Ylang ylang is the flower of the cananga, a tree that grows rapidly in tropical climates and still performs well in temperate zones. It's a pretty flower resembling a curling star and offsets its complementary green foliage with a dash of yellow - enough to light up the whole tree.

But, the flowers aren't admired for their beauty. Instead it's their essential oils that give it a star quality and makes it revered around the world by perfume and oil purveyors. The scent is not too dissimilar to jasmine but it offers deeper, richer notes that comfort the senses and makes it ideal as a massage oil.

The only downside to ylang ylang massage oil is it's price. Obviously an economical supply and demand issue, obtaining good quality oil is getting harder to achieve. The Javan's have begun production of Cananga oil, a far less superior alternative by using flowers from C. odorata var. macrophylla, as flower production from the much more perfumed C. odorata (Annonaceae) starts to dissipate.

For every 1kg of flowers that the cananga tree produces 20ml of ylang ylang oil is extracted and a mature tree only produces 10-15kg of flowers per year - resulting in a mere 250ml each year. Second, third and fourth distillations can happen extracting more oil and these are referred to as Ylang Ylang 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The first "press" is known as 'extra' much like EVOO.

So, if you wanted to start making your own ylang ylang massage oil at home, how would you go about it? First, it starts with a tree - and not just any old cananga. As previously mentioned, the best variety for subtleness of perfume and quality characteristics is Cananga odorata (Annonaceae). This tree produces smaller flowers and reduced yields compared to the Indonesian species but is of a far greater quality. And, it grows quickly maturing within 10 years or less.

Once your tree is producing enough flowers to make it worthwhile you can begin thinking about how your going to extract the essential oils from them. The best known method is via steam distillation. This process requires a steam distillation kit consisting of a few glass flasks, some rubber tubing, a method of heating (your gas stove may be adequate) and some plant material - namely your ylang ylang flowers.

The first vial contains water and sits on the stove or bunsen burner simmering away. The steam then passes into the second vial where the flowers are placed and it begins to "sweat" the flowers into giving up their essential oil. The steam, mixed with the oils, then passes through a condenser tube effectively cooling the steam mixture until it begins to condensate. This process begins to turn the steam back to a liquid and the oils begin to solidify a little.

From there, the steam distillation process leads to the final point - where a separatory funnel is required. This final process separates the ylang ylang essential oil from the hydrosol (flower water) and gives you the final product.

This process can be used for a myriad of other plants including lavender, roses, jasmine and even some of your herbs.

Once you have extracted the essential oils from the ylang ylang, massage oil creation is the final step. The oil is a concentrated extract and needs to be mixed with another fat such as kukui nut oil, jojoba, almond oil or even Shea butter oil - which are often readily available at health & body shops. The ratio of mix is usually 6 teaspoons of "carrier oil" to 6 drops of essential oil.

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Well, here we are in the middle of winter and trying to take photos of the few flowers that exist is almost an epic challenge. While I was able to score a few shots the quality isn't that great as thunderclouds rolled in from the north west and the blooms wouldn't hold still in the strong breeze.

Nevertheless, here are a few spartan tidings from our garden;

Our Eremophila 'Kalbarri Carpet' that we planted at the end of last year is now flowering for the first time. Most eremophilas grown around here, although not indigenously, have brigh red blooms so the orange-yellow hues against the silver foliage are delightful.

We bought this Lechenaultia formosa 'Red Form' a few months ago and it hasn't stopped flowering since. Lechenaultias are normally known for their darling blue flowers but this red form is just as stunning.

This dainty Thryptomene saxicola is one of the true stunners from the Australian bush. It normally grows in rugged conditions competing for every nurtient and resource yet still maintains these petite blooms.

One of my favourite exotics is this shade-loving hellebore. We keep saying to ourselves that we should source some more of these for our southern aspect garden because when they bloom in mid-winter they are such a classy bloom.

Sitting alongside the hellebore is one of the most understated winter bloomers - our Jacobinia pauciflora. Its fire-coloured blooms set the garden alight at this time of the year and the bush is inundated with flowers in various stages of opening.

While this is a very ordinary photo I wanted to show you these dainty, almost insignificant flowers that spot the Albany Woolly Bush every year. Our tree doesn't get a heap of sun so doesn't produce many blooms and this is the first year in three that it has decided to make a display.

Finally, and also another ordinary photo, is this first flowering Acacia ashbyae. Admittedly it did produce one or two little puffs of yellow last year but this year it has grown from its discount-rack size and is displaying a heap of this little pom-pom blooms.

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One of my favourite spring-flowering annuals would have to be marigolds - including those flowers commonly referred to as Tagetes and Calendulas. They just shout SPRING when they finally explode open to dazzle us with an array of oranges, yellows and every hue in between. And, no matter how you plant them - spotted throughout a bed or as a mass planting - there's no denying that they make an impression.

They originated from South America but with their scientific name Tagetes (pronounced Tar-sjets) you would be forgiven for thinking they were French. Alas, the French don't get to own this one. Calendulas, often referred to as English Marigolds aren't English, instead they're Mediterranean in origin. Furthermore they're not even true marigolds - hailing from the Asteraceae family instead. It's easy to see that the romance of these flowers has had us believe many things about them that haven't been quite true.

Regardless, these flowers are great in the spring garden. From seed they only take about 50 days to flower so they offer an almost instant breath of colour into a garden waking up from the dormant cold.

Seed can be sown directly into the soil once the last threat of frost has passed but most gardeners often choose to propagate them in seedling trays and raise them in cold frames throughout the winter. Then once the soil warms up they can be immediately transplanted into your garden beds. This allows them to be flowering almost as soon as they hit the ground.

Once the initial flush has passed, marigolds can be deadheaded to allow a further seasonal flurry of blooms to once again decorate your beds. Or, if you're impatient like me, you can tear them out and transplant a heap more seedlings in their place.

Seed can be collected from the spent blooms and saved for future seasons or you can allow them to drop their seed in the garden bed to self-sow. While you can always expect marigolds to bloom from their seed their is no guarantee, especially with the hybrids, that you will get the same colours and markings.

The actual marigold plant will only grow between 30 - 60cm (12-25 inches) in height making them an ideal annual border plant. Yet don't be intimidated by their small, compact shape as each plant will produce flowers in abundance mostly covering their foliage.

For the companion planter, or permaculturalist, marigolds are as important as hedges are to a formal garden. Their pungent odour deters many would-be predators including rabbits, moths and caterpillars and their intense colour can be distracting for these pests as well.

However, while these flowers may deter pests they are very appreciated by us humans. We've used them in salads, as flavourings for vinegars and even in some desserts. And when we're not eating them we trying to find ways to use them to salve our sore and weary bodies.

So you can see, marigolds have innumerable benefits; they're easy to grow and provide colour in our garden beds, they deter pests, enrich our meals and provide health benefits as well. You would be hard-pressed to find another plant that offers this much to the home gardener which makes marigolds a stand-out winner in any garden.

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If you're a magnolia lover then the Michelia plant is going to tickle your tastebuds just as much. These plants, best known for their fragrance, mimic the magnolia in so many ways that they're almost impossible to tell apart. The only telling sign they are a different species is the way they flower - michelias flower in clumps while magnolias flower at the end of their branches.

While that may be an obvious difference everything else about them screams "Magnolia". Their likes, dislikes, climate, growing and care conditions all reflect the way magnolias prefer to be maintained as well.

Native to China and named after a Florentine botanist, Pietro Antonio Michele, Michelias are a subtropical tree that flower at the end of winter through spring. Their aromatic flowers can add a wonderful dimension to any senses garden and their lush flowers offer a deliciously visual display.

While many magnolia species are deciduous all 50 Michelias are evergreen. It's the one feature that limits their architectural prowess but if you prefer evergreen plants over deciduous then this may keep your weekend chores to a minimum.

The Michelia, depending on which species, can grow to a height of 10m (30ft) but many grafted trees are now reducing this to a more respectable 5m (15ft) making them suitable for most home gardens. Shrubby Michelias such as M.figo and M. champaca grow to these heights but bush out to almost the same widths.

Care and Growing Tips for your Michelia

Michelias prefer warmer climates and really need to be grown in the ground rather than in pots. They don't appreciate being transplanted once they've become established and in many cases this can prove fatal.

Like most subtropical plants, Michelias are best suited to a well-drained soil where they can be protected from hot summer winds and have easy access to moisture. Frosts can damage the flowers, however, it has very little effect on the tree itself.

Watering is one of the key requirements to caring for a Michelia. As is often the case, Michelias will struggle to survive if the plant is not watered enough during the hotter months but moreso than most plants. Watering them every day, or at least every second day, seems to keep them appeased.

Propagation is best achieved using air layering, hardwood cuttings or via grafting.

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In Australia, the traditional Mother's Day flower is none other than the beautiful chrysanthemum. The reason for this is due, primarily, to them blooming at this time of the year - and maybe because they have "mum" at the end of their botanical name has something to do with it as well.

Growing chrysanthemums can be very rewarding which is supposedly why children offer them as gifts for Mother's Day. The idea is it gives Mum a chance to spend some time in her garden on her special day or at least have some flowers on display for the next few weeks.

But, the real treat with these blooms is making chrysanthemum tea from its flowers. Traditionally tea is sourced from the leaves of the camellia sinensis shrub but Asians have been drinking tea made from the chrysanthemum flower for aeons.

There's no magic or science to it. The tea is made from steeping dried flowers in pre-boiled hot water for a few minutes. The flavour infuses the water and Voila! you have chrysanthemum tea.

Fortunately the main variety of chrysanthemum, C. indicum, is the species most used in the making of this type of tea. It's the common species that the Chinese utilise as well so if you can't access chrysanthemum flowers from your garden you can often source them from good Chinese retail stores.

Much like our "normal" variety, chrysanthemum tea can be drunk hot or cold and there are many options to spice up your own recipe. Traditionally the tea is sweetened with rock sugar but this can be substituted for palm sugar if that is easier to source. Plus you can add flavourings like licorice root, wolfberries, jasmine flowers and fresh ginger.

So, rather than just handing your mum a chrysanthemum in a pot this Mother's Day, give her some dried blooms and make her a cup of chrysanthemum tea to go with it.

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I have a love-hate relationship with Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. I love to look at everyone else's gardens but hate showing off mine. I always feel that my flowers don't quite measure up and find it hard to snap images of flowers that I've been living with for the past few months.

Regardless, when I sit down and upload the photos from my camera to the computer a sense of pride wells within. Here in front of me are the photos that have adorning my garden beds that I have been tending. It's like some form of reward for the effort that one puts into their gardens and it is quite a reward!

While foliage and textures are making bold moves on the home garden scene they really are 'poor cousins' to the magnificence of our blooms. And, I guess the temporary nature of flowers - the fact that they only appear for short bursts - adds to their charm. When a plant begins to flower, it almost immediately changes the landscape and something very special begins to be unveiled.

As a precursor to my images, let me qualify that March in Australia is one of those very awkward gardening months. Summer is trying to finish and autumn is on its way and most of our plants are heaving a sigh of relief from the constant barrage of hot weather. The mulch I applied in spring has almost dissipated and the compost I fertilised my garden with last month is now only starting to take effect.

The garden really is getting ready to take a break - and who can blame it. It's been a long, hot summer.

So, without any further ado, here are the flowers that are blooming in my garden at the moment.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day (GBBD) is a meme started by Carol from May Dreams Garden and encourages gardeners to share what's flowering in their gardens on the 15th of each month.

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The Gaillardia is easily one of my favourite members of the Asteraceae family. It bodes well against such stiff competition from the gerberas and coreopsis family lines yet still keeps its own identity intact and forges on with new hybrids and cultivars.

Commonly referred to as the Blanket Flower it's an apt description of its growing habit. This plant can easily spread to over 1m wide and, given space and time, can self-seed easily enough to continue its wandering. In effect, a carpet of spring flowers do blanket the garden in an incredibly stunning visual.

While it's not a new plant to the garden, there have been a few cultivars that have bouyed it's "trendy" status. When Gaillardia "Goblin" entered the scene it was one of the first compact hybrids sold as a dwarf variety and happily picked up by many home gardeners. The Gaillardia "Fanfare" was the next one that caught my attention, and many other gardeners as well, with petals that seemingly formed trumpets heralding in the arrival of summer.

The characteristic I think I like the most about gaillardias is their colour. The foliage is an almost "lawn" green reminiscent of the pictures that children draw when they try to depict plants. It's deep and vibrant yet still seems soft enough to plunge your hand into expecting a comforting cushion to meet your advance.

The flowers, on the other hand, are fiery oranges, reds and yellows bobbing above this foliage as though they were clamouring for your individual attention. Every stage of the blossom is beautiful, from when it holds its lime green head up for the first time through to when it has unfurled its fury and blazes away in the summer garden.

Growing conditions of a Gaillardia

Like most cottage style plants, and the Asteraceae family in particular, the Gaillardia needs a well-drained soil and heaps of sunlight. They're not partial to wet roots so clay soils can inhibit their growth.

Many are grown as annuals but if conditions in your area are right they can be grown as biennials and some cultivars can last perennially.

Fertilise your gaillardias at the start of their flowering season - end of spring to early summer - with a rich compost around the base of the plant. This can be topped up with some blood 'n bone and foliar sprays of compost tea or worm wee during the flowering period will encourage the plant to keep blooming.

Deadheading during summer, though a very tedious affair, is also a great way to encourage more blooms and a longer flowering season.

Gaillardias are a fairly thirsty plant so if you want to restrain your watering patterns then make sure that the plant is well-mulched during summer.

Propagating Gaillardias

Gaillardias are a great self-seeder. Left to their own devices they can easily envelope any spare space you allow them to enjoy. They can then be harvested via division and grown as separate plants.

However, if your climate dictates that they must be grown as annuals then the the bets form of propagation is to collect the seeds and store until late winter. They are hardy enough to be sown directly into the ground but if you want an early start to the season can be raised as seedlings and then planted out.

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We're in the middle of our summer here in Australia so most plants have "shut up shop" when it comes to perusing the flowering aisle. Those that bloomed in spring have now been blown away by the hot easterly winds while those that are preparing for autumn are still too insignificant to display.

Needless to say, my offering is very slim this month unless you wanted to see lots of foliage instead of blooms. I thought not.

Bromeliad sp.

This is one of my bromeliads that have sent out two very phallic-looking blooms and which have just opened up in the last week. It is so splendid with its array of colours: red, green, blue, creamy white. Here it's being supported by the hellebores which are preparing themselves for some winter flowers of their own.

Cushion Bush - Leucophyta Brownii

I really enjoy this perennial coastal shrub for its spindly grey foliage and then this flourish of minute flower puffs. It's quite common along some of our coastline and often underappreciated by beach-goers. Yet it's a resilient plant that can grow in the harshest conditions and contrasts beautifully with many of our other native species.

Butterfly Bush - Buddleia davidii

Needing no introduction amongst home gardeners this butterfly bush is really enjoying the warmth of our summer. We had a hedge of these growing along one of our back fences but decided to rip it out as it was growing too unwieldy. This one is planted in another bed so gets to stay.

Crepe myrtle - Lagerstroemia indica

One of the highlights of summer is when the crepe myrtle decides to flower. It's gorgeous buds look resplendent against the crispy soft blooms as they split open. While most of our other plants are taking some down-time to defend themselves against the heat, our crepe myrtle seems to relish the warmth and parades beautifully.

Apart from the flowers, our herbs are all doing well; bay, oregano, marjoram, basil, coriander (cilantro) and even the lemon thyme. Plus, many of our natives have exploded with growth including the Eremophila "Kalbarri Carpet" (yet to show you in bloom), Thryptomene saxicona and Westringia "Karbeethong". We also bought a new climber to cover one of our fences - Clerodendrum Thomsoniae - which I hope to get a few blooms out of before the end of the season.

If you want to participate in Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - the brainchild of Carol from May Dreams Garden - all you need to do is share what's flowering in your garden on the 15th of each month.

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My excuse this month is legit. This past week has been ridiculously busy as I've had to organise a heap of stuff just so that I can enjoy 3 weeks of holidays. One has to wonder whether holidays are really worth the effort!

Anyway, that week has finished and I'm now sitting here relaxing and about to hit the garden this arvo. But first things first. I had promised both Ewa and Carol, the instigator of Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, that I would post pics from my garden for this month's meme.

The pics had to be delayed by a few hours due to rain but as you will see this has had a wonderful effect on the blooms. So without any further adoo, here they are (click on the image to see it enlarged);

Lady Bug on Dusty Miller

One of my favourite annuals (which we grow as a perennial) is Dusty Miller, Senecio cineraria. It's awesome silver-grey foliage throughout the winter followed by the burst of yellow flowers in spring pales in significance, IMHO, with the drying brown flowers in summer through autumn. To top it off, I managed to snap this image with a ladybird foraging on some of the blooms.

Penstemon "Husker's Red"

12 years ago this plant won the US Perennial Plant of the Year and it's easy to see why. As most penstemons go this one seems more complex and intricate and certainly worthy of a spot in the garden. This is the first year it has flowered and has exceeded my expectations.

Arctotis "Red Magic"

I showed this plant last month but couldn't go past this flower which doubled as a water catcher. It goes to show the strength that these blooms have in their stems to hold these big bloomin' heads plus the added rainfall.

Juncis kraussii "Sea Rush"

One of my favourite grasses is this delicious sea rush. More suited to sandy soils than well manured garden beds it is starting to do well in our dry creek bed.

Anigozanthos sp. "Kangaroo Paws"

Lovin' the Kangaroo Paws that are growing so well in my garden at the moment. Our neighbour handed me another hybrid a few days ago which will eventually find its way into the garden somewhere...still looking for space.

Lavandula sp.

The one on the left is Lavandula x. intermedia "Sumion" and the one on the right is Lavandula stoechas "Dark Plum". I'm a big fan of lavender but with a smaller garden we needed some compact species and these two have seemingly filled the void quite well. They are both flowering now and the scent, while not as strong as augustifolia is still apparent.

The rest of the blooms have been uploaded to my Flickr account so you can see them there.

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I'm weighing in to Carol's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day a little early this month as my wife and I are heading off on a romantic weekend jaunt later this morning. It's a wonderful time to be in the garden with so many plants bursting with vivacious ease and colour. It's hard to leave it alone for another weekend but I'm sure the following one will be filled with plenty of gardening activity.

This is my eldest daughter's daisy plant which she propagated when I attended one of her classes to discuss propagation. I'm not sure how the rest of the class got on but E. has done an amazing job nurturing hers. We've even given her a spot in one of the front garden beds to start raising it.

This is one of our newest garden members, the Fringe Lily (Thysanotus multiflorus). Unfortunately it hasn't unfurled all its beauty yet but when it does it will be absolutely stunning. The flowers open up as three-peaked stars with the edge of each peak hemmed with it's own fringe - thereby getting its common name. At the moment, the local spiders are just happy to use it as a fly trap but I'm sure they will move on once it opens more.

How's this delightful feijoa flower? For those who have been reading GTNI for awhile you may remember my heartbreak with last year's guava trees and how a friend had expressed that you need two of these to cross-pollinate. Needless to say, I never did get around to buying or propagating another plant and I've had a few comments since that indicate that this may not be true. So, the proof is in the pudding, as they say and we shall see whether any of these flowers produce fruit later in the season.

This is one of our ramshackle cottage garden aspects that i had to show just to give you some idea of the beautiful bougainvillea that is sweeping across our fence at the moment. Alas, the yellow daylillies have finished for the time being so it looks just like a jungle of red and white at the moment. The red flower in front of the bougainvillea is Cardinal Salvia (Lobelia cardinalis).

This is our native daphne (Eriostemon myoporoides "Profusion") - which are now lumped in with the Philotheca family. It gets some morning sun but is kept in the shade for the rest of the day and yet it still grows well. While "profusion" is something it can't achieve under these conditions, it still maintains its compact shrubiness and flowers well.

I have a ton of other flowers to show as well including penstemons, our honeysuckle, a few other unidentified natives plus others but time has gotten away from me. Another time perhaps...

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I remember last winter when all the Northern Hemisphereans were comparing who had the smallest tomato while I sat and watched from a distant sideline. Tomatoes were months away in my cold garden and by the time we reached our summer, no-one wanted to play anymore. I felt like a child who had finally found the bat and ball only to realise that all the kids had been called in for dinner.

I've gotten over it now...thanks for asking...but I couldn't help but snap this miniature Kangaroo Paw, secretly knowing that very few others could go with me on this one. Yer, who's the man now? [spontaneous victory dance].

Sure, if you've got one that could rival this petite number feel free to display it, but I highly doubt it. I only compete where I know I can win. While I didn't get the exact measurements it's safe to assume that it could easily fit onto the face of one of our 50c pieces. In fact, here's a picture of it to try and gauge it's size.

On a more serious note, this was one of the choices I planted in our dry creek bed a few weeks ago. It came from some tubestock that I divided (I know, I'm a plant miser) and consisted of two small lengths of foliage that could easily have been mistaken for a weed. Somehow, and for reasons that I am unable to explain, it decides that it's going to take on the world and produce a bloom - no matter how insignificant it's flower may seem to you or I.

To be honest, I almost missed this flowering spectacle not because it was hidden or hard to find but I just didn't expect to see it blooming at this size and therefore wasn't watching it. In my mind I had already written this plant off for the next few years hoping it would get established and, at least, grow some more foliage.

But, as they say, great things come in small packages.

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One plant that fails to get much 'air-time' these days is the dependable hibiscus. Maybe as gardeners we've moved on from these characteristically oversized flowers condemning them to the novices and non-gardeners because they're too easy to grow? Or, perhaps we just found other plants that stole our attention and they've been relegated to the yesteryear plants (aka "Grandma plants").

Whatever the reason, hibiscus and their deliciously tropical flowers have disappeared from mainstream garden discussions. Yet if you reside in an area where these grow it's quite obvious that their proliferation hasn't subsided. They continue to blossom underneath the public radar and seem quite content to remain hidden from the limelight.

I don't have one growing in my garden currently, unless of course you count my lavatera (a member of the Malavaceae family) but my mum had a few of these lining the driveway and I became a fan of their long flowering periods.

It seemed that hibiscus plants would flower as often as they could and the only thing to deter their blooming spells was to prune them hard. This would stop them in their tracks but only for a month or two, and then their foliage would cover their bare limbs and flower buds would burst open as quickly as they could.

How to Care for a Hibiscus Plant

If you read the opening paragraph you may have picked up that growing a hibiscus plant is anything but hard. In fact, from propagation to maturity you'll have more of a struggle trying to keep it in line than to get it to cultivate and flower.

But, like most plants, they do have their likes and dislikes with the most obvious being climate. Hailing from the Hawaiian islands, the hibiscus is a tropical plant and while it will do well among the coastlines of much of the world trying to get it to grow in colder climes will be a challenge. Unless, of course, you're happy to grow it in a garden greenhouse bringing it outdoors only when summer is in full swing.

Clay soil is also not high on a hibiscus plant's list of desirable growing conditions. They aren't real fussy when it comes to soil types and provided moisture is readily available they have been known to survive in extremely impoverished soils before - take note that 'survive' is the key word here.

Fertilising should be limited to an annual slow-release fertiliser and any more applications may send this plant into a foliage growing frenzy and prohibit its flowering potential.

Once your hibiscus is nearing maturity you will need to prune it back - at least 1/3 - 1/2 of its current size - once the summer flourish has subsided. This will help it produce new flowers for the following season but also keep it down in size and neaten its shape.

Propagating a Hibiscus plant

Much like the rest of this plant, propagation is a fairly simple task with the main methods being;

• Softwood Cutting


• Malcotting - (Air-layering)


• Grafting

Grafting is possibly the most involved method while the other two can be quite straight-forward and easily achievable. Results will depend on the species of hibiscus (yes...there is more than one) and the season in which you commence your propagation. The best time is the start of autumn (Fall) after you've given it a decent prune. Use some of the softwood cuttings that have begun to emerge.

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Late again but hoping the party is still going and there's enough food and drink for the latecomers...

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My apologies for taking my time in posting again but I have a valid excuse. I spent most of the weekend away at a local retreat with some young people, which was awesome but left me a tad fatigued. I've since developed a nasty head cold and haven't been feeling the best so today I thought I would just share some of the eye candy that surrounded our lodgings.

The house we retreated to was on a 64 acre block of virgin forest overlooking the ocean with views everywhere. While the owners had stripped some of the bush for their own garden it was the native flora that really exploded if you took the time to look.

I'm unsure as to the names of most of these plants so if you see any you recognise then by all means feel free to identify them for me.

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If you start to discuss pruning rose bushes with another gardener, it's not long before you realise everybody's an expert! The problem with said 'experts' is they all hold conflicting views over what is, and isn't, the correct way to prune them.

Some will espouse the "rip-open-the-chainsaw" method while others discuss in intricate detail the precise angle needed to make the cut. A few will advise the use of sealing gels to protect the bushes from infection and yet there are advocates for leaving the rose bush to heal itself. Surely with all these contradicting views someone must be right - and possibly some will be wrong. Or, does it not matter? Can these very different opinions all be right?

Perhaps.

Initially we need to ask ourselves why we want to prune our roses. Shape? To encourage more blooms? Maintenance? There are a variety of reasons and each may have its own requirements.

Pruning Rose Bushes for Shape

You may have come across rose bushes in other gardens - certainly not our own - that take on a stick growing habit rather than displaying a nice shrub. At the end of the 'stick' sits one single bloom that looks more like a pom-pom on a cheerleader's hyper-extended arm than a prize-winning plant.

In this case, taking some time to find a few buds that could be encouraged for next year is worth the effort. If you were to just lop the main branch off you could find that growth only comes from that region of the plant next season.

For other bushes they may have become too ramshackle for your garden and just need a quick 'Short-Back-and-Sides' that is best done with a pair of hedging shears. If you feel inclined, the chainsaw may also be the right option. Provided that you prune the canes back evenly, your mature rose bush will relish this once-over.

Prune Roses for Increased Blooms

Another reason why gardeners prune their rose bushes is to hopefully increase blooms for the next season. I've not seen any scientific proof that pruning achieves this unless, of course, the rose bush has been left to its own devices and sports a grand supply of rose-hips. Hence, it needs some serious TLC.

Increasing the number of blooms on your rose bushes has more to do with the variety of rose, fertilising, water control, climate and soil preparation than it does with how you trim the plant. However, the more growing canes available on the bush the more likely they are to be covered with rose blooms. So, pruning a rose bush to take advantage of the number of growing canes will be advantageous.

Pruning your Rose Bush for Maintenance

If your growing region is similar to mine then Blackspot, Marssonina rosae, may be a common problem. Mid-way through the summer months the leaves start spotting with a black-coloured fungus which becomes unsightly and begins infesting the remainder of the bush.

While many gardening experts and chemical companies will advise applications of lime sulphurs there are measures that you can take, just by pruning, to keep this disease at bay.

First, when pruning make sure that the buds you prune down to are all outward facing. This allows for more air movement within the rose bush and will allow the plant to dry quicker after watering or seasonal rains. This will slow the fungus from taking hold and will slow its spread throughout your bush.

Next, if your rose bush does contract the disease then prune away any leaves showing the symptoms. These should be discarded or burnt - don't put them in your compost heap. Once your bush shows signs of blackspot there is no chemical that can rid the plant of this blight. The best defense is prevention and this is best done when the plant requires pruning.

When should you prune your rose bushes?

Most gardeners hold the view that an annual prune for rose bushes is a good thing. This is best performed while the bush is in it's dormant stage towards the end of winter. After a prune or deadhead, the next flourish of blooms will take between 6 -8 weeks to appear so you can almost time it if you have a party or open garden coming up in spring.

Deadheading your roses after the blooms have been spent is also a good practice, especially if you want more blooms. For some gardeners the allure of rose hips is too strong and so they leave their spent flowers to continue producing. But for most of us, we love to have flourish after flourish after flourish.

Therefore, if you're deadheading your rose bushes take the opportunity to prune it back a little for shape otherwise you will have blooms at the end of long, leafless canes by the end of summer.

Conclusion

Is there a right or wrong way to pruning rose bushes? IMHO - I think that most gardeners who purport the genius behind rose pruning practices are possibly a little too anal-retentive and discourage many beginner gardeners from enjoying these wonderful plants.

Roses aren't that hard to prune and they are very forgiving if you make a mistake. Trial and error is usually the best teacher and providing you don't kill your rose bush you should be able to get the best out of it without taking up the Bachelor Degree module.

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In true Gardening Tips 'n Ideas fashion I've turned up fashionably late to the Garden Blogger Bloom Day carnival held each month by Carol. But I have an excuse.

Firstly, the cat ate all my flowers - Oops, I don't have a cat! Would you believe that next-doors cat ate all my flowers? Actually, they don't have a cat either. Okay, how about my whole garden was wiped out in a freak storm that touched only my yard leaving everyone else's unscathed? Still no?

Alright, you deserve the truth. My wife just got back after a week's holiday in Melbourne and I missed her terribly. So the last few days has been sitting around the fire slurping hot chocolates and talking like it no longer cost us anything - because it didn't. So the garden, and my blog, came off second best until I remembered that I was meant to snap a few pics of the blooms now on display.

So, here they are;

The daffodils are already starting to bloom turning the bleak understorey of our Silver Birches into a glow of yellow.

These are some of the potted tulip bulbs I received for my birthday last month. While they're not open yet they are getting very close.

My faithful Hellebores keep flowering year after year with very little maintenance. This is this ones third season and every year it seems to be more bountiful than the last.

This is a new bromeliad that my Mum gave me last weekend. I haven't planted it in the ground just yet but it will be destined for our tropical garden. This is my third bromeliad now - maybe it's time to start collecting them?

One of the few red cabbages that survived the slater onslaught. The ones I planted in containers staved off the slaters only to be consumed by aphids. Oh the joy!

Someone obviously forgot to tell my strawberry plants that it was winter. These plants have been flowering their heads off for the past month or two but none have ripened. We'll have to wait for summer for that - if they haven't worn themselves out by then, that is!

If I had more space in my garden that enjoyed full-sun then leptospermums would rule. This time of the year when most of our plants lay dormant these natives go out of their way to colour the garden.

I'm starting to find greater beauty in the buds of many plants than in the actual flowers. These from my Kalanchoe "Quicksilver" are so dainty and intriguing.

The definition of HOPE: all the buds from my lime tree fell off before setting fruit last season so to see it in full bud again is quite exciting. Hopefully they will grow this year.

Finally, my little cumquat trees are setting fruit again. Ah, more marmalade...

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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.

Continue reading "GBBD: May 08 - GTNI" »

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My foray into growing the fuchsia plant, commonly misspelled fuschia, wasn't as successful as I had initially hoped. Sure, the plant grew okay and produced a few spectacular flowers but from then onwards it suffered at the peril of my non-fuchsia-gardening-hands.

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!

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (24)

A match made in heaven, No? One of the world's favourite board games and your horticultural vocabulary.

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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Yesterday's West Australian published an article titled "Future not rosy for WA's thirsty backyards" [link since removed] stating that unless gardeners began making choices to move away from "thirsty species such as petunias, azaleas, roses..." we will suck our water resources dry.

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.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (12)

When confronted with millions of different plant species throughout the world, it's no surprise that flower identification can be seen as 'Mission Impossible'. Even with the advent of the web and thousands upon thousands of images now at your disposal the task is not becoming any easier. In reality, it's probably becoming harder.

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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Creating hanging baskets that ooze flowers from their very pores may seem a little daunting, especially if you've never tried it before. Yet, come the end of spring towards the start of summer and the 'Ooohs' and 'Aahhs' you receive from besotted visitors will make the challenge seem...well, less challenging I suspect.

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?

So, where do you start when making hanging flower baskets? Should the basket come first, or the plant? Or, are we going to argue semantics like the age-old debate, "The chicken or the egg?".

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 - if your basket is too big it will detract from the rest of your yard. 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 the basket 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 the basket 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 hanging baskets 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.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (5)

If you're over the wanton waste of sending flowers as a gift - they always seem to die - then you'll find this great alternative very attractive.

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?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (16)

Caring for my bougainvillea has been a journey in foolishness right from the start. In essence it was more about my lack of respect for this plant that almost bought it undone.

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?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (7)

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!

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (9)

It's Australia Day here in the land down-under. And while people are lighting up the BBQ, donning the esky with ice and beer or heading down the beach for a spot of family cricket, I'm about to embark on a debate of epic proportions. I'm about to challenge ...(drum roll)...the instituted national flower - as you would!

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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I think this must be the first time I've ever made it to Garden Blogger's Bloom Day on time. Ok...you can stop cheering now!

Anyway, here's a few of my bloomin' plants as they settle into summer survival mode;

Anigozanthos - Kangaroo Paw

This was the only surviving Kangaroo Paw from a seedling tray of eight that we bought last year. Not only did it survive but it's flowered on-and-off for the past few months. However, it has grown enough to divide ...yet!

Osteospermum ecklonis 'Nasinga Purple' - African Daisy

I am absolutely fascinated with the way this osteospermum's blooms pipe at the end their petals. It's a similar look to the Gaillardia "Fanfare" and is quite unique.

Alyogyne hakeifolia - Native Hibiscus

We have two versions of this plant; the Purple flowered and the Cream flowered. Yet, the purple variety seems to be far more photogenic.

Lantana camara - Yellow Lantana

We really wanted a prostrate yellow lantana but couldn't find one so we went with this shrub version. However, as it's located beneath our Grevillea "Austral Gold" it doesn't get much say in the matter and hugs the ground beautifully.

Unknown Groundcover

This ground cover - not sure of its name - has become a great filler in the garden. It covers every unfilled spot and even tries to take on some of the bigger plants for scarce soil.

Lavatera maritima- Australian Hollyhock or Tree Mallow

You may remember when I pruned this lavatera back earlier in the year. It's made a fine recovery and is now starting to show off its fitness with a few flowers.

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One of the many joys of having friends and family who also garden is the oft chance of scoring some plant material to try your hand at propagating. And for most of us gardeners the plant specimen doesn't necessarily have to be one we want in our garden, it's merely the enjoyment of successfully reproducing something.

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

There really isn't such a beast available but Alstroemerias do prefer a well-drained soil that is slightly acidic. They will tolerate part-shade in warmer climates yet would rather the warmth of a nice spot in full-sun.

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

This plant is relatively free from pests and diseases. Unless, of course, you're growing them inside a greenhouse where they seem to become magnets for infestations. Glasshouse whitefly is one such predator.

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

Alstroemeria tubers should be planted out in early spring and will flower anywhere between late spring and early summer. Feed them with an organic liquid fertiliser every 2-3 weeks as the flowers open and mulch with some well-rotted compost at the end of summer towards late autumn.

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.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink

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....

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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 [link since removed]. 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. [Alas, the link has expired]
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 [Link since removed] 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.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (4)

Our insatiable appetite to grow flowers, coupled with the desire to prove ourselves as gardeners, may just be the undoing of our fragile environment. While we blame Amazonian timber-loggers, multi-national petrochemical producers and our government's inability to deal with ozone depleting gases, some of our environmental problems may be occurring much closer to home, possibly in our own backyard.

Gardeners are no strangers to societies ills. Our own gardens are often the result of trying hard to keep up with the proverbial Jones'.

Our drive to have more, be more and do more is what keeps us as fat as our friends and away from our families. That same drive forces us to skew nature to our advantage with little respect for natural order and at a cost to which we are unaware.

The accomplices: Garden Shows and Magazines, Green Thumb Sunday and Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

While none of these are specifically evil, and are certainly not created to be, they do encourage us to put our effort and value into gardens where flowers are the focus. This, in itself, is not a bad thing. However, the problems begin when we start to see others having more success with a particular plant. Our desire to improve then focuses on unnatural aids in the same way as a struggling cyclist in the Tour de France.

The killer: Phosphorus.

Anyone who's been gardening for some time can identify with having plants - especially flowering plants - not live up to their optimistic expectations. For whatever reason; the soil, climate or seasonal dysfunctions fail to produce a show of flowers that we can truly be proud.

So we reach for artificiality, working against nature's rules rather than finding ways to move within it.

Sadly, this has devastating effects on our environment. Fertilisers, that are created with the sole purpose of helping us achieve our ridiculous desires, end up in our water sources. They create havoc with ecosystems that eventually filter back into problems to which we lay the blame on large agricultural producers. Those dreaded farmers who keep leeching nutrients into our waterways.

Unbeknownst to us, we produce 100% more phosphorus leeching than they do.

In an article by John Lory, from the University of Missouri Extension Services, titled Phosphorus Best Management Practices for Biosolids and Other Organic Residuals he states that a 5-year limit of 600 pounds per acre of phosphorus in the soil is an allowable application for sustainable agriculture.

While that may sound huge it becomes even more scary when you consider the Department of Horticulture at Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service
[PDF] suggests that in growing flowers we should fertilise them at a rate of 1lb of 5-10-5 per 100 sq. feet every 4-6 weeks.

Assuming that a gardener is diligent with this ratio and feeds their flowering plants once per month for every non-winter month, they will be adding the equivalent of 393 pounds per acre of phosphorus every year. Over a 5-year period, this calculates to nearly 2,000 pounds per acre with a residual amount of more than 1200 lbs - twice that allowed by agriculture.

Most gardeners will quickly justify that they don't even have that much gardening space and therefore can't possibly use the quantities quoted. But it all adds up. As most people who have gardens don't use organic matter in feeding their plants they choose instead to reach for a bottled substitute and will often exceed the manufacturer's application rates - not that these rates were that great anyway.

Once a buildup of phosphorus occurs in the soil it begins to leech into our waterways and adversely affect our local environments. Over time, the problem becomes much bigger and an eco-disaster becomes acutely probable.

If we are to continue being good gardeners we have to stop focusing on flowers and start enjoying every part of the garden. Especially the soil that supports it.

We need to use organic matter - which Scott's likes to blame as the root cause of our phosphorus issues - and live with the failures that our climate and environment permit.

It would be great to see those accomplices mentioned previously actually disclose how the flowers they illustrate were produced. Let's start acknowledging those gardeners who snub chemicals and produce flowers naturally - even if they do look a little less than perfect.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (17)

I'm so slack with participating in Bloom Days and Green Thumb Sunday etc, but I like this idea from Carol. And as my blog is a pseudo gardening journal for me, it's a great place to store what's going on in my garden.

However, there's not much going on at the moment. Certainly not in my garden anyway.

The natives are all gearing up to flower so I should have something for next month but for June all I have to offer is a few rogue Artoctis sp. flowers. They seem to defy the cold and balk at any reason why they might want to lay low for a few months and merrily flower along. Which is great for me because I have something to contribute.

Anyway, here they are for you to admire as much as I am at the moment.

They are so cheery they make a bleary day giggle like a schoolgirl. Until next month....

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My neighbour flies a flag from a mast in his backyard but I can't see myself ever putting one up. And, I know Americans are renowned for their patriotic pride when it comes to displaying their colours but are flags an item that gardeners would have in their gardens?

For those who might never fly a flag there is always the option to grow one. That's right - a flower flag. I'm not talking about hoisting a flag that has a floral emblem on it but actually growing a rectangular bed with flowers that depict your country's flag.

Certainly there's enough people who have grown them before to warrant the home gardener to give it a go but one must ask the question, "Why?" Is there a purpose for this irregular gardening practice? The answer - is there a purpose for any of our gardening practices?

The decision to grow a flower flag obviously comes down to patriotism - and too much time on their hands. However, I have a sneaking suspicion that gardeners who grow flower flags also have easy graphics to work with. For instance, the US flag is made up of three colours consisting mainly of horizontal stripes. The Australian flag is similar sporting the same colours with a marginally more complex pattern.

But, what if you were from Saudi Arabia, or Wales or worse still - Tibet. The Japanese, Scottish, Swedish and Italian gardeners have no excuse and could easily grow their flower flags without too much concern.

So, if you are inspired and think you might give it a try for your next National Festival here are a few things you might need to consider;

• Plant flowering times - obviously if the flowers you choose don't flower at the same time or even in the same season as your national holiday then it's a fairly pointless exercise. You will need to find plants that will grow and flower at the same time. And, you may need to prepare yourself for some level of compromise - the colours you really want may need to be substituted or at least a different hue found as an alternative.
• Flowering height - of course a flower flag is going to be grown with annuals - I'm yet to see one grown from perennial shrubs. However, you will need to consider the differing heights of plants and their eventual blooms. Mixing english stocks with lobelia is probably not going to be a great option.
• Plant growing preferences - basically, some plants prefer moist soil while others are happy with drier feet. Some prefer full sun and others are shade lovers. Find plants that are mutually happy in the position you plan to put them in.
• Replacing dead or damaged plants - this is the tricky one. If one, or a few, of your plants die during the growing or flowering period the result will look like a 5-year old with a lost tooth. If you're serious about growing this flower flag then you will need to have a few understudies maturing in the wings. Then replacing the dead plants will be an almost routine affair rather than a catastrophic disaster.
• Encouraging their blooms - ok, so it's only a week away from your national festival and the flower flag doesn't look like it will be blooming on time. Is there anything you can do about it? Well, you could try talking nicely to them, maybe invest in an all-night prayer vigil or you could try encouraging them with a high potassium liquid fertiliser. It may not get them over the line in a week but it's worth a shot.

So, if you plan to grow a flower flag in your garden I wish you all the best. This is not an easy thing to achieve success with as so many things can go wrong but if you manage to pull it off then you could become the toast of the neighbourhood.

And if you're looking for a little more inspiration take a look at this US flag grown in Vandenberg which spans more than 6.5 acres.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (2)

For some gardeners it's the ultimate dilemma. While for others it's a decision that has been made aeon's ago and will not be reneged upon.

I'm talking about the choice to leave flowers in the garden or stuff a vase to adorn your home.

For me, it's all about the garden. On occasions I have snipped the odd rose or gorgeous gerbera to bring back inside and admire. But this is rare. I'm much more inclined to leave the beauty in the place where it originated.

My mother, on the other hand, will always cut her flowers and has no hesitation arranging an ornate vase to lighten the living room. To her, a rose left on the bush is wasted.

Do you bring your flowers inside or leave to admire in your garden? And, are you 'religious' about your decision or will it depend on the situation?

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If I had to choose the Top 10 flowers in the world, these would be my selections.

This has been part of Problogger's Top 5 Group Writing Project. You've still got time to enter...

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Purple would have to be one of the most common flower colours growing in most gardens. Shades of violet, mauve and lilac can make up a large part of our garden colour scheme.

So, as to start a meme - or you can comment here - name 10 purple flowers that are currently blooming in your garden or that will over the next few months.

Here's my ten;

1. Hydrangeas


2. Tibouchina "Jazzie"


3. Lavatera Tree Mallow


4. English Lavender


5. Alyogyne Hueglii - Native Tree Hibiscus


6. Agapanthus - that have just finished blooming recently


7. Native Violets


8. Buddleia Davidii


9. Hellebores


10. Borage

If you have another colour that's prevalent in your flower garden, try creating a similar list with that colour.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (2)

If you've ever loitered around gardening forums, Yahoo! Answers Garden & Landscape section or read comments on some of the gardening blogs you will notice that flower identification is a common thread.

It usually displays like "Can someone please tell me what plant this is? My MIL gave it to me for Christmas 3 years ago and I have no idea how to care for it. Any suggestions would be appreciated."

The questions usually come from novice gardeners looking for a quick answer. They don't want to scroll through reams of pictures in an image gallery hoping that they might get lucky. They want an answer, NOW.

However, the problem with identifying flowers and plants is that there are millions of possibilities. If I challenged you to come up with 10 purple flowers within a minute I'm sure the challenge wouldn't be too difficult. In fact, you probably have at least that many growing in your garden.

So, flower identification can be an almost impossible undertaking, even - or should I say, especially - on the web.

Here are a few resources that might make the job of flower identification a little easier;

Dave's Garden (paid subscription needed) - this is possibly one of the best flower and plant databases around and with the search facility constructed the way that it is, you should find it incredibly helpful.

My only misgiving with Dave's Garden is that you need a paid subscription to access it. With all the advertising that this site is pushing, there shouldn't be a need to charge the consumer as well. And, it's a big disadvantage for novice gardeners who may only want to access this resource once or twice.

University of Texas in Austin's Native Plant Database [No longer available] is one of many wildflower databases available. Others are PlantNet - the Botanic Gardens Trust of Sydney's database and CALM's Florabase which lists West Australian wildflowers.

And while these are good and very helpful for specific flowers they aren't terribly useful when it comes to identifying flowers that grow in most people's gardens.

Homestead Garden Forums - forums are always a good place to fall back on when you can't get any satisfaction elsewhere. Most forum users are only too happy to help you identify your flower and if you can find a local gardener then your chances of success are even better.

If you know of any flower identification tools that exist please add them in the comments and I shall endeavour to update this post.

UPDATE:

Annie at the Transplantable Rose has offered this great site as well - Kemper Centre for Home Gardening.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (4)

Now, here's the mark of a good gardener - the ability to grow winter flowers. Anyone can grow plants that flower through spring and summer. Even autumn (fall) flowering plants aren't incredibly difficult. But it seems that many gardeners don't grow plants that flower through winter.

It's not a fair statement - really - that a good gardener can grow winter flowers, because most of the world's gardens are covered by snow or susceptible to frosts. And most winter flowers are found on tropical plants that are native to Africa, Asia or South America - areas that never experience either dilemma.

However, if you live in an area that doesn't suffer from these extreme climates - you have no excuse!

A well-rounded garden is one that can inspire and look beautiful throughout each season. There always seems to be some plant blooming it's head off throughout the landscape.

Here's a list of plants that you may be able to grow in your gardens to produce winter flowers;

• Grevilleas


• Strelitzia Reginae - Bird of Paradise


• Proteas - there are many varieties of this genus that will flower throughout winter


• Kniphofia - Red Hot Pokers


• Acacias - a good, hardy Australian genus that comes in many different forms from prostrates, shrubs and trees


• Hellebores - these are great because they can even tolerate some frost and cold growing conditions


• Camellias


• Azaleas


• Viburnums


• Heather


• Daphne

And then there's a heap of winter flowering annuals;

• Cyclamen


• Iceland Poppies


• Primulas


• Cineraria


• Poinsettias


• Allysum

Considering all the different colours that winter flowers will bring to your garden it's not hard to imagine how a drab, grey season can easily be transformed into a season we desire as much as the others.

Growing winter flowers doesn't take any more effort than growing plants that flower through other seasons, it merely comes down to planning. Plan to grow some plants that will give you a great flower show in winter and you won't be disappointed.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chrysanthemums are the traditional Mother's Day gift, and there's no debate that they are well qualified to carry this mantle. In fact, I've never seen a mum scorn a child with, "What? More chrysanthemums?" They're like socks on Father's Day, we just thank our kids for them and put them in an appropriate place. Wherever that may be!

But the beauty of chrysanthemums, like socks I guess, is that they come in so many different shapes and sizes. Just about every colour is catered for. Flower sizes differ, foliage textures are incredibly diverse and even the petals can resemble the iconic daisy look or can be like hairs on a toothbrush, or something even more incredibly different.

So, just because you bought your mum chrysanthemums last year doesn't mean they can't be an option again this year.

However, the challenge may be to try and grow your own rather than buy shop-bought chrysanthemums. If you're planning to grow them from seed, I'm sad to say that you've missed the boat already. For us plant lovers in the southern hemisphere we'll have to wait two more seasons before we can start planting out seeds while in the north it's almost perfect for seeds to go in now, but they won't be ready until Fall.

How to grow chrysanthemums from seed

The best time to start planting out chrysanthemum seeds is mid-spring. Raise them in a good quality propagating mix and if possible start them on a heat mat (aff.) so that they get the best possible start.

When the seedlings start to produce more than their first two leaves (preferably after 4-6), you can gently prise them out of their seedling tray and replant into individual starter pots. Newspaper pots would be appropriate for this level. This stage usually takes between 4-6 weeks with a heat mat and may be up to 10 without one.

Care needs to be taken when moving chrysanthemum seedlings at this stage because they are so fragile and any stem damage will render them lifeless.

After a further 4 weeks in these small growing pots, your chrysanthemums can be repotted into 200mm pots and slowly introduced outdoors. They can remain indoors and fed artificial light indefinitely but if you plan to let them grow in the garden they will need to be acclimatised first.

How to care for your chrysanthemums

Once chrysanthemums are established they are fairly easy to care for. Apply a liquid fertiliser when your mums are blooming at 3 weekly intervals and supplement this with a slow-release fertiliser at the start of their growing season.

Some gardeners treat chrsyanthemums as annuals and replace them year after year while others choose to prune them heavily and let them rebloom as biennials. They can even be treated as perennials if you have the right climate.

Deadhead the flowers after they've been spent to encourage more blooms and to discourage seed growth. If you're after seed production remember that their seeds are incredibly tiny so you will have some work to do to distill the seed from the brown foliage.

Chrysanthemum tea

And just when you thought you knew everything about chrysanthemums another use hits you between the eyes. Apparently, chrysanthemums are a favourite ingredient in Chinese herbal teas. In fact, chrysanthemum tea has been used for centuries being used for warding off sore throats and helping people recover from the flu.

See, they're a much better Mother's Day gift than socks.

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Taking stock of what's happening in the garden is a wonderful practise so I thought I would participate in Carol's Bloom Day extravaganza and keep an online journal of what's flowering each month.

This month, being the start of Autumn (Fall), has left the options a tad limiting. Most of my spring/summer flowering plants have finished and there are only a few that are continuing to bloom. The lack of blooms has actually made me consider what I might plant so that this time next year the selection won't be so dismal.

Anyway, starting out the front I have a few gerbera's poking their heads up for a last look at some warm temperatures. The roses are still producing blooms and the lavender hedge is fighting hard to flower again. My guara is looking a little worse for wear yet the buddleia's are still keeping the bees interested.

Down the maintenance side, my cumquats are constantly producing fruit and new blooms, the browallia's are covered in blue and the westringia is doing well considering the hair cut it recently received.

The backyard is gearing up for winter so only the flowers blooming here are the Sedum "Autumn Joy" and the yellow shrubby lantana. Even the alyogyne's are closing down since their star performance over summer.

Finally, the restful side of the house is experiencing a little diversity. Our hydrangea is popping out some new blooms and the camellia's, rhododedron and azaleas are all preparing their blooms for the winter. I even had a bromeliad cast its gorgeous flower last week even though it's been limited to a pot.

All things considered I shouldn't be too hard on myself but it is good to reflect and plan for March 2008.

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Kerri from Colors of the Garden is the star guest blogger today as she shares of her passion with fuschias. I've really enjoyed conversing with Kerri over the past year and she epitomizes what blogs are about - they really are just an international cyber-fence that we can hang our heads over and have a natter. If you haven't met Kerri (or her husband Ross) yet, pour yourself a cuppa and spend some time delving through her archives. They're all as good as this one...

Stuart has generously offered to give me the run of his blog, in a guest post, while he’s off gallivanting in Tasmania. I thought, “Why not? I haven’t had a trip to my beloved birth country since 2003, and I’ve never been to Western Australia. If I can’t go physically, at least I can have a virtual trip”. So here I am!

My first thoughts were of the glorious gardens my mother used to grow, and specifically, her magnificent fuchsias.

Mom lived in Palm Beach, NSW during my teen years, and then later at Nelson Bay in Port Stevens, NSW. She had the greenest thumb imaginable, and grew a great deal of her plants from cuttings.

She had many different fuchsias. Some in hanging baskets, some in containers and others in the ground, almost all grown from cuttings. The plants in the ground grew into very large shrubs, up to 6ft tall, laden with beautiful ballerina-like blooms dancing from gracefully arced boughs.

Unless one is lucky enough to have a greenhouse over here in our Northeastern United States climate (we are just barely in zone 5…surrounded by zone 4), we must buy our fuchsias in hanging baskets or containers from plant nurseries early in the spring.

The hard part is deciding which variety to buy. I make myself stick to one basket of fuchsia because there are so many other plants I want as well. For the past 3 years I’ve chosen ‘Marinka’, a red variety, for its vigorous growth habit and the fact that hummingbirds adore it. And for the most part, I’ve had really good luck with it.

But then there’s that gorgeous pale pink, with a hint of green on the tips that I fell in love with last year. Or the purple and red combination, or “Swingtime”, which is red and white, or…..well, you get the picture. I have a little trouble making up my mind….and this is just the fuchsia! I still have all those other plants to decide on. A trip to the nursery can become a long, drawn out affair for me.

If I’m lucky, and don’t kill the plant by under or over watering, I can enjoy about 4 or 5 months of lovely blooms. As a rule, we don’t get a great deal of hot weather during our short summers, but I find it’s best to move the fuchsia out of the afternoon sun if the day is a hot one. I just move it over one hook, from the edge of the porch roof, to underneath the roof. And I usually need to water it morning and night in very hot weather, because the container dries out very quickly. I’ve found that if I feed it about every 10 days with Bloom Booster flower food (15-30-15) it will produce blossoms continually all summer.

As the cold weather approaches I’m always very reluctant to let the container plants suffer their fate of being killed by a frost, so I carry them back and forth between the inside and out until it gets to be too much of a chore. But this winter was unusually mild until half way through January, and the fuchsia and several other plants survived on our enclosed side porch all that time. When the temperatures finally began dipping to freezing and below I brought the plants inside and put them upstairs in a spare bedroom by a sunny window.

I cut the fuchsia back, and was surprised to see a few blooms on it during these last couple of months. It’s looking very healthy, which leads me to believe that I might end up with another season’s worth of enjoyment from this plant. What a bonus!

And just think, around Mother’s Day I’ll be able to treat myself to a brand new fuchsia, feeling free this year to choose one of those other wonderful varieties

I certainly would love to be able to grow 6 ft high fuchsias like my mother did though. Perhaps I could do it vicariously through Stuart. I’ll have to talk to him about that when he gets back from his trip.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (11)

My mother, and many gardeners who are part of her generation, seemed to marry both gardening and flower arranging and do it quite well. She took a flower arranging course when I was young and has since continued both hobbies as if they were joined at the (rose) hip.

So I wonder which hobby benefited the other or was it a type of synergy that was created because they both had similar characteristics.

From what I understand, and observed from my mother's flower arrangements, arranging flowers is really no different to gardening. The arranger, like a gardener, has a plethora of considerations to be made before they plonk a few stems into an awkward shaped vase.

Firstly, the flower arranger needs to imagine the end product. This isn't unlike a gardener who needs to plan out their garden design with the end result in mind. This initial design period is essential for both the person doing the flower arrangement and the gardener and if not conceived properly will lose focus and the result will look catastrophic.

Second, both the floral designer and the gardener need to choose the main elements of their masterpiece. I noticed that my mum would always work with one or two main elements (the flowers that usually cost the most) and then fill in the rest with other secondary pieces. This is exactly the same as gardening. Most of us don't have the luxury of unlimited space and so we're forced to make a decision as to which plants will feature more prominently in our gardens.

Another similarity that gardening and flower arranging share is they both require an 'eye' for working with colour, texture, shape and height. Flower arrangements, like gardens, look much better when they're multi-dimensional and can imbue a sense of visual order and beauty.

Yet it seems the biggest difference between the two is eternal 'time and money'. Flower arrangers have the luxury of creating a masterpiece in a few hours while it can take years for a gardener to see their artwork come to fruition. And , it's far cheaper to do flower arranging than to create a garden.

But, I have a hunch that many people who enjoy gardening also derive pleasure from flower arranging and vice versa. They're certainly not mutually exclusive activities, yet they can be.

So it comes back to the question; Do flower arranging skills help make better gardeners, or do gardeners make better flower arrangers?

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (1)

Have you ever tried expressing yourself to another person in a language that's not quite natural for you?

You try to tell them that 'you enjoy their friendship' but it comes out as though 'you want to pick their nose with a gigantic pitchfork' - or worse! Often the meaning gets lost in translation.

It's exactly the same with flowers. Each flower has its own meaning and communicates a different message when being given as a gift. You certainly wouldn't take a red rose to a funeral or give a black tulip to the mother-of-the-bride - though she may give you one. So while a flower given as a gift can mean the world to the person receiving it, it can also mean end of yours if it's taken the wrong way.

Rather than take the risk, I've compiled a little list of more than 300 flowers and their meanings. [If I've missed any, email me and I'll update it immediately].

Disclaimer: As there are many of these lists residing in cyberspace I haven't referenced any particular one that I have accessed these meanings from. Each of these lists seem to carry a few of each others and there is no referencing in place. If I have inadvertently taken a meaning from your site and your are the original owner please don't hesitate to contact me and shall append the referencing.

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The moment someone mentions the word "frangipani" my nostrils begin to seek that aroma as if it were a natural physical attraction. For once you've breathed in the fragrance of these flowers there's no going back - it will become indelibly stamped upon your senses.

But then for the remainder of the year the plant looks like a naked twig taking up space that could be occupied by something far more productive.

It's this love/hate relationship I have frangipani's. When it's flowering there is no competitor. When it's not you could try to hide the stems with aluminum foil and it would still gain more respect.

I'm yet to plant one in my garden for that very reason - and for the reason that most people plant them awkwardly in their gardens. I'm over the idea that they should reside next to a bed of roses or competing against a rampant plumbago. Or worse still, they protrude from their lonely position in a bed of sand (not soil) by some gardener who thought they got lucky with the "plant-of-the-century."

No folks, the frangipani needs to be grown as an architectural plant. Or, at the very last within a tropical grouping surrounded by flowering canna lillies, bromeliads or tillandsias.

In it's natural environment the frangipani grows wild in Central and South America - picture the climate! Warm tropical days where frost is never present. Frangipani would grow well in most coastal areas around Australia and the lower third of the US. If kept indoors it may even be grown quite successfully in most other parts as well.

Plumeria rubra, it's scientific name, are available as evergreens - although you rarely see them growing - as most specimens are deciduous. They can grow to nearly 8m (26ft) or more and span 3-4m(13ft), resembling a phallic sculpture during their dormant season.

Their gorgeously fragranted flowers aren't just limited to the common white with yellow centres either. They range from dusted apricots through coral pinks and even extend the palette through to dark reds which makes their desirability even greater.

How to propagate frangipani

Frangipani are one of the easiest plants to propagate and grow, which is why so many would-be-gardeners have stuck them in the ground.

During the winter months, when the plant is dormant, take a cutting about half the length of your arm and leave it in the sun to dry. When the wounded end has calloused over plant this part into a free-draining potting mix and leave in a warm, sunny spot. Come spring, the propagated frangipani shall begin to produce foliage, but may not display any flowers for the first year or two.

Where to grow frangipani

Be creative. Remembering that for most of the year it has no foliage or flowers, the stems can seem quite ugly and unattractive if planted in the wrong place.

As mentioned previously, mix them with some other flowering tropicals or palms that can accentuate their design qualities. You could even display your frangipani against a feature wall by contrasting the bare branches against a bold colour.

But, whatever you do don't just stick it in the middle or some flowering ornamentals. They look stupid.

Posted by Stuart | Permalink | Comments (30)

Can you imagine having one of these growing indoors at your place? Fortunately, the smell that's emitted from this oversized bloom that's been described as "several days old road kill on a hot, sunny day" only lasts for 8 hours.

Its stench is a powerful attractant for flesh-eating bugs required for pollination but it is strong enough to knock you off your feet. This plant, Amorphophallus titanum commonly known as the Titan Arum, is a native to the rainforests of Indonesia where it blooms only every few years. The energy required to produce a bloom is obviously intense and therefore the plant will need to rest between flowering.

The bloom from the Titan Arum can reach a height of 3m (9.8ft) and will grow 10 times it's size in less than a month. The Corpse Flower consists of a deeply furrowed spathe that is dark green on the outside and burgundy inside and a yellow spadix that resembles an upturned french stick. The spadix is covered in pollen and the smell emits from within the spathe.

According to the wiki entry on this plant, the Titan Arum was adopted as the official flower of the Bronx, USA, in 1939 but has since been replaced with the day-lily. I can see the reason for the change just can't quite connect the instalment of this idea in the first place.

Source: Hundreds Watch 'Corpse Flower' Bloom

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Gerberas must be the happiest looking flowers ever. If you've received a flower arrangement from a friend or loved one and it contains a gerbera daisy or multiple daisies you'll know what I'm talking about. It's the one flower that can brighten your day by merely gazing at.

The gerbera daisies growing in our garden came from various sources so we have a bit of a mixture. One we received as a gift, a couple we bought from the local nursery, some were given to us by my mother who has a friendship with a lady who grows gerberas by the bucket load and one we found in the vacant block across the road that someone had discarded. As scavenger gardeners we hastily picked it up and planted it immediately and this is the one that I took the photo of for this post.

All of our gerberas reside in the one flowerbed at the front of our house. This bed doesn't receive full-sun all day but it does for the majority of the day and mainly afternoon sun. We grouped them with annuals and perennials that shared similar requirements and they have done really well.

The tip for growing gerbera daisies and seeing them flower profusely is to grow them in full-sun and keep the crown above the level of the soil. If the crown is below the soil you will end up with a heap of foliage but no flowers. Growing gerbera daisies successfully isn't difficult but requires at least those two important factors to be considered.

Fertilise your gerberas regularly with a soluble fertiliser and keep them out of the frost. Deadhead the spent gerbera daisy flowers by cutting them off close to the crown. Water regularly.

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According to one article Profusion Fire and Profusion Apricot perfect for the border there are a few new zinnias on the garden scene. The Profusion Apricot comes with coral petals and a terracotta centre while the Profusion Fire is decorated with scarlet petals and an orange centre.

They like to grow in full-sun and will only reach a height of approx 40cm (15in) with a mass of colour. These zinnias are sure to be a standout as a border plant and mixed with other striking annuals will look an absolute treat.

I haven't heard whether the Profusion Fire or Apricot zinnias are available in Australia yet but I'm sure we'll see them when spring comes around.

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The first time I ever saw one of these magnificently gorgeous protea flowers, Deb and I were honeymooning at Cape Lodge, near Margaret River. Proteas had been grown commercially in Australia for some time before that but most of them are exported internationally.

I had seen these flowers in flower arrangements that adorn cafe's and restaurants but to see one growing in the wild was breathtaking. The picture here, although a close-up, does not give enough weight to how big these protea flowers can be. Imagine a small dinner plate and you're coming close.

The protea family is a native to South Africa although Australia and California claim them as their own and market them quite successfully around the world (Australia can claim the banksia and waratah as their own proteacae). The genus consists of protea, waratah, leucadendron, leucaspermum, banksia, dryandra and serruria.

Why would you grow proteas?

Proteas are not usually great foliage plants apart from the leucaspermums and leucadendrons, the latter with colourful bracts rather than flowers. They are more sought after in gardens for their incredible flowers which look fantastic in the garden but are also renowned for their cut flower qualities, lasting between a couple of weeks and a couple of months.

The real selling point of protea flowers is their ability to keep their shape and most of their colour when they're dried. Once they have been dried they can be kept indefinitely and will be a standout in any flower arrangement.

How do you grow proteas?

Another plus of proteas is that they are extremely hardy plants that have very little maintenance requirements and they're low water users making them a great option for a xeisicaped garden. To produce the best protea flowers they need to be in full-sun and not underneath hanging trees that may drip water onto the flowers themselves.

They need a loamy soil that is more acidic (preferably between 5-6 pH) and that can drain freely. Proteas can be fertilised and this is probably best achieved by using a slow-release fertiliser as opposed to a liquid variety.

When and how to prune?

Pruning should begin in late-winter to early spring and really only needs to be done to retain the desired shape of your bush. Once your protea flowers, pruning may not be necessary as you start to cut these flowers either for your arrangements or because they've stopped looking their best.

When do proteas flower?

Leucadendron's usually flower in their second year while proteas, banksias and waratahs flower in their third.

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