Splendid Native Trees: Blueberry Ash: Willow Myrtle: Albany Woolly Bush: Ivory Curl Tree

 PLANT OF THE WEEK : 

Blueberry Ash

Common Name:Blueberry Ash
Scientific name: Eleaocarpus reticulatus
Family:Elaeocarpacea
Etymology:Elaeocarpus - From the Greek elaia meaning 'olive' and karpos meaning 'fruit';
reticulatus - Latin word meaning 'net-like' referring to the leaf venation.
Tree Height: 6-15m (various cultivars Prima Donna 8-10m)
Flowering:April - October
Origin: Australian rainforests along the east coast.

This is a beautiful tree with sculptural leathery leaves that show off a 'bloom' much like you see on some eucalypt leaves. 

Leaves are medium sized (12cm) with a drip tip apex and serrated edges. 

Starting off as mid to dark green the leaves age to a bright red which contrasts well, being opposite on the colour wheel.

The flowers are also quite a feature resembling clutches of lily of the valley flowers in either pink or cream all over the tree.

The fruits are small blue berries, hence the common name. The fruits are liked by many birds including currawongs, parrots, cockatoos and native pigeons.

Fruits can persist on the tree until the next flowering.

Although the height can grow to 15m you can keep it to as small a height as you would like even 2-3m if preferred.

• Adrian says they shed foliage 12 months of the years so don't plant them near your gutters.
• Not frost tolerant so if you really love the look of this tree, plant it near a north facing wall to give it protection from frost.

I'm talking with Adrian O'Malley, native plant expert.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Scientific Name:Agonis Flexuosa

Common Name: Willow Myrtle/ Peppermint Willow (pictured)

Family: Myrtaceae

Etymology: derived from the Greek word agonos, translated as "without angles," in reference to the drooping branches of some species

flexuous means "bending" or "curvy," referring to the way the branches arch gracefully.

Another fairly spectacular tree when in flower which although small, there are heaps of them.

Origins: Native to Western Australia

Height: to 10 metres

Flowering: Late spring-branches are covered in fragrant tiny white flowers.

There are various cultivars available such as Agonis 'After Dark" (pictured) and Agonis 'Jervis Bay, Agonis 'variegata' and Agonis 'Burgundy.'

Also there is a dwarf form Agonis "Nana.'

The burgundy or dark foliage is a superb contrast to all that green you may have in the garden.

Soil preference is sandy to medium soil, but not clay soils.     

This one's not frost tolerant.

Adrian says you would grow it for the attractive foliage and attracting furrowed bark.

I'm talking with native plant expert Adrian O'Malley

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Scientific Name:Adenanthos sericeus 

Common Name: Albany Woolly Bush

Family: Proteaceae

Etymology: latin sericeus ("silky"), in reference to the very soft foliage. Common name-after a town where it grows indigenously 4.5hrs drive south of Busselton

Height: species grows to 5 metres tall but numerous cultivars are much smaller.

Flowers: insignificant but do appear late winter to early spring.

Many people either grow it themselves or buy an Albany Woolly Bush around Christmas time because it really suits this idea because the. grey-green leaves give it a colour that almost ‘hints’ at being snow covered.

Cultivars:

Adenanthos 'Silver Lining' a groundcover 40cm in height with 1.5m spread

Adenanthos 'Platinum' 1.5m height

Adenanthos 'Silver Streak' grows to 2m

One of the best Christmas trees yet because of the soft furry foliage that you just can't help touching it. 

• The woolly bush is susceptible to phytophthera which can result in the plant dropping dead, seemingly overnight. Particularly if your district has summer humidity.
• The leaves are needle like but not stiff like you would see on a pine tree.
• Makes a perfect living Christmas tree and suitable to be kept in a container in between. This is my one that is nearly two years old. One thing to watch, when hanging tree ornaments on it, because the branches are quite supple, the tree has this kind of spreading look when you finished decorating it.

I'm talking with native plant expert, Adrian O'Malley

 

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Scientific Name: Bickinghamia celsissima

Common Name: Ivory Curl Tree

Family: Proteaceae

Etymology:Buckinghamia....after Richard Grenville, Duke of Buckingham.

celsissima....from Latin celsus, high or lofty, a reference to the habit of the plant in the wild.

Origins: Rainforests of Queensland.

Height: grows to 30 m in natural environment, but 7-8 metres in the home garden. Often used as a street tree.

Flowering: Summer to late Autumn, depending on the location, when the entire crown can be almost entirely covered with spectacular and large (30cm )  racemes of pendant white to cream sweetly perfumed flowers. Often covered in bees happily taking in the nectar and pollen.

pendant white to cream sweetly perfumed flowers. Often covered in bees happily taking in the nectar and pollen.

Fruit: Wooden follicles that contain several seeds. Fresh seed germinates fairly easily, producing plants that can flower within three years. 

Foliage: Glossy large limey green leaves are an attractive feature in themselves. New growth is bronze tipped.

• You will find that it can be grown throughout most of Australia, including as far south as Melbourne. However Buckinghamia celsissima doesn't do well in Canberra, because it hates frosts, and it won't flower in the humidity and heavy rains of the northern tropics.
• If left to it's own devices it will go straight up like a telegraph pole and you will miss the spectacle of the flowers.
• Tip pruning judiciously will give you a shrub as in the picture where the flowers can be observed at close quarters.
• It can be pruned reasonably hard, but be warned, it will recover slowly.

I'm talking with native plant expert Adrian O'Malley

Green Tomatoes and Cottage Gardens

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

With a wingspan of up to 2.5m, and standing at least one metre tall, the Wedge-Tailed Eagle is the largest raptor in Australia.
A lanky bird, it hunts by flying up to 2 kilometres high, circling on thermal air currents for as long as 90 minutes and sailing out over the countryside, covering wide areas .
When flying, the wings have distinctive flight tips and its tail fanned and wedge shaped.
Let’s find more. I'm talking with Dr Holly Parsons, Manager of www.birdsinbackyards.com.au

the Wedge-Tailed Eagle is found throughout Australia, including Tasmania and will aggressively defend their territory, even against drones.

Wedge Tailed Eagle

Earlier this century, when eagles were found on dead sheep and lambs, it was thought that they had killed them.
Bounties were paid to farmers for shooting them, (In one year in Queensland 10000 bounties were paid and between 1927-1968 in Western Australia another 150000.)
All that has stopped once people realized that the eagles usually attack only poor, dying or dead lambs and have little effect on the sheep industry. Today they are protected in all states.
If you have any questions about Wedge Tailed Eagles 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

GREEN TOMATOES

Aunty Ruby's Green

This segment won’t be complete without mentioning them at least once every year, because there’s always so much to be said about them.
Why? Because we just lover our summer tomatoes that taste better than the store bought ones, and once you get the conditions right, they’re relatively easy to grow.
There’s books written about them, they are prone to all sorts of pests and diseases, but every year, we plant them hoping for that ultimate crop.
tomatoes, or Lycopersicon esculentum.
Being in the Solanaceae family, they’re related to eggplants, capsicums, chillies and potatoes.
Tomatoes are botanically a fruit, or to be even more accurate a berry, because they are pulpy and have edible seeds.
Other botanical fruits classified as vegetables include squash, cucumbers, eggplants, and peppers.
The tomato is native to South and Central America, and the first tomato was thought to bear a yellow fruit and grown by the Aztecs.

Wild tomato plants are still found in the countries between Ecuador and Chile as well as on the Galapagos Islands, although only two have edible fruit.
Did you know that it’s thought that people were growing crops of tomatoes at least around 500 BC?
In the mid 1500’s, tomatoes were only grown amongst flowers in Italy.
They certainly weren’t eaten.
As late as the 18^th century, physicians thought tomatoes caused appendicitis, and stomach cancer from tomato skins sticking to the lining of your stomach.
Europeans then refused to eat tomatoes because they were thought to be poisonous, and no-one was volunteering to be the first.
Why do a lot of store bought tomatoes have little taste?
The answer is because it’s a result of breeding tomatoes which ripen uniformly red.
This change occurred after discovery of a variety in the mid 20th century which ripened evenly, so was  then cross-bred  with just about every tomato variety, to produce attractive red fruit without the typical green ring surrounding the stem on uncross-bred varieties.
Before the introduction of this trait, tomatoes were able to produce more sugar during the process of ripening and were sweeter and tastier.
Usually, tomatoes turn red when ripe, but some varieties stay green.
These are the ones that we will concentrate on.
The usual concern or question is, how do you tell when green tomatoes are ripe?.
The colour green will change from a very bright green to a greeny-yellow tinge.
It’s a subtle change but once you’ve seen it you’ll know that it’s a reasonable difference.
If you’re still not sure how to tell if a green tomato is ripe and not just an unripe fruit,  close your eyes and feel it; if it's soft, it's ripe.
Some varieties for you to try are:
Green Zebra.

Green Zebra tomato

This is a very productive tomato, about 5 cm’s round that ripens to a beautiful amber gold with dark green zebra-like stripes over the amber background.
Inside, the flesh is a beautiful, sparkling green.
When those stripes appear, then you know the tomato is ripe.
Then there’s Aunty Ruby’s Green, is a luscious green big  sweet beefsteaks, bursting with a fragrant, complex, spicy-sweetness with a touch of tang.
Great for slicing.
A gorgeous green-when-ripe colour, this much sought after variety is a real treat to have in your garden, and is said to be the very best tasting green.
For the novice gardener this one you might need to tell by feel if it’s ripe though.

Green Grape tomato

Another favourite is Green Grape.
This one has an olive green skin, but is very sweet with a hint of lemon zest.
Last year it won the tomato taste test at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney.
A very compact plant ready to eat fruit in 10 – 12 weeks.
When to Grow Tomatoes?
There’s a tomato for every type of climatic condition and generally they’re a warm season fruit even though we call them vegetables.
In temperate climates you can plant them until December, hopefully some of you started them in early September to get the jump on fruit flies.
 In sub-tropical and tropical areas, this week it’s your turn to win, and yes, you can plant tomatoes all year round.
In cool temperate districts you have from October until December, and in Arid areas from August until March, so nearly all year.
What Do Tomatoes Like?
Tomatoes prefer full sun but if you live in very hot climates, you’ll get sun scald on your tomatoes, so afternoon shade of some sort is essential.
Growing tomatoes has to be in full sun at least 6 hours.
Tomato seeds can be planted into the ground as soon as the soil temperature reaches 20⁰C.
For cool districts I recommend that you start your tomatoes off in punnets of some kind and place this in a plastic bag or mini-greenhouse.

Greenhouse tomatoes

Before your transplant your seedlings from the seed tray, and this applies to all seedlings, you need to harden them off.
That means taking them out of a protected environment and putting them into 50% shade for a few days.
TIP:When you plant your seedling, this is about the only plant I know that you pile the soil higher than it was in the pot-that way, it grows extra roots to support the plant.
At the same time, put in a tomato stake of some kind and sprinkle some Dolomite around the plant.
ANOTHER GOOD TIP is to put some hydrated or fluffed up water crystals in the bottom of the planting hole, especially if in your district it’s very hot during the day, that it’s sometimes hard to keep the water up to them.
They actually need lots of water to prevent a problem called “blossom end” rot, when they get a black bottom.
Which also means a lack of Calcium. But you put on the Dolomite didn’t you?.
Don’t crowd your tomato plants because they need good air circulation around them so that fungal diseases don’t take hold.
When your tomato plant has four trusses (or branches of flowers) nip out top of the plant. By this stage you should have plenty of fruits forming that need to grow and ripen.
You could do this mainly because you want the plant to put all its energy into these potentially succulent fruits. And…you don’t want it growing taller than you tomato stake and flopping all over the place.
Keep the soil moist by regular watering and using a mulch of some kind.
Once the flowers have formed, you need to feed weekly with tomato fertiliser or a general fertiliser but add a side dressing of sulphate of potash.
Tomato feed is very high in potash.
Be careful not to overfeed as this can lock up other elements in the soil / compost that the plants require.
HINT: tomato plants will only s

Homegrown tomatoes

et fruit if the temperatures don’t drop below 21⁰C.

Did you know that a tomato picked at first sign of colour and ripened at room temperature will be just as tasty as one left to fully mature on the vine?
VERY IMPORTANT: Prune off the lower leaves to allow more light, improve air-circulation and prevent the build-up of diseases.
For some listeners, fruit fly will be a problem.
There are lures and preventative organic sprays that contain Spinosad.
 I intend to trail fruit fly exclusion bags. As soon as the fruits appear, on they go.
WHY ARE THEY GOOD FOR YOU?
First the good news, there have been studies done which show that eating tomatoes lowers the risk of some cancers. Possibly because of the chemical lycopene that is found in tomatoes and makes them red.
Cooked tomatoes are even better because the cell walls get broken down releasing something called carotinoids. Eating tomatoes with a small amount of fat, like some olive oil in a salad, allows the lycopene part to absorb better.
Tomatoes are highly nutritious and sweet because of natural sugars – sucrose and fructose.
If you ate only one tomato a day, you would get 40% of you daily requirements of Vitamin C and 20% of Vitamin A.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Garden Styles: Cottage Gardens.
This series is about garden styles which RWG has visited over the years with different designers. 
It’s always good to revisit these styles to find out differing views as to what makes up the unique garden styles. 

Cottage Garden Cotswolds

You may not have a particular style in your garden but after hearing this series you may want to incorporate some of the plants that make up the various styles. 
We’re starting of with a cottage garden style.
Let’s find out more.I'm talking with Landscape Designer and consulting arborist Glenice Buck

 Some of the main ideas of a cottage garden are not dependent on the exact plants but on how that garden is arranged, and how the plants are cared for.
Low growing perennials make up the backbone of a cottage garden with some accent plants here and there.
But what’s not evident is those clipped shapes but instead plants that are allowed to grow into one another.

Scampston Cottage Garden UK. photo M Cannon

A cottage garden is known for its pretty flowering perennials. 

These gardens have a relaxed feeling with their informal style rather than a grand presence.  

 The plants are usually fluffy flowering plants seemingly growing into each other in peaks and mounds. The plantings are rarely in straight lines. Hedges would only be found on the outside or as boundaries of the garden.  Narrow winding pathways would meander, allowing visitors to wander and explore the garden.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Agonis flexuosa "Jervis Bay After Dark." Willow Peppermint
Plants with dark foliage make an attractive statement in any garden. 
They also break up the amount of green that you have in the garden and provide a striking contrast..
If gardens in England are anything to go by, then you won’t find a garden there without a plant with dark foliage. 
The people that market plants have their fun though and this one’s ready to party. 
So let’s find out more. 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
PLAY: Agonis Jervis Bay After Dark_21st  September_2016 
Willow peppermint or Agonis flexuosa Jervis Bay Afterdark is a slow grower but give it a sunny position and it can take most soil types along the east coast of Australia.
Prune it to whatever shape your like or let it grow all wispy and willowy. 
Just feed it with native fertiliser.  

If you're wondering how this plant got its name of'Jervis Bay' which is a location in New South Wales while Agonis flexuosa is native to Western Australia. 
The name marks the nursery where this dark-foliaged selection was made. 
Most native plants in the 70s and 80's were grown from seed in nurseries around Australia so quite often there were mutations of a variety of species.
This was a particular selection that was selected in 1985 as a spontaneous seedling mutation in a flat of Agonis flexuosa grown by R. and M.L. Turner at Jervis Bay Nurseries.