A lemon that tastes as sweet as an orange? - Aug 11, 2017
You will love this blue eyed beauty!!!!
Almost everywhere I go people ask me gardening questions. They may not even be customers. I've been standing at the counter at Bunnings and had people ask me "have I bought the right fertiliser for my Citrus tree?"
This week I was having coffee in Queen Street and Vicki Marks showed me her home grown lemons. They were enormous and so fresh, they still had the leaves attached. This is no ordinary Lemon.
It's the fruit from a Lemonade Tree. I've been selling these for years, but I had never eaten one until Vicki gave me one of her beauties. It was easy to peel, with a puffy skin, almost like a Mandarin. I had a friend from South Africa sitting with me at the time, so I split the lemon in half and got him to try it too. It was full of juice and almost as sweet as an orange with that lovely lemon taste. Why don't more people grow this amazing fruit?
Probably because it looks just like a Lemon and who wants to get a wrinkly face?
I rang our Citrus supplier straight away and said I want some Lemonade trees!
They have fresh stock ,so they are small at the moment, but with spring coming that only means they will grow faster because they have never been pot bound. All the staff had the flu, so I'm not sure if they will arrive this week. We will have the dwarf variety, so it's perfect for today's smaller gardens. Citrus can be grown in pots but they have to be huge pots and they need to be watered daily in summer.
If you are growing Citrus in pots make sure you buy our Tim's Best Potting Mix.
We got new bags this week and the photo of me has been updated. I used to look like I was 15, now I look like I've just turned 100!
It's the same great Potting mix.
I had a father and son come up to me at Dan's soccer training last year. The son, who was attending St Paul's Primary School in Camden, was as sharp as a tack. He had done a science project on Potting mixes that are sold in Macarthur. He planted seedlings then measured and recorded the results. He happily reported that Tim's Best Potting Mix really was the best. It was like talking to an adult.
African Daisies have burst into bloom this week. They have had a name change to Osteospermums. Who comes up with these names???? It sounds like a disease?
I still call them African Daisies and my favourite colour is this yellowy one called "Blue Eyed Beauty". It flowers for at least 9 months of the year.
They are sold as small shrubs, but like all other Daisies, I think they should be sold as annuals. They really only look good for a season or two and then you should pull them out and plant new ones. The only other way to prolong their lives is to cut them back lightly at the end of spring and then again in autumn. They do look amazing in pots. We have all your favourite colours right now.
One of our long term customers from Ruse, pruned his Tree Dahlia this week. Tony is in the Orchid society and he drives an MG Sports car so I always chat him up when he comes into the nursery. He's getting on, and I'm hoping he leaves that car to me in his will.
He brought in a big bundle of Tree Dahlia canes. Tree Dahlias are spectacular flowering herbaceous perennials. They can grow up to 3-5 metres high and they have these amazing pink flowers in late autumn thru winter. They need wind protection to stop them blowing over.
We are giving Tony's cuttings away at the nursery so you can grow one of these amazing plants too. Simply plant the piece horizontally about 20cms below the ground. It will shoot out in spring and flower in autumn. You cut it off at ground level every winter after flowering. Easy peezy.
I had a laugh yesterday when bumped into this couple of ladies. Marie who is 89 told me "she had brought the old girl out for a walk". She was referring to Sue, her daughter. Marie has lived in the house she was born in, all her life at Lidcombe, and has only moved out recently.
She is almost blind, and can only see shadows, but that didn't stop her from telling me "how nice the nursery was looking". She said she could see my shadow and I seemed like a nice boy!
Sue leads her mother around the nursery and describes what plants are in flower and what's looking good. Marie feels the texture of the leaves and flowers. She gave me a squeeze too!
Marie could have easily let her disability stop her from enjoying gardening, but these two never stopped laughing. They made my day.
Come and talk to us if you need help in your garden. Spring is only seconds away so you just might find yourself wondering about in your own garden pulling out a few weeds.
The gardening bug only lasts for about 6 weeks so get moving before you get over it and return to the telly.
Karyn is going into hospital to get her new knee and won't be around for 10-12 weeks so we are after a cashier who can work 3-4 days a week. Maybe you know someone who has worked in a nursery or who knows a lot about gardening who can use a cash register? Get them to send me their resume
office@timsgardencentre.com.au
Happy gardening
Tim