He’s So Lazy!!! - Sep 29, 2023
Dear gardening friends
Warren Bolwell just came in to buy potting mix. He was a nurseryman, and he's famous for inventing "Potted Colour".
Wazza ran Applecross nursery out of his backyard. He was a Landscaper to start with, but he grew a few plants, that he used in his jobs.
Soon the backyard spilled out into next door, and he started growing more plants, that he could sell to retail nurseries.
One day he had an idea to grow Marigolds and Petunias in small pots. They grew so quickly, he took them around to his 40 Retail nurseries, and tried to sell them for $1.00. He called it "Potted Colour".
The retailers thought Wazza was crazy, in those days everyone bought seedlings in punnets. You could buy a punnet of 12 Petunias for $1.99, so why would anyone buy one plant for $1.00.
Wazza offered sale or return for the first two years, and he took a lot of plants back. But then customers discovered that the advanced seedling made their gardens look colourful straight away.
I asked Warren why he called it Potted Colour? "Well, it's a pot of colour, isn't it". Well he had no competition to start with, and Potted Colour took off.
He had "Shaky" potting up potted colour all day, everyday, six days a week. Shaky was a potting machine.
"I had 40 nurseries that sold my plants, I had 5 staff, we worked so hard. On Sunday I'd hand water the plants, then load the display truck."
"But then Bunnings came along and annihilated the industry, 40 nurseries dropped to 8. It was hopeless, so it was time to retire. I closed the nursery down and got a job at Mt Carmel High School. I made their gardens look beautiful.
They won a few gardening awards, I worked there for 8 years. I still love gardening, it's in my blood."
Sarah and her husband Mohammed, have just driven all the way from Wentworthville, to visit us.
Mohammed follows us on Facebook, he loved the potting mix trial, and he can't believe how bad some of the mixes turned out to be.
I ask him if he's a gardener? And his wife bursts out laughing. "He's too lazy to be a gardener".
It turns out Mohammed dreams about gardening, he loves reading all our posts, but he's never actually done any gardening.
But today Sarah said to him "Today we are going to Tim's", and here they are. They both have big smiles when they meet me, they feel like we are friends already.
They live in a Villa, and they rent, so they don't have room to garden. But they have bought a stand, that holds several plastic troughs. They have come today to buy Tim's Best Potting Mix, herbs and a few vegetable seedlings.
I give them some advice about what herbs will grow best. Herbs like Mint and Rosemary need to be in a pot by themselves. They just grow too vigorously to share space.
They buy more plants than they have room for. Mohammed quickly catches the gardening bug. He picks out a Tim's Italian Tomato, so I donate him a big plastic pot that someone has left in our pot recycling bin. I get Bailey to fill it with Tim's Best Potting Mix. It's so important that these guys have success.
They are all smiles as they load their car. The boots full of stuff of course. It gets chucked in the front, and the gardening goods get arranged precariously.
I tell Sarah to get Mohammed gardening today. This burst of energy might not last long. She laughs. He might be a lazy person, but he might turn out to be a great gardener.
Wouldn't that be a great story.
New Season Hydrangeas have arrived in all your favourite colours. These old world, hardy shrubs, are so in fashion.
The huge ball like flowers really are spectacular. They come in white, pink, blue and bicolours.
Hydrangeas are thirsty shrubs, so they thrive in gardens that only get the morning sun, especially in hotter suburbs like Macarthur.
They can be grown in pots, but you have to be a good gardener, who remembers to water. If Hydrangea dry out, they start to droop and beg for water and the leaves get burnt.
They look fabulous planted as an informal hedge. Plant one colour, and they will look amazing from October till Christmas.
They make amazing inexpensive gifts. You'll get a potted shrub covered in flower buds for $34.99.
They are selling like hot cakes!!!
Sometimes you come across something that's so amazing, you want to share it with your gardening friends.
That's what happened when I ate this Big Yellow Tomato. It was so amazing and so different I saved the seeds so you could grow it too.
Tim's Big Yellow Tomato has soft skin, it's almost like a Persimmon. You won't have eaten a Tomato like this. It has more vitamins, than red tomatoes, and you're less likely to burp, after you eat them.
It's an heirloom variety so it's grown for taste. Pick it early and ripen inside to avoid fruit fly. Grow it in a big pot using Tim's Best Potting Mix or grow it in your vegetable garden.
Tim's Big Yellow Tomato seedlings cost $4.99. They grow super fast.
Make sure you stake them.
We only have 200, so zoom zoom.
What do you do when you find the most amazing Rosemary plant? Start cooking Pork and Potato Rosemary salad. You can use Lamb, if Pork's not your thing.
Fry the Pork pieces in olive oil. Cut up potatoes into cubes, and fry them at the same time. Add fresh Rosemary, Pink salt and Pepper.
Prepare salad greens, fresh tomatoes, avocado, capsicum and olives. Dress with Coles Lemon Vinaigrette.
Serve with Pork and Potatoes on top. It's amazing. So simple, no Anchovies needed.
Our Potted Rose Bushes are all in flower now.
You can smell the flowers and choose the most fragrant variety. You can also look at the foliage and choose the most disease resistant varieties.
It just makes sense to buy roses when you can see the flowers and sniff them.
We have hundreds but they always sell out fast now they are flowering so get cracking.
Come for a drive.
Happy gardening
Tim