Life's A Town Garden

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm Sat. 12noon, 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network.

Design Elements:At first gardens were just vegetable plots in front of the town walls, and the produce was sold in the horticultural  markets. It was quite a few centuries before the town garden evolved to what it is today. Listen here to garden designer, Lesley Simpson and host Marianne discuss what's needed in designing today's "Town Garden."

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Vegetable Heroes: Eggplants, Aubergines or Solanum melongena.

When to sow: In tropical areas, eggplants can be sown in spring through to autumn, in temperate areas spring through to early summer and only during late spring in cool climates.
Eggplant is a short lived perennial plant that grows to about 1metre bush and is treated mostly as an annual. So far my plants from previous years never survive the cold and I have to start all over again.
Eggplants need warm soils temperatures to germinate-around 20⁰C. 
In cold areas start your seeds in a small pot—about 100mm four inches big—for each seed. Plant the seeds about half an inch into the soil and add a bit of water. Cover with a plastic bag or put the seeds into a  mini-greenhouse and put the greenhouse where it will get sunlight. After about a few weeks you should notice a little seedling popping up from the soil. You can now transplant this into its permanent place in the garden. 
Before transplanting your eggplants, mix  some pelleted chicken manure, or blood/n/bon and compost in with the soil before planting your eggplants. A good ratio is about 20% manure/compost to 80% soil.
TIP: If you think your soil is too cold, transplant into a bigger pot. Cold soils set the plant back and they’ll grow just fine in pots.
Eggplants have to have full sunlight or they simply won’t thrive. 
Any spot that gets about six to eight  hours of full sun (meaning no shady plants or structures nearby to block the sun) would do well. 
 After the seedlings have been transplanted, give them a little water and leave them to grow.          Make sure to add a little mulch to the top of the soil to help keep soil in. This is useful in areas that get quite warm or are prone to drought.
  Eggplants are ready for picking in about sixty days, you should notice the fruit popping up on your eggplants.

Plant of the Week:      PHALAENOPSIS.Orchid.
The flower is exotic and fragrant; the plant is considered a good air-purifying house plant. Moth orchids are usually planted in pots with good drainage.

A well-grown Phalaenopsis is not rich green. But when grown to perfection the plant is a medium green with a hint of yellow or red lurking in the background. Using leaf color is a good simple way to tell if your plant is getting the correct amount of light.

Rich green, more light! Keep trying for that hint of red or yellow if you want lots of FLOWER.

The flowers appear on a spike from the stem between the leaves and, depending on the type, there may be anything from a single flower to over a hundred.

RWG Tip: Don't cut the flower spike unless it turns brown. New flowers will continually appear on the spike for quite a while. When a flower bud develops into a small plant with roots, cut off this part  and pot it up. These propagations may flower within a couple of years.
Watering and feeding. -As they do not have storage pseudobulbs, their compost should he kept evenly moist using tepid rainwater, or reasonably pure tap water if you are lucky enough to have it. Do not let it dry out.

Phalaenopsis like a minimum temperature of 20°C but can tolerate 15°C as an adult plants and may actually flower better after a few weeks at this night temperature in autumn.

Avoid using cold water and don't allow water to remain in the crown of the plants for more than a couple of hours as it can induce rotting. Give a quarter strength fertiliser once a month.  Your African violet fertilizer will be adequate, after all, African Violets and Phalaenopsis like the same conditions. Oversimplifying it because in actual fact, the Moth Orchid likes a bit less light.
Moth Orchids are both beautiful and useful. The flower is exotic and fragrant; the plant is considered a good air-purifying house plant. Moth orchids are usually planted in pots or baskets (sometimes hanging) with good drainage; some suggest fir bark is the best soil
What's On: www.discoverhuntershill.com.au
habitatnetwork@iewf.org

Fly Like An Eastern Yellow Robin

Real World Gardener for 6th April 2011, Wednesdays 5pm on 2RRR 88.5fm
Wildlife in Focus: Kurtis talks about the Eastern Yellow Robin, it's habitat, call and much more. Hear it .....

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Bill Rankin and Tony Bayliss of the Wildlife Sound Recording Group www.awsrg.org.au  have kindly provided RWG with wildlife sound recordings for our 'Wildlife in Focus" episodes.
For more info on the Eastern Yellow Robin see http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/
Vegetable Heroes: Broccoli, Brassica oleracea var italica.  Broccoli is not too choosy about the site it grows in but prefers to be in full sun, but will tolerate partial shade with no problems. Although, growing in too much shade will reduce the size of the Broccoli head.   The ideal soil is a reasonably heavy (not pure clay) A light soil can be improved by the addition of compost. Adding blood and bone to sandy or a heavier soil which is not too rich in nutrients will also help. Don’t plant Broccoli seedlings in your veggie bed if you’ve grown it before in the past 3 years. You may get a disease called Club Root that causes you Broccoli plant to wilt regardless of how much water you give it. Remember the acronym. LRLC-Legumes, root veg, leafy then Cucurbits, Brassicas.

Harvest broccoli heads when they have reached maximum size, are still compact, and before the buds loosen, open into flowers, or turn yellow. It will be about 70-90 days or 2 ½ -3 months, when your Broccoli will be ready if you plant it now, in time for a Spring crop
No Design Elements this week:
Feature Interview: A short interview with John Page, volunteer guide at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney. John talks about the Walk and Talk that he co created with Brian called Garden Memories of War and Peace. 16^th April:2-4pm Garden Memories of War and Peace.  Discover the stories behind plants and memorials and the importance of the gardens to generations of military personnel.

At the Moore room at Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney, $15 p.p. book 9231 8304 Refreshments included.

For more info. http://www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/
Plant of the Week. melicope elleryana. Doughwood or Corkwood. The Pink Flowered Doughwood is usually found in riverine rainforest areas.
That should give you a hint of this tree’s requirements. It definitely will not grow well in sandy soil. The one at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney is a magnificent specimen growing next to the Moore building. In my yard it’s underperforming and losing quite a lot of top canopy because it can’t cope with insufficient water and growing in poor soil. Where it is, it’s not for above a sandstone rock shelf and definitely not worth trying there. The flowers are certainly showy and look spectacular on a well growing tree. In it’s natural habitat in northern NSW and further up, it attracts the Papilio ulysses. Ulysses butterfly.  A fast growing, evergreen, large shrub or small to medium tree, forming a broad, spreading canopy which is excellent for shade. Cut back in Spring if it becomes too leggy.
What's On: On Sunday 17 April, there’s a free guided Tall Timbers walk from the City of Ryde. Enjoy an easy 3km walk through the remnant Blue Gum Forest in Darvall Park. You may wish to stay on to ride the steam trains after the walk. (Sydney Live Steam Locomotive - $2 adults, $1 children). The walk will go from 1pm to 3pm, and you should meet at 12.45pm at the playground by West Parade, Denistone. Bookings essential on 9952 8222. This is one of several free school holiday activities – find out more at ryde.nsw.gov.au or call Council on 9952 8222.