Rest in peace - Nov 29, 2012
Dear gardening friends
Simon and I went to the Nursery and Garden Industry awards night last Friday at The Epping Club.
There were hundreds of people including the who's who of the horticulture world. As I walked through the crowd Sue from Yates approached me and said "hello Simon how are you" before kissing me on the cheek. This was an awkward moment because I am Tim not Simon and was the kiss meant for me or did I just steal Simons kiss?
Anyway I recovered to here that Sue had made Aunty Una's Lemon cake 3 times and it was delicious. If you missed out on this famous recipe you can find it on our web site. We found our seats at the table and then Costa Georgiadis welcomed every one. Costa is that guy with all the hair who fronts ABC Gardening Australia. He was very entertaining with lots of stories including how he hasn't shaved for 21 years!
Many famous people won awards on the night including Ben Swane and Judy Horton for Service To The Nursery and Garden Industry. Costa Georgiadis won this award too much to his surprise.
Eventually they came to the Garden Centre awards and we heard " And the winner of The Best Large Garden Centre in NSW is Tim's Garden Centre Campbelltown". We were very happy to win this award again. We haven't been allowed to enter since we won The Best Large Garden Centre In Australia award 3 times in a row. Simon and I got our photo taken with Costa. We are calling it The Costa Burger. We scrub up alright in suits! I can see why people get Simon and myself mixed up we look almost like identical twins!
Back at work we have finished celebrating because at this time of year we are just too busy. Our famous Fresh Cut Christmas Trees are arriving this weekend. We have set the shade cloth tent up in the carpark to keep the trees cool. It is supposed to be 38 degrees on Saturday so if you are looking for a Christmas Tree come early in the morning before it gets too hot.
We have had lots of enquires this year from people who had a Cut Christmas Tree in their home when they were children. Now they are grown up they have a fake tree and they miss that pine fragrance that makes your house smell like Christmas.
They are going back to a cut tree again this year so their children can experience the "Smell of Christmas”. Our trees cost $55.00 and they have been hand pruned for 4 years until they are the perfect Christmas Tree shape.
We did a small gardening job for Judith Rogers yesterday. Poor Judith has been a keen gardener for many years but old age is catching up and arthritis makes it impossible for her to pull out weeds. Judith lives in an up market retirement village and was worried that her small garden out the front of her unit was looking over grown and untidy. Well I spent an hour there yesterday pulling out weeds, digging up the soil and planting new shrubs. As I was doing the work a cat wondered by.
Judith asked me if I like cats. No I replied but my son Dan says he is going to get one when I die! This morning on the way to school Dan has added a Budgie to that list.
Anyway Judith said she was a cat lover and still had the ashes from her cat which passed away some time ago. I jokingly asked Judith if she would like me to plant the ashes under a shrub and put her cat to rest. Judith almost jumped out of her seat from which she had been watching the action and disappeared inside.
A small box appeared that contained a bag of ashes and a beautiful poem. Judith read the poem while I carried out the burial. I was holding my breath trying not to breath in the ashes. It was quite windy luckily I was wearing my glasses. It was very moving and I think I spotted a tear in Judith’s eye.
I managed to plant several of Judith’s pot plants in her garden. These will grow much better in the garden and it is less worry for Judith. A fresh covering of Tim’s Termite Resistant mulch finished the garden off beautifully.
Have you noticed how spectacular the entrance to Campbelltown is looking? There is a grove of trees planted between the exit to Raby Rd and the M5. These trees have been specifically selected because they all flower around the same time. The purple flowers of the Jacaranda trees contrast beautifully with the bright red bracts of the Illawarra Flame Tree. Golden Rain trees will flower soon and it has yellow flowers followed by apricot coloured seed pods that look sensational.
This garden was designed by John Lilleman when he worked for Campbelltown council. John also designed most of the gardens when he worked at UWS Macarthur University. John’s life was cut short but he has left Campbelltown with his floral legacy and love of trees.
My tomatoes are growing beautifully. The Tim’s Taurus tomato is twice the size as the other varieties I planted and it’s covered in green tomatoes. I have hung a Cera Trap in the vegetable garden to help control the fruit fly. While these traps won’t stop my tomatoes from getting fruit fly they do reduce the numbers dramatically. These organic traps kill male and female fruit flies. I’m going to pick the fruit just as they change colour and ripen them inside on the window sill.
Cera traps are a good investment so come and get one.
We have lots of flowering gifts down here if you are looking for an easy Christmas gift. We can gift wrap your plant for free and this makes it look like you spent a fortune! Most of the plants are under $20 so that makes them good value.
If you are looking for something that’s Aussie we can gift wrap a Kangaroo paw. Check out the beauties growing in Simon’s garden. Kangaroo paws grow really well in pots if you use Tim’s Native potting mix.
Happy gardening
Tim