hero:Ellataria cardamomum-Cardamon
Cardamom is a perennial (means won’t grow a trunk or turn into a tree) with tall simple canes or stems that grow out of rhizomes. It is native to the shady forests of India, Ceylon and Malaysia.
Growing Cardamom-is a tough plant and drought tolerant as well if you grow it in the right spot.
You need to get a rhizome from someone in order to grow cardamon.True to its original habitat, cardamom prefers humous rich soil, filtered light and room to grow. You can grow it in a pot if you really must, but over summer it will get pot-bound, and refuse to flower, so you must keep dividing the plant and passing it out to friends (a great gift, by the way).

Even if your plant doesn’t flower you will have a huge supply of fragrant leaves, which is just as good to have as the spice.
From winter to midsummer feed your plant with fish emulsion.
Design Elements;Colour in Garden Design, designing with Hot Colours.Tropical associations, red, yellow, bright pink and organge.Warm colours may the garden seem closer than it is really is so use these colours to make parts of the garden to draw visitors into a space. Create a focal point with a hot colour.
Use Bougainvillea, Cannas, Bird of Paradise, Hibiscus, Kniphofias.
Temper down the look with palms,Philodendron and ferns-ie. plants with big leaves. Try Ensete ventricosum.
Plant red flowers among silver foliage to give jewel effect.
Plant of the Week. Asters:Mostly very frost resistant, asters have a preference for well-drained fertile soil that remains moist during the growing season. A sunny, airy, open position ensures maximum flower production and minimum mildew, which can cause problems in humid conditions. Deadhead routinely to encourage continued flowering, and cut back hard after flowering. Propagate by winter division or from spring softwood cuttings.
What's On:
Bromeliad Society Autumn show. Senior Citizens centre,Wellbank street, Concord 24,25th April. 9-5pm

At the Easter Show

Sydney Garden Talk 2RRR 88.5 fm Saturdays 12-1pm, Wednesdays 5-6 pm
Feature Interview: Jeff Cooke, Managing Director Ramm Botanicals, http://www.ramm.com.au/
Talking about new plants bred by Ramm: Anigozanthus "Pink Pearl." Brachysome "White Cloud." Mandevilla "Regal Ruby."
Vegetable Hero: Petroselinum-Parsley
Design Elements: Designing your garden with colour. Ep.1-Mixed Colours and the Colour Wheel.
Plant of the Week: Fuchsia
What's On.

Join A Garden Club Now

SYDNEY GARDEN TALK 2RRR 88.5 fm
Saturdays 12-1pm, Wednesdays 5-6pm
Feature Interview: Christine Rethers, Secretary Kuringai Horticultural Society. meets Tuesday 6th April, 7.30pm
Vegetable Hero: Mizuna-Japanes lettuce  greens. Easy to grow, just sow the seeds and pick off the leaves. Use in stir frys, soups, salalds.
Design Elements:Mediterranean gardens.
Plant of the week:Correa reflexa, Correa, alba, Correa pulchella-Correas, or Native Fuchsia
Flowering now and all through winter providing nectary for all nectar feeding birds.
Grows in part sun, not full western sun. Water over dry periods.
Whats On:

Darling Dahlias

SYDNEYGARDENTALK 2RRR Saturdays 12-1pm, Wednesdays 5-6pm 88.5 FM
Feature Interview: President of Eastwood Evening Garden Club-Arthur Mc Cullagh.
Next meeting on Tuesday 13th April, 7.30 pm at Dundas Baptist Church Hall.
Dahlias are easy, just dig a hole and plant the tuber with some Blood 'n' Bone.
Divide Dahlias when they start to shoot next Spring.
Use Eco Rose for powdery mildew -contains Potassium Bi Carbonate.
Use Dipel or Success (contains Spinosad) for caterpillars.
Vegetable Hero: Salvia officinalis or Sage. Sage prefers a warm, sunny location, although it does not enjoy extreme heat. It is not particular about soil, except that it be well-drained.
Pruning after flowering will keep plants attractive and prevent them from getting too woody and leggy. Fertilize in early spring.
The health benefits of growing sage have been handed down to us from ancient wisdom.
Herb tea made with sage is a stimulant used to treat all sorts of ailment and disorders. It is also good for clean teeth and promotes healthy gums.
Sage is a mild tonic great for the nervous system. This mild tonic quietens the nerves, relieves spasms, helps induce sleep and combats depression, mental exhaustion.
Design Elements: Problem Dry Shady Garden. For dry shade under a tree-try Vinca major or Periwinkle-green leaves and violet blue flowers from spring to Autumn.
Cliveas do well in dry shade-orange through to creamy yellow flowers with dark green strappy leaves.
Grassy types-Liriope muscari or Lilly turf-purple flower spikes. Mondo grass-black through to variegations of green and white, yellow and green.
Lamium 'Beacon Silver'-has silvery foliage for lightening an area.
Ivy-Hedera helix, has variegated cultivars also to lighten an area.
Raise beds to increase growth of planting underneath or grow in pots. Hellebores do well in shadey areas as to hydrangeas, especially in raised beds.
Plant of the Week. Begonias.Begonias are desert plants, that is they are succulents so they don’t like overwater.
Originating in the shaded protection of tropical and subtropical forests, begonias will not tolerate frost, and most dislike direct sunlight except for some morning sun. This means that in frost-prone areas they should be grown under the shelter of shrubs or trees, under verandahs and pergolas or in containers which can be moved to protected spots, while bedding begonias should be treated as annuals.
The succulent nature of begonias means that they are able to store moisture and need less frequent watering. However, they prefer a humid environment with adequate ventilation to avoid diseases, and getting this balance of moisture and ventilation just right is the key to success.
Whats On:Wednesday 31 March, Royal Botanic Gardens. Native Fruit & Nuts walk and talk, 10.30am – 12.30pm Join volunteer guides David Chandler, Jenny Pattison and Lisle Brown to explore the incredible diversity of native plant seeds. Find out when a berry is not a berry, and a gumnut not a nut. On this ‘hands-on’ tour you will have the opportunity to discover the vast array of interesting and unique ways Australian plants package their seeds. Where: Maiden Theatre, Royal Botanic Gardens
Cost: Friends $12,non-members $18, includes morning tea at 10.30 am
Enquiries: 9231 8182

How Green is Your Home?

SYDNEY GARDEN TALK on 2RRR 88.5 fm Saturdays 12-1pm, Wednesdays 5-6pm
Feature Interview: How green is your home? Go to http://www.greenstyle.org.au/
Vegetable Hero: Savory herb- winter and summer. Savory is an annual or perennial herb, Satureja hortenis, for Summer Savory, or Saturejo montana being for Winter Savory.
All Savory’s belong to the mint or Lamiaceae family. They have dark-green,narrow leaves for winter savory and light green narrow leaves for summer savory. The savories can be used fresh or dried and crushed. The history of savory goes back about 2000 years and they are one of the oldest culinary herbs.
What does Summer Savory like. Well, it’s no different than growing Thyme, it likes full sun with well-draining soil.
Savory prefers to be planted in soil that's slightly alkaline. Give it a side-dressing of compost or worm castings whenever possible. Summer savory is bushy and low-growing so it makes an excellent edging plant for a kitchen garden, herb bed, or vegetable garden.
Summer savory likes regular water. I have some growing in a strawberry pot so that it cascades out of one of the holes. It seems to like that spot better than the strawberries. As far as the soil in my container goes, well it’s just potting mix with soil wetter crystals added to it. So you see it's well-suited to container gardening, as well.
Tips for the Chef:Summer savory, Satureja hortensis, is a nice herb to use when you are cutting back on salt-it's flavor is mild, a little bit similar to thyme, but with it's own unique flavor. To me, it has a slightly peppery flavour, but a piney fragrance when you crush it in your hand. You can mince summer savory and combine with bread crumbs for coating fish or vegetables such as squash before sauteeing. Use it in potato dishes, tomato sauces, meatballs or vegetable juices. It's also great in egg dishes such as omelets and frittatas.
Mince fresh summer savory leaves and combine with garlic, bay and lemon for a good marinade for fish.
Design Elements: Planting out your garden with cacti and succulents.
For a hot or suuny spot that is weel drained, ie, doesn't hold much water, try cacti and succulents.
Make a dry river bed using pebbles, and plant out blue shaded succulents to give the impression of a water feature.
For dry sloping sites, terrace your garden and plant out with larger succulents such as Agave attenutata, Kalanchoe spp.
 Group your succulents according to colour size and leaf shape to give it some form. Uses splashes of colour such as Aeonium Zwartkopf (very black foliage) and Sedums that have different flower colours ranging from pinks yellows to dark reds.
Plant out succulents amongs steps, sleepers or stoney rockeries.
For sunny side passageways, add gravel, stepping stones and succulents.
Plant of the Week: Camellia Sasanqua. Let’s start with the main difference between Camellia japonica and Camellia Sasanqua.
The leaves are dark green on both, but Sasanqua Camellias have a noticeably smaller leaf to that of Japonicas. For me that’s an easy way to pick between the two.
Sasanqua flowers are also smaller, from the very tiny Baby Bear, palest of pink flowers to the larger, but more blowsy white edged with pink, C. Sasanqua “Something Special, or Wahroongah.
The growth habit is much faster, sometimes, twice as fast. There are some Camellia japonicas which take 10 years to get to over two metres…like the red Emperor of Russioa.
That’s why the Camellia Society of Australia, is always showing its members how to graft Camellia japonica onto a stock plant of Camellia Sasanqua.
#I’ve got one going…the handsomely named. C japonica Dona Herzilia de Freitas Magales, that I grafted onto a sasanqua stock last June. One of the three has survived and is being carefully nurtured for planting out in autumn.
Sasanquas, the Sun lover. Sasanqua Camellias are among the easiest of garden plants to grow. They flower heavily in very early Autumn and early Winter with a not too much care.
The glossy dark green leaves of all cultivar varieties always look good in garden design. Cultivars growing to various heights and widths are available for selection. There is also a wide range of flower colours and forms. Flower colours range through a selection of whites, pinks and reds. A carpet of petals covers the ground below the bush when it is in flower.
What's On:
Open Garden 20th and 21st March-19 Fourth Ave, Eastwood.
Saturday 27 March, West Ryde Easter Parade and Market. Time: 10am - 3pm
Venue: West Ryde MarketplaceCommunity parade and market stalls. For more information email easterparade@rydetoyota.com.au or call 9858 1788.

Cacti and Succulents are Native Too!

SYDNEY GARDEN TALK 2RRR 88.5 FM Saturdays 12noon-1pm, Wed. 5-6 pm
Feature Interview: Attila Kapitany, President of the Australian Cacti & Succulent Societ. http://www.cssaustralia.org.au/
Vegetable Hero:Carrots- daucus carrots sativus.
The simplest way to sow carrots is to mix a packet of seed with once cup of river sand, pouring the contents into seed drills or just broadcasting them in 10 cm wide row. Cover the seed with finely sieved compost. Not too thick or they won’t germinate. The sand makes germination easier; but because sand drains so quickly you need to make sure the carrot seedlings don't dry out at this crucial stage.
Carrots have one of the longest germination times of all vegetables; often taking over 3 weeks.
To help with the germination, add a packet of radishes. These germinate in 4-5 days, and help break the surface crust of the soil. The radishes will be gone in a few weeks so no problems with overcrowding there.
Thin the carrot seedlings out when they're about 5cms (2 inches) tall, when they have 4 little leaves to a distance of 2cm (a little under an inch).
Carrots need about 5cm between plants so they can grow the root without pushing onto other carrots, which would stunt/prevent growth of root of harvesting size and shape.
Design Elements: Mediterranean Dry Gardens.
Plant of the Week: Dahlia-March "to do" list.
Continue to remove spent blooms to encourage new flowers to grow, otherwise the plant is fooled into thinking it had better set some seed before dying back for the end of the season.
The more you pick, the more flowers you will have coming on. Always pick with a decent stem, and cut it off just above a leaf node so that the next laterals can grow on. Keep up your spraying with caterpillar spray-something that contains Spinosad.
Continue to disbud where required, and keep up your watering and spraying regime. Water in the cool of the evening, and give a good soaking once or twice a week. This is better than a quick watering every day which achieves very little.
What to do in april-Excessively wet soil may cause the tubers to rot, so if your weather has been wet and stormy, you may want to wait for a drying trend.
Dig and prepare a 30cm-12 inch diameter by 30cm or 12 inch deep planting hole. Mix a shovel full of compost, a handful of bone meal, and a little Dolomite lime to the soil which was removed.
What's On