Tight Topiary and Climbing Spinach

 TOOL TIME

Topiary Shears

During the warmer months of the year, your garden can start looking like a jungle because it’s growing so fast.
More so because of la nina bring welcoming rains to drench the parched soil.
What things can you do in the garden to tame it somewhat other than a short back and sides?
Have you thought of a bit of topiary?

You don't have to go all out and doing something like in this photo, although it is rather nice.

You could just do a few simple balls on a stick instead. 

But what tools help you do the job properly?

Normally you need to do the trimming fairly regularly and you're trimming the newer growth. 

Older wood may need a nip with secateurs.

• The single handed topiary shears are great for small jobs such as perfecting that topiary ball. Topiary shears are similar to sheep sheers. (pictured)

• Two handed topiary shears are a lightweight hedge shear usually weighing less than 1 kg. 
• The blades are straight and vary between 20-25cm (8-10 inches) in length.
• There's also battery operated one handed shears.

Starting your own topiary from scratch like the balls in the photo,  you need to choose the right type of plant that responds well to topiary. 

Think buxus species, lilly pillies, or the common myrtle,  (Myrtus communis) are great starting points to kick off your topiary garden.

Between each trim, step back and look at how you are progressing so it ends up symmetrical

Let’s find out what needs doing.

I'm talking with Tony Mattson general manager of www.cutabovetools.com.au

If you have any questions either for me or for Tony you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

 Malabar spinach

Is your spinach wilting in the heat or succumbing to all sorts of pests and diseases?

• Ever thought of trying Malabar Spinach?

It’s also called Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, vine spinach, or Malabar nightshade?

Doesn’t matter if you haven’t heard of it before because you’re about to find out.

• The one we’re focussing on is the red stemmed version or Scientifically it’s Basella alba 'Rubra'.
  
  
  

Malabar or Climbing Spinach originates in India but is also found naturally in Africa and other parts of Southeast Asia.

• Did you know that an extract of the fruits of the red stemmed version of -Basella alba ‘Rubra’, have been used for hundreds of years as deep red dye for official seals and a natural form of rouge in cosmetics?The juice from the berries is so intensely purple that it puts beet juice to shame.A bit like Dianella berries I think.
• In some countries, this juice is used as a natural food colorant for agar (vegetable "gelatine") dishes, sweets, and pastries.

Why it’s called Malabar spinach because it was first discovered in the Malabar region-on the south-west coast of India in dense tropical jungles, along coconut and pepper plantations.

• So what does this spinach look like?

For lovers of all things romantic in the garden, you can’t go past another plant with heart shaped leaves even if you want to eat it.

• Malabar spinach is a climbing plant not even related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea) but grows large succulent heart shaped leaves that are a bit like spinach in taste.
• The leaves are quite a bit more waxy to my way of thinking.I would describe it as crunchy and juicy when raw. The taste is slightly peppery with a bit of a citrusy flavour with hints of earthy spinach to it.
• It’s not bad to eat, some say even delicious to eat, but I can’t say I use it a lot in cooking.More of an attraction in the garden with the leaves and the purple flowers followed by black berries.

The upside is that if you like your Spinach, this one’s is easy to grow and is much better suited for summer growing than Spinach itself.

When your lettuce and other salad greens are wilting, because Malabar spinach is a twining succulent (stores water in the leaves and stems), you’ll have plenty of greens for your salad.

Where to Grow

Malabar spinach does best in warmer areas from the tropics to warm temperate areas, where it can easily grow a 10cm per day.

In the tropics, Malabar spinach can grow 2-3 metres and wide and has small white-tinged pink to purple flowers in the leaf axils.

• This plant isn’t frost tolerant and in temperate areas doesn’t grow anywhere near as tall as in tropical areas. In cool temperate districts, I would treat this plant as an annual, but yes you can grow it too!
• If you’ve grown this plant before, you would know that the plant seems to die down in winter then re-shoots again in late spring. So don’t go thinking you’ve killed it at the end of autumn.

Why not try planting Malabar spinach on a trellis to make a backdrop for a display of other dark-leafed cultivars like—purple-stemmed sugarcane, black-leafed cotton, aubergine-coloured beets, kale, and Swiss chard.

Straight species Malabar spinach has yellowish stems and green leaves and looks nice enough, but it's the red-stemmed cultivar 'Rubra' that really stands out.

Red and green are opposites on the colour wheel and the combined effect is always a bit dramatic. The red veins in the leaves make it more so.

When the flowers are fertilised, small, attractive, single-seeded purple berries will grow.

It does self seed somewhat and I was able to gift seedlings to many of my friends.

How Does It Grow?

Basella alba grows best a humus-rich, sandy loam in full sun but will produce larger juicier leaves if grown in partial shade..

It grows easily from seed that has been sown in situ or you can start it off in a punnet.

Saving seed is easy too:

Simply dry the entire fruit and use it for planting the following year. Just make sure you store it dry in maybe a paper envelope.

The red-stemmed cultivar of Malabar spinach comes true from seed.

In a pot , it’s much more tame.

• TIP: When you have a plant in season, tip cuttings will root readily in water so you can give other members of your garden club or other friends some plants.
• Use any style of plant support you like: poles, teepees, chain-link fencing—I’m growing it up a trellis but it seems to have attached itself to a few other plants in the veggie bed.

Malabar spinach is insect and disease resistant, and that’s saying a lot; because at the moment, the grasshoppers are eating whopping big holes in my Kale and a bit of my spinach, but not touching the Malabar spinach.!

I am catching and squashing those hoppers!

Where do you get it? Plenty of those big box stores that have garden centres have it as well as your local garden centre or plant nursery.

Why is it good for you?

The succulent leaves and stem tips are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of iron and calcium. They may be eaten raw in salads, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, or added to soups, stews, tofu dishes, and curries. Or you can use them as a filling for quiche, omelets, or even a frittata!

Since red-stemmed Malabar spinach can lose a lot of its red colour when cooked, perhaps it is best in raw dishes.

A great way to use it is to plant it thickly in pots in spring, and when it’s growth takes off, pick the young shoots off daily for stir-fries & omelettes. Eventually it will get away from you by climbing or sprawling, but usually can be contained for a couple of months this way. The shoots are delicious & tender!

AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

Seeing Red in The Garden

PLANT DOCTOR

Mealybugs

Mealybugs

Have you ever noticed the leaves of your plants looking a bit more twisted than they should be and down near the base of the leaves there’s this white powder stuff that looks ominous.
This problem is very common on indoor plants and chances are, when you bought the plant home, the pest was already there but in very small numbers.Mealybugs hide in the crevices of the leaves of your plants so that by the time you notice something’s wrong, they’ve done a lot of damage.
Let’s find out more about what it is and what to do. I'm talking with Steve Falcioni, general manager of eco-organic garden.


Sometimes you can take that indoor plant outside so natural predators can take care of the pest problem.
Mealybugs love nothing more than sucking sap from leaves and stems!

Mealybug damage on orchids

They are only 0.5 cm in size, oval in shape, pinkish in colour but what you see is the white waxy filament covering. This will always be the female mealybug.
The male mealybug is very tiny at around 1mm.
Exuding honeydew is a special talent of mealybugs, which encourages sooty mould.
They also release toxic saliva that can seriously damage plants.
Mealybugs really love Citrus plants, orchids, ferns, loads of ornamental plants such as Agapanthus and shade houses.
They like warm and humid weather… it just makes then breed!
Oh, and they love ants, because the ants farm the mealybugs for their honeydew.
If you have any questions about identifying mealy bug or how to treat it drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

VEGETABLE HEROES

What is Malabar Spinach?
Ever heard of Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, vine spinach, and Malabar nightshade?
Doesn’t matter if you haven’t because you’re about to find out.
The one we’re focussing on is the red stemmed version or Scientifically it’s Basella alba 'Rubra'.
Malabar or Climbing Spinach originates in India but is also found naturally in Africa and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Malabar Spinach photo M Cannon

Did you know that an extract of the fruits of the red stemmed version of -Basella alba ‘Rubra’, have been used for hundreds of years as deep red dye for official seals and a natural form of rouge in cosmetics?
Why it’s called Malabar spinach because it was first discovered in the Malabar region-on the south-west coast of India in dense tropical jungles, along coconut and pepper plantations.
Malabar spinach first made its way from India to Europe in 1688 when it was introduced into Holland by the Dutch governor of Malabar, Adrian Moens.
The juice from the berries is so intensely purple that it puts beet juice to shame.
A bit like Dianella berries I think.
In some countries, this juice is used as a natural food colorant for agar (vegetable "gelatine") dishes, sweets, and pastries.
So what does this Malabar Spinach look like?
For lovers of all things romantic in the garden, you can’t go past a plant with heart shaped leaves even if you want to eat it.

Malabar Spinach photo M Cannon

Malabar spinach is a climbing plant not even related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea) but grows large succulent heart shaped leaves that are a bit like spinach in taste.
The leaves are quite a bit more waxy to my way of thinking.
I would describe it as crunchy and juicy when raw.
The taste is slightly peppery with a bit of a citrusy flavour with hints of earthy spinach to it.
It’s not bad to eat, some say even delicious to eat, but I can’t say I use it a lot in cooking.
More of an attraction in the garden with the leaves and the purple flowers followed by black berries.
The upside is that if you like your Spinach, this one’s is easy to grow and is much better suited for summer growing than Spinach itself.
When your lettuce and other salad greens are wilting, because Malabar spinach is a twining succulent (stores water in the leaves and stems), you’ll have plenty of greens for your salad.
Malabar spinach does best in warm, tropical areas, where it can easily grow a 10cm per day.
 In the tropics, Malabar spinach can grow 2-3 metres or eight to ten feet tall and wide and has small white-tinged pink to purple flowers in the leaf axils.
This plant isn’t frost tolerant and in temperate areas doesn’t grow anywhere near as tall as in tropical areas.
In cool temperate districts, I would treat this plant as an annual, but yes you can grow it too!
If you’ve grown this plant before, you would know that the plant seems to die down in winter then re-shoots again in late spring.

Malabar Spinach photo M Cannon

So don’t go thinking you’ve killed it at the end of autumn.
Straight species Malabar spinach has yellowish stems and green leaves and looks nice enough, but it's the red-stemmed cultivar 'Rubra' that really stands out.
Red and green are opposites on the colour wheel and the combined effect is always a bit dramatic. The red veins in the leaves make it more so.
When the flowers are fertilised, small, attractive, single-seeded purple berries will grow. 

How Does It Grow?
Basella alba grows best a humus-rich, sandy loam in full sun but will produce larger juicier leaves if grown in partial shade..
It grows easily from seed that has been sown in situ or you can start it off in a punnet.
Saving seed is easy too:
Simply dry the entire fruit and use it for planting the following year. Just make sure you store it dry in maybe a paper envelope.
I had saved some seed, but there must’ve been some moisture in the jar because they had become all mouldy.
The red-stemmed cultivar of Malabar spinach comes true from seed.
Luckily, when I was renovating my veggie bed, I noticed quite a few small seedlings in one corner of it that looked like-in fact were seedlings of Malabar Spinach.
I remember from last year that once it starts to take off in the ground, it can grow about 30cm in a week!
In a pot , it’s much more tame.
TIP: When you have a plant in season, tip cuttings will root readily in water so you can give other members of your garden club or other friends some plants.
Use any style of plant support you like: poles, teepees, chain-link fencing—I’m growing it up a metal spiral, but I think it’s going to outgrow that real soon. Whoops!
Malabar spinach is insect and disease resistant.
Where do you get it? Plenty of those big box stores that have garden centres have it as well as your local garden centre or plant nursery.

Why is it good for you?
The succulent leaves and stem tips are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of iron and calcium. They may be eaten raw in salads, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, or added to soups, stews, tofu dishes, and curries. Or you can use them as a filling for quiche, omelets, or even a frittata!
Since red-stemmed Malabar spinach can lose a lot of its red colour when cooked, perhaps it is best in raw dishes.
A great way to use it is to plant it thickly in pots in spring, and when it’s growth takes off, pick the young shoots off daily for stir-fries & omelettes. Eventually it will get away from you by climbing or sprawling, but usually can be contained for a couple of months this way. The shoots are delicious & tender!
AND THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Hidcots UK Red Border. photo M Cannon

People like to visit gardens to overseas because without looking down our noses at Australian gardens, some of these gardens are really really big, and really really old.
The size of gardens in England for example that I saw this year, was mind boggling, even awesome. But what can visitors get out of these gardens, because they seem to be just too big, with too much to take in.
Well, you can take inspiration from these gardens if you just select one part of them.
This month, Louise and I have been undertaking a trip to a few of these gardens for inspiration.
Listen to this. I'm talking with Garden Designer Louise McDaid
The red border at Hidcote was one fairly small part of the overall garden.
Hidcote in the Cotswalds in England which has a famous Red border , two long wide borders flanking a stretch of lawn – backdrop of tall green clipped hedge behind each border.

 The Hidcote borders have red foliage and red flower plants combined with green.

Structure and height is given by small trees – red leaf Japanese Maples – lovely shape and delicate leaf texture.

In Australia Acer palmatum Osakazuki has brilliant autumn colour – to around 4m tall.

Acer palmatum Sango Kaku (coral bark maple) know for bright red stems so attractive when not in leaf. 

Hidcote Red Borders Photo M Cannon

The border is made up of shrubs, strappy leaf plants and grasses – many of them with red leaves – and perennials with red flowers such as dahlias (which can have red leaves too!)
But it was a section that could easily be re-created in any garden, even a native garden. What did you think of the plant choices? Are you inspired to plant out a few more red plants-red leaved plants that is in your garden.

Not bright red, but the deep reds of maples and some of the strappy leaved plants.

PLANT OF THE WEEK.

Pomegrante: Punica grantumThese exotic fruits are filled with sweet, crunchy jewels of tangy deliciousness that give your food a real pop

Only growing to anywhere between 1 and 5 metres depending on the type you get, it’s a tree that should be grown more in the home garden.

Pomegranate tree

Let’s find out more. I'm talking with Jeremy Critchley, owner of www.thegreengallery.com.au
and Karen Smith editor of www.hortjournal.com.au

Tart, citrusy and incredibly juicy, pomegranate seeds have suddenly become hip again, and have appeared in dishes and desserts from Masterchef to 5 star restaurants.

They grow in most climates throughout Australia, but don’t like extreme cold.

Pomegranate flower.

Pomegranates have attractive glossy green leaves, and like to be pruned - remove the current year’s growth in late winter to promote dense growth.

The plants produce reddish to light orange, crinkly 8-petalled flowers from late spring to late summer. These are followed by the most extraordinary coloured and shaped fruit which look like a cricket ball of a certain colour and should start appearing from the third to fifth year of growth.

The Pomegranate is deciduous or semi-deciduous depending on its

location.

Although the Pomegranate is drought tolerant, to get good sized fruit, you need to water it as much as you would a Citrus tree in summer.

Pomegranates can be propagated from seed sown in spring or from cuttings taken between spring and autumn.

In the autumn split open the fruit to find rows of red seeds, eat the red flesh surrounding these, but spit the seeds out. It's a little bit complicated, but the fruit is truly delicious.

How to eat a pomegranate !

To get those delicious arils out of the pomegranate here’s what you do.
First cut the pomegranate in half.
Holding it seeds-down over a bowl, massage and squeeze the shell a bit with your fingers, to soften it and loosen the arils. Whack the back of it with a rolling pin or a wooden spoon, and they’ll fall straight out into the bowl. Keep squeezing and whacking until the shell is empty. Watch your fingers!
Pick out any white bits of pith you can see, and you're good to go.

Rainbows and Bees

REAL WORLD GARDENER Wed. 5pm 2RRR 88.5fm Sydney, streaming live at www.2rrr.org.au and Across Australia on the Community Radio Network. www.realworldgardener.com
Real World Gardener is funded by the Community Broadcasting Foundation
REALWORLD GARDENER NOW ON FACEBOOK
The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com

Wildlife in Focus

with ecologist Sue Stevens


The speedy Gonzales of the bird world this bird can twist and turn like those fighter jet plants on Top Gun, but it miniature form of course.
But that’s only one of the marvellous adaptations that this bird has that’s made it possible to survive all this time.
Let’s hear about more surprising facts about this bird…
PLAY: Rainbow Bee_eater_25th December_2013
Sadly, people are still the main danger as you heard. Yep, some apiarists shoot these birds even though they’re a protected native species.
Being shot is hard to avoid but these birds are also predated on by animals including dingoes and monitor lizards.
But they’re not silly because a bit like minor birds when threatened, they'll engage in mobbing behaviour -- emitting an alarm call and flying directly at the potential predator. This may start with one or two birds but can escalate so a whole flock is mobbing the predator.
If you have any sightings of Rainbow Bee eaters or photos why not send it in to
realworldgardener@gmail.com or by post to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675,
 

Vegetable Heroes

What is Malabar Spinach?
Ever heard of Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, vine spinach, and Malabar nightshade?
Doesn’t matter if you haven’t because you’re about to find out.
The one we’re focussing on is the red stemmed version or Scientifically it’s Basella alba 'Rubra'.
Malabar or Climbing Spinach originates in India. but is also found naturally in Africa and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Fun Facts
Did you know that an extract of the fruits of the red stemmed version of -Basella alba ‘Rubra’, has been used for many centuries as deep red dye for official seals and a natural form of rouge in cosmetics?
The Malabar region-on the south-west coast of India is in fact dense tropical jungle, coconut and pepper plantations.
Malabar spinach first made its way from India to Europe in 1688 when it was introduced into Holland by the Dutch governor of Malabar, Adrian Moens.
The juice from the berries is so intensely purple that it puts beet juice to shame. A bit like Dianella berries I think.
In some countries, this juice is used as a natural food colorant for agar (vegetable "gelatine") dishes, sweets, and pastries.

So what does this spinach look like?
For lovers of all things romantic in the garden, you can’t go past a plant with heart shaped leaves even if you want to eat it.
Malabar spinach is a climbing plant not even related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea) but grows large succulent heart shaped leaves that are a bit like spinach in taste.
The leaves are quite a bit more waxy to my way of thinking.
I would describe it as crunchy and juicy when raw.
The taste is slightly peppery with a bit of a citrusy flavour with hints of earthy spinach to it.
It’s not bad to eat, some say even delicious to eat, but I can’t say I use it a lot in cooking. More of an attraction in the garden with the leaves and the purple flowers followed by black berries.
The upside is that if you like your Spinach, this one’s is easy to grow and  is much better suited for summer growing than Spinach itself.
When your lettuce and other salad greens are wilting, because Malabar spinach is a twining succulent (stores water in the leaves and stems), you’ll have plenty of greens for your salad.
Malabar spinach does best in warm, tropical areas, where it can easily grow a 10cm per day.
 In the tropics, Malabar spinach can grow 2-3 metres or eight to ten feet tall and wide and has small white-tinged pink to purple flowers in the leaf axils.

Where To Grow

This plant is not frost tolerant and in temperate areas doesn’t grow anywhere near as tall as in tropical areas.
In cool temperate districts, I would treat this plant as an annual, but yes you can grow it too!
If you’ve grown this plant before, you would know that the plant seems to die down in winter then re-shoots again in late spring.
So don’t go thinking you’ve killed it at the end of autumn.
There are forums on the internet that say Malabar spinach can twine up on a trellis and make a backdrop for a display of other dark-leafed cultivars like—purple-stemmed sugarcane, black-leafed cotton, aubergine-coloured beets, kale, and Swiss chard.
Straight species Malabar spinach has yellowish stems and green leaves and looks nice enough, but it's the red-stemmed cultivar 'Rubra' that really stands out.
Red and green are opposites on the colour wheel and the combined effect is always a bit dramatic. The red veins in the leaves make it more so.
When the flowers are fertilised, small, attractive, single-seeded purple berries will grow.
Basella alba grows best a humus-rich, sandy loam in full sun but will produce larger juicier leaves if grown in partial shade..
It grows easily from seed that has been sown in situ or you can start it off in a punnet.
Saving seed is easy too:
Simply dry the entire fruit and use it for planting the following year. Just make sure you store it dry in maybe a paper envelope.
 I had saved some seed, but there must’ve been some moisture in the jar because they had become all mouldy.
The red-stemmed cultivar of Malabar spinach comes true from seed.
Luckily, when I was renovating my veggie bed, I noticed quite a few small seedlings in one corner of it that looked like-in fact were seedlings of Malabar Spinach.
I remember from last year that once it starts to take off in the ground, it can grow about 30cm in a week!  In a pot , it’s much more tame.
When you have a plant in season, tip cuttings will root readily in water so you can give other members of your garden club or other friends some plants.
Use any style of plant support you like: poles, teepees, chain-link fencing—I’m growing it up a metal spiral, but I think it’s going to outgrow that real soon. Whoops!
Malabar spinach is insect and disease resistant, and that’s saying a lot; because at the moment, the grasshoppers are eating whopping big holes in my Kale and a bit of my spinach, but not touching the Malabar spinach.!
I am catching and squashing those hoppers!
Where do you get it? Plenty of those big box stores that have garden centres have it as well as your local garden centre or plant nursery.
Why is it good for you?
The succulent leaves and stem tips are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of iron and calcium. They may be eaten raw in salads, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, or added to soups, stews, tofu dishes, and curries. Or you can use them as a filling for quiche, omelets, or even a frittata!
Since red-stemmed Malabar spinach can lose a lot of its red colour when cooked, perhaps it is best in raw dishes.
A great way to use it is to plant it thickly in pots in spring, and when it’s growth takes off, pick the young shoots off daily for stir fries & omelettes. Eventually it will get away from you by climbing or sprawling, but usually can be contained for a couple of months this way. The shoots are delicious & tender!
THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY!

 Design Elements

with Landscape Designer Christopher Owen

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been talking to guest landscape designer Christopher Owen about ornamental grasses in garden design. We went through the difference between strappy leaved plants and ornamental grasses, then how to get started with using these type of grasses in garden design.
But where do you put them if you have a particular style of garden?
Let’s find out ….


True grasses are in the family Poaceae, while rushes and sedges fall into Juncaceae and Cyperaceae families.
No matter where you live in Australia you’ll find grasses that cope with wet or dry, sun or shade, hot or cold or a combination of some of these situations.
So no reason to delay, plant a grass today.
If you have any questions about this week’s Design Elements, send it our email address, or just post it.

Plant of the Week

Ceratopetalum gummiferum, NSW Christmas Bush or Festival Bush.

Ceratopetalum....from Greek ceras, a horn and petalon, a petal, referring to the petal shape of one species.
gummiferum....producing a gum. There are many types of plants which flower around Christmas time, and these have earned the name “Christmas Bush” in their particular states in Australia. What you would call Christmas Bush varies from state to state within Australia.
The cut flower industry uses it a lot as filler for sold flower bunches and not just during the Christmas Season.
Gardeners like to plant it in their native gardens. But can it grow in your soil and in sun, shade, or part shade?

I’ve seen this plant growing in many different states of Australia, and it does will in South Australia and Victoria, so why not give it a try.

I would regard this plant as a large shrub in people’s gardens rather than a small tree because it rarely grows to more the 4-5 metres. That’s equivalent to Coastal Tee-tree.
The leaves are up to 3-7cm long and are divided into three leaflets or trifoliate, which are finely serrated and the new growth is often pink or bronze coloured. Leaves are opposite each other.
Ceratopetalum gummiferum is widespread over the east coast of NSW, commonly growing in open forests on sandstone hillsides. Bushes enjoy free-draining, slightly acidic soil along the slopes of a natural watershed.

I grew these as part of a trial when I was studying for my Hort Diploma at Tafe some years ago. Testing a variety of fertilisers for growth factors. Definitely one plant that doesn’t tolerate Phosphorus in the fertilizer. Native only.
Position: Mature NSW Christmas Bushes like full sun for most of the day with a few hours of slightly dappled light during summer afternoons or mornings.
In the home garden, NSW Christmas Bush must have a well drained but moist position, in sun or semi shade.
Annual feeding with a slow release native fertilizer is a good idea.
Problems with Christmas Bush
If you have a plant that just sits and doesn’t appear to be doing much, especially at this time of year. Give it a boost with seaweed tonic to kick it along.
Doesn’t tolerate hot weather after flowering if watering is inadequate.
Prone to iron deficiency-have mentioned that they like slightly acidic soil.

Where to Grow :
Ceratopetalum gummiferum should be grown in well drained, sandy or sandy loam soils.
For plenty of flowers and growth, test soil pH and if you need to, add Iron chelates or Sulphate of Iron according to the packet's directions to bring the pH down to 6.6.
Grow your own:
Propagation:Ceratopetalum gummiferum can be grown from seeds or cuttings. To ensure the bract colour stays true to the parent, grow from cuttings.
When sowing seeds, the whole fruit with calyx lobes attached should be sown for best results.
Young plants grow best in dappled light for most of the day and must be protected against frost in winter.

Watering well thoughout Spring to Autumn will extend the flowering season quite a bit.

Flowering:
Towards the end of December this hardy and reliable plant puts on a great display of red ‘flowers’ that as usual are not really flowers but sepals.
The true flowers are white in colour and fairly insignificant and are seen in late spring to early November.
After pollination by flies and native bees, the sepals, which are the outer series or whorl of flora leaves that protect the flower bud, enlarge and turn deep pink to red in colour enclosing the fruit, a single seed, a nut and the whole fall when ripe.

Plants known in other Australian states as Christmas Bush are entirely different and have no connection with Ceratopetalum.

Ceratopetalum Gummiferum Albery’s Red NSW Christmas Bush. This is the best-known of the NSW Christmas Bush varieties. Albery’s Red has bright red calyces in summer that follow a lot small white flowers through spring. The calyces make great cut flowers and are cultivated in Australia and all around the world for the florist industry. It grows to about  4 metres high and 2 metres wide preferring well-drained soil and full sun for maximum flower development. This Christmas Bush can be pruned to shape and only barely tolerates frost

All Things Shady

The Good Earth

Have you been able to give your garden enough water in this summer's heat?
Watering your garden isn’t wasteful if you do it in the cool of the evening or early in the morning.
Did you know that if it’s windy, just hand water the urgent cases of wilting. Using sprinklers that throw water high into the air on a windy day loses about 40% of the water.
Another tip is to keep the pressure low on sprinklers allowing the droplets to be bigger and not get evaporated so quickly.
What about your veggie bed? Veggies need daily watering in hot weather because if you don’t, lack of enough water can cause the bottom of tomatoes to turn black (blossom end rot), lettuce to turn bitter, and beans, zucchinis and other flowering crops to stop producing.

Has the summer heat turned the leaves of your vegetables brown and crispy? Has the sun baked the tomatoes on the vine? Have the beans turned up their toes and gone to god? All these things may have happened despite your efforts to supply plenty of water in the early morning or cool of the evening.


The hot midday sun is unforgiving and in a lot of areas in Australia, you might have even decided to give up growing veggies in the hottest months. Here’s an idea from the Permaculture Institute to help your summer garden. I'm talking with
with Penny Pyett, Permaculture Director-Sydney Institute.

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If you thought that growing veggies in the shade was a silly idea, I hope this has changed your thinking to, “I’m going to give it a try.”
If you already grow veggies in the shade, drop us a line , we’d love to hear which veggies you tried in the shade and how they went. Send in a photo or drop us a line to. realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Vegetable Heroes;

• What is Malabar Spinach? Ever heard of Ceylon spinach, Indian spinach, vine spinach, and Malabar nightshade?
• The one we’re focussing on is the red stemmed version or Scientifically it’s Basella alba 'Rubra'.
• Malabar or Climbing Spinach originates in India, and an extract of the fruits of the red stemmed version of -Basella alba ‘Rubra’, has been used for many centuries as a carmine dye for official seals and a natural form of rouge in cosmetics.
• Malabar spinach is a vigorous vine and is in fact not related to true spinach (Spinacia oleracea) but grows large succulent heart shaped leaves that are said to be like spinach in taste.
• The leaves are quite a bit more waxy to my way of thinking.
• I would describe it as crunchy and juicy when raw.
• The taste is slightly peppery with a bit of a citrusy flavour with hints of earthy spinach to it.
• Some say, delicious to eat, and is just like real Spinach, perhaps a bit more “earthy.”
• To my way of thinking it's an acquired taste.
• The upside is that Malabar Spinach is easy to grow and  is much better suited for summer growing than Spinach itself.
• When your lettuce and other salad greens are wilting, because Malabar spinach is a twining succulent (stores water in the leaves and stems), you’ll have plenty of greens for your salad.
• If you’ve grown this plant before you would know that the plant seems to die down in winter then re-shoots again in late spring.
• Straight species Malabar spinach has yellowish stems and green leaves and looks nice enough, but it's the red-stemmed cultivar 'Rubra' that really stands out. Red and green are opposites on the colour wheel and the combined effect is always a bit dramatic. The red veins in the leaves make it more so.
• Malabar spinach can grow 2-3 metres or eight to ten feet tall and wide and has small white-tinged pink flowers in its leaf axils.
• When the flowers are fertilised, small, attractive, single-seeded purple berries will grow.
• The juice from the berries is so intensely purple that it puts beet juice to shame. A bit like Dianella berries I think.
• It's used as a natural food colorant for agar (vegetable "gelatine") dishes, sweets, and pastries. Malabar spinach does best in warm, tropical areas, where it can easily grow a 10cm per day.
•  This plant is not frost tolerant and in temperate areas doesn’t grow anywhere near as tall as in tropical areas.
• In cool temperate districts, I would treat this plant as an annual, but yes you can grow it too!
• Basella alba grows best a humus-rich, sandy loam in full sun but will produce larger juicier leaves if grown in partial shade..
• It grows easily from seed that has been sown in situ or you can start it off in a punnet.
• Saving seed is easy too: Simply dry the entire fruit and use it for planting the following year. Just make sure you store it dry in maybe a paper envelope.
•  I had saved some seed, but there must’ve been some moisture in the jar because they had become all mouldy.
• The red-stemmed cultivar of Malabar spinach comes true from seed.
• Luckily, when I was renovating my veggie bed, I noticed quite a few small seedlings in one corner of it that looked like-in fact were seedlings of Malabar Spinach. I remember from last year that once it starts to take off it can grow about 30cm in a week!
• When you have a plant in season, tip cuttings will root readily in water so you can give other members of your garden club or other friends some plants.
• Use any style of plant support you like: poles, teepees, chain-link fencing—I’m growing it up a metal spiral, but I think it’s going to outgrow that real soon. Whoops!
• Malabar spinach is insect and disease resistant, and that’s saying a lot; because at the moment, the grasshoppers are eating whopping big holes in my Kale and a bit of my spinach, but not touching the Malabar spinach.!
• I am catching and squashing those hoppers!
• Why is it good for you?
• The succulent leaves and stem tips are rich in vitamins A and C and are a good source of iron and calcium. They may be eaten raw in salads, boiled, steamed, stir-fried, or added to soups, stews, tofu dishes, and curries. Or you can use them as a filling for quiche, omelets, or even a frittata!.
• Since red-stemmed Malabar spinach can lose a lot of its red colour when cooked, perhaps it is best in raw dishes.
• A great way to use it is to plant it thickly in pots in spring, and when it’s growth takes off, pick the young shoots off daily for stirfries & omelettes. Eventually it will get away from you by climbing or sprawling, but usually can be contained for a couple of months this way. The shoots are delicious & tender!

Design Elements:

with Louise McDaid, Landscape Designer

• In November of 2012, Design Elements did a series on the Potted garden, and now we’re following that up with how to maintain your potted garden in tip top condition.
• Watering your potplants is number one in keeping them looking healthy.But how often?
• What to fertilise with? Should you you use organic fertilisers or stick to granular, controlled release prills?
• How often do you need to re-pot?
• What if the pot's too big?
• All these questions are answered in the podcast.

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 There should be plenty of ideas to get you started if you’re a beginner gardener, and some tips for those of you who’ve been doing it for a while.
 

Plant of the Week:

Dichondra spp

Does your garden slope in some places where it’s just impossible to mow? Do you have a shady patch under a tree where the lawn has never grown properly and mostly dies off each winter.Wouldn’t you prefer a nice green thatch of closely hugging groundcover that you never need to mow instead?

• 
• Dichondra repens has bright green small kidney shaped leaves and can grow in 80% shade so is used as a lawn substitute where no lawn wants to grow.
• It has a tight hugging habit and is about 10cm high and 50cm wide, but not suitable for high traffic areas.
• The first, Dichondra repens or Kidney weed is in the Convolvulaceae family, so might give you some idea of its colonising habit.
• I once planting out some Convolvulacea in a contained garden bed, then decided it needed it wasn’t working.
• Several days of pulling out the underground rhizomes, I vowed never to plant anything from this family again.
• Dichondra repens is a small, prostrate, herbaceous plant native to New Zealand and many parts of Australia. It is commonly known as kidney weed in Australia and as Mercury Bay weed in New Zealand. Dichondra repens is found occasinally in forests, woodlands and grasslands, it also inhabits suburban lawns. The plant has a creeping habit, with roots forming at the nodes.
• Dichondra repens will also grow in full sun, so if you have an area that gets shaded in winter and sun in summer, this plant could be a good option.
• This particular Dicohondra is a pest in bushland, that’s why it’s called Kidney Weed.
• Only grow this plant if you live away from a nature reserve or bush. It can also invade other parts of the garden where you don’t want it, and a suggestion might be to contain it with garden edging.
• Dichondra repens will only take a light frost, otherwise is extremely hardy and will grow in all areas of Australia that don’t get a heavy frost.
• In summary, Dichondra repens is good for difficult to mow areas where you don’t walk on it that much. Kidney weed, closely hugs the ground forming a dense mat and can take a lot of shade as well as full sun.
• The second variety is Dichondra silver falls. Silver falls is a wonderful trailing plant that grows well in full sun. Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls' is perfect in hanging baskets and potted gardens where it can be allowed to trail down over the side.
• "Silver Falls"copes well in full sun and handles drier conditions than Dichondra repens.
• Originally from dry areas from Mexico through to Texas as a hanging basket plant Silver Falls will cascade down for up to 2m in ideal conditions making it a spectacular curtain of silvery green leaves.
• An excellent plant when allowed to trail over rock walls it is grown for the foliage although it does have small flowers.
• Dividing and propagating:-Plants can be grown from seed or propagated by root division in early spring or early autumn. Sow seed in a seed raising mix in a tray, surface sow and tap down lightly to ensure good contact withe the soil. Water with a seaweed fertiliser and then keep moist until seed germinate, usually within 2 weeks. Transplant or 'pot up' after plants reach a reasonable size. Grow on until ready to plant out. Plants are a little slow at first so be patient, the long trailing silvery foliage of Dichondra 'silver falls' is well worth the wait.
• Care is minimal, prune back in spring to keep in shape, these plants like a well drained position and a general purpose slow release fertiliser in spring.
• A little extra water in summer in dry periods as needed, but don’t over water.
• Dichondra repends or Kidney weed is readily available from all garden centres as is Dichondra, ‘Silver Falls.”
• The big tip is, if you’re expecting a heat wave, water all areas of your garden including those shady areas that also become quite dry in hot weather.

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