I know! I know! I'm late again - the story of my life at the moment. However, Carol from May Dreams Gardens has assured me in the past that she would much rather me post late than never. So, in th true spirit of Gardening Tips 'N' Ideas tardiness - it's only 2 days late - here are the current blooms in the garden (remembering, of course, that we're in the throes of our winter here in Oz).

This is one of my beloved Jacobinias, one of my original propagating successes that I have kept for nearly 10 years now. Each year it flowers on cue warming the garden with its yellow and orange blooms and offers some nice soft foliage during the summer months. I did try to grow this in a sunnier spot last year and almost lost them so they're back in the shade garden in revival mode.

This phallic bloom bursts onto the scene from within a bromeliad my mother gave me a few years ago. I had planned to put it in our tropical garden - yet to be started - so it's ended up near the Jacobinia and provides a safe haven for colonies of brown snails. It always amuses me when I envisage the snails trying to escape the protruding flower with pictures of Indiana Jones fleeing from the rolling stone - in slow motion, of course.

Oh when will this flower open up???? It has been like this for months now and seeing as it has never flowered while in my garden - 2 years now - I'm anxious to see it produce some blooms. It's a Rhododendron that I picked up at a local nursery while most nurseries no longer offer them. Hopefully it will open soon.

While not a bloom, per se, the leaves surrounding the trunks of our birches paint the state of our garden at the moment. Very drab, colourless and seemingly lifeless. Yet, beneath these leaves spring flowering daffodils are starting to push their way through the surface already.

I've been busy pruning and chipping many of our dormant plants ready for the season that really counts. It's a great time of the year in my garden as I can stand back and plan what I want this garden to do next season. The more I garden here and endure enjoy the different seasons, the more I come respect what each time period has to offer and how I can make each one count without just hoping that spring would hurry up.

Creating interest within the garden year round is still my goal and I love tinkering to find how that works - or in most cases, doesn't work. It's the joy of gardening.

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Fortunately I have something to show this month as part of Carol's "Garden Bloggers Bloom Day". April was a write-off with most of my flowers dying off or failing to bloom early enough. Yet this month has been a standout, thanks predominantly to our beautiful Aussie natives.

So, without further adoo sit back and enjoy a few of our wonderful blooms.

This fabulous borage self-seeded right next to the kid's playground equipment and has happily grown over the past few months blooming far better in this location than in the herb garden I prepared for them. Go figure.

This Arctotis hugs the ground in one of our front garden beds and flowers for most of the year. Last month it was looking a little tired from the end of summer but with a few May showers it's sprung back into life.

Bordering on our shade garden is this wonderful Yuletide camellia. It has been fairly slow-growing but I think this has been mainly attributed to its lack of sunlight. Yet, it still flowers profusely at the start of winter.

The sum total of my veggie patch at the moment. Red cabbages and rainbow chard.

Continue reading "GBBD: May 08 - GTNI" »

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I had bought it at a local market overflowing with blooms and brimming with optimism. The seller gave me a few tips to care for it but in the hectic marketplace missed the most important element one needs when growing fuchsias. I thought the key was fertiliser and so I would dowse it in an organic liquid solution every 2 weeks while flowering only to find that this wasn't helping. In fact, it was doing quite the opposite.

The flowers began to die or brown before they opened and the leaves were getting tinged with dead material highlighting a lack of something - but what? Maybe they needed repotting, I thought. So I exhumed them from their hanging basket, topped up the soil and carefully replanted them yet still found that this didn't make huge inroads into their growing habit.

Even pulling out my own hair had seemingly no effect.

It wasn't until I visited my sister, an avid fuchsia grower, that the reason became crystal clear. "You are watering them twice a day during these hot months, aren't you?" she asked. Twice per day! I wasn't sure I was watering them more than twice per week. How had I not noticed this?

The fuchsia plant is so delicate and obviously a heavy drinker - just take a look at the composition of the stems. They scream for water! Yet here I was barely keeping it alive by watering it occasionally rather than every day.

That story was many moons ago when I first ventured into gardening. Much has changed since and I've (successfully!) grown many fuchsias and even propagated a few. And my love for them has not changed - maybe deepened perhaps! And who couldn't love these delicate blooms that hang like jewels on a necklace?

The problem with the watering was twofold. Firstly, I grew these in shallow pots or hanging baskets that dry out very quickly. And second, our climate produces very dry, hot summer days that aid in the evaporation of any moisture at all. I've since grown fuchsias in garden beds tucked away in shaded areas and have found that watering every 1-2 days is ample but in containers these plants need the moisture regularly - once in the morning and then a replenishing drink in the evening.

Some people who garden in cooler climes grow fuschia plants as annuals while here in Oz we're able to grow them successfully as perennials. As perennials they require a little more maintenance mainly because they itch to become leggy.

I find that by pruning them in the dormant winter months - by at least a third - sets them up for a glorious spring. Then as the warmer months roll in, picking their growth down to the next set of paired leaves helps maintain the shrub's bushiness.

A light feed or blood 'n bone (bonemeal) and a liquid fertiliser at the start of spring will catapult them into spring flowering sensations but they don't require much more than that.

Just give them enough water!

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If you've ever found yourself grasping for words in a Scrabble™ game cast your memory over your garden. Flowers like VITEX, PHLOX, TAZETTA and FLAX could put you back in the winning seat. Dan Bingham at CanPages shows just how easy it is.

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Obviously, this is not a new call and something that gardeners and bloggers have been espousing for many years. Yet we've never really considered the effect that may result should gardeners turn their backs on these species.

Considering that the average age of a gardener is 44 years old and the average lifespan is 72 years, it leaves us with only 28 more years of this generation who love flowering annuals and blooming roses. The upcoming Gen X'ers and Gen Y's aren't fussed with these darlings of our gardens and would prefer to plant succulents and foliage plants.

Should it give us pause that perhaps, roses may become extinct from our gardens within the next 30 years? And if so, will they become museum pieces in our botanical gardens destined to be visited only on special occasions?

More importantly, how will this affect the cut flower industry? It's possible that roses may become as unfashionable as whale blubber. This valued resource plummeted down the public opinion scales when we associated it with frolicking humpbacks. Future word association games may contrast "a dozen red roses" with "water-hungry, non-essential luxuries".

The downside to this quandary is the continued growth and exploration of new hybrids within the species. At present this is fueled by demand yet as that begins to taper off - and it will - it becomes less viable for growers to be as experimental.

Unless, of course, in their pursuit of hybridization they stumble across methods to make these plants less reliant on our most precious resource. Wouldn't that be a boon for gardeners - drought-tolerant roses?

If that can't be achieved, expect to see roses disappear from our neighbourhoods and the rose industry to decline. The rose garden could very well become a 'dinosaur' of the gardening world.

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Perennial flower identification can be the hardest to undertake because once they've been dropped from the fashion set they can be hard to find. People stop growing them and knowledge about such plants begins to dissipate.

In previous posts I've offered tools for plant identification - most of them web-based - which can really help decipher your plant's name. But using these tools highlights some important considerations. That is, the more information you can supply, the better chances you will have of successfully identifying your perennial.

Here are some questions you should be able to answer when seeking others help;

• Height and Growing Habit - is it tall, small, dwarf, columnar, bushy, groundcovering etc?
• Foliage - is it an evergreen or deciduous? What patterns do the leaves display that might make identification easier?
• Flowers - not just the shape and colour but also the flowering season and if it flowers more than once per year. Also make note of the number of petals, whether pistils are displayed or not and even how the flowers emerge
• Your climate - mention any important climatic conditions. Do you live near the coast? Is it a cold-climate with regular frosts? Even your garden zone would be helpful?
• Soil - are you growing this plant in a loam, sand or clay soil?
• Age of the plant - also important may be where you sourced it from ie. a nursery, propagated by a friend or you found it growing on the side of the road

I, like many bloggers, are inundated with requests for information that could help identify garden perennials. The ones that I've been able to solve for most people are the ones where they have supplied an image and answered many of the questions listed above. The reason is because it gives context to deciphering what plants it could be and which ones it definitely won't be.

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Growing flowers in hanging baskets may seem to some as a gardening freak show - plants were indeed made for the ground not the air, unless they're epiphytic of course. But don't discount this form of gardening for it forces you to see your plants through 'new eyes'. Rather than looking down on them you may find yourself enjoying them from underneath or at least eye level. Perspective changing, really.

The Basket or the Flowers?

For me, it's the basket but only because I don't have many of them - yet! So if I want to start a new floral hanging basket, I will shop around for the basket to complement the surroundings rather than the plant. But even that's not entirely true, because I have had some hanging baskets that were specifically chosen for the plant - like strawberry planters, as an example.

My current fascination is hanging planters that resemble mythical gods where their hair can be grown with suitable plants. This is a classical example of the planter coming before the plant.

Yet in most cases the hanging basket will be chosen before the flowers because you will either (a) already have the basket, (b) have a style that you are trying to retain, or (c) you find a gorgeous basket at your local nursery and feel the need to fill it with something beautiful - though you're not sure what that might be just yet.

Obviously there are some considerations when sourcing a hanging basket.

1. Size - too big and it will detract from the rest of your garden. Too small and it could get lost.
2. Weight - and structure required - when the hanging basket is complete and the flowers are blooming profusely, will it still be able to be supported?
3. Location - full-sun, part-shade, full-shade? Plus, will it be knocked about by the prevailing afternoon wind?
4. Longevity - will the hanging basket last longer than one season?
5. Maneuverability - in relation to the Size and Weight issues is whether this planter is able to moved by yourself or will it require a small team of weightlifters to prop it in place?
6. Material - will it need a liner or is it already lined? Will you need anything else to start this project?

Ok. So you've chosen your hanging basket/s after weeks of scouring through the local garden centres for just the right one. Now what?

Adding flowers to those hanging baskets

Plant choice is paramount to making this project a success. You will find that the location of your planter will depend entirely upon which plants you choose. It's no good purchasing shade lovers if they're sitting in full-sun all day and vice versa.

Over the Easter weekend, I will list some great plants that work well in flowering hanging baskets from the sun-seekers to the shade-lovers; the trailers to the clumpers, so stick around.

In the meantime, get some premium potting mix (whether it's store-bought or home-made), some liquid fertiliser, a couple handfuls of bonemeal and set up a trickle system - unless you prefer other methods for watering plants.

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It's a site called Succulentla.com that focuses on sending boxed succulents instead of cut flowers. And, noting how fashionable succulents are becoming, it seems a logical alternative to those head-banging gerberas or 'so-yesterday' roses.

Their vision is to offer a substitute for cut-floral designs that can be sustainably resourced. Each plant is grown and delivered in soil and is sourced locally (someone please define this term!) rather than from some rich, dying eco-system.

I must admit, I'm over the 'this is green so you should buy it' mantra and within the vision statement there's a clause that reflects this notion. Yet, it's a point that can't be argued and we should be changing our consumer habits. Is this one of the answers? Or is it just a fashionable trend that will pass with time?

Would you send someone a succulent instead of flowers?

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My disrespect for bougainvillea began as a result of myths I had heard from other gardeners. Their 'wisdom' expressed that these plants needed very little to care to help them grow and once in the ground would virtually look after themselves. Their comments were partly right, but there are a heap of things that gardeners can do wrong to ensure these plants won't succeed.

Our faux pas was to plant it at the same time as many other plants in our new garden bed. I had trellised some wire along the fence to give it some support - which was good - but then inadvertently planted some faster growing plants in front of it.

It wasn't until our front garden makeover that we discovered this plant even existed having not seen it for nearly two years. The amazing thing about this bougainvillea was that while it had been ignored, hidden and competed against, it still survived. Sure, it didn't grow and it never flowered - but it was still alive.

So, this season I decided to ensure that this battler of the warmer climate garden was permitted its far share of growing opportunities. And it has not let me down. At the beginning of spring, some five months prior, it weighed in at a little taller than 60cm. Today, it has surpassed the top of the 6ft fence and has branched out along some of the trellis wire. Plus, it is even flowering.

And not to get too confused with the semantics, the bougainvillea picture above is not of its flower. Its merely the colourful bracts that we all admire. The flower is hidden inside and is quite small and insignificant.

So, what changed in the care that I gave this plant that allowed it to succeed?

1. It started to get some light - the lack of sunlight is the reason most gardeners never enjoy the colourful bracts flourishing on the bougainvillea. If yours, and this one wasn't, isn't getting at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day then forget ever seeing colour on this climber. Cut away competing branches to let some light in or move your bougainvillea if you must.
2. I removed its competition - while bougainvillea is a fast-growing climber, it will struggle to get the water and nutrients needed if planted with other vigorous fast-growers. If similar speedy plants are grown near it you will need to ensure that top-ups of soluble fertiliser and required water is added.
3. I changed my attitude - caring for a bougainvillea wasn't high on my list of things to achieve in the garden. I expected that once it was planted it would take care of itself. And while that is predominantly true, I have had far more success this season while nurturing it than in the past couple of ignoring it.

While I failed to care for this bougainvillea in its early life - and had there been a Department for Plant Cruelty I'd be punished severely - it has been most forgiving. I look forward to sharing more pictures with you in the coming years - and maybe a story of how it took my appreciation for granted and took over the garden completely! Who knows?

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It's that time of the month again when I end up missing Garden Blogger's Bloom Day by at least a day or two. In this case, it was due to my '75 Kombi taking a leave of absence from its duties and showing that it too can be as stubborn as a mule with attitude. Fortunately, we're back on the road again - which is a good thing.

But, we didn't come here to discuss Kombi's and mechanical breakdowns. It's the time to take stock of what's flowering in the garden. To smell the roses, so to speak.

And it's the roses that take the limelight this month. Their end of summer flourish is probably the last we'll see before dormancy - but I'm pleading with them to work overtime and produce another dazzling encore before the end of autumn.

So, without further adoo, here's the stars of February;

Our climbing rose is finally taking some leadership in the garden with both plants heading heavenward up our arbor. They have taken their time in moving upwards as they struggle with our soil. You can see the sickly yellowing leaves in the background. But they're on the improve.

This is 'Purple Moon' - one of our favourites. It almost died 2 years ago but with some TLC and location adjustment it has begun to flower again. This is one of only two blooms we've seen this year - the other is already spent.

This little seductive 'Seduction' is everything it claims to be. It's frilly lingerie petals are insatiably enticing and it always begs for attention. A standout extrovert in our garden.

Doing what bees do best, this one is enjoying our standard white roses.

Almost two months late, our crepe myrtle has finally decided to flower. After not seeing any buds on this tree around Christmas I began noticing that others growing in the region were in the same boat. Blame it on the hole in the ozone layer or the fact Australia didn't sign the Kyoto agreement but our crepe myrtles have not been in a hurry to bloom.

You can almost feel the heat emanating from this spicy little delicacy. All our red chilies are now starting to colour and we should be able to enjoy their bounty in the ensuing weeks. The kids can have spaghetti!

Finally, our eggplants are also flowering and I'm just hoping they will set fruit and mature before autumn gives way to our winter. Fingers-crossed!

Oops, almost missed one. Just to show you that autumn isn't that far away, our Sedum 'Autumn Joy' is heralding the dawn of a new season - and hopefully less heat!

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Prior to the colonisation of Australia in 1788, Capt. James Cook's Endeavour arrived in Botany Bay, Sydney with one very special botanist onboard. He was, of course, none other than Joseph Banks. Banks was the one attributed to discovering one genus of the Protaceae family, the Banksia (which is my favourite Aussie plant BTW).

Yet, Australia recognises the Golden Wattle Acacia pycnantha as our floral emblem - a severe injustice upon our Banksia's.

Sure, A. pycnantha doesn't grow naturally anywhere else in the world yet acacias, as a genus, are found all through Africa and South America. Good luck trying to find an indigenous Banksia growing in another continent. And it's for this reason that we should re-examine whether this genus should be adopted as our floral icon.

So, why was the Banksia overlooked? See it all has to do with how the rest of Australia views Western Australia. While the US sorted out their problems early on with a Civil War, Australia still festers with a Cold War between the East and the West - and the East have some serious issues. As a state we've often thought about seceding but felt sorry for the rest of Oz losing half their economy, half their country and obviously more than half their intelligence.

Where does the Banksia fit into all this? Well...of the nearly 80 species that grow in Australia, about 90% are only found in WA. Therefore, if Australia were to recognise the Banksia as our national flower they would be admitting that WA is responsible for most of the good things this country has to offer. Sure, it's a giant leap of a statement to make but one that I'm willing to be quoted on.

So, in my most Australian attitude of brazeness and willingness to challenge all adopted norms, I'm about to embark on a plea to our National Leaders to have the current floral emblem scrapped. However, I need your help and so am conducting this very objective survey. The answers will be collated and presented as the world's view of the best plant to be Australia's national flower.

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Anigozanthos - Kangaroo Paw

Osteospermum ecklonis 'Nasinga Purple' - African Daisy

Alyogyne hakeifolia - Native Hibiscus

Lantana camara - Yellow Lantana

Unknown Groundcover

Lavatera maritima- Australian Hollyhock or Tree Mallow

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Fortunately for me, my MIL has been growing a plant that I've wanted to grow in my tropical garden. Plumeria rubra is the common frangipani and has been on my "TO-GET" list for some time. However, I didn't just want to the very common white flowered variety but was more interested in the coral-shades. I had seen frangipanis growing my MIL's garden before but never observed it flowering to know whether it was the correct colour.

On a recent trip to visit the in-laws in Perth, I took a small cutting - certainly not big enough to notice that it had gone missing - and began drying it out. The wound excretes a fair amount of milky sap that can be quite painful if it comes in contact with the skin. This sap needs to stop flowing and the wound harden over before it can be planted out.

Once this process has occurred the stalk can be placed into some potting medium and kept moist and out of full-sun. While it's best to start the process while the frangipani is dormant - during the winter months - it can still be successfully propagated in its flowering season.

TIP: Don't take a cutting longer than 20cm in length and certainly don't pick one that is carrying flowers.

As we head towards winter, this cutting will lose its few leaves and be a bare stick but will regain its crowning glory again in spring. Hopefully, it might even flower but they don't usually within the first two years.

Here's some more info on growing frangipanis.

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Commonly known as the Peruvian lily or Inca lily, Alstroemerias hail from South America and were brought to Europe in the 18th century. It's quite an interesting fact they were as these flowers really only grow well in warm climates.

In cooler climates (anything less than Zone 5 or 6 in the US) they need to be grown in pots and any region colder than Zone 3 should be looking for an alternative. However, they can be grown in humid greenhouses and if you're only after their cut flower this might be a great alternative.

Stemming from tuberous roots, the Alstroemeria lily aren't an exceptionally tall plant reaching between 70cm - 1m (28-40in). If that's too tall for your garden then Alstroemeria "Peruvian Princess", a dwarfing variety, will eclipse at 40cm high.

Alstroemeria Perfect Growing Conditions

Mulching these lily's roots in the heat of summer will aid in flower preservation but it's not essential for the tubers development.

Pests and Disease that love Alstromerias

Mosaic virus is another nasty that terrifies Alstromerias but the result of this disease largely affects the foliage through mild chlorosis. As it's a virus there is no cure so if your tuber stock becomes infected you might be wise to discard the affected ones.

Alstroemeria planting and flowering times

Peruvian lilies like to be kept moist and even when lifted from the soil at the end of autumn/ fall should be stored in some damp potting soil and kept in a cool, dark area.

When they're ready to be planted out in spring, dig them to a depth of 15-20cm.

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Let me unequivocally state, just so that there is no misunderstanding, despite my criticisms of gardeners who obsess over flowers, I too enjoy them provided they're grown in an environmentally friendly manner - that is, phosphate free.

The only fertilisers that the following flowers have seen are home-made compost and liquid sea-weed fertilisers, or worm wee. No chemical fertilisers were used in the making of this post....

Arctotis x

Banksia ericifolia - Heath Banksia
(This is the limitation of my point-and-shoot digital camera)

Daffodils - these have been up for a month already

Hellebores - this is the best it's ever flowered

Jacobinia pauciflora - these plants have been moved multiple times and still continue to show off

Kalanchoe pumila "Quicksilver" - this is the one we potted up last year with some liriopes and alyssum

Metrosideros "Fiji" - while this plant doesn't flower, it's foliage is such vivid red and contrasts well against the banksia's lime green backdrop

Yellow sedum - this will start blooming profusely within the next month

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This post is a little 'tongue-in-cheek' since my Why Gardeners need to STOP growing flowers rant. It's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and my next post will include a few of my garden's bloomers, but this is for those who can't, or won't, grow flowers.

It's an easy make your own post on origami flowers. Like me, you probably read Takayuki Ishii's One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue (aff.) in Primary School and started your fascination with origami by making paper cranes.

And while cranes are cute 'n all, they just don't match the sophistication of folding your own origami flowers.

So, here's some resources to grow your own paper garden;

1. Part 1 - How to Make an Origami Flower: Easy Paper Folding Instructions and Part 2 - How to Make an Origami Flower: Easy Paper Folding Instructions. Part One creates the stem and Part Two attaches a flower to it.
2. A photographic tutorial on making Kusadama Flowers. These cute little origami flowers can be made from Post-It Notes and fit in the palm of your hand.
3. With a toe-tapping soundtrack, and hands that move at lightning speed (you'll want to keep your cursor fairly close to the pause button) this very simple paper flower could be the modest start you need. Add a few different coloured papers and these origami flowers will delight in a bouquet.
4. And, finally if you're gifted in being able to understand directions without (a) any step-by-step images, and (b) no picture of the final result then eHow.com may have an option as well. IMO, this is ridiculous and though set as 'Easy' is aimed at Mensa affiliates.
5. Or, how's this delightful little yellow tulip. This design really is easy and looks quite spectacular for the minimal effort required.
6. And, if you can keep up with the directions this Flower with Leaves [PDF] can add something to your garden of origami flowers.

Of course, if you want to make sure that these are completely phosphate free you will need to check out the paper you use. Some papers use different types of phosphate in their making process so find ones that are free or at least use organic phosphates.

BTW - don't add water.

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