Grow A Tree From Seed For Free - Oct 06, 2023
Dear gardening friends
We finally had some rain this week which has helped our gardens survive the heat. I'm planting up my vegetable garden today, so it's not too late for you to plant up your garden too.
You might remember that every spring we sell Arthur's Big Greek Tomato seedlings to help raise money for The African AIDS Foundation in Elderslie. So far we've raised over $5,000 that's to the help from gardeners like you.
Arthur's Family own Kings Charcoal Chickens in Queen St Campbelltown. When Arthur came out to Australia from Petri, in Greece he bought his families giant tomato with him. He shared that Tomato with us, and each year we grow this heirloom variety so you can share this great tasting Tomato too.
The fruit grow so big, they can weight up to 1kg.
It the variety you grow to show off to your friends.
The giant fruit have hardly any seeds compared to normal tomatoes. That makes it hard for us to get enough seeds each year to grow the seedlings, and we always have limited supply.
We have about 40 seedlings available this weekend. We are only telling Garden Club Members about it, so you need to come and get one this weekend. Plants cost $4.99, all money raised goes to The African AIDS Foundation.
Fuchsias have arrived. These amazing flowering plants are favourites for hanging baskets.
The pretty flowers hang over the sides and look so spectacular.
We have plants in hanging baskets, and smaller pots. Pot them up using Tim's Best Potting mix, for the best results.
Fuchsias grow best with morning sun and then shade. There's are lots of colours to choose from.
Plants start at $18.99. They are covered in flowers. They would make great floral gifts.
Spotted this beautiful Illawarra Flame Tree at Campbelltown Art Gallery. These native trees often drop all their leaves just before flowering.
These red bracts will stay on right through till the end of November.
We've given seeds away for free at out counter for these trees for a number years.
They are easy to grow from seed you simply soak them in water, then plant them in Tim's Best Potting Mix. We have seeds on the counter today.
I've planted a few of these around Macarthur. I love the lush green leaves. They seem to be able to look after themselves, if we get rain.
Illawarra Flame Trees flower at the same time as Jacaranda trees, and they are often planted together. The mauve and the red, pop together.
The entrance to Campbelltown has a great display of these trees mass planted. It always looks fabulous leading up to Christmas.
Flame trees are drought hardy, upright growing trees. The bracts are followed by black seed pods that contain corn like seeds. The Currawongs love eating these seeds.
Second settlers, ground them up, and used them to make coffee. It would have been a pretty rough brew.
I'd love to see more of these trees planted around Macarthur. They grow so well here so it just makes sense to plant more.
Come and grab a few seeds.
The kids might like to grow one.
I stopped in Menangle on Tuesday afternoon to water a tree. The leaves were drooping, it was begging me for water, I've got a watering can, so I stopped.
As I was watering the tree, I noticed a brand new house that's just been landscaped.
The plants were in a distressed state, the leaves were drooping and shrivelling.
They needed watering urgently, they were on life support, I could hear bells and whistles.
This can't be happening, I was thinking to myself, as I started to water their garden with my watering can.
Why are these plants dying?
When you make a garden you get Premium Garden Mix delivered. You make gardens, you plant your plants.
But it's so dry now, the Garden mix is bone dry. All the ingredients used to make the mix, are bone dry too. If you plant in these mixes, without getting them wet, they are toxic to plants.
The soil in this garden was bone dry. You'd need a sprinkler going here for days to get this soil moist enough to plant.
The plants might come back, they need a trim and constant moisture to recover. No don't fertilise them. That will only make them sicker. Yes you could apply Seasol. It encourages sick plants to grow new roots.
You can't plant up a garden and leave it. These plants are like babies, they need your care. They will love you back in time.
The rain will have helped this garden.
But only for a couple of days. When you plant shrubs and trees, they need to be watered daily, for 6-8 weeks.
It's still spring, it's the best time to garden.
We have amazing plants in our nursery.
You really should come for a walk.
It will make you feel good.
Happy gardening
Tim