Mortisha gets her wish - Oct 21, 2011
Dear gardening friends
Beautiful sunny days this week so everybody seems to be gardening again. We have had lots of people coming in wondering if it is too late to spray for bindii. Yes it is because the seeds have already set so your poor dog will be doing it tough all summer long.
It is still worth spraying the clover though so at least your dog isn't getting stung by bees too. You do need to spray your lawn twice in 10 days to really kill clover. If you only spray once the clover just recovers and seems to grow better than ever. We have had great success using Richgro Bindii Killer for Buffalo Lawns. This can be used on all types of grass and it seems to kill most of the broad leaf weeds including clover. Don't spray on windy days or it could damage the new growth on your rose bushes.
Your Tomato plants will be loving this warmer weather and they will finally start to grow. Cucumbers and Basil need warm weather or they just sit their and do nothing too. I have noticed my lettuce seedlings and beetroot are growing fast so they don't mind the cooler nights.
Your grass should be finally waking up and you can start mowing it every week. You can quit the gym now because mowing lawns is great exercise. Make sure you wear glasses when you are doing the whipper sniping. So many people get eye damage from flying sticks etc so wear protective glasses and ear muffs.
Karyn has been busy pulling out all the pansies in our nursery garden. The hotter weather always finishes them off around this time. Karyn always improves the soil before replanting. She likes to dig Greengold planting compost and cow manure into the soil. Then she covers the soil with sugar cane and then plants Petunias. Your pansies are probably looking terrible now too so do what Karyn does.
The Raspberry Blast Petunias are looking fantastic in the baskets at the entrance to our nursery. They have only been planted for a week yet they are covered in flowers already. This really is a winner so come and check them out. New stock has just arrived and they are even bigger plants than last week. The 2 plants for $30.00 has been a popular option.
If you ever watched The Adams Family you will know that Mortisha loved the colour black. She also used to cut the flowers off her rose bushes because they detracted from the thorns. Plant breeders have finally bred a black flowering petunia that will make today's Mortishas happy.
This exciting new petunia is called Black Velvet and it looks fantastic spilling out of a pot or hanging basket. It flowers non stop for 6 to 9 months and it is easy to grow. Black seems to contrast beautifully with other colours in your garden. The plants are available in 150mm pots for $8.99. They are already flowering so you will get instant satisfaction.
Petunia Black Velvet is not available in punnets so it is best used as a highlight plant. We have planted one in a pot and used the white flowering Alyssum as a border and it looks brilliant. Black Velvet stays nice and compact while the Alyssum will spill over the sides.
You could plant Petunia Black Velvet with orange petite marigolds to let everyone know you support the tigers!
We had custard tart day today at the nursery so we are all feeling a little bit fatter. I actually ate two!
I visited Kevin and Ann Barlows garden today in East Campbelltown. Ann wanted me to help identify some of her more unusual plants. Kevin has grown most of the plants in their garden from cuttings. Kevin should have worked in a nursery because he has a green thumb. I took a cutting from one of their Kalanchoes which had a fuchsia like flower. Spring is the best time to try and grow plants from a cutting so give it a try. All you need is some seed raising mix and some cutting powder. Take some small pots from our recycling bin and put at least 10 cuttings in each pot. Put the pot in a shady spot and water daily. If you have a lot of success we may be out of business.
Pig was spotted at Camden pool last week. Apparently he can often be found there doing laps. We have been wondering why he never seems to put on any weight.
Happy gardening
Tim