Macarthur’s best kept secret? - Nov 17, 2017
What makes plants grow?
Dear gardening friends
I drive through Menangle twice a day trying to avoid Narellan road. There are some pretty gardens in the Main Street and the pink flowering trees called Cape Chestnuts have made the town famous.
But I’ve also noticed that the Jacaranda trees flowering on the hillside leading up to St James Church have been spectacular this year too. I stopped to get a coffee this morning at the General Store in Menangle (that was an experience) then I told Dan I wanted to drive up into the back streets.
This has got to be Macarthur’s best kept secret. The gardens are amazing in this town. The houses have bioseptic systems so there is no shortage of water. Plants love water, and when they get enough of it, they thrive.
Every Garden had neatly trimmed hedges and there was no shortage of shade trees. The lawns were all freshly mown and bright green. I could see beautiful rose gardens everywhere.
I spotted this pink climbing rose growing over an arch and I just had to stop.
Doesn’t this look spectacular!!!!!
Climbing roses have gone out of fashion recently but when they look like this you would want to grow one.
If you love beautiful gardens take a drive out to Menangle. Take a selfie in front of the Cape Chestnuts then explore the back streets. It made me question why we let so much usable water go down the toilet.
We could all have beautiful gardens like Menangle.
I got Dan out of bed early on Wednesday morning (5.30am) and took him to the Nursery Industry Market Day. It’s held once a month at Hawkesbury Race Course.
It’s an amazing place if you love plants.
Dan and I spotted the most spectacular flowering Hydrangeas. To get plants this good you would usually have to travel to Melbourne. I’ve never seen nursery owners fighting over plants but things got ugly. These plants were that good everybody wanted them. We picked out 30 of the best plants for our customers. Check out the photo.
Hydrangeas have become very popular again. They grow best in a position where they get morning sun then shade. This will be the eastern side of your house. They love water so don’t forget to water them. They can be grown in big pots. The pot would need to hold 2 bags of Tim’s Best Potting Mix. If you grow one in a pot water it daily in summer.
The red flowering variety will stay red. To keep the blue flowering variety blue, you will need to apply Hydrangea bluing tonic in winter. This makes the soil acid.
I have ordered another 100 Hydrangeas for next week so don’t be disappointed if you miss out this weekend. Plants cost just $26.99 so they are cheap. We can gift wrap them if you’re after a flowering gift.
We still have lots of flowering plants in the nursery that can transform your garden for Christmas. Come and see us. If your garden is a big mess, plant some colourful plants in pots and your friends might not notice that a bomb went off at your place.
Happy gardening
Tim