“Coral Magic” Makes Gardeners Smile!!! - Nov 15, 2024
Dear gardening friends
It's Gardenia sniffing season. They have burst into bloom here at our nursery and the fragrance is spectacular. Gardenias have the most beautiful white flowers, with the lush green leaves, there's so much to love.
Gardenias grow best where they get the morning sun. If you don't know where the morning sun comes from, get up earlier tomorrow.
If Gardenias get the afternoon sun here in the western suburbs, the buds can get sunburnt, and they don't open. This frustrates gardeners.
Gardenias can be grown in pots. We've had this one, in a big pot for over 30 years. We repot it sometimes with fresh Tim's Best Potting mix, and it rewards us with new growth and more flowers.
Gardenias love water, and they often get planted in gardens up against the house, where the eves stop the rain from falling on them. If it rains often then these plants might still grow OK.
But when it gets dry like it is now, these dry gardens get very dry and if you don't water them often, the plants get stressed and they get attacked by insects. Mealy bug and Scale insects go crazy for sick plants. They are like Hyenas.
Before you know it, your healthy Gardenias, look terrible, and the leaves get sticky and black sooty mould covers the leaves and stems. You'll see Ants on the stems. They are feeding on the sticky substance. The Scale insects feed the Ants, so the Ants protect them. It's a private army!!!!
So find the right place to grow Gardenias and you will have success. Gardenia Florida is the best variety. It only grows one metre high and it flowers longer. It can even be pruned as a hedge.
If you're growing Gardenias in pots use our Tim's Best Potting mix. A sprinkle of Tim's FAST FOOD in spring will keep the leaves green.
If you're growing them in the garden dig Tim's Cow Manure into your soil. This will fertilise the plants and attract earth worms. It will help keep the soil moist too.
We have all your Gardenia varieties here.
Zoom zoom fragrance lovers.
I spotted this Mr Lincoln Rose growing in Berry.
The owner of this garden was a rose lover. As I took this photo I noticed him in the background with a Yates Rose gun in his hand. I suggested he might want to spray his neighbours roses too, they were looking unloved. He smiled at that suggestion.
Mr Lincoln Roses were first release in the early 1960s. It's still the most popular red rose today. It's famous for its beautiful perfumed flowers.
We have beautiful Mr Lincoln Roses covered in buds, but we always sell out, once they start to flower. The fragrance is amazing.
We have an exciting new dwarf growing Crepe Myrtle, called "Coral Magic". This compact growing shrub with grow fence high and it gets covered in coral coloured flowers for 100 days in summer!!!
"Coral Magic" has beautiful coloured foliage.
It's red new growth goes coppery then green with age. It's the perfect backdrop for the spectacular Coral pink flowers. This is going to be a winner!!!
We only have 30 plants. They will flower in the next few weeks. Plants cost $39.99. They are big and bushy and perfectly grown. We are the Crepe Myrtle experts. We have all your favourite varieties here. Don't forget you get a discount because you're in Tim's Garden Club.
This Brachychiton "Jerilderie Red" has miraculously appeared in Mawson Park. It's flowering this morning at the entrance.
It has an interesting story.
I contacted Jerilderie Primary School. (Jerilderie is a town of a thousand or so people in the Riverina, most famous as the place where Ned Kelly penned a long letter justifying his actions.) I spoke with Judy Knight at the school and she put me in touch with Laurie Henery, a local historian. Laurie had just helped write a small book to celebrate the school's 150-year anniversary. There's a story about the tree, and a picture of it, in his book. Laurie was a great help.
The tree was first discovered growing in the residence garden at Jerilderie Primary School. It had been planted by a student called Maggie MacDonald in around 1880. She probably found the seedling growing in her parent's garden.
It wasn't until 1958 that an amateur horticulturist called Walter Pyle noticed that the tree's bright red flowers were unique. It turns out that Maggie MacDonald's seedling had been a chance cross between an Illawarra flame tree, Brachychiton acerifolius, and a kurrajong, Brachychiton populneus.
In 1980 Walter Pyle sought to get the tree registered with the Australian Cultivar Authority. In 1983 his wish was granted, and the tree became officially known as Brachychiton 'Jerilderie Red'.
The tree in the school grounds is now almost 140 years old. It's 10 metres high by 6 metres wide. If you're going through Jerilderie, check it out.
I think this tree should be famous. The school has written a song about it. It thrives in our hot dry climate, and it has red flowers at Christmas time and now Maggie's tree is growing in Mawson Park. How good is that.
We graft this Native tree here at the nursery and we have them available for $75.00. They are amazing drought hardy trees, I love them.
We have grafted White Jacaranda trees here.
These are collector plants. You won't find these in nurseries.
Grafted trees are guaranteed to flower white and we expect them to flower in the next four weeks. It's often called Jacaranda "White Christmas".
We have beautiful plants here for $149.99.
We have 10 plants only.
Happy gardening
Tim