Talking Brush Turkeys and Waterlillies

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm Sat. 12noon, 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/  select 2RRR to access the feed.
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Wildlife in Focus:The Brush Turkey is making a comeback in leafy suburban gardens. Some people haven’t seen them, and some have only seen their handiwork. Rumours abound about how to get rid of them from your garden. Are they really that bad? Listen toecologist,  Kurtis Lindsay talk about this Gondwanan bird.

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Vegetable Heroes:Carrots or  Daucus carota var. sativus were one of the first vegetables grown by man and are related to parsley.
Carrots are cold tolerant but can grow in all but the hottest climates. They grow year round in subtropical climates, sow them spring and summer in temperate zones and mid-Spring to the end of Summer in cold districts.
They prefer full sun but can grow in partial shade.
Avoid adding fertilisers and manures to the soil just before sowing, or you’ll get carrots that will fork and become hairy. They like beds manured in the previous season.
Make sure the soil has been worked over with no stones or sticks otherwise the carrots will grow into funny shapes or be stunted.
The easiest way to sow carrots is to mix a packet of  seed with one cup of  river sand, pouring the contents into seed drills .
Cover the seed with finely sieved compost or a drizzle of sugar cane mulch. Not too thick or they won’t germinate.
Too much water and the roots might crack so only give carrots small amounts in the first eight weeks of growth. Here are some varieties to get you interested;
All Seasons mainly for Queensland and NSW,  and Royal Chantenay suits heavy soils, both need 10-11 weeks.
C Little Fingers-sweet baby carrots about 10cm long-8weeks.
New Kuroda is heat tolerant and grows to 18cm long and another one for pots Chantenay Red-Cored with the shortest root, orange-red colour through-out, sweet and tender. Suited to heavy soils. 7-10 weeks.
Round and short varieties can be grown in planters or pots,  but the long types need about 20cm of soil depth in the open garden.
Design Elements: -      Planter or container gardening can be many people in different situations: 
whether you have mobility issues, problem soil, not enough space or just a plain plant addict, planter gardening ticks all the boxes. Listen here to garden designer Lesley Simpson and Marianne discuss this topic.

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Plant of the Week:Waterlillies or Nymphaea spp.
There are two main types of water lillies:
Small growing tropical, day flowering waterlilies:
These waterlilies are suitable for small tubs in balcony/rooftop gardens, small ponds/water features and any shallower water areas. They are smaller in leaf spread, hence, coverage is less when compared with a standard size waterlily. Growth tip of the plant could be submerged between 15cms to 30cms below the water surface.
Hardy waterlilies come in small and miniature. Miniature water lilies tend to grow slower than their bigger brothers, no need to divide - repot as often, typically every 2-3 years may be enough for the smallest types.
These waterlilies are suitable for small tubs in balcony/rooftop gardens, small ponds/water features and any shallower water areas. They are smaller in leaf spread, hence, coverage is less when compared with a standard size water lily. Smaller miniature water lilies need only 5-10cm of water over the crown (the growing tip that produces the leaves), making them ideal for planting in bowls and smaller water features.
Getting waterlilies to flowers is one of the most asked questions by home gardeners.
The main reasons are;
Not enough day length. Full sun means full sun, and not dappled anything or even part sun.     Temperature is the second factor-hardy waterlilies start to flower at temps over 16-18C⁰.       Hardy waterlilies need room to grow, so pot them up into a bigger pot size if you’ve met the other criteria and feed them with a controlled release fertiliser tablets.
Water. Well it may seem simple, but they do not need a lot of work. As with any plant, some maintenance is required to get the best results. Miniature water lilies need about 10cm of water above the crown, whereas most other water lilies prefer 30-60cm.

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Seeing Red in the Garden

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm Sat. 12noon, 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/

For Community Radio Network Listerners this program aired on 28th January 2012
Wildlife in Focus:Mosquitofish were introduced by military and local councils to control mosquito populations in 1925.What went wrong? Hear the full interview with ecologist Kurtis Lindsay.

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Vegetable Heroes:Tarragon, Artemisa dracunculus or specifically French Tarragon is a little used herb that does best in cool climates. Tarragon is from the daisy or Asteraceae family and it can be grown through Australia from seed  but usually is propagated from division or cuttings because the plant rarely sets seed.     The herb was then cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
In Sub-tropical and Cool districts you can do that in January, but temperate, arid or inland regions, we’ve missed the boat expect for buying some seedlings from the local markets. Although I must say, parts of Australia have had a cooler than average summer and we gardeners like to push the envelope anyway, so it’s worth growing some cuttings wherever you are.
 If you have a friend with some, cuttings or root division are done when soil temperatures between 10°C and 25°C
Tarragon likes full sun, a sheltered spot and excellent drainage. Don't ry and cram in into a small pot, because the root system is vigorous, and will strangle the plant in three years.
Tarragon dies off in winter in most areas of Australia, but will come back. If you live in a frost prone district, cover the pot with some mulch in winter. Alternatively you can bring it indoors.
Use Tarragon leaves at the end of cooking time or in cold dishes a few hours before serving so that the flavour permeates the sauce.
Chop the leaves very fine to extract the flavour for cream sauces and béarnaise sauce. Add to vinegar and steep for a few weeks to get the full flavour.
Design elements:Red may not be your cup of tea as a colour to use in the garden. But wait, there’s so many shades of red, there’s got to be at least one shade that would suit as an exclamation mark or to add drama to your garden. There are tricks to use the colour red that you may not have thought of, listen here to garden designer Lesley simpson, and host Marianne discuss red in the garden.

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Plant of the Week:Noxious weed Cotoneaster spp.Plant of the week is an evergreen shrub or small tree with dark green oval leaves.  Berries occur in large numbers, which if you eat them will cause Gastroenteritis. For information on how to identify Cotoneasters go to this link
http://www.growmeinstead.com.au/plant/cotoneaster.aspx
Some gardeners like to see berries that hang on trees as added colour in the garden, especially when flowers are a bit scarce. The drawback is that birds also like these berries and help the spread ot these unwanted plants into bushlands and open spaces.
What you should grow instead is perhaps one of the many varieties of Lilly Pilly, or the Diamond Leafed Pittosporum an Australian rainforest tree with orange berries. Auranticarpa rhombifolium grows in most districts of Australia. Plant flowering Crabapple or Malus hybrids for a similar look for colder districts.
But if you really want to feed the birds and look after the environment, you should be planting any number of Banksias-try B. Collina v spinulolsa for the biggest flower spikes on any Banksia.

Cool Colours in the Garden

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm Sat. 12noon, 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/
Design Elements: Ever thought of looking out into a cool relaxing garden? How do you get that?  Maybe you want a meditation garden, how do you get that? Listen here for all the info with Lesley Simpson, garden designer and Marianne (host).

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Vegetable Heroes:eggplants, aubergines to some and Solanum melongena to botanists.
    Eggplant is a short lived perennial plant that is usually grown as an annual. Eggplants grow best when the temperatures are at least 25⁰C or above.
    Eggplants or aubergines particularly resent frost and so far my plants from previous years never survive the cold and I have to start all over again.
  Eggplant seeds/seedlings can be planted in spring to autumn in tropical areas, spring to early summer in temperate zones and during late spring in cool climates.Maybe a bit late for you guy, but you could give it a try this week maybe?
  Eggplants have to have full sunlight or they simply won’t grow well.
Any spot that gets about six to eight hours of full sun.
The seedlings don’t need to be planted too far into the ground. Just enough so that the soil covers the roots is fine. After the seedlings have been transplanted, give them a little water and leave them to grow.
Don’t overwater your eggplants as they are susceptible to root rot.
When you pick your eggplant fruit is really up to you. As soon as the “skin” of the fruit is glossy, it is typically ready to be picked. If the skin has turned brown then you’ve waited too long to pick the fruit.
Why not try ROSA BIANCAVigorous Italian heirloom variety, heaps of fruit that are  rosy lavender and white heavy teardrop shaped fruit with a mild flavour. 
How about TURKISH ORANGE?  Beautiful red-orange fruit, round to 7.5cm, lots of fruit in 65-85 days.    For cooler districts, why not try the funny soundying UDUMALAPET
  Yellow-green teardrop shaped fruit with vibrant lavender stripes, best eaten small at 8cm.
www.greenharvest.com.au 
www.edenseed.com.au
Plant of the Week:        OK. It’s a tropical plant but plant nuts, plant addicts, plant collectors, call us what you will, we try and grow the impossible. Can we do it for this one in your district? 

Family: Rubiaceae has shrubs in this family native to Africa, Madagascar and Asia. All are grown for their showy sepals-not unlike Bouganvilleas.

Bracts or sepals?-The showy part of the Mussaenda flower is composed of enlarged sepals, either white or pinky salmon  colours and even red. In a "typical" flower, the petals are the showy component while the sepals (which form the calyx) are usually green and relatively inconspicuous in the open flower, but not on this plant.
Mussaenda is a rounded evergreen tropical shrub or sub-shrub that will grow to 3m  tall in tropical areas, but more likely will reach 1-2m  tall in containers. Clusters (corymbs) of small, tubular flowers with five spreading lobes bloom in summer, however it is the large and colourful, ovate, leaf-like sepals (to 1m long) that provide the real ornamental display (in somewhat the same way as with Bouganvilleas). Some individual flowers in each cluster will develop a single enlarged sepal. Elliptic to ovate, bright green leaves (to 6î long). Hybrids sold in commerce typically...
Mussaenda erythrophylla cv Flamingo has large brightly coloured sepals of flaming pink. M erythrophylla Queen Sirikit has pale pink sepals.
M. Philippica is a dense spreading shrub with large clumps of ivory coloured sepals and tiny orange flowers, Very showy. This plant was discovered in the Philippines on Luzon Is in 1834.
Mussaendas need fertile  well drained  humus rich soils with an acid pH
.Full sun to part shade- somewhat cold sensitive and prone to spotting. A thick layer of mulch will protect the roots and help conserve  moisture.
Winter hardy - grow in containers that must be overwintered indoors. Use a well-draining potting mix and keep soils consistently moist.
 Grow in full sun to part shade. Best bract/sepal colour in full sun, but plants also appreciate some mid-day filtered sun in hot climates. Bring containers indoors in fall when night temperatures start dropping below 10⁰C. Overwinter in a greenhouse or a warm sun room. Cuttings may be taken in late summer for overwintering.

Feature Interview:      Organic Neem oil sprays can protect garden plants from chewing insects and fungal diseases and protect people and animals from biting bugs. Talking to Gary Leeson from OCP let's find out what neem oil is all about..
 

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