Have you eaten Dragon Fruit? - Mar 10, 2023
It's time to plant Broccoli.
Dear gardening friends.
It's time to plant Broccoli so I'm digging up my vegetable garden today. I've still got Tomatoes and Cucumbers producing fruit, but the plants look so untidy I'm pulling them out.
I've taken 3 bags of Chicken manure home and 2 bags of Tim's Cow manure. You should have smelt my car on the way home. I had the windows down and my head out the window. I looked like a dog.
I'll pull everything out today, then I'll spread the manure, and turn over the soil with a shovel and break up any clogs. I'll pick out the Curl grubs as I go. I'll dress with Tim's FAST FOOD Fertiliser, then cover the soil with fresh Sugarcane mulch. I'll water it well, then let it rest for a couple of weeks.
If your soil is ready, you can plant winter vegetables now, but I like to wait until the night time temperature drops. We've got all your winter vegetables in stock now.
But get your soil ready first.
We have the best chicken and cow manure.
Drive home with your head out the window.
It's an experience, woof woof.
Lilly brought me some Dragon Fruit.
They look spectacular!!!!!
She has invited me to come and see her garden, so I should have some photos for you next week.
I introduced her to Janiece.
She's a mad gardener too.
Lilly gave her a Dragon Fruit.
They got on like a house on fire.
It wasn't long before Lily was making plans to visit Janiece. Gardeners are like that.
That's how plants have travelled around the world. We have two Dragon fruit plants if you want to grow one.
Peter McFarlane was worried about his Lone Pine tree, that's planted at Ingleburn RSL. Peter grew the tree from seed, he told me, about 25 years ago. He planted it here to replace one that died. ( That's Peter and me in the photo. I look like a green caterpillar)
Lone Pine trees are planted all around Australia, often in RSL clubs, to commemorate Anzac Day.
Peter's tree was looking terrible when I arrived. All the pine needles have turned brown, but it still had green tips, so it may survive.
I scratched the soil, it was bone dry.
But this tree probably got sick after all the rain we got in winter and spring. Lots of mature trees have died all around Sydney and Macarthur.
The wet ground causes the roots to rot, the plant can't take up water, so the tree dies.
This Lone Pine's roots have probably rotted during all that rain, and now the soil has dried out, the limited surviving roots, just can't keep it alive.
Today I've applied Wettasoil around the drip line of the tree. This will remove the oily barrier so the soil can accept water again.
I've also spread a bag of Tim's Cow manure over 20m2. You're not suppose to fertilise sick plants, but Cow Manure only has 2% nitrogen and the "Organics" should help the tree to grow new roots.
I've told Peter to start watering his tree twice a week with a lawn sprinkler. Hopefully as the weather cools conditions will suit this sick tree better and it will come back to life.
As I was driving out, I suddenly realised Ingleburn RSL has a treeless car park. They should be planting trees to shade the patrons cars and to make the place look better. I'd be happy to donate 10 Crepe Myrtles to get them started.
Can you fall in love with a car so quickly? I just bought a 2019 model Pajero, I've owned it for a few weeks, and I'm still taking photos. I think it looks pretty.
Ive had a few fancier cars.
I had a BMW X5 that I loved too.
I told one of the parents at the boys school that I loved her car. If she ever wanted to sell it, let me know.
Well her husband turned up at the nursery with it, almost the next day, she really did want to sell it. So I had to buy it.
The turbo blew up twice.
It was a nightmare.
I traded that in for a Range Rover.
This car invented things that were wrong with it. Almost every morning it came up with a new excuse, on the dash, why it didn't want to go to work. It was very inventive!!!
But it really did get things wrong with it, more than any car I'd ever owned. I had to replace all the door locks, yes they get warn out on Range Rovers. They want you climbing out the windows!!!!
And when I bought new tyres, the tyre guy told me I'd need to buy new nuts. New nuts????
Yes Range Rovers have soft nuts, that get stripped, when they use the air gun to take them off. I've never had soft nuts before.
The Range Rover technician told me "that was just one of the quirky things, about owning a Range Rover."
I blew up two turbos in that one too. My mechanic didn't even want to fix it. I got it fixed, and the next week I crashed it.
So I'm looking at this car with love. My dad owns one that's done 500,000 kms and it's still got the same nuts!!!
It's just so nice to have this Grevillea back in stock. It's called "Scarlet Moon" and it has these beautiful scarlet red flowers all year round. (See photo)
The fern like, grey foliage, is the perfect backdrop for the scarlet flowers. It grows 2ms high by 1.5ms wide but it can be pruned at any height.
Grevillea "Scarlet Moon" was bred by Digby Growns at Kings Park Botanic Gardens.
He has bred some of the most amazing plants, but I think this is my favourite. The birds and the bees love it too.
Nice big plants that should flower soon are $31.99. We have 15 plants only.
Zoom zoom.
Hayden planted this Persian Shield plant in our garden out the front, and it's thriving in this hot weather.
It's often sold as an indoor plant, but it's a terrible indoor plant. This plant grows beautifully outdoors in a pot, or in your garden.
The foliage colour is so spectacular.
It's purple, it's silver, it's army green too.
It goes beautifully with our flag!!
Hayden grew these plants from cuttings and now we've got beautiful big plants for sale, here at the nursery. You can get a big plant for just $26.99.
It grows best in a protected spot in your garden in sun or part shade.
The frost knocks it around in winter, but then it comes back in spring.
Don't plant it down near the letterbox. Find a spot near your house. The warm bricks will help it survive the cold.
Come check them out.
We are growing them in full sun.
They look spectacular right now.
If you've got through this newsletter, pat yourself on the back, it's a long one today.
It's autumn now so our nursery is full of beautiful flowering plants. You should just come for a walk. It will make us both feel good.
Happy gardening
Tim