Tropical Planting Without Crying Over Onions

Old Fashioned plants that suit wet tropics and possibly elsewhere starts off the show, in Design Elements; grow nature’s antibiotic in Vegetable Heroes plus an old-fashioned plant re-made in Plant of the Week, plus, sharpening your secateurs just in time for pruning in Tool Time.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Old Fashioned Plants for the Wet Tropics

What is wet tropics? Is it your zone?
High humidity, but not too much over 35 degrees C perhaps? 

In Australia, we would say that Cairns, Babinda, 'cyclone alley' but not the Atherton tablelands, would fit the bill.

Darwin also, although, the Summer's are much hotter.
So what are the plants that would love that?
Let’s find out
I'm talking with Peter Nixon, garden designer and project manager of Paradisus garden design

Peter mentioned: 

Pisonia umbeliffera-bird lime tree.
Mussaenda philippica or M. erythrophylla-showy bracts-large shrub with pink or white bracts.
Warszewiczia coccinea-Pride of Trinidad-bract type red flower.2m sprawly shrub.
Plumeria spp-P obtusa, P.rubra, P. caracasana, P. pudica- but not hybrids like P acuminata who get rust in this zone.

Plumeria rubra photo M Cannon

Perennials, and sub-shrubs:

Pseuderanthemum laxiflorum-purple Prince, open habit, 1m, purple flowers all year.
Heliconia rostrata-red and yellow
Dichorisandra thyrsiflora-Blue ginger.

Persian Shield

Rhinacanthus nasutus,, commonly known as snake jasmine, white butterfly flowers.-Low groundcover
ForShade: try these

Crossandra spp. Firecracker Flower-apricot flower, 400m
Crossandra infundibuliformis- Firecracker flower, (another form)
Strobilanthes dyerianus-Persian shield
Xanthostemon youngii-red penda, brushlike

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

VEGETABLE HEROES

Onions.  Or allium cepa are from the Alliaceae family that also contains Garlic, Leeks Shallots and Chives.

Most of these have corms or bulbs or underground stems with long thin leaves and clusters of varying numbers of flowers. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Did you know that onions were grown as a crop and eaten since prehistoric times?,

Onions are even mentioned in first dynasty of ancient Egypt, circa 3200 BCE, and have appeared in tomb paintings, inscriptions and documents from that time on. Some paintings depict onions heaped onto a banquet table.

• Did you know that onions were was used to heal gun shot wounds and during World War 1, sphagnum moss was soaked in the juice as a wound dressing?

When to grow Onions?

In sub-tropical, cool temperate, warm temperate and arid climates you can plant them from April until August.

• Onions are sensitive to the day length for formation of flowers, so it’s important to select the right variety (early – mid-season – late).
• These varieties have different requirements in the length of daylight hours.
• Early varieties are short day length onions, mid-season varieties are medium day length onions, and late varieties are long day length onions.
• If planted out of season, onions may bolt to seed prematurely.
• For example in temperate climates mid-season onions are sown in winter, growing through spring and harvested in summer.
• These include Sweet Red and Brown Spanish Onions.
• They love sunny well drained beds, especially when the bulbs mature in summer.

So why Grow Onions?

Onions are a good companion plant.

Grown around the garden they repel pests.

They contain sulphur which is a strong disinfectant.

How to Grow Onions with Success.

Remember to always lime your soil well a week or two before planting onions.

They love a sweet or alkaline soil.

I don’t really know why alkaline soils are called sweet.

Don't forget avoid applying manures and blood and bone to the beds in which you're about to grow your onions because they prefer alkaline soil.

You can use spent mushroom compost instead of cow manure.

Sowing seeds with Success

• Onion seeds can be sown into seed raising mix into punnets.
• Or if you want to sow them directly into the garden, make it easy for yourself, mix the seed with some river sand-say one packet of seed to one cup of sand and sow it that way. Bit like sowing carrots!
• They can be transplanted to garden beds when the seedlings are around 8 cms tall.
• According to the “Vegetable Patch” website, there is a secret to planting onion seedlings.
• Instead of planting them sticking straight up, lay them down in a trench and move the soil back over their roots.
• In about 10 days they're standing up and growing along strongly.

Some tips to keep your onions growing strongly is

Hand weed around onions to avoid disturbing their roots and bulbs.

 Keep away from nitrogen based liquid fertilisers when your onions are maturing, because the fertiliser will go into their leaves instead of their bulb.

Regularly water your onions.

Lack of water can delay growth or split the bulb.

Because of their strong taste pests generally leave onions alone.

When Do you Pick Your Onions?

• Harvest onions (except spring onions) when the tops yellow and start drying.
• This usually takes 6 months, so if you plant seedlings today, yours will be ready  in December.
• Add a couple of weeks if your using seeds.
• Pull the whole plant from the ground and leave it to dry in the sun.
• Turn it every few days and avoid getting them wet (eg dew or rain).
• Hang them in a cool dry place for around 3 weeks to cure.
• If you store them in a cool dry place they should keep for a year.
• This explains why you can buy onions all year round.
• Eat the bulbs without a good dry skin first .

Why do we cry when we cut onions?

Onions contain complex sulphur compounds.

When you cut into an onion, two chemical reactions take place.

First, when a knife cuts through the cells of an onion, its enzymes release a strong odour.

Second, the onion releases allicin, a volatile sulphur gas that irritates the eyes and sends one rushing for a tissue.

Keeping Onions in the fridge can help with this problem.

To avoid a bitter flavour never, never buy onions that have begun to sprout greens from their stem portion.

This means they’re more than a year old.

If you see sprouts forming in your onions stored at home, simply snip them off and use the green part like chives, put the rest in the compost.

Why Are They Good For You?

Some health studies have shown raw onions to be effective in lowering overall cholesterol while raising HDLs, the good cholesterol.

Additionally, onions kill infectious bacteria, help to control blood sugar, aid in dissolving blood clots, and help to prevent cancer.

Perhaps we could do with eating some French Onion soup. Bon Appetit!

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY 

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Nandina domestica spp.

• Best known for it’s hardiness and loved by local councils who seem to plant it willy-nilly, this next plant has morphed into somewhat finer forms.
• Which is a good thing because it’s one
• of those old fashioned plants that gardeners would screw up their noses at.
• Perhaps we can change your mind?

Let’s find out.
I'm talking with Jeremy Critchley owner of www.thegreengallery.com.aufind out.

Jeremy mentioned Nandina filamentosa with superfine leaves. Use it as a filler plant.
N. citylights-dwarf-60cm also.
N Lemlim-new foliage is green instead of red.

TOOL TIME

Sharpen Those Secateurs

What’s the state of your gardening secateurs?
Do they open easily, are the blades sharp? You know they’re sharp if they make a clean cut through a plant’s stem without leaving a little tear behind.
Almost as if you only cut through part of the stem and then pulled off the remaining part.

Secateurs and garden snips photo M Cannon

If they’re not sharp, those cuts that you make on your plants will end up with bruising and tearing on the stems leading to dieback and fungal disease problems.
Let’s find out some tips about sharpening those precious garden tools.

I'm talking with Tony Mattson, General Manager of www.cutabovetools.com.au

• Clean your tools at the end of the day, even if it's just a wipe over with a rag or cloth.
• What you should be doing is give them a wash with warm water and two teaspoons of dish soap to scrub away sap and dirt from the  blades with a stiff brush. 
• This is to prevent that gunk build up on the blades which can harbour disease.
• Rub some vegetable oil onto the blades before putting them away to prevent the blades from rusting.

To quote a long time gardening presenter on Gippsland FM Community radio, 

"The jobs not done until the tools are put away."

 

Tight Spaces with Onions and Lilacs

What’s On The Show Today?

Preparing your plants for winter in “gardening in tight spaces” part 2 in the Backyard Biodynamic segment, something to make you cry in veggies, but why? in Vegetable Heroes, and plants that hide fences really well in Design Elements, plus best suited for a cold climate in Talking Flowers.

BACKYARD BIODYNAMICS

Gardening in Tight Spaces part 2

Keeping Your Plants Warm.

Last segment was all about how to keep the heat off your pots, but now we’re in the depths of Autumn, soon to be Winter so we want that warmth.

For every avid gardener, we want to use all the spaces we have to grow plants.
But what do we do with the cold to protect out plants especially if your space gets little sun?
Let’s find out.

I'm talking with Diane Watkin, Principle founder and member of Bioydnamics Sydney.


The same technique of keeping the sun off your pots is used to keep your plants warm.

the main difference is that you want the warmth during the day, so you are mostly reversing what you did in summer to keep the sun off.

Erect some sort of cover for your pots and put this on at night, but take it off during the day so the plant can enjoy the sun's rays.
You may have a glass cloche, but most likely you'll have to rig something up using sticks, twigs, shade-cloth, or other material.

TIP: Using diamotaceous earth, put a handful in a bucket of water, mix it up and then spray onto the soil. The silica in the diamotaceous earth will raise the temperature of the soil by 1-2 degrees, which may just make the difference.
If you have any questions either for me or Diane you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Onions. 

Allium cepa are from the Alliaceae family that contains Garlic, Leeks Shallots and Chives.

Most of these have corms or bulbs or underground stems with long thin leaves and clusters of varying numbers of flowers. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Did you know that onions were grown as a crop and eaten since prehistoric times?

Onions are even mentioned in first dynasty of ancient Egypt, circa 3200 BCE, and have appeared in tomb paintings, inscriptions and documents from that time on. Some paintings depict onions heaped onto a banquet table.

Allium cepa are from the Alliaceae family that contains Garlic, Leeks Shallots and Chives. 

When to grow Onions? 

In sub-tropical, cool temperate, warm temperate and arid climates you can plant them from April until August.
Onions are sensitive to the day length for formation of flowers, so it’s important to select the right variety (early – mid-season – late).
These varieties have different requirements in the length of daylight hours.

Early varieties are short day length onions, mid-season varieties are medium day length onions, and late varieties are long day length onions.

If planted out of season, onions may bolt to seed prematurely.

For example in temperate climates mid-season onions are sown in winter, growing through spring and harvested in summer. These include Sweet Red and Brown Spanish Onions. 

They love sunny well drained beds, especially when the bulbs mature in summer. 

So why Grow Onions?

• Onions are a good companion plant. 
• Grown around the garden they repel pests. 
• They contain sulphur which is a strong disinfectant. 
• Did you know that onions were was used to heal gun shot wounds and during World War 1, sphagnum moss was soaked in the juice as a wound dressing. 

How to Grow Onions with Success.

• Remember to always lime your soil well a week or two before planting onions. 
• They love a sweet or alkaline soil. 
• Don't forget avoid applying manures and blood and bone to the beds in which you're about to grow your onions because they prefer alkaline soil. 
• You can use spent mushroom compost instead of cow manure. 

Sowing seeds with Success

• Onion seeds can be sown into seed raising mix into punnets. 
• Or if you want to sow them directly into the garden, make it easy for yourself, mix the seed with some river sand-say one packet of seed to one cup of sand and sow it that way. Bit like sowing carrots! 
• They can be transplanted to garden beds when the seedlings are around 3 inches (8 cms) tall. 
• According to the “Vegetable Patch” website, there is a secret to planting onion seedlings. 
• Instead of planting them sticking straight up, lay them down in a trench and move the soil back over their roots. 
• In about 10 days they're standing up and growing along strongly. 

Some tips to keep your onions growing strongly is
1. Hand weed around onions to avoid disturbing their roots and bulbs.
2. Keep away from nitrogen based liquid fertilisers when your onions are maturing. Otherwise their efforts will go into their leaves instead of their bulb.
3 Regularly water your onions. Lack of water can delay growth or split the bulb. 

4 Because of their strong taste pests generally leave onions alone.

When Do you Pick Your Onions?

Harvest onions (except spring onions) when the tops yellow and start drying.
This usually takes 6 months, so if you plant seedlings today, yours will be ready in December.
Add a couple of weeks if you’re using seeds.
Pull the whole plant from the ground and leave it to dry in the sun.
Turn it every few days and avoid getting them wet (eg dew or rain).
Hang them in a cool dry place for around 3 weeks to cure.
If you store them in a cool dry place they should keep for a year.
This explains why you can buy onions all year round.
Eat the bulbs without a good dry skin first .

Why do we cry when we cut onions?
Onions contain complex sulphur compounds.
When you cut into an onion, two chemical reactions take place.
First, when a knife cuts through the cells of an onion, its enzymes release a strong odour.
Second, the onion releases allicin, a volatile sulfur gas that irritates the eyes and sends one rushing for a tissue.
Keeping Onions in the fridge can help with this problem.
To avoid a bitter flavour never, never buy onions that have begun to sprout greens from their stem portion.

This means they’re more than a year old.

If you see sprouts forming in your onions stored at home, simply snip them off and use the green part like chives, put the rest in the compost.

Why Are They Good For You?
Some health studies have shown raw onions to be effective in lowering overall cholesterol while raising HDLs, the good cholesterol.
Additionally, onions kill infectious bacteria, help to control blood sugar, aid in dissolving blood clots, and may help to prevent cancer.
AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Plants to hide that fence

Are you the sort of gardening that doesn’t think too much about the look of the fence?
Perhaps you’ve had the fence so long that you’ve gotten used to the idea of looking at it without realizing that it’s really an eyesore.

Montanoa hibiscifolia: Mexican Tree Daisy

It’s really important to conceal the fence for a few reasons.
You may remember that last week I said, no-one is saying “ my garden looks too big.”
Plus it’s not all about climbers, climbers climbers, to hide the fence.
Let’s find out. 

That was Peter Nixon Garden Designer and Director of Paradisus Garden Design.


Hiding the fence will make the garden look bigger.
So, Peter mentioned
Viburnum odoratissimum “Dense Fence” or Viburnum odoratissimum “ Quick Fence.” if you’re wanting a free standing shrub.
Mexican Tree Daisy or Montanoa hibsicifolia
For Cool Temp districts:
Prunus lusitanica - Portugese Laurel Prunus laurocerasus - Cherry Laurel 

  If you have a question either for me or Peter, why not drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com

TALKING FLOWERS

Syringia vulgaris: Lilac

We all love the Lilac but all can't grow it.

Lilac is a deciduous medium to tall shrub. 

Highly fragrant flowers appear to cover the bush Spring.

What Lilacs Like:

Lilac Shrubs in Vienna: Photo M. Cannon

Prefers good, rich soil in cooler districts but not clay soils; prefer sandy, gravelly soils. 

Tolerant of lime, resents acid soils.

The Story Behind The Name

The story of lilac, according to Greek mythology, begins with a beautiful nymph named Syringa (lilac's botanical name). Captivated by her beauty, Pan, the god of the forests and fields, chased Syringa through the forest. Frightened by Pan's affections, Syringa escaped him by turning herself into an aromatic bush – the flower we now refer to as lilac.

In A Vase:

Lilac flowers can last up to a week in the vase if you singe the bottom of the stem.

Because of the sap in the stem, it's best not to mix with other flowers in the same vase.
I'm talking with florist, Mercedes Sarmini of www.flowersbymercedes.com.au 

This video was recorded live during the broadcast of Real World Gardener show on 23rd May 2018

Clove Pinks Not Onions

THE GOOD EARTH

Small or Dwarf Fruit Trees
Normally fruit trees grow to 8 - 10 metres in height, such as Avocado or Mango.
What do you do if you want to plant fruit trees in your garden but want ones that aren’t that big.
There’s usually dwarf varieties of the particular type that you want but how dwarf is dwarf really?
Is there another way to grow fruit trees without going dwarf?

Fruit trees can be espaliered photo M Cannon

Have you ever heard of fruit tree hedges?
Let’s find out what it is now. I'm talking with sustainability consultant and permaculture guru, Margaret Mossakowska of Moss House www.mosshouse.com.au


You can plant your fruit trees closer together and prune them from a young age to have an open canopy so that they don't get diseases.
Trees that are too dense inside the canopy are prone to scale and fungal problems.


Meyer Lemon tree comes in a dwarf form.

The concept of a dwarf fruit tree is really fruit trees that are naturally occurring as a small tree but they still grow to 4 metres.
Unless of course they're grafted onto dwarfing stock.
Multi-grafted trees are a great way to get multiple fruit trees in one planting hole but you have to be on top of the pruning of each variety very early on or the strongest one will take over and the others will die.
The other alternative is to plant two of something into the one planting hole or if you have the time and inclination, espalier your fruit trees.
If you have any questions about growing fruit trees 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

Onions.  Or allium cepa are from the Alliaceae family that contains Garlic, Leeks Shallots and Chives.
Most of these have corms or bulbs or underground stems with long thin leaves and clusters of varying numbers of flowers. (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Did you know that onions were grown as a crop and eaten since prehistoric times?, Onions are even mentioned in first dynasty of ancient Egypt, circa 3200 BCE, and have appeared in tomb paintings, inscriptions and documents from that time on. Some paintings depict onions heaped onto a banquet table.
When to grow Onions?
In sub-tropical, cool temperate, warm temparate and arid climates you can plant them from April until August.
Onions are sensitive to the day length for formation of flowers, so it’s important to select the right variety (early – mid-season – late).
These varieties have different requirements in the length of daylight hours.

Early varieties are short day length onions, mid-season varieties are medium day length onions, and late varieties are long day length onions.
If planted out of season, onions may bolt to seed prematurely.
For example in temperate climates mid-season onions are sown in winter, growing through spring and harvested in summer. These include Sweet Red and Brown Spanish Onions.
They love sunny well drained beds, especially when the bulbs mature in summer.
So why Grow Onions?
Onions are a good companion plant.
Grown around the garden they repel pests.
They contain sulphur which is a strong disinfectant.
Did you know that onions were was used to heal gun shot wounds and during World War 1, sphagnum moss was soaked in the juice as a wound dressing.
How to Grow Onions with Success.
Remember to always lime your soil well a week or two before planting onions.
They love a sweet or alkaline soil.
I don’t really know why alkaline soils are called sweet.

Don't forget avoid applying manures and blood and bone to the beds in which you're about to grow your onions because they prefer alkaline soil.
You can use spent mushroom compost instead of cow manure.
Sowing seeds with Success
Onion seeds can be sown into seed raising mix into punnets.
 Or if you want to sow them directly into the garden, make it easy for yourself, mix the seed with some river sand-say one packet of seed to one cup of sand and sow it that way. Bit like sowing carrots!
They can be transplanted to garden beds when the seedlings are arond 3 inches (8 cms) tall.
According to the “Vegetable Patch” website, there is a secret to planting onion seedlings.
Instead of planting them sticking straight up, lay them down in a trench and move the soil back over their roots.
In about 10 days they're standing up and growing along strongly.
Some tips to keep your onions growing strongly is

1.   Hand weed around onions to avoid disturbing their roots and bulbs.
2.    Keep away from nitrogen based liquid fertilisers when your onions are maturing. Otherwise their efforts will go into their leaves instead of their bulb.
3 Regularly water your onions. Lack of water can delay growth or split the bulb.
Because of their strong taste pests generally leave onions alone.
When Do you Pick Your Onions?
Harvest onions (except spring onions) when the tops yellow and start drying.
This usually takes 6 months,so if you plant seedlings today, yours will be ready  in December.
Add a couple of weeks if your using seeds.
Pull the whole plant from the ground and leave it to dry in the sun.
Turn it every few days and avoid getting them wet (eg dew or rain).
Hang them in a cool dry place for around 3 weeks to cure.
If you store them in a cool dry place they should keep for a year.
This explains why you can buy onions all year round.
Eat the bulbs without a good dry skin first .
Why do we cry when we cut onions?
Onions contain complex sulphur compounds.
When you cut into an onion, two chemical reactions take place.
First, when a knife cuts through the cells of an onion, its enzymes release a strong odour.
Second, the onion releases allicin, a volatile sulfur gas that irritates the eyes and sends one rushing for a tissue.
Keeping Onions in the fridge can help with this problem.
To avoid a bitter flavour never, never buy onions that have begun to sprout greens from their stem portion.
This means they’re more than a year old.
If you see sprouts forming in your onions stored at home, simply snip them off and use the green part like chives, put the rest in the compost.
Why Are They Good For You?
Some health studies have shown raw onions to be effective in lowering overall cholesterol while raising HDLs, the good cholesterol.
Additionally, onions kill infectious bacteria, help to control blood sugar, aid in dissolving blood clots, and help to prevent cancer.
Perhaps we could do with eating some French Onion soup. Bon Appetit

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Acid Soil pH and Acid Loving Plants
By now you know what your soil pH is and want to know what to grow in it without having to change it.
There’s quite a lot of plants that prefer either alkaline or acid soil, so today’s episode is concentrating on the acid loving plants.

Wisterias are acid loving plants. photo M Cannon

These plants are poor at obtaining iron – Iron is more widely available in an acid soil. The reason why these plants love acid soils is because they can obtain this iron under these conditions In an alkaline soil there will be an iron deficiency this can be identified by a yellowing of the leaves on the plant.
Quite a few gardeners would know about quite a few plants that are acid loving plants, like Azaleas, Camellias and Rhododendrons.
What about any others? Let’s find out. I'm talking with Glenice Buck, Consulting Arborist and Landscape Designer.



What if you want to grow some of these acid loving plants in more alkaline soil ?
A short term fix is by giving them more iron
Iron can be supplemented in the form of cheated iron, bought as a yellow powder.

Place a large spoonful into a watering can and water over the leaves and into the soil.
This type of iron as it soluble will be absorbed readily by the plant, however it is only a temporary solution and long-term remediation of the soil may be necessary.



Rhododendrons are acid loving plants. Photo M Cannon

 

Some acid loving plants are:
Coniferous shrubs and trees, Abelia ,citrus, azaleas and rhododendrons Ph4.5 -5.5

Magnolia, hydrangea,gardenias ,camellias, crepe myrtle, holly shrubs, calla lilies, wisteria, strawberries, ajuga and willows.

If you have any questions about measuring soil pH drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Dianthus x plumaris "Regency."

Dianthus Regency.

A plant with low mounding grey leaves doesn’t sound too crash hot or enticing but what about perfumed flowers?
The flowerways come in singles, doubles, frilly, semi-doubles and flecked with colours mainly in the pink to red colourways and you can eat them as well.
Let’s find out what this group of plants is.
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

Dianthus or Clove Pinks have been around since the 14th Century.
Flowers may be single, double, or semi-double and may be all one colour, flecked, picoteed, or laced. 
The leaves of all Dianthus members are linear to lance-shaped and are often blue-gray or gray-green with a waxy bloom. 
All Dianthus like full sun and average, well-drained, unmulched soil, because their crowns tend to rot beneath it.


Dianthus Mojo

Propagate most perennials by cuttings, division, or layering.
Dianthus don't mind a bit of humus in the top soil layer, but don't like wet feet.
Clove pinks prefer a neutral to alkaline soil.
Dianthus or Pinks have fine root hairs that prefer to be in terracotta pots if not in the garden and because they’re quite small you can stuff in quite a few different colours and flower shapes in the many nooks and crannies in your garden.
If you have any questions about growing Dianthus regency, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com