Plums, Roses and Curry Leaves

PLANT DOCTOR

For hundreds of years the rose has been widely recognized as a symbol of love, sympathy or sorrow, but did you know that the rose is not only England’s national flower but from 1986, America’s as well.
Few people dislike rose

Roses for your garden photo M. Cannon

s, especially receiving or giving bunches of them.
Not everyone likes or can grow them successfully, but us gardeners still like to try.
Here’s some timely tips.
I'm talking with Steve Falcioni, General Manager of www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au


Roses need to be pruned if you want plenty of flowers because they flower on new growth.
Prune your roses mid winter or in August for those districts that receive late frosts.

Quick Pruning Guide

Hybrid Teas:
For example:Papa Meilland, Peace, Sir Donald Bradman.
Prune to half of the bush and leave 3-4 canes cutting older greying canes back to the base.
If you only have 3-4 canes then leave them and hopefully you'll have new vigorous growth.
Modern Bush Roses:
For example: David Austen.
Prune by one-third but don't cut out any old canes. They need to be left like a bush.
Climbing Roses.
You should have a framework of 3-4 main canes, from which come shorter canes.
Only prune these to about 3-4 buds, about 10 cm.
Note: All pruning cuts should be sloping and about 1 cm above an outward facing bud.
Bare Rooted Roses:

Old world roses photo M. Cannon

When you receive your bare rooted roses the two most important things that get your roses off to a great start are to make sure they're in the right growing conditions and to plant them properly.
Here’s something you mightn’t know.
We usually call the sharp spikes on the stem of a rose bush "thorns", but these are in fact technically prickles.
If you have any questions about rose care or have some information to share, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

Curry Leaf Tree or Bergera koenigii it used to be called Murraya koenigii,  and for the most part, because people are more familiar with that botanical name, the nursery industry is sticking to it and so shall I.
Murraya Koenigii grows very well in all of Australia.
What is a curry leaf tree really?
Basically it’s just an aromatic Murraya species in the family Rutaceae.
Even when fresh the leaves of this tree have a strong curry aroma, but they take on a whole different flavour in cooking. Mmmm!
But there are other shrubs called curry plant, so be careful, because the others aren’t the edible or cooking with variety.
The Curry tree is native to India and Sri Lanka, and can grow into a large shrub to small tree growing 4-6 m tall.
However, if you keep it in a pot, you can keep it reasonably small.
What Does It Look Like?
The leaves are much like but  in a smaller way to Murraya or Orange Jessamine being in the same genus.
Why wouldn’t you grow this bush with

Curry Leaf Tree

the highly aromatic leaves, and heads of flowers that are white, and fragrant appearing in Spring and Summer?
One thing to remember though is that after flowering, the plant produces small black, shiny berries that are edible.
The second part  of the botanical name or the species name commemorates the botanist Johann Gerhard König which translates to  king in the  German language.
Where it likes to grow
Full sun or light shade is the ideal spot and all you need to do is fertilize with palm or citrus fertilizer to get plenty of leaves.
Curry leaf plants can be grown in large pots and also on the ground.
The type of soil doesn’t matter either.
I have one plant in large pot and it’s only about 1 metre in height.
I’ve got to say that it’s pretty slow growing so don’t worry too much about re-potting it.
They have a tendency to sucker when in the ground, so keeping it a pot if you’re worried about this is probably a good idea.
Full grown plants on the ground can survive frosty conditions, plus the curry leaf tree is hardy and drought tolerant once established.
Where Can You Grow it?
Murraya koenigii or curry leaf tree grows anywhere from tropical areas to cool temperate districts.
A listener, Lesley, has written in to say that she has have several plants in the ground in Melbourne which are now nearly 2 ½ to 3 metres, and thriving.
She doesn’t even cover them during winter period!

Murray koenigii flowers

Like the hedging variety of Murraya, pruning your curry leaf tree every year will make it more bushy so you’ll get more of those fragrant curry leaves.
Picking of the leaves for cooking is also a way of getting bushy growth.
If you want to propagate this plant, when you see the berries at the very tips of the branches turning black, is the time to propagate from seed.
By the way, in some sub-tropical districts this tree has spread into bushland because of birds eating the berries.
If you live in those districts, prune off the berries before the birds get them.
They can be propagated from root suckers but the new plant will sucker even more if you do it this way.
TIP:
For propagating the fruits are best picked when they are half ripe or when fully ripe ie, quite black.
The fruits should also never be allowed to dry, because the curry plant seeds in them lose their viability when they shrivel or dry up.
Peel the seed out of half ripe or fully ripe fruits by squeezing out the flesh before planting.
The fruit around the seed may slow down germination.
 Seeds are best planted quite shallowly in seed raising mix and germinate in about 10 days -they germinate best with warm soil 21⁰ to 27⁰ C
HOW TO USE CURRY LEAF
Use young leaves and crushed seeds in curries, soup stocks and sauces.
The leaves are spicy but not hot  so they can flavour vinegars and salad oils.
Curry leaves are used a lot in South Indian kitchens, where the curry leaves are generally sautéed in oil with mustard seeds and added to dhal, fresh coconut chutney or vegetable dishes.
I always strip the leaves from their stalk before frying, and sometimes tear and crush them between my fingers to release more of their essential oils.
UNUSUAL TIP: do you worry about bad breath?
You probably haven’t heard of this type of breath freshener before.
Did you know that the people of India grow the curry leaf tree, Murraya koenigii, not only to flavour traditional dishes but also known for treating bad breath.

Murraya koenigii berries

What you do is put a few of the fresh leaves in the mouth and hold them there for several minutes and voila’-fresh breath.
I can’t say I’ve tried it though.
Why Are They Good For You?
Apparently scientists are studying the extract of the leaves as a natural medicine against high cholesterol and high blood sugar.
Curry leaves are also known to be good for your hair, for keeping it healthy and long.
You can buy the plant from the herb section of your local nursery or garden centre, some Asian supermarkets, and online from www.diggers.com.au
But be careful that you’re not getting the curry leaf bush-Helichrysum italicum.
This has a grey feathery leaf and can’t be used in cooking at all, even though it smells of curry when you brush past it.
Think of the king when buying your Curry tree plant-Murraya Koenigii!
THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Would you like a garden make-over but think, Nah, it’s too costly?
There are other ways of making over your garden without all that expense that you see on those televised garden renovation shows every week.
Over the next few weeks, Design Elements will explain different ways of updating your garden without all that expense, sweat and hard labour.

Flowers to update your garden. Photo M.Cannon

We’ll cover updating your garden in many different ways, including using existing plants, colour and shape of plants, and easy make-overs.
Today, we’re starting with updating your garden using flower colour.
I'm talking with was Louise McDaid  Landscape Designer.

Heliotrope arborescens; Cherry Pie. photo M Cannon

One of the great things about plants is the huge variety of colours available – both in their leaves, their flowers and their berries or fruit.
Flower: the blooming of flowers brings joy to the garden and seasonality through different flowering times.
As an example, take Perennials
Oriental lily, asiatic lily, hosta, Peruvian lily (alstroemeria), pink butterflies (gaura), statice (limonium), Christmas bells, gerbera, scabious (scabiosa), Mona lavender (plectranthus).
There should be plenty of ideas to get you started even if you’re a beginner gardener, and some tips for those of you who’ve been doing it for a while.
Plus there’s so many new flower cultivars coming out each season to tempt you.

 PLANT OF THE WEEK

DAVDISON PLUM Davidsonia pruriens, Davidsonia jerseyana.

Bush tucker plants are one of the hot trends in horticulture and this one is no exception.

The Davidson plum looks rather alien and Dr Seuss like the dark skinned fruit hang like bunches of large grapes from either the long narrow trunk or the branches and there’s a variety to suit most climates in Australia.
As for picking the fruit, they conveniently drop to the ground when they’re ripe.

Let’s find out about growing it.

I'm talking with the plant panel: Karen Smith, editor of Hort Journal www.hortjournal.com.au  and Jeremy Critchley, The Green Gallery wholesale nursery owner. www.thegreengallery.com.au


Fruits are dark purple in colour, oval shaped and covered with fine almost indiscernable hairs.

Fruits contain two large seed cases with a single seed and are fibrous.
The fruit flesh is dark red when fully ripe.
D. pruriens fruits are produced in large pendulous clusters from the trunk, they are large deep purple, though the fruit flesh is slightly paler and contains more fibre than its NSW cousin..
Davidson plum trees have a narrow habit with branching on the top half to a third of the tree.

Davidsonia pruriens.  photo M Cannon

Despite their tart taste Davidson plums are known as one of the best of the native plums.
Did you know that the Davidson plum has 100x the vitamin C found in oranges?
They also contain lutien, magnesium, calcium, potassium and manganese.
Store in the fridge for a couple of days or you can freeze them.
When making jams be sure to use twice the amount of sugar, but first cut the fruit in half and remove the two stones or seeds.
You don’t have to just make jam with this fruit.
You can make Davidson Plum Paste, Davidson Plum Chutney or even Davidson Plum and Ginger sauce.

Davidson Plum Chutney

500g Spanish onions, sliced
1 garlic clove
butter for frying
200g Davidson’s plums, de-seeded and chopped
200g brown sugar
100g sultanas
100ml dry white wine
100ml white wine vinegar
a pinch of curry powder
1 clove

Saute' the onions and chopped garlic in a little butter until transparent. Add the remaining ingredients and boil for 1 to 2 hours or until thick stirring occasionally.


 

Perfume, Plums and Long Shanks

Wildlife in Focus

Black Winged Stilt

If ever there was a bird that would make a great porcelain figuring, it has to be this one. The Black Winged Stilt is super elegant, handsome and beautifully coloured.
Let’s find out more… with ecologist Sue Stevens

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This bird is a wader, meaning it’s standing not swimming when it feeds, as distinct from ducks. They use their sharp bills to peck.
If you’ve seen aquatic birds and wondered what they’re eating- only very small food such as molluscs, miniscule crustaceans, algae, flies and aquatic insects.
DID YOU KNOW?
In order to keep predators away from their unhatched eggs, a Black-winged Stilt pretends to be injured so it can lure the predator away.
The stilt can also make a sharp yapping sound and fly around frantically to distract any predators.
Unless you have a nearby wetland you probably won’t see this bird, but in the holiday season, you may just well come across it in your travels.
We would love to see your photo of this bird. Send it in to
realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR po Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Vegetable Heroes

This weeks Vegetable Hero segment is actually a fruit tree-the Davidson’s Plum, an important food tree in Australia’s bush food industry.
There are three Davidson’s plum in the genus that are native to Australia.
Davidsonia pruriens, is a tall slimline tree that grows to 10 metres and is from Queensland  in the understorey of rainforests.
The plums off this tree hang of the branches as well as the trunk.
The flowers also have that amazing habit of growing straight off the trunk as well.
The fruits are larger than Davidsonia jerseyana also known as , Davidson's Plum or Mullumbimby Plum,
This one is also a slimline tree, only around 5 metres tall, and native to lowland subtropical rainforests of New South Wales. It is considered an endangered species in the wild, but is grown for its pleasantly sour fruit that is used in jam, wine, ice-cream and sauces.
The last in the three is Davidsonia johnsonii,  known as Smooth Davidson's Plum.
Also a small tree with a spreading canopy, and smooth leaves native to New South Wales and southeast Queensland. It is also considered an endangered species in the wild, but is not grown very much.
Today, we’re concentrating on the taller of the Davidson plums-Davidsonia pruriens.
Mainly because I grow it and also because the Mullumbimby plum prefers warmer conditions.
This tree is suitable for any tropical area, but also warm temperate and further south, Mediterranean climates such as lower part of Victoria, including Melbourne, and of course, around Adelaide.
For cool temperate districts you can grow this tree in a pot indoors for quite a few years because of its slow growth.
Davidson’s plum' is a beautiful palm shaped tree with what’s called pinnate leaves that have fine hairy stems underneath.
Pinnate means that the leaves don’t come of branches but rather from a thicker central stem, from which five, seven or more leaves come off.
New growth is an attractive dusky pink, as are the panicles of flowers that appear in Spring.
In Autumn the plum fruits appear.
Plums hang of the tree in clusters and are quite large, dark blue to black about 4-5cm in diameter.
The plum looks like a blood plum inside and out.
Inside the dark red flesh there is two unusual flat seeds and has a really acidic plum flavour. The skin is thin but on the tougher, leathery side, and is covered with very fine hairs.
Because these trees are understory rainforest trees they can be grown in shady conditions but commercial growers do grow them in full sun.
This tree needs protection from wind until it’s established, and prefers moist, humus enriched well drained soil.
The online supplier suggests that they make a very attractive indoor plant when young.
If you would like to buy this tree you can, from two suppliers in Australia. Either call email or write for a catalogue.
The suppliers are in fact located close to Mullumbimby.
Computer users can put in Botanic Gardens nursery + www.daleysfruit.com.au and 
+ http://www.nativerainforestplum.com/index.html
Fairly slow growing and prefer being in shaded locations.
I’ve made Davidson’s Plum jam, but you can also find recipes for Davidson’s plum paste and Davidson’s plum chutney.
You could also substitute Davidson’s plum for tamarind in satay sauce or when making sweet and sour sauce.

Design Elements

Redefining the Concept of a Produce Garden.

Imagine the idea of plucking your own herbs and vegetables. No, you don't have to go to a far away place, but be right in your homes! More and more people are taking to redefining the idea of fresh greens and vegetables and shrinking the distance between the ingredients and the pan. Let’s find out how…

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I hope that’s given you some idea start a produce garden or maybe redefine it so it works better for you.

Plant of the Week

 

For reasons best known to themselves, taxonomists have been changing names of plants. Names that we’ve used for decades so it’s quite difficult to get used to the new one.
Stephanotis is one such plant.
The scientific name and the common name were the same.
It’s now called Marsdenia floribunda instead of Stephanotis floribunda.
But, no matter what you call it, there’s no denying that it has one of the most fragrant flowers of any climbing plant.

• Planting too many strongly scented plants close together and all flowering at the same time would be overwhelming, so it is important to know when each plant will be in flower.
• Known as Madagascar Jasmine, once known as Stephanotis floribunda.
• Also known as Bridal wreath because the flower is often used in bridal bouquets.
• It is a vine native to Madagascar that is in the same family as milkweed, hoya and crown flower, the Asclepiadaceae.
• The genus name derives from the Greek stephanos, or crown, and otis, for ear, referring to the arrangement of the stamens in the flower, which are supposedly ear-shaped.
• The name was changed to Marsdenia in 1990.
• Drought tolerant and frost hardy. It’s sold as an indoor plant in places like Austria and Germany.
• The vines can grow to 3 6 metres or more and are covered with shiny, thick, dark green leaves. The leaves are  opposite each other along the stem and are basically an elongated egg-shape and are 5-7 cm long.
• The stems often have long internodes (spaces between the leaves) but because the stems intertwine readily as they grow, the overall effect is one of dense foliage.
• Marsdenia likes well-drained Acid, Alkaline or Neutral Loam, Chalk or Sand
• Suggested planting locations and garden types-City/Courtyard Gardens, Patio/Container Plants or Wall-side Borders
• Vigorous climbers -Timing: Those that flower on the previous year's growth should be pruned after flowering and where flowering occurs on the current year's growth prune in late winter or spring
• Pruning: No regular pruning needed. However trimming may be required to keep them to the space available, removing as much from the longer shoots as necessary.
• Pure white flowers appear in short clusters at the axils of the leaves.
• The flowers are very fragrant, tubular, waxy and 3-6 cm long long.
• The main flush of flowers starts in late winter or early spring and goes on into the summer in tropical climates, but late summer for temperate and cool temperate districts.
• If you live in sub-tropical areas, you’ll get  a spattering of flowers on some vines all year long, though you’ll more like get no flowers for several months at a time in the winter months.
• Fruit on stephanotis vines appear fairly regularly in Australia and they look like a green mango but have an obvious seam running along two sides.
• When the fruit is ripe, in this case, changes colour from green to a fairly dark brown, the seed pops open along the seams and literally hundreds of flat, brown seeds attached to white tufts of hair about 1 cm long. These tufts act like parachutes and allow the wind to disperse the seeds.
• Very easily propagated from seed and in some cases, you’ll find the seed has sprouted somewhere else in your garden in the conditions are right-filtered sun, moist soil.
• Propagation-Propagate by seed sown at 18-21°C in spring or strike semi-hardwood cuttings in summer, with bottom heat
• Stephanotis needs to be grown on a support of some sort. The vines are heavy and need a strong fence or trellis.