Are You A Dream Gardener? - Nov 01, 2024
Dear gardening friends
It's not often you come across a garden like this. No 9 Sunset Ave Elderslie. A real gardener lives here.
Yes they probably dream about gardening too!!!
I stumbled apron this garden this morning, on one of my adventures. There's a vintage house for sale in this street.
As I drove up Sunset Ave, my eyes were drawn to this garden full of colour. It's at its flowering peak today, and it's cloudy so all the flower colours are popping!!!!
I'm not sure if you know much about these smaller growing shrubs. They are called Peruvian Lily's or Lily of the Incas. They are botanically called Alstroemeria.
Alstroemeria are hardy perennials that flower from late spring through to autumn. They multiply under the ground so you get more plants for free.
Plant breeders have been busy recently growing new varieties that stay smaller and flower longer. The flowers are long lasting in a vase, so they are popular.
I've never seen them growing in a garden like this.
Mixed with Roses, that are all flowering, it took my breath away. These are the taller growing Alstroemeria.
The colours go beautifully with the Apricot Nectar Roses. I can see Hippeastrum growing in pots in the background. "This is a Symphony of Colour". It made me feel good.
There's a magnificent Magnolia in the middle. I'll come back to see this when it flowers in late winter. This garden is worth a drive by.
Some great news for gardeners!!!! We finally have a Rose bush which I'm happy to say you can grow in a pot. "Zepeti" is a new release mini rose that's been bred for smaller gardens and pots.
It's an award winning Rose in Europe, now it's available at Tim's Garden Centre for you. It only grows 40cms high by 30cms wide. The foliage is glossy and green.
The flowers are beautiful bright red. The buds are pointy and delicious.
It thrives in full sun, it will survive half day sun too. It grows best where it catches the rain. It's a great border plant and it flowers 9 months.
If you're growing this long flowering mini rose in a pot, make sure you use Tim's Best Potting mix. This will ensure your new Zepeti Rose has the best start in life.
Choose a pot that holds one bag of Tim's Best Potting mix. Water often to keep the soil moist.
Plants cost $19.99. They are in flower now with more buds coming.
Some people are Dream Gardeners, they listen to gardening shows, they take notes, they come in and ask for advice, but they don't actually garden.
I discovered this one spring when I gave 5 Azaleas away as prizes to a talk back gardening show. I delivered the plants myself all around Sydney.
The first house had 5 dumped cars on the lawn and a huge dog, tied up, that wanted to eat me. I knocked on the door and I guy answered shirtless and he was covered in tattoos.
He was huge, I was trembling.
"What the hell is this guy going to do with an Azalea." I was thinking.
But he thanked me kindly, he loves listening to gardening he told me. The next four Azaleas went to similar homes, with less tattoos, but none of the winners were gardeners, they were Dream Gardeners.
One of my staff members worked for me giving gardening advice all day, he knew everything about gardening, he was a gardening genius. I had to pick him up one day and he'd given me his address. I drove past his house twice, it was devoid of plants, it was a blank canvas.
I realised then that some people don't garden, but they love the idea of gardening. Some can't garden due to health reasons, some can't afford to garden, some just can't decide what to plant, so they don't plant anything.
These people still love gardening and they appreciate your garden. They may even stop and tell you how beautiful your garden is. They will even know the names of your shrubs, they might know more names than you. But they don't garden, they are Dream Gardeners.
I drive through Menangle every morning and I've been watching this Ornamental pear tree shooting from below the graft for months. This morning I decided to do something about it.
I carry a pruning saw and secatuers in my car. The understock shoots out from below the graft and takes over. If it's not removed early it becomes the dominant plant and your tree of choice stops growing, and you get this ugly mess.
The understock on Ornamental pear trees has huge thorns, so you don't want this growing. It's easy to fix.
Use a pruning saw or Secateurs and cut shoots as close as possible to the trunk. If buds form from these cuts in the next few weeks rub these off with your finger.
You can see how much better the tree looks now. It will start to grow much faster because it's getting all the nutrients and water. Watch this tree take off.
You will notice lots of trees that have been planted in new housing estates all around Macarthur shooting from below the graft now that I've shown you this. If you have a tree on your nature strip fix it.
It's a 5 minute job, your tree will reward you with new growth. Your tree will look much better.
How beautiful is Chinese Star Jasmine!!!!! This glossy green climbing plant can be grown almost anywhere in sun or part shade. The fragrant white flowers are amazing. It's just sooooooo beautiful.
We have plants, you need one.
They make great ground covers too!!!
Happy gardening
Tim