Too chilly for Chillies - Jul 24, 2014
Dear Gardening Friends,
I was watching my son play soccer last night and I suddenly realised just how dusty the ground was. We haven’t had real rain for ages. Usually in winter you can get away without having to water your lawn and garden.
It’s time to get the sprinkler out. It’s time to start watering your pot plants again too. When the soil gets this dry it becomes hydrophobic so you may need to apply a wetting agent like Wettasoil.
I have noticed that Bindii is going to seed early this year because of the dry weather so spray your lawn this weekend or your dog is going to really hate you all summer long!
I had a family commitment in Junee on Monday. It’s the place where Laurie Daley and Ray Warren come from. It’s also the place where my dad comes from but they haven’t made a statue of him yet.
As we drove from Gundagai to Junee I have never seen the country looking so green. It has been one of the best winters ever in this part of the country and they have had lots of rain.
It’s so nice to see farmers finally being able to make some money off the land. If you are sick of the colour brown take a drive to this small country town.
While you are there make sure you visit the Licorice Factory. I bought some back for the staff and we have all had black tongues and lips this week.
We often get asked for climbing roses but whenever we get them, nobody buys them. This year we have only bought two varieties. I have always loved an heirloom variety called Crepuscule.
If you are old enough you may remember there used to be a nursery in Camden and they had this rose growing over the front fence. It flowered all spring summer and autumn and it never got black spot unless we got a very wet season. It also had no thorns so you didn’t get attached to it, literally.
We would always get asked for this rose in those days because Don would eventually sell out. This is a great climbing rose so if you have a fence in the sun, cover it with this highly perfumed apricot/yellow rose.
The other climbing rose is an old world variety called Cecile Brunner. The small highly perfumed pink flowers from this rose were often used in bridal bouquets. Again this variety is extremely disease resistant and it has fewer thorns than other roses.
The pretty flowers can be picked and brought inside so you can enjoy the perfume. We only have limited stock of these climbing roses so come and see us soon so you don’t miss out. They cost $15.99 less your Tim’s Garden Club Discount.
Remember never feed newly planted roses with Rose Fertiliser or you will kill them with kindness. Dig some Cow Manure or Greengold Planting Compost into the soil and water twice a week. You can use a little rose food once they become established.
Ryan visited one of the hardware chains on the weekend and they were already selling tomato seedlings. I visited one too and noticed they were selling Capsicums, Basil, Egg Plants and Chillies.
This is crazy. These plants will never survive this weather unless you put them in a glass house. The big chain stores are all in competition with each other trying to be the winner but the poor customer will end up being the looser.
Wait until at least the 2nd week of August before even thinking about planting any new season vegetables. When Lisa has seedling on our seedling benches it is time to plant them.
Basil is super cold sensitive so don’t plant Basil until at least September. Look how sad these Egg Plant seedlings looked on Saturday.
If you are getting itchy feet dig some of our Tim’s Cow Manure into your soil with a handful of Garden Lime per square metre. Dress this with some Tims Fast Food and cover with fresh Sugar Cane. Then you will be ready to plant when the frosts have finished.
Are you looking for a hardy small growing shrub that never stops flowering? It’s hard to beat Perennial Statice ( Limonium perezii).
We have had great success with this easy to grow shrub in our front garden. It has interesting looking grey green foliage too.
The flowers can be picked and they last for ages in a vase
Check it out next time you visit. They look great mass planted or grow one in a pot. Cheap to buy, easy to grow.
Pig has fallen in love with Ronan Keating this week. Pig’s been watching the X Factor and has been impressed with how kind Ronan has been with everyone.
Pig has decided to follow in Ronan’s foot steps too and is giving anyone who walks down Queen St a cuddle.
You are welcome to get a cuddle too. It just might make your day!
Happy Gardening
Tim