Flamingo Flowers, Finches and Formal Leeks

Gorgeous small birds that for once are easy to identify in the Wildlife in Focus segment with Dr holly Parsons, growing leeks in vegetable heroes, a new series on garden styles in Design Elements and today is what makes a formal style and what is Anthuriums in the Talking Flower segment.

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

Double Barred Finch

Small birds are notoriously hard to identify because (a) they’re small, (b) they’re incredibly fast and shy and lastly, they’re usually just a variation on brown.
Not so this next bird which has easily distinguished facial markings and is Perhaps you can spot one after listening to this. Described as having an owlish face, although in miniature, and with beautifully spotted wings.

I'm talking with Dr Holly Parsons from www.birdsinbackyards.net
Let’s find out

Incredibly gorgeous little bird with a striking white face.

Like a miniature barn owl because of the markings. 

For once, not just a little brown bird that's hard to identify; this one has distinctive features which apart from the white face, the barring on the feathers stands out also.

Prefer drier regions.

Hanging around in flocks you’re bound not to mistake them for something else because they would make a spectacular sight.
If you have any questions either for me or for Holly, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

Leeks

Leeks, known scientifically as Allium ampeloprasum var. Porrum, are related to garlic, onions, shallots, and scallions.
There’s nothing like a good long history that some vegetables seem to have and the Leek is no exception.

Leeks are supposed to be native to Central Asia, and have been cultivated there and in Europe for thousands of years.

Did you know that Leeks were prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans because of their supposed beneficial effect upon the throat.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle thought that the clear voice of the partridge was due to a diet of leeks, while the Roman emperor Nero supposedly ate leeks everyday to make his voice stronger.

• Another interesting fact that you might not know is that the leek became a Welsh emblem in 1536, and is still the national emblem of Wales.
• Daffodil is the National flower.

Have you ever wonder why Welsh are such great singers?

Perhaps because they eat a lot of leeks, think Tom Jones.

Onions, celery, and carrots are very good companion plants for the leek.

Leeks, are a cool season crop and best of all they’re easy to grow.

You can grow leeks in hot summers, but you won’t get the same quality result as you will in a cool summer environment.

I know I’ve tried and they were a thinner weaker version of the winter leek.

Leeks are usually grown from seed and are generally started off in punnets first then transplanted.

When to Sow

• Sow the seeds of Leeks from Spring until the end of Autumn in cool temperate climates, and late summer and autumn in warm and tropical zones, and in arid districts, seeds must be sown in February/early March and then you can transplant them in April and May.
• I sowed some seed a several weeks ago and have already transplanted them into the veggie bed because they were a couple of inches-about 10cm high and were the thickness of a pencil.

TIP: By the way, the seeds germinated fine from an out of date packet.

Leeks will overwinter in cool temperate areas of Australia if properly mulched, but will generally not survive periods of extreme cold.

In case you don’t know what a leek is.

Leeks look like large fat spring onions, but have a very small bulb and a long white cylindrical stalk of layers of white then green, tightly wrapped, flat leaves.

It goes without saying that good soil is the key to growing leeks.

Leeks need nutrient rich, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.

They’ll do well in almost any garden soil as long as it is well aerated and deep, about a spade’s depth is good.

Using some kind of dibble tool or stick to make a hole that's just deep enough to leave only the top inch of the seedling exposed.

Set the leek seedling into the hole and fill it loosely with soil.

Space the leeks 10cm or a large hand span" apart, in rows at least 25cm  or from your wrist to your elbow apart.

Find something practical like that to do you estimates.

Some people think that when growing Leeks the aim is to blanch the stems while the plants are maturing.

To save your back if you want to blanch the stems, rather than digging a trench, just use mulch.

When they’re 4 weeks old in the veggie bed, use a thick mulch of sugar cane or something like that.

In another 4 weeks or when they reach about 24cm, do the same again, or you can use shredded newspaper.

The leeks will still grow as well if you don’t do any of this.

• Some gardeners cut off the top portion of the leaves, about halfway up the plant, as the leeks are maturing.
• This supposed to bring on stalk growth, giving you a larger leek for the dinner table.

To be honest you can do all this, but if you don’t the leeks are just as tasty.

Make sure the plants get at least a couple of cm’s of water a week; otherwise the stems will be tough to eat.

Mulch to conserve moisture, and side-dress with manure tea once a month.

• Begin harvesting leeks as soon as they're big enough to use.
• Young, tender ones are good raw; once they reach the width of a paper roll, they're better cooked.
• They usually take 16-18 weeks--4 ½ months.

Quite a long time so explains why they are so expensive at the greengrocer, market or wherever you buy them.

To prepare Leeks cut them very thinly and sautee’ just as you would other members of the onion family.

 Like their allium cousins, onions and garlic, let leeks sit for at least 5 minutes after cutting and before cooking to enhance their health-promoting qualities.

Why are they good for you?

Good source of dietary fibre also a top source of vitamin C

Leeks have a high concentration of the B vitamin folate

Leeks give you small amounts of other minerals and vitamins.

The green tops have some beta carotene which your body can make into vitamin A.

Like onions, they also have some sulphur compounds that scientists believe reduce your risk of some health problems.

Leeks are believed to be good for the throat.

Leeks are low in calories and fat-free. 100g of leek has just 125kJ.

AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

DESIGN ELEMENTS
Formal gardens have a long history.
Did you know that the style of a formal garden started in the Persian Gardens in Iran, such as the Monastery Gardens from the Late Middle Ages?

This style was sort of carried over into the Italian Gardens from the Renaissance that’s the 1400’s and was further refined into the formal French Gardens from the Baroque period which was around 1650.
Let’s find out what this style has to offer.

I'm talking with Danielle Collier from Artistic Horticulture.

Formal style is all about straight lines, no clutter, repeated plantings with as much symmetry as you can stuff into your garden.
Add a water feature or two and some espalier or topiary, and voila’ you have a formal garden.

TALKING FLOWERS

Anthurium andreanum: Anthuriums

Common names:Anthurium Flamingo Flower, Boy Flower, Painted Tongue and Painter's Palette

The anthurium flower derives its name from two Greek words: oura, meaning tail and anthos, meaning flower. Translated the phrase means tail flower.

Anthuriums are evergreen subtropical plants with heart shaped leaves. Similar flowers to the Madonna or Peace lily.

Botanical Bite:

These flowers are really modified bracts, called spathes.

The actual flower of the anthurium plant are tiny blooms that line the fleshy inner spike called a spadix.

In their natural environment, Anthuriums grow on rocks or trees and in the home or garden need perfect drainage around their roots.

An ideal mix is equal parts of premium potting mix and decomposed sugarcane and plants in a terracotta pot.

 Too much water in winter suffocates the roots and causes them to rot, so let plants go dry in between each drink.

Flower vase life is up to 8 weeks if you look after them properly!

I'm talking with Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au

Video recorded during live broadcast of Real World Gardener.

The Birds, the Bees and Anthuriums

What’s on the show today?

A beautiful bird regails us in Wildlife in Focus, the elusive pollination problem in vegetable heroes, a an alluring indoor plant in Plant of the Week plus Why Don’t Plants Last in Design Elements.

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

Beautiful Firetail Finch: Stagonopleura bella
Over the years, Australian birds have featured on this program, but how good are we at identifying the calls?
It’s not that easy is it?

Beautiful Firetail finch

What about placing a particular bird in the correct family of birds?
That should be easier so where do finches sit? Parrot family or Passerine?
Let’s find out .

I'm talking with Dr Holly Parsons from www.birdsinbackyards.net

Amazing to see in the wild, males and female Firetail Finches are similar, being small and chunky, with striking barring and a pale blue eye ring.
Let’s hope listeners that people don’t mistake them for mice scuttling about the long grass looking for grass seeds.
They also like the seeds of Casuarinas and Tea-Trees.
Can you imagine this little bird building an exact bottle shaped nest tipped on its side? 

The nest is built from grass and carefully woven by both of the birds.
Not found in urban settings that much, but in shrubby settings.

If you have any questions either for me or for Holly, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

ALL ABOUT POLLINATION

The reason this topic is being mentioned is because although gardeners realise that pollination is vital in a plants reproductive cycle so that seeds, fruit or veg is formed.

The problem is though, gardeners often struggle with the question,

“ why haven’t I got fruit on my zucchini plant, when there’s plenty of flowers, and plenty of bees buzzing around.?

Substitute what fruit or vegetable that you’ve had trouble with getting it to fruit in place of that zucchini, it could be beans.

Sometimes it seems so random, for example, last year, I had plenty of flowers on my passionfruit vine, but not a single passionfruit.

This year, though, there’s plenty of passionfruit.

So what happened?

First , let’s start with what is pollination?

Put simply, during plant reproduction, pollination is when pollen grains move from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower.

Insects can pollinate flowers, and so can the wind.

Insect-pollinated flowers are different in structure from wind-pollinated flowers.

Insect pollinated flowers are large and brightly coloured, mostly scented and with nectar.

All of this is needed to attract the insects.

• The pollen grains are sticky or spiky so that they stick to the insect good and proper.
• Inside the flower, the anthers are stiff and firmly attached so that they remain in place when an insect brushes past.

• The stigma, usually higher than the anther, has a sticky surface to which pollen grains attach themselves when an insect brushes past.
• Wind pollinated flowers are often small, dull green or brown with no scent or nectar.
• The flower usually has hundreds of thousands of pollen grains that are smooth and light so that they can easily be carried by wind without clumping together.
• Anthers are outside the flower, and usually looks quite long.
• All the better to easily release pollen grains.
• The stigma is also outside the flower and looks more like a feather duster so it can more easily catch those drifting light pollen grains.
• That’s important to remember if you think about sweet corn which is from the grass family and therefore wind pollinated.

When it comes to insect pollinated flowers, the different heights of the anther and the stigma is designed by nature so that the plant avoids self-pollination or inbreeding.

Did you know that most plants are hermaphrodites because they have both male and female parts in the same flower?

Even corn is a hermaphrodite but because it’s in the grass family, it has separate male and female flowers on the same plant rather than on different plants like Spinach.

In Corn the male flowers are position above the female flowers, ie, silks, below containing the ears.

The flowers are self-compatible with pollen being spread by wind and not insects.

This means it’s subject to inbreeding depression, so seed savers need to replant at least a hundred plants for true to type maintenance.

• Pumpkin and zucchini is another variation in that the separate male and female flowers are on the same plant and are self –compatible just like corn, but relying on insects.
• Without insects to transfer the pollen there would be no fruit.
• Did you know that our favourite vegetable, the tomato, is a hermaphrodite too?
• Botanists call the flowers of tomatoes, perfect flowers because they have male and female flowers within the same flower.
• That means they are self-pollinating and don’t need cross-pollination by wind, birds or insects.

Now to that sticky question, “why isn’t my plant fruiting?”

There’s plenty of flowers and insects but still no fruit.

Weather conditions are key factors in successful pollination.

High humidity creates sticky pollen which does not transfer well.

Plants in the cucurbit family rely on honeybees for pollination, and honeybees do not fly in cool, cloudy weather.

Male Flower of Zucchini

• If you need to you can hand pollinate the cucurbit’s flowers.
• As temperatures reach the high 20's, the success rate for pollination declines.
• A heat wave in the thirties, will result in poor if any, pollination.
• To help with fruit set, try misting the flowers early in the morning with a spray bottle of water.
• When the weather is very hot and dry with temperatures over 29⁰ C,  the pollen becomes very dry and isn't easily transferred.

Zucchine female flower and fruit

• Again, it’s a good idea to try misting the flowers with water occasionally and keep up the mulch around the base so the plants don't dry out too much.
• This is common with many plants, especially with more northerly climates.
• The cure, shade cloth covers.

Another factor is plant stress:

In nature when a plant is under stress, it will not produce fruit.

Or, it will abort existing fruit.

It’s a survival mechanism, allowing a plant to focus upon survival first.

That stress is caused by:

Water: too little or too much water.

The Cure: Keep soil consistently moist, not wet and not dry.

Another reason is a Soil pH imbalance: this could be pH levels are too high, or too low.

The Cure:: Get your soil tested. Alter pH levels as indicated by the test.

And if you don’t have enough insects like bees visiting your garden, you know what to do, plant more bee and other insect attracting plants like Borage and Alyssum around your garden.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

PLANT OF THE WEEK:

Anthurium "Allure."

Listeners in southern states will have to keep this plant outdoors, however if you live in Townsville or around the Top End, outdoors will be no problem all year round but not in full sun.
But what is this alluring plant with dark green luscious, tropical leaves.
Let’s find out …

I'm talking with the plant panel where were Jeremy Critchley of www.thegreengallery.com.au and Karen Smith editor of www.hortjournal.com.au

Anthuriums are evergreen, subtropical small plants with dark green glossy heart shaped flowers and leaves.
They’re great for indoors as houseplants but if you live in the tropics, they also make beautiful underplanting for shady and part-shady spots.

If you have any questions either for me or Jeremy or Karen why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

Fabulous Cake and Flamingo Flowers



Caraway Seed Cake

SPICE IT UP

with Ian Hemphill from www.herbies.com.au
This next spice is used to flavour a whole lot of food that we eat.
Think Havarti cheese, rye bread, sauerkraut and caraway seed cake in Britain.
What may surprise you is that the roots can be cooked as a vegetable like parsnips or carrots, and, the leaves are sometimes eaten as herbs, either raw, dried, or cooked, just like you would with parsley

Let’s find out about this spice…



Caraway plant

Caraway (Carum carvi), is also known as meridian fennel or Persian cumin, and is a biennial plant in the carrot or Apiaceae family.
It’s native to western Asia, Europe and Northern Africa.
Caraway is a spice that we should all be growing along with our parsley and chervil because it’s so versatile.
The plant looks like others in the carrot family, which includes parsley.
Caraway has those finely divided, feathery leaves with thread-like divisions, growing on 20–30 cm stems.
The main flower stem is 40–60 cm tall, with small white or pink flowers in umbels.
Did you know that Caraway seeds are actually meant to be called fruits? In fact they’re crescent-shaped achenes, around 2 mm long, with five pale ridges.
If you have any questions about growing caraway, or have some growing in your garden, send in a photo  or write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

Caraway Seed Cake Recipe

Ingredients-

• 175g (6oz) butter, softened
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• 3 medium eggs
• 250g (8oz) self-raising flour
• 38g jar caraway seeds
• 2tbsp milk
• 1kg (2lb) loaf tin, buttered and lined with a strip of baking parchment

How To Bake

Tip all the ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth. Spoon mixture into the loaf tin and level the surface.

Bake the cake in the centre of the oven 160°C (320°F, gas mark 3) for 45 mins-1 hr, or until the cake feels just firm to the touch in the centre, and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into cake.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10-15 mins.

Transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Vegetable Heroes

 CHOKO VINES

Well it’s TIME FOR VEGETABLE HERO  CHOKOES

You only need one which will give you so many chokos you will soon be sick of them. 

Have you seen choko vines planted on chook pen fences, or a rusty tin shed in the backyard?

They’re one of those chuck in the ground and forget plants until it comes time to eat the excess fruit.

But are you eating it in apple pies? More on that later.

Choko ready to plant

Choko is a climbing plant Sechium edule  that belongs to the pumpkin, melon and cucumber or Cucurbitaceae family and is native to Mexico.  Chokoes were taken back to Europe by the Spanish explorers and from there were introduced to parts of Asia.

An interesting fact about chokoes is that they’re also known as chayote, vegetable pear or mango squash.

That’s because they sort of look like a rough pear and they’re certainly pear shaped. look a bit like a pear.

Some varieties have spines, while others are spineless.

Because the choko plant is a rampant climber, it can easily be grown on fences, trellises, over trees or frames allowing the fruit to hang down for easy picking.

If you live in warmer climates and have trouble with powdery mildew on your zucchinis, then go for chokoes.

They taste just as nice when picked not much bigger than a chicken egg.

If you’ve never eaten a choko, it tastes like a very mild-flavoured squash and needs to be cooked for a longer time than other squash before serving.

Some say it has a bland flavour, and unless you cook it with some strong tasting spices and herbs, you won’t get that much out of chokoes.

Having said that, some people reckon that chokoes are used as filling in some fresh and frozen apple pies that can be bought in supermarkets.

Mary has written in asking about how to grow chokoes because she found some chokoes that had sprouted on her kitchen bench the other week.

The best time is spring and early summer, but because yours has already sprouted, why not plant it into a pot now and transfer it after winter.

More on how to plant your choko later.

Generally chokoes are planted in warmer months of the year.

 

Best Time to Plant Chokoes

In Subtropical districts, plant them out in October and November, in temperate zones, wait until December, in Arid regions, you’ve won  the jackpot because you can plant these for 6 months of the year from September through to February, and in tropical areas, you can plant them between April and July, and unfortunately for cool temperate districts, unless you really want to try them and have a hot north facing wall, chokoes aren’t recommended for your area, because chokoes are frost tender .

Having said that, I found plenty of people as far south as Hobart, growing them in December against a north facing brick wall.

So Chokos will grow as far south as Tasmania when given a sunny site sheltered from wind and frosts.

If you’re having trouble getting them, a found a post from Chris who says he’ll send you the seeds for free as long as you pay the postage, Chris’s email is uswbbc@gmail.com

Just put chokoes in the subject line of your email.

 

Here’s a quick method to make sure the vine takes off.

Buy a couple of chokoes and keep them in a warm dark place for a few weeks, till they put out a runner, then put in a warm light place for a few weeks.

By the time you’re ready to plant them they will have a strong runner maybe a foot or 2 long.

Tip: crushed egg shells around the vine when planted in the ground is a good deterrent to snails and slugs.

You often see ones already sprouted in shops.

When you plant them, after any danger of frosts is over, plant the seed with the sprouted end pointing down a little to stop water getting into the fruit and rotting it.

 Plant the whole fruit - half in the soil and half out but wait till it starts sprouting (just store it with the potatoes till then)

The choko can be grown in nearly all soil types but prefers rich, well-drained organic soils with plenty of compost or animal manure added annually.

When grown in the tropics, the choko is virtually evergreen, but in cooler and even temperate climates like here in Sydney, it has one crop then dies down to the tuberous root system and sprouts again the following spring.

Dig a hole and place the choko 10cm down with the sprouting end upwards

By digging a largish hole you’re loosening all the soil in this area so the plant can send out roots easy making its growth faster,

Chokos need full sun but plant it anywhere and it will find the Sun

INTERESTING FACT:

You might be interested to know that during the war, because Chokos were so easy to grow, they used them as fake stewed pears.

When they’re halved and quartered, you can cook them with sugar and vanilla, served them with custard.

 

Cooking with Chokoes

To peel your chokoes, peel them under water to avoid the sticky substance sticking to your hands.

Chokos are best when they are about the size of a small pear. The larger they grow the more pealing you will have to do and the starchier they get.

Use them as fresh as possible because they lose moisture fairly readily.

So are they making it into apple pies

How about choko and chilli relish? Nope not that either.

Vegetable industry group AusVeg, which tracks produce volumes, says choko volumes are so low that they can't be tracked.

The smallest crop it follows is snake beans at 87 tonnes a year.

The fact is apples are more plentiful and cheaper to buy than chokoes, apart from the fact that it would be illegal under labelling laws.

By the way, they are used a lot in jam making commercially when they’re coloured pink with food colouring as they imitate many other fruits in volume and texture.

Why is it good for you?

Contains fibre and vitamin C.

The edible parts of the choko have a lower fibre, protein and vitamin content than other plants, but the micronutrients and macronutrients supplied by the fruit are adequate.

AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

 

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Starting your garden from scratch part 2- No Dig Gardening

with landscape designer Peter Nixon.

This series is all about starting a garden from scratch, in which case you might have to do battle with the lawn or with a mass of weeds.

But even before that you need to know your soil..

When plants aren't growing properly after you've supplied them with the correct amount of sunlight and water, and when you've ruled out pests, then the problem usually lies underground. But there are other ways to start a garden.

Raised garden beds in background.

then you're faced with that bare patch of lawn that you want to convert into a garden.

Here is the no dig method a la Peter Nixon.

First lay down some cardboard sheets of the area you want to convert to a garden.

this should stop the lawn for growing because you are blocking out the sun.

Next pile on many cubic metres of compost and cow manure.

Then let it settle for about 3 months!

 

Let’s find out why this is a good idea..

If you’re battling a weedy patch in the garden, perhaps where there was lawn that was infested with weeds.

Find out what those weeds are so you can  work out the best way to get rid of them without wasting money on chemicals that you mighn’t need.

 PLANT OF THE WEEK

Anthurium species.

 

with Jeremy Critchley, owner www.thegreengallerynursery.com.au

and Karen Smith, editor www.hortjournal.com.au

At the beginning of the program I mentioned the benefits of having one or three indoor plants.

Anthurium adreanum White King

This next plant can be planted indoors, but remember, indoor plants are just plants that can grow outside if you have the right conditions.

So don’t be constrained to just keeping them in the house, balcony or verandah.

 

 

 

Let’s find out …

                  

The brightly coloured heart shaped spathe or a waxy modified leaf and isn’t the flower.

The bit that pokes out, or the spadix, contains the real tiny flowers.

 

Anthuriums, don't like to be constantly wet, but don't let them dry out completely.

They grow well in temperate areas outdoors, as well as in the tropics and sub tropics.

Feed them with any organic fertiliser or controlled release prills for pot plants.

 

Here are some varieties to get you going.Anthurium andreanum 'Amazing Queen'  has big orange flowers or spathes really.

 

There’s also Black Queen with  an almost black spathe and White King with a white spathe.

 

These all have been bred for massive flowering, clumping, disease resistance and cold tolerance down to 1⁰ C.

Anthurium Black Queen

After a few years Anthuriums will form aerial roots, so that’s when you should think about repotting and dividing them.

The best time to do this is in spring or autumn, when the weather is warm, but not hot.These aerial roots can be planted below the surface.But don’t let that put you off from buying one of the many hybrids that Jeremy mentioned.