Hello Pink Lovers - Jul 17, 2014
Dear Gardening Friends,
It’s beautiful and sunny here today and we have customers coming in already. Most are still looking for some winter colour.
It’s hard to beat Polyanthus if you want some instant colour for pots or gardens. Polyanthus will flower right up until November if you plant them in the right spot.
They will grow in full hot sun but they will flower longer if they get protection from the late afternoon sun. Some Polyanthus have an amazing perfume so give them the sniff test before you buy. They come in a range of bright colours.
Pinch out the spent flowers and this will allow the sun shine in and more flowers will follow. Sometimes they grow back the following year but we treat them as annuals.
You get 4 plants for $12.00 so they are great value. A splash of colour in your garden or in pots on the patio will help you get thru winter with a smile.
I noticed some beautiful Grevillea’s have started to flower here in the nursery too.
One of Simon’s favourites is a variety called “Lemon Daze”. He has this compact yellow flowering Grevillea growing in his garden and it never stops flowering. It has nice soft to touch foliage too. I love the lemon yellow spidery flowers.
A lot of gardeners say that they don’t like Grevillea’s because all the flowers are red, but this is not the case.
Grevillea Lemon Daze only grows 1m x 1m so it’s the perfect size for smaller gardens. Nice plants from $15.99.
If you have room for a bigger growing variety then you might like one called “Sunset Bronze”. These are all coming into flower here at the nursery and I love the large coppery/bronze coloured flowers. They are huge!
This variety will grow up to 3 metres high so you could use it to block out your neighbours. Grevillea’s grow super fast so they can make fantastic screening plants and every morning you will hear nectar feeding birds in your garden.
A recent survey conducted in New Zealand found that your house will be worth more money if people hear birds. The more species you attract to your garden the better your mental health will be.
I think we have one of the biggest Grevillea collections in Australia so come and see us before heading off to one of the specialist native nurseries.
The reason we have so many? Simon is addicted to them!
That Green Tomato that I found in Noosa was a huge success when we ate it in a salad the other night.
Tomatoes, like cheese are best eaten at room temperature. When my son Dan put a piece of the green tomato in his mouth his eyes light up and he said “Dad that’s delicious”.
This is an heirloom variety that has been grown for hundreds of years. I have kept the seeds from a couple of the tomatoes because I thought that you might like to try this variety in your garden this summer too.
I will plant the seeds in the next couple of weeks and let you know when the plants are ready. We will sell them for $4.50 and donate all the money to The African AIDS Foundation in Elderslie.
We have had so much interest in this green tomato. Apparently Green Tomato Salad is a famous Burmese dish. Have you eaten green tomatoes before? Let me know.
Ryan sprayed our roses last week with Lime Sulphur. The place smelled like rotten egg gas for about an hour. This spray cleans up fungal diseases and it also kills White Louse scale on the stems.
If you have Flower Carpet Roses then they will probably have White Louse Scale. The reason I know this is every plant in our garden has it.
You need to prune the roses before you use the Lime Sulphur. Ryan sprayed all our roses in our nursery too so if you buy them they will be disease free.
They have already started to sprout fresh new growth. There is so much confusion about when is the best time to prune roses. It’s all cow manure, just prune them!
Simon has found some great new light weight garden pots. They look like they are made out of heavy concrete but they are so light and easy to take home.
I love the shape of these pots and plants will grow well in them. The shape of a pot does influence how well plants grow. If you are looking for architectural looking industrial pots come and look at these. Prices start at $31.99.
They would look fantastic full of flowering Polyanthus.
Poor Pig has been sleeping ever since the World Cup finished.
We’ve been tip toeing around here trying not to wake him up. You may not know that
Pig actually taught Lionel Messi how to dribble.
He was sad to see Germany win the final 1-0 in extra time.
Pig will be back on duty soon.
If your favourite colour is pink like pig, then you should come and get some pink flowering Hyacinth Bulbs.
We have dropped the price to just $1.00 a packet. Spend $10.00 and you will get 20 bulbs.
You will love these highly perfumed flowers. Grow some in pots and you can bring them inside when they start to flower to make your house smell delicious.
They could even be given away as flowering gifts. Use Tims Best Potting Mix for best results.
Happy Gardening
Tim