Bronze Cuckoos and Unloved Cabbages

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition.

Wildlife in Focus

-with ecologist Sue Stevens.
They’re listed as common but migratory, appearing only in Spring and Summer. Did you know that cuckoos only call during the breeding season?
Any other cuckoo won’t have the combination of green sheen on the upperparts, dark eye-stripe, white eyebrow and barring underneath.In Western Australia, some populations may have declined because populations of their host have declined due to land clearance for agriculture.

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Vegetable Heroes:

Chinese Cabbage, sometimes known as Napa Cabbage or Snow Cabbage. These Cabbages are still in the Brassica family but the scientific name is Brassica pekinensis, and Brassica chinensis var Rapa. Chinensis varieties do not form those tight heads like regular cabbage. Instead, they have a much looser head with smooth, crinkly light green leaf blades and large white mid-ribs forming a cluster like celery. What’s in a name? A lot of it’s not strictly what it is. Chinese cabbage is more closely related to turnips and swedes than any sort of cabbage. In fact it’s believed to have been a naturally hybridized cross between pak choi and a turnip. It has a milder flavour and thinner, more delicate leaves than ordinary cabbage. Chinese cabbage can be grown in cool  or cold weather only because it bolts (goes to seed) quickly in hot weather and long days. Because this program goes around Australia, I like to pick vegetables that we can roughly grow at the same time. Chinese Cabbage though seems to be very particular as to when it can be grown in different regions of Australia. In sub-tropical districts the only time when you can sow the seeds is in August and September. In temperate zones, plant the seeds in October and November, in Cool temperate areas, November and December are the best times, and in arid areas, plant in March to May. So sorry, to those listeners, you’ll just have to put a note in your garden diary. Tip: Even the most bolt-resistant varieties may prematurely bolt to seed if young plants are exposed to frost or over a week of sub (10⁰C) nights. For cold districts, wait until about the last frost date or after to direct seed or transplant out, or protect the plants with fabric row covers Chinese cabbage: is quick growing being ready in two to three months. It can be started in a mini green house and transplanted outside but, Chinese cabbage shocks easily, and transplanting sometimes shocks it into going to seed. Unless you’re sowing in those peat pots that can be transplanted pot ‘n’all into the garden it’s best to sow the seed directly in the veggie bed and thin them to stand 20-30cm or 8 to 12 inches apart. This is quite different from your regular cabbage because I have mentioned in previous programs that transplanting European Cabbage actually helps grow stronger roots on the plant. Water them often to help the young plants grow fast and become tender. They'll probably go to seed if growth slows down. To fertilise chinese cabbage, start applying a liquid fertiliser when they are about 15cm tall. When to pick them? Well. when the cabbage heads are compact and firm and before seed stalks form. Sound a bit hard? How about.. Tip:Once the leaves start folding up, it is usually 3 to 4 weeks until you have a nice head.  Cut off the whole plant at ground level.

Design Elements:

Baroque garden Nuremburg, Germany. photo M. Cannon

with Garden Designer, Lesley Simpson. This hedging plant is grown in gardens all over Europe because it grows in acid or alkaline soils, is drought tolerant, can take deep shade for part of the day, and is easily transplanted.   There’s many types of Buxus or Box Hedge plants. English Box or Buxus semperivrens-traditionally used in Europe and is shade and frost tolerant. Or try Dutch box, Buxus sempervirens “suffruticosa”, a very dense slow growing buxus that is shade tolerant and only grows to 1 metre. How about Japanese Box, Buxus microphylla var. Japonica? Great for warmer regions and is faster growing than English or Dutch varieties. For areas with warmer drier summers, Korean Box or Buxus microphylla. Loves sun, part-shade and can even take frost. So lot’s to choose from for a hedge, or topiary plant in your garden. Let's find out how to design with them...

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Plant of the Week:

with horticulturalist Sabina Fielding-Smith.  Are you short of flowering plants for your vase that add depth and body to the floral arrangement. Well here’s a choice that is easy to grow.

Coming from Western Australia you would expect the this plant would like sandy well drained soils and you would be right. It grows it full sun and semi-shade.

If you don’t have those conditions you can grow Geraldton Wax in pots or raised garden beds, even rockeries. Well-drained soils that are more alkaline than acid are this plant's preference. Add some Dolomite Lime if you're not sure of your soil pH.

Being a naitve plant that has evolved over thousands of years in dry, and poorly fertile soil, Geraldton wax has low nutritional requirements.

Too much nitrogen at flowering time will  mean that you get lots of fresh tip growth beyond the flowers.

When you first get your plant of Geraldton Wax, plant them out carefully as the roots break easily.

Powdery mildew might be a problem in more humid areas so make sure there’s plenty of air circulating around the plant.

Once established, plants will tolerate periods of extended dryness. The plants respond well to pruning back by about one third annually. Geraldton wax is one of Australia's most famous wildflowers and is widely used as a cut flower in Australia and overseas.

You can buy seed of Geradlton Wax from an Australian Native seed company. I have seen them for sale in Botanic gardens shops around the country as well.

www.australianseed.com

 

Sensational Plants and Bath Sponges

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition.

Design elements:

Mobile gardens have been used for centuries when vegetable gardeners would display their gardens in wheeled carts in front of Princes for special celebrations in the Ottoman empire.
In some cities, there is only one metre of green space allocated per person! We’re lucky to have lots of open space but in places like Instanbul, a landscape designer is coming up with the idea of virtual gardens . He’s anticipating that customers would look after their plants that would grow in real time, and have to water them, and prune them all from a laptop and small projector that are used to create garden holograms.
In a way, the latest mobile garden movement has sprung from this, but we in Australia, might have other reasons why we would want a mobile garden. Let’s find out more….

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Vegetable Heroes:

How about growing your own bath sponge? How? Plant a Gourd.   Gourds, not Gawd but Gourds those funny shaped vegetables that provide more that just food. Lagenaria siceraria from the Cucurbitaceae family. They are so easy to grow, whether you are a gardener or a beginner, gourds have something to offer everyone. If you can grow pumpkins, then you can grow gourds. In tropical climates, they grow all year round, so those gardeners can have 2 crops of gourds every year. For the rest of Australia, it depends what part of Australia you live in, normally from Spring (mid September to early December) after the danger of frost has passed. In temperate climates, sow the seed when temperatures are around 20⁰C to 30⁰C. In colder climates this means waiting until summer weather has come. To grow Gourds, soak the seeds overnight in lukewarm water in a shallow saucer, with a splash of seaweed solution added. Sow the seeds in mounds of well composted soil,  around 2 cm deep.   Growing luffa (Luffa cyclindrica)  requires a certain amount of patience. because it grows slower than most gourds. Luffa needs about 140 to 200 or more warm frost free days, depending on the location and variety grown. If you’re interested in growing loofah in Cool temperate areas, start the seeds off in pots, well before the last frost, that way you can extend your growing season. It needs lots of sun, warmth, water, good root nutrients, and a large strong trellis. Luffa can also be grown in pots as can all other Gourds, but make them at least 30cm wide.  It’s also a good idea to stop the plant growing when it reaches about 1.5 m by pruning off the tip.          This also increases the number of Loofah fruits that you get off your vine. When the weather heats up, add layers of sugar cane mulch or something similar so the plant doesn’t dry out. Or you may lose your Gourd or in this case Loofah! Tip: Gourd plants don’t transplant that well, so either catch them at when they're still at the four leaf stage or use one of those pots made from coco peat, or a jiffy pot, that can be planted into the soil, or plant them where you want them to grow. To keep them growing well, add a liquid feed of fish emulsion, or worm tea every three weeks. One problem you may get, and it’s the same with pumpkins is lack of fruit set. The separate male and female flowers may come out at the wrong time, or it’s cloudy, windy rainy when they come out, and that will mean the mainly bee pollinators won’t visit them. Try some hand pollination. That’ll work. Hand pollination is a very simple procedure. It simply involves shaking or tapping pollen from the male flower (that you have picked) over the female flower. When to pick your loofah is the big question. If the skin feels loose like it will come off easily, then it's ready. The loofah gourd will also have changed from green to brown  or even yellow and feels a lot lighter.  The skin feels loose and thinner when they are ready to pick.   The bottom tip of the luffa pod can be broken off, then shake out the seeds before peeling. - Peel your loofah, give it a bit of a wash under the tap and let it dry in the sun. Loofahs can be kept for years as long as they’re dry and dust free. Mail order or online from: www.greenharvest.com.au

Plant of the Week:

Hakea laurina "Stockdale Sensation." For the last twenty years, Native plant enthusiast, Max Ewer, of Mt Gambier in South Australia, has been passionate about growing the Hakea genus on his property.

Hakea laurina flower. Photo:M Cannon

Back in 2002 Max freeholded 10 acres of land and planted out 600 Hakeas. Max now has an extensive collection which boasts hakea’s native to Cape York right through to Tasmania. Max is considered an expert in his field of breeding and growing Hakeas. Some websites for growing native plants make the claim that Hakeas are only available in their original form and no-one is hybridizing. That simply means that according to some, you get only get plants that originally grow in the wild, or bush, but no-one is crossing the pollen between varieties to get a better flowering plant. They couldn’t be further from the truth.   Hakea ‘Stockdale Sensation’ was named in honour of Max’s late wife. Hakea "Stockdale Sensation" has the same amazing flowers as the species, but more of them and is a more bushy plant from all acounts. H. "Stockdale Sensation," grows to 2-3m x 2m, is drought tolerant when established, and tolerant of most soil types as long as it's well draining. Like the species, H. "Stockdale Sensation", starts flowering in winter. For more information about where you can buy this plant, go to www.pma.com.au that should give you a list of nurseries and garden centres that might have this plant.

Ranting with Basil

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition.

Spice It Up.   NEW SEGMENT

At one stage Greeks and Romans believed the most potent basil could only be grown if you sowed the seed while ranting and swearing. In French, semer le baslic (sowing basil) also means to rant.Well I hope you don’t have to swear and rant to get your Basil seeds to germinate, just have your pencils at the ready if you want to know how to grow, use and store Basil in the next segment with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au

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Vegetable Heroes:

Amaranth or Amaranthus cruentus is  from the family Amaranthaceae which includes the vegetables spinach and beetroot.   Many people might think that Amaranth is just for flowers in the garden and don’t know that that Amaranth has been used as a leafy vegetable and grain for centuries.  This Amaranth leaf, comes in many shapes and sizes and colours, and can be sold  as Amaranthus cruentus or Amaranthus tricolor in the garden centre. The Amaranth I’ve seen for sale as seedlings at the produce market I go to, has dark red foliage and if you ever let it flower, it has spectacular long reddish to purple arching tassels that contain masses of seed/grains. Depending on the variety, Amaranth can be anywhere from 60cm up to 2 metres tall. I’ve got to say, until I saw it for sale a few months ago in the herb section, I didn’t realise that you could eat it like spinach or with your salad greens. In sub-tropical areas such as Kempsey, and arid regions like Alice Springs you can sow Amaranth seeds from August until April, so nearly all year, in temperate zones, plant the seeds of Amaranth in September –through to March, but in cool temperate districts you only have from September until November. So order those seeds now. Soil temperatures need to be quite warm-18°C and 30°C.  Sow the seeds of Amaranth, which are quite fine, either straight into the garden bed or into seedling punnets.  Amaranth prefers humous rich moist soils but will grow in any type of soil. This is because, Amaranth is one of the plants classed as having C4 type of photosynthesis. This is quite a complicated chemical process which involves fixing CO2 in a different way. C4 plants include sugarcane and maize, are more adapted to surviving high daytime temperatures. For us gardeners this means it’s pretty drought tolerant once it’s passed the seedling stage when the roots system is established.  Although it will look like it’s wilting during a warm day, it will spring back to life in the evening.       Amaranth is fast-growing and it’s better to pick the whole plant as the older leaves get tough and bitter. Another tip is to pinch out the growing tips so your plant becomes bushy.  So why grow Amaranth?  Firstly, it’s decorative, secondly the leaves are great in salads or a substitute for Spinach, and for the permaculture devotee, or the gardener who takes advantage of plants that self sow. This is one of them. All species of amaranth make great companion plants especially for pest management. Amaranth traps leaf miners and some other pests, and breaks up compacted soil, making it easier for the roots of neighbouring plants to penetrate the soil.  Amaranth has also sparked interest commercially because for a plant that’s not a legume, ( that is a pea or bean plant,) the seeds have an unusually high content of protein-around 16%

Design Elements:

Ever wondered if you’re garden is romantic or even how to create a romantic garden? What makes a plant romantic? Is it just the colour, maybe pink and white together, or do you have to plant a lot of red roses?   Let’s find out with garden designer Lesley Simpson.

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 Plant of the Week:

If the cold dreariness of winter is getting your down, even just a couple of these bedding annuals known as Polyanthus can brighten the balcony, verandah or garden bed, pots or hanging baskets. Information supplied by John Robb of Paradise Plants, Kulnura, Aust. www.paradiseplants.com.au                In 1990, Bob Cherry, owner of Paradise Plants, Kulnura, Australia and plant enthusiast, was growing the ‘Pacific Giants’ strain of Polyanthus for sale in pots and, seeing the shifting trend towards the P. acaulis type plants, decided to combine the great colours of the Poly with the compact habit of the P. acaulis. The breeding of Polyanthus is not an easy task, as every single flower needs to be pollinated by hand to set seed! If you have one thousand plants to cross pollinate, that’s quite a bit of work. John Robb says, "We have been breeding Polys for many years (in fact I am picking out our parents plants for seed production today! -4th august). our focus has always been on good weather tolerance, earliness to flower and disease resistance.

Nowadays, ‘Primula x Polyanthus’ is generally the name used to describe plants with the ‘taller’ habit of the original Polyanthus, and ‘Primula acaulis’ is the name given to the more modern compact forms. Just to add another spanner to the naming issue, it is my experience that the taller Polys will grow compact in some seasons and the shorter P. acaulis will grow quite tall late in the season! So the next time someone asks you the difference between a Polyanthus and a Primula acaulis, you will know just what to tell them!" Apart from painstakingly hand-pollinating each flower- "The resultant seed is distributed throughout Australia by Ball Seed, and there are many growers Australia-wide. I could not say that ‘most’ of the polys in Australian nurseries are the Paradise lines (in general, most potted-colour lines like pansies, petunias, polys etc. are not branded),  but you can tell the Paradise strain because of their prominent flowers held up well above the foliage."

These plants are frost hardy, sun tolerant (although they prefer light shade) and generally tough. Pull off the dead flowers to keep the plants looking bright. Although in cooler, protected areas the poly will persist over summer, it is most often treated as an annual in Australia, as the heat of summer generally finishes them off. Sow seeds in January for plants flowering in May-Oct

Learn How to Grow Rocket says the Wise Boo Book Owl

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition.

Wildlife in Focus: with ecologist Sue Stevens.

 There is much myth and folklore about owls. Some are light- hearted like in the U.S.: if you hear an Owl-cry you must return the call, or else take off an item of clothing and put it on again inside-out!
 Boo Book Owls are found all round Australia, from forests to desert regions, but need hollows in trees to nest. We can help these birds if we realize that, in the environment, dead trees are as valuable as living ones, and they should be left for homes for wildlife.
Find out more about this wonderful with a rather nice call.

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Vegetable Heroes:

Rocket or Arugula and scientifically Eruca sativa.  Arugula belongs to the Brassicaceae family along with Broccoli, Mustard greens, Kale and Cauliflower. The spicy leaves can be grown all year round but are best in cool weather. I’ve found that certain plants like Arugula or Rocket and Coriander just bolt to seed in summer and it’s pointless getting the varieties that are supposedly slow bolting, because they always bolt in temperate zones anyway. The reason being is that long days and warm temperatures initiate flowering in this plant so you can’t fight nature. In temperate and arid districts, you can sow Arugula seeds from August until November, in cool temperate areas wait until September unless you have a greenhouse or even a mini-greenhouse, but sub-tropical districts can sow Arugula or Rocket seeds from March right through til November. Lucky them. For those of you that have a soil thermometer and actually use it, the soil temperatures for germination should be between  4°C 14°C Arugula is best grown from seed and sow them a couple of weeks apart to have a continuous crop, and be brave let one or two plants go to seed so you have fresh seed for next season. Sow the seeds very shallow and keep the soil moist until seedlings emerge. The plant grows to about 40cm high so thin out the seedlings so they’re 20cm apart. During the cooler months grow Rocket in full sun. In warmer districts, rocket will tolerate partial shade. Rocket also copes with light frost.  Rocket or Arugula is one of those plants that’s easy to grow so would suit your kids or gran kids if you’re trying to get them into gardening. I’ve been growing the Wild Rocket in my garden and it seems to be hanging in quite well through all the rain and cold temperate zones have experienced this winter. Wild rocket has more narrow leaves and the flavour is quite mild. Buy online from www.diggerseeds.com.au  or www.greenharvest.com.au

Design Elements: 

Over the last few weeks, Design Elements has been all about different ways of achieving structure in the garden. So far, it’s been about what is structure, and structure with hedges that some people find boring, but gardeners in Europe think otherwise. Then there’s been built structures, but today, can you achieve structure with everyday plants?  Let’s find out with garden designer Lesley Simpson..

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Plant of the Week:

Together with horticulturalist Sabina Fielding-Smith, we're talking about Camellias.If you want a large flower scented Camellia with fragrance there is only one. Camellia japonica “High Fragrance,”  bred in NZ in 1986. In the show I mentioned that I like to graft slow growing Camellias onto Camellia sasanqua root stock. June is the best time of year to do this in temperate zones, and you may just get away with it on colder districts.

Anyway, last year I grafted a Camellia reticulata "Red Crystal" onto Sasanqua stock and I’m pleased to report I have my first flower. It’s a brilliant crepe paper red with a huge central boss of yellow stamens. Just spectacular . There's a lot to be said about growing Camellias in the right conditions, that is, slightly acidic soil with plenty of humus. Most problems occur when the Camellia plant is not receiving it's requirements. In the last few years, Camellias around Australia have been attacked by Camellia T-mite. This occurred during the drier period and has persisted since. Preventative control is possible by spraying the Camellias, (after flowering) with horticultural oil.  There is also now a registered Neem Oil product from eco Organic Gardening. See their website. www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/ Mature Camellias are reasonably drought tolerant, but that depends where you live. As a preference, Camellias like a bit of moisture at all times, but not soaking wet otherwise they'll develop root rot. Flower balling is another problem that can occur with multi-petalled varieties such as Camellia japonica W.H Davies. This often meanes that the flowers received direct sunlight after a heavy dew, causing the petals to fuse. Light coloured flowers, prefer dappled midday to afternoon sun. In the past, a mulch of cow manure was recommended, but after hearing about the toxicity and variability of some manure products, I don't recommend this. It seems that some manures contain a high content of salts which will stress the plants and also cause flower balling. Go easy on the manures and possibly stick to pelletised or synthetic fertilisers. Camellias in many neglected or older gardens appear to flower without any fertilising, so perhaps easing back on fertilising mature shrubs is a better alternative. If you need to prune your Camellias, wait until after flowering and no more than one-third off the top. If you’ve inherited a mature straggly Camellia, and I’ve seen this done at historic Camden House in southern Sydney, mature Camellias, including reticulatas were heavily pruned; even reduced to a bare frame!