Free Mangoes in Minto - Oct 30, 2015

Dear Gardening Friends,

Welcome to all our new Garden Club Members. I hope you enjoy our weekly newsletter. We try to help you become a better gardener so you have success.

I was walking past Enzos Restaurant last week and Thierry was out the front having a smoke. I suddenly realised how amazing his restaurant looks with the Boston Ivy growing all over the walls.

This fast growing creeper shades the walls from the sun in summer and keeps the building cooler. In autumn the leaves turn red and put on a spectacular show. Then they fall in Winter to let the sunshine in to warm the walls. It just makes sense. This has to be the greenest building in Macarthur!

Christmas isn't far away and you will soon be thinking about Christmas trees. I was looking at my Trixzie Pear tree and noticed it grows into the perfect Christmas tree shape. I haven't pruned it. This is its natural shape. This dwarf growing fruit tree gets white spring blossom followed by sweet tasting pears so how good is that?

The pears will look like Christmas bells!
We have about 5 plants still available. Come see.

I spotted this amazing Mango tree growing near a fence in Minto. It was covered in flowers so it will have heaps of sweet mangoes in autumn. If you have a tree spray the flowers with a suitable fungicide now and it will get more fruit. We have beautiful Bowen Mango trees in the nursery now. They grow 3-5 metres high in 20 years.

If you have a big pot on a sunny patio you can't beat a Dipladenia. These have had a name change recently and they are now called Mandevillas. These compact sprawling shrubs will be covered in these Christmas bell like, bright pink flowers for the next 9 months! That's incredible value.
They are easy to grow in pots using Tim's Best Potting mix. They are not so good in the ground unless you have made a raised garden bed using free draining soil. We have several colours with prices starting at just $15.99. They make cheap gifts too!

Impatiens are hard to find in nurseries these days because they were almost wiped out by a disease a few years ago. New resistant varieties are now coming back. Simon has found these double flowering Impatiens that look like roses. These are perfect in pots or gardens in shady or morning sun positions. We have several colours available now from $15.99.

Ryan has found 5 Golden Celebration Rose bushes. We featured this highly perfumed David Austin Rose on Facebook recently and had a huge response. The perfume is amazing! This is one for the rose collectors. They cost $29.99. First in best dressed.

My son Dan has discovered the magic of seeds recently. His Uncle Peter sent him a handful of English Oak acorns from the family's oak tree in Junee. Dan has watched in amazement as the seeds have sprouted. We will plant one of these trees in our garden and it will always be known as Dan's Tree.

Children love growing plants from seed and it gets them interested in gardening. Other plants you could get them to grow could be Blueberry ash, Lillypilly, Water Melon, Rockmelons, Corn or Radishes. It just gets them started. Make them water the plants with their own watering can and they will learn to love and nurture plants.

We are looking for a new apprentice for the nursery. You might know someone who might be suitable. It is advertised on the CareerOne website. We are all getting old so they will need to be able to lift heavy bags of potting mix and already have a love of plants. It's a great opportunity for a junior because we have some of the best horticulturists in Australia to learn from.

I hope you've got some lollies ready because pig might be knocking on your door this Saturday night.

Happy Gardening
Tim