Bat Plants Are Flowering Now! - Mar 01, 2026
Dear gardening friends
We had a surprise visitor this week. Josh missed out on a photo last time Costa came to film here, and he wasn't going to miss out this time. Costa is always welcome, he's a good guy.
We are getting excited, we are going to be on Gardening Australia on Friday 6th of March. It's a story about trees. I think you might like it.
Costa and I even plant a tree together and you'll be surprised how much you'll learn. You think planting a tree is so simple but we planted a tree a special way, to make it grow faster.
Put the 6th of March in your calendar so you don't forget. We are hoping to make this the biggest Gardening Australia show ever.
The boys Bat plant is flowering this morning. I think it should have been called The Cat plant with whiskers like that. It's best grown as an indoor plant in the western suburbs where we get cold winters, it can grow outside near the coast or up north.
I've discovered it gets pot bound very quickly so you need to repot it into a bigger pot when you purchase one.
They come in black, white and green flowering varieties.
They need bright light to flower like this one, we've got glass bricks in the bathroom with a solar panel in the ceiling so it gets lots of light.
This one gets put in the shower occasionally to wash the dust off the big leaves. This helps freshen up the plant.
We feed it with Tim's FAST FOOD to keep the large leaves lush and green.
We have plants in stock today. Choose a ceramic pot from our range and we will repot it for you for free using Tim's Best Potting mix.
I've noticed that Bat Plants need a bigger pot, they have a vigorous root system and they just don't thrive in smaller pots. So always over pot these.
How could I possibly just drive past these newly planted trees in Menangle. The leaves are all drooping, they were crying out for love so I stopped up the road and filled my watering cans up. I carry two in my car for rescues like this.
Someone has spent a lot of money here, they have done everything right. They've made a raised garden bed with steel edging, it's been filled with good soil, it's been mulched.
These are native trees called Lophostemon confertus (syn. Tristania conferta) commonly known as Queensland Box trees.
I scraped away the mulch near the trunk, I was expecting to find the root ball to be dry as a bone, this is usually what happens when you don't water your trees before you plant them.
But the soil was moist, so what's happened? Super advanced plants sit around in nurseries for months, the roots grow through the grower bags and into the ground. When the trees get picked up the feeder roots get snapped off.
The trees get delivered and they get planted. They get watered but without feeder roots the plant droops and then lots of leaves might drop off. The trees can't take up water so they drop leaves to survive.
It's critical now that these trees be kept moist in the next few days and weeks. The trees will recover, if they get enough water. Other roots will activate and begin to grow.
I've added Wettasoil and Seasol. These products will help keep the soil wetter and the Seasol will encourage new roots to grow. If you live in Menangle you could help these trees survive. They will need watering every day.
If these trees die they very rarely get replaced. The developer moves on and no body comes back. It's up to us to help them survive.
This beautiful rain will help get these trees established. Such good soaking rain, it's going to be an amazing autumn.
Giulian Perrotta was spreading mulch in Mawson Park this morning. He's the head gardener here and he's doing a fabulous job. He took over from Michael who now runs a team who look after the business district including The Japanese Gardens at the Art Gallery.
I wanted to get a photo of Giulian because he's done such a great job with the Crepe Myrtles in Mawson Park and the Campbelltown Council gardens. He cut them back hard at the start of spring and the trees have responded with the most amazing flower display all summer long.
The trees had become tired looking and the hard prune brought them back to life. Giulian is so enthusiastic about making the gardens better. Whenever I do a post about Council staff people often comment negatively. People can always find a reason to complain.
But I've noticed a huge improvement to the Central Business district of Campbelltown. Council staff have been mulching all the gardens this month and it makes such a difference. It looks smarter but it also makes the plants grow so much better.
You'll notice all the gardens are being pruned and cared for now, there's been a change in the wind. Council has some hardworking staff who really want to make the place sparkle.
Happy gardening
Tim