Gardenworld

March in the Melbourne garden.

Wow, these two large frangipanis, just a block from the bay are looking stunning.

Autumn is here and to gardeners it is a turning point. It is the time when we get lots of glorious weather but without the harshness of the summer heat. It is also a trigger for seasonal plantings of many great plants, and here are just a few: 

Aquilegia or Granny’s Bonnet looks spectacular in spring, but you must plant the seedlings before the winter, as they need that winter chill to inspire them to flower. Delphiniums also fit into this category and are best planted from seedlings as the seeds seem to take ages to germinate. Another one is foxglove, and even though it won’t flower for many months, it has beautiful foliage. 

That strange pot on 3AW - The Big Backyard.

This morning I was on air with Darren James and Jane Edmanson on radio station 3AW. Of course it was Sunday morning on their show The Big Backyard. It was also the day after one of the biggest storms to hit Melbourne in years and there was certainly some damaged gardens reported out there, particularly in Eastern suburbs.

It was also the last show for Darren and Jane at the South Melbourne studios, as next week they move into a new building in the city. It was kind of weird, because there was quite a bit of water damage at the station, so somebody up stairs must have been saying its time to move on!

I did have a strange looking pot on the show that is adjustable, and sits on fences. It was certainly very hard to descibe on radio, and Darren did not take a fancy to it at all. It has been huge in Europe however and is particularly good in small gardens, increasing your capacity to grow herbs and flowers. I did mention we would put it on the blog, so here it is here:

A little bit of inspiration.

By James Wall

A few years ago in another life, I had some spare garlic bulbs and had given them to Southmoor Primary School, a little school situated in Moorabbin. This school has been at the forefront of kitchen gardening and the headmaster had managed to chase me up to see if we had a few spare vegie seedlings. This morning I dropped them off.

To see what had been achieved over those few years was nothing less than inspirational.

Fruiting Fig Trees In Pots

By Dennis Ting

In the nursery a common question I am asked is what is a good fruit tree to grow in a pot that will also produce a useful yield.  While we have a good range of Dwarf Peaches and Nectarines (Trixzie), Apples (Ballerina) and Pinkabelle and Pear (Pipsqueak). I believe a forgotten fruit is the Fig Tree. 

Many people are afraid to plant fig trees in the ground due to the vigorous growth and massive size and a reputation for a vigorous root system.  Then at harvest time it is almost impossible to pick on a daily basis the ripening figs on the tall branches and beat the birds.