You Need A Passionfruit Vine - Apr 24, 2026
Dear gardening friends
Look we may have become a little Salvia obsessed. They just keep turning up. We are hoping you love them too!!!!
This one's called "Mystic Spires". This beauty will add colour to your gardens through spring, summer and autumn. If it starts to look tired cut it back, feed with Tim's Cow manure and it will sprout new growth and more flowers.
Salvias are the gardeners friend. They always seem to be in flower when other plants are going off with winter approaching.
These hardy sun loving shrubs attract bees and pollinators into your garden. They are so easy to grow.
We have a range of colours here to suit your house colours. Gardening gets you outside in the fresh air, all of a sudden time flys and you've worked up a sweat. You feel good. Isn't that interesting.
You wouldn't believe how many Passionfruit vines we sell. Every time I look up the bench is empty and I'm on the phone again ringing all my grower friends.
There's a shortage of Passionfruit vines in Australia, the seed crops have failed, so growers are having to grow them themselves, from locally sourced seed.
Seed grown, Big Black Passionfruit, are better than grafted plants, because they don't sucker. They still grow quickly and you only need one vine to get fruit.
Passionfruit vines are incredibly recalcitrant, they only flower and fruit, when they want too. They will not flower for months, then they will flower, and all the flowers fall off, and then suddenly all the flowers will stay on, and you'll get 100s of Passionfruit.
If you're planting a Passionfruit there is a secret, they love being planted on a mound of Tim's Best Potting mix. Dig a bag into the ground then plant your vine in it.
Water it daily and mulch around the base with Sugar cane. Sugar cane is the gardeners mulch. It breaks down quickly to feed your soil. It adds Organics to your soil and this helps break down clay, it makes the soil hold more water, and it attracts earth worms into your garden.
Yes the worms come from next door they start migrating from gardens up the street, word gets out that your soil is moist. Worms love moist, compost improved soil.
Before you know it you've employed an army of worms who tunnel through your soil providing drainage and excreting worm poo and your plants start growing.
Your Passionfruit vine will cover the fence, it could cover your house and your neighbours house too. You'll be baking Pavlova just to use up the fruit, you'll be giving it away, you'll be learning to juggle Passionfruit.
We have Passionfruit vines here now. Don't delay, we are open this weekend. 10-4 Saturday, 9-4 Sunday, 9-4 Monday.
Kieran just came in to get a bag of Tim's Best Potting Mix for his mum. I'd never met him before but he had this giant smile on his face and I could see he was up for some banter.
What's with the shirt mate? Are you coming back from fishing? Do you wear that shirt just to frighten them? Have you got a fishing rod in your car? If you wear a shirt like that I'm expecting you to have at least one rod in the boot.
He starts to smile and adjusts his sunglasses away from the head and back onto the eyes. The glasses are huge, I can see my legs reflected, these glasses are bigger than my TV.
He starts telling me a fishing story, it's a long distance release story, he had a Marlin on for about 35 minutes before it got off. He tells me it was a little one, not much bigger than this. He holds up his hands.
He finishes with a story where he actually catches the fish, he's a good story teller, he changes into another person when the stories start.
I like Kieran straight away, I can imagine people standing around him at parties listening to his tales. I ask him what he does for a living?
He makes temporary fencing. "Is that because it just falls down?"
No, he really does install temporary fencing and he does have a fishing rod in his workshop, just incase the next job is near the water.
It's a small world, I discover I actually know Kierans mum. She gave me the Madagascar Palm that we have here in a pot at the entrance. His mum grows the best African violets in Australia, Kieran tells me his mum could grow a shoe.
Turns out he's Hayden's mate, they come from the same suburb, they even look like each other. There's a bit of rascal in them both.
Look I've since discovered some of the facts are fictitious, but it's based on a true story, so I'm keeping it. My son Dan, will love that.
Sometimes you see a shrub that's covered in so many flowers it looks like it's on fire. I spotted this Butterfly Bush flowering in Grasmere, it gets its name because the flowers hover above the shrub, and they look like Butterflies, and they even sway in the wind.
It's a fabulous shrub that comes in several colours including white and dark or light pink.
They are incredibly easy to grow and they flower from new growth so you have to prune them back hard several times a year to keep them growing.
If you never prune them they seem to give up on trying and they sometimes drop dead. But prune them, then feed them with Tim's Cow Manure, and they will live longer and flower longer.
We have most of the colours here and I'd love you to try a few in your garden now. They grow especially well in autumn and spring. You will love the flowers, especially on a windy day.
It's time to plant Broccoli and other winter vegetables. The nights have turned cooler now, so that means it time to plant Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Broccoli, Broccolini, Brussel sprouts, Peas, Sugar Snap peas, Celery, Carrots, Chives, Leeks, Spring Onions, Lettuce, Kale, Garlic, Strawberries, Silverbeet, Spinach etc.
You need to improve your soil with Tim's Cow manure. Dig one bag for every 2m2. Cover soil with Sugar cane and water well. Plant your seedlings through the mulch. Don't forget the snail pellets or they will get eaten over night.
To stop Caterpillars eating your leaves dust with Yates Tomato and Vegetable dust every 4-6 weeks. This product is amazing.
We have lots of new plants for autumn planting, come and see us this weekend. There's lots of rain around to help your plants grow.
Happy gardening
Tim