Merry Xmas - Dec 20, 2013
Dear Gardening Friends.
I know you are flat out getting everything ready for Christmas but this is our last news letter for a month or so. I caught up with the Camden Garden Club on Friday for their Christmas Party at David Furnells place. The Camden Garden Club has been going for years.They are a great bunch of people who all share the love of gardening.
David and Charlotte have the most amazing garden spread over at least 10 acres in The Ellis Lane part of Camden. David is a mad tree collector and has them planted out like an orchard. Every tree has a story. Dave also has a working vineyard. I sampled the wine which is very good.
One of his trees was flowering beautifully not far from our party so I have taken a photo to share with you. This White flowering Crepe Myrtle is probably a variety called ‘ Natchez’.
This is an Indian Summer Crepe Myrtle that was originally released by Flemings Nursery in Victoria. Indian Summer Crepe Myrtles are resistant to powdery mildew so these are the varieties we are stocking.
When I was driving along Menangle Rd on the way to work I noticed the Crepe Myrtles were flowering in Macarthur Gardens. These Terrace style houses have tiny gardens but the Crepe Myrtles were the perfect choice. Their upright habit makes them ideally suited for these courtyard sized gardens. I noticed the flower colours go beautifully with the natural colours used on these modern buildings. The good news is, in winter the leaves will fall off to allow the sun to shine in.
I mentioned powdery mildew and thought i would show you what a crepe myrtle covered in it looks like. This fungal disease loves the humid weather we are having and can attack a wide variety of plants. Control is simple with a quick spray of Mancozeb. The same fungicide i spoke about last week to control dollar spot in your lawns
On Tuesday I finally had a game of golf with an old guy called Phil, who has adopted us as part of his family this year. Phil turned up so often I suggested he should bring in his own coffee cup.
The next day he turned up with a tourist mug with a photo of the old Parliament House on it. He organised for me to pick him up from home. He obviously just wanted me to look at his garden because then he suggested I meet him at the Golf Course! His garden won the garden competition for Blair Athol years ago and it still looks sensational today. Phil still mows his own lawn. He fertilises it with Tim’s Rapid Results about every 6 weeks. We had a great game of golf. He putted like a champion. He even used the putter from 50 metres away from the green. He called it his wedge. I was laughing until the ball landed one metre from the pin!
Christmas is not far away now but you still have time to make your garden smile. We have lots of potted colour here. These are advanced petunias, dianthus and marigolds that are already covered in flowers. Plant some of these around your letter box and in pots on your verandahs and it will make your garden smile. Keep the water up to them for a week or so until they become established.
We have heaps of last minute Christmas presents here for your gardening friends. If you can’t decide what to buy then one of our $50 Christmas Gift Vouchers for just $40 will get you out of trouble.
Our last delivery of Fresh Cut Christmas trees is coming on Saturday morning. We only have 30 coming and that’s it for the season.
I have been picking tomatoes this week. The Satin Bower bird must be sick of eating tomatoes! We have had great feed back about our Tim’s Fruit Fly Resistant tomato. Firstly about how productive it is. Secondly about how vigorously it grows and the most important feature is it is fruit fly free. One of our customers had given up growing tomatoes because his neighbour has a Loquat tree and he lets all the fruit fall on the ground. It is fruit fly heaven!
Thank you to all our garden club members who supported our African Aids Foundation fund raiser. We sold over 300 tomato plants.This has allowed us to donate $1440.00 to Dr John Schwarz from The African AIDS Foundation. John will use this money to help teach people how to grow vegetables in parts of Africa. Many of these people have been able to become self sufficient and are able to provide fresh vegetables for their villages. Doctors have found that anti viral drugs work much better if you have a nutritious diet. John has also noticed that his vegetable gardeners also grow their self esteem and confidence.
I was in a carpark in Camden yesterday and noticed this beautiful flowering tree. The flowers were lime green! On closer inspection it turned out to be a Chinese Tallow wood tree. I have never noticed the flowers on this famous autumn foliaged tree before. They look sensational.
Also check out our Russelias flowering in our nursery carpark garden next time you are in. This old fashioned hardy shrub is almost death proof and it seems to flower non stop.
We have a few small plants in the nursery if you are looking for something you can’t kill! The flowers look a bit Christmassy too.
Thank you for your support this year. I hope you have a beautiful Christmas with your family. If your family is away adopt someone else’s family for the day.
We will be closed on Christmas day and Boxing Day to spend time with our families.
Merry Christmas
Happy Gardening
Tim