Smell the perfume - Nov 11, 2011

Dear gardening friends

I hope you won some money on the cup. Noreen had some luck with one of those mystery bets but the rest of us lost our money.

We had a few injuries here last week. Poor Simon nearly killed himself mopping the kitchen floor. He was mopping so vigorously the handle on the mop snapped and he went head first into the fridge. He came to work with a massive lump on his forehead. I started to laugh because how many people nearly kill themselves mopping the floor? There must be a pay back god because I tripped over a wire on the shop roof soon after and hurt my leg and shoulder. We are both in recovery mode just now.

I was having a coffee in Park Central this week and noticed these beautiful Native frangipani trees flowering across the road in the retirement village. Native frangipani is one of my favourite evergreen trees because it is small enough for suburban backyards. It only grows about 6 metres high by just 2.5 metres wide. It is one of the fastest growing trees available.. The trees flowers have a lovely fragrant perfume.

With summer fast approaching it is a good time to plant some shade trees.

In the back streets of Camden this week I found a beautiful Brufelsia covered in mauve,blue and white flowers. This shrub is often called a "Yesterday,today and tomorow". The flowers come out mauve then fade to blue and then white. It looks like it has 3 different coloured flowers on the same shrub. Dwarf and tall growing varieties are available. It can be grown in a large pot. The best ones I have seen usually get protection from the late afternoon sun. Brunfelsia has a lovely sweet perfume.

While I am talking about perfumed plants our Chinese star jasmine is flowering on the fence near the exit gate. This is a brilliant fast growing evergreen vine that gets covered in highly perfumed white flowers now. I love the dark glossy green leaves on this plant. Mitre 10 in Camden has used it as a ground cover in the carpark around the base of a Gum tree. Other plants would struggle in dry soil like this but Chinese star jasmine is so tough. Nice plants are available from just $12.99. This vine will also grow in large pots.

Karyn is busy planting more petunias in the garden. If you want Christmas colour in your garden plant some petunias, they are so easy to grow. If you need help with colour selection come and talk to Karyn.

Happy gardening

Tim