Flowers Have Their Seasons

 TALKING FLOWERS

Seasonality of Flowers

Vegetables have their season when they’re available fresh and not just out of the cold room where they’ve been for 6 months or more.
What about flowers?
Many people forget that flowers have their seasons too, after all there are plenty of flowers available all year round.

Hellebores-a winter flower

 Why is that important? 

It's the same as for vegetables and fruit, if it's not the current season for the flowers, then they're most likely imported.
If I asked you what’s the best time of year to buy peonies would you know?

 
What about roses, is there a best time?

Have a look at the below suggestions to realise what is actually in season.  

Winter Flowers

Orchids, Vanda, Dendrobium, Cymbidium, Phaleanopsis, Hellebores. Jonquils, Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Daphne (pictured.)

Spring Flowers

Peonies are an October flower. Roses, Ranunculus, Australian wildflowers-Waratahs, Ericas, Geraldton Wax; Cherry Blossoms, Magnolias

Summer Flowers

Roses, Sunflowers, Gerberas, Carnations, Stephanotis.

Autumn Flowers

Dahlias, Roses are continuing. Asiatic lilies are an exception as in Australia they are grown in glass houses and are available all year round.

I'm talking with Nadine Brown of https://www.theivyinstitute.com.au/

The scientific name for spring stars is Ipheion uniflorum, often marketed as Triteleia Stars Of Spring, rather confusingly.

Got to say one my favourite spring flowers.

If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Choosing Fresh Flowers

 TALKING FLOWERS   

Tips on Choosing the Freshest Flowers

Do you regularly buy a bunch of fresh flowers to brighten up your home?

Do you find that no matter which ones you buy, you just can't seem to get them to last past a few days, but friends regularly boast about how their flowers last for over a week?

Sometimes I cringe when I see a bunch of flowers outside some supermarkets because I know what signs to look for that tell me whether or not they’re really fresh.

But could you tell how fresh a bunch of flowers are when you see them for sale?

Some of the top tips are

• Keep your flowers away from the fresh bowl of fruit.

The reason is because fruit, particularly ripe bananas give off ethylene which hastens the demise of your fresh flowers.  If you think about it, placing a firm pear next to a banana in the fruit bowl, makes it soften up really quickly.

• Feel the stems to see if they’re fresh and not slimy.

Slimy stems stems means they've been sitting around for more than a few day. If you can't feel the stems that cast a close eye on the actual petals and ask yourself, " are the petals showing any signs of curling or browning at the edges,?" If the answer is 'yes' then move onto the next bunch.

• Avoid buying flowers from the roadside.

Roadside flowers have inhaled all those exhaust fumes and that's a speedy way to make them fade.

Don’t worry, Nadine Brown will tell us how lots more .



I'm talking with Nadine Brown floral educator of www.theivyinstitute.com.au
If you like buying fresh flowers you should listen to the podcast.

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

Drying Flowers Back In Vogue

TALKING FLOWERS

Dried Flowers and How To Do Them

Did you know that dried flowers are back in fashion?

Perhaps, like me you thought that never went out of fashion, but do you dry your own on do you buy dried flower arrangements?

No prizes for guessing that those brightly coloured flowers are actually bleached in vats of bleach first, then because all the pigmentation (chlorophyll) has been removed it is practically falling apart.

The next step, the foliage is plasticised and dyed. Not something you want to display in your home

The process behind these dyed flowers is incredibly toxic and is usually down outside Australia.

Dry Your Own.

Some Australia flowers dry naturally in full colour such as golden everlasting, Australian paper daisy (Rhodanthe chlorocephela) , Billy Buttons (Pycnosorus globosus).

Billy Buttons-dried by hanging upside down

Dried Rhodanthe sp.

Surprises

Did you know that you could even dry your dahlia flowers?

Choose the more tightly formed varieties with darker colours perform best. 

Some hardier flowers and foliage can be left to dry in the vase such as banksias, eucalypt foliage, and kangaroo paw.

HOW?

Hang upside down in a dark area with plenty of air flow so no mould or mildew develops.


I'm talking with florist and educator, Nadine Brown, florist educator and business mentor of the Ivy Institute 

Why not have a go and drying flowers from your garden?
PLAY: Drying flowers_29th July 2022
If you have any feedback email realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675

Sustainable Floristry Means Sustainable Cut Flowers

 TALKING FLOWERS

Sustainable Floristry

Have you ever thought about what happens to the tons of flowers that are sold around Australia for weddings, funerals, special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries? 

Hydrangea flowers for sale

Perhaps some of the lucky recipients might compost them when they're finished or at least throw in the in the green waste bin, but what of the others?

Did you know that approximately 10% of flowers that are sold in Australia are imported from overseas?

May not sound like much but do you know if the flowers you buy, are they imported or locally grown and does it matter?

A lot of flowers that are past their use by date end up in landfill, which I suppose means that they might decompose there but what of the mountains of wrapping, floral foam and other packing that the flowers come with?

According to the Sustainable Floristry Network "Excess packaging, plastic props, floral foam, and exotic blooms flown halfway around the globe are rationalised away because that’s what clients expect."

The next problem is that imported flowers are often sprayed with a glyphosate based chemical to prevent customers taking cuttings of the plant, before they arrive. then they are sprayed with the carcinogen methyl bromide, after entering Australia.

Imported flowers include Roses, Carnations, Orchids, Tropical Foliages and Chrysanthemums are these sourced from places like Kenya, Thailand, South Africa, China, New Zealand, Holland and Vietnam.

Nadine recommends that cut flowers should be bought when in season. Easily done by asking the florist where the flowers are from.

Marianne (radio host) speaks with 'Sustainable Floristry Network" ambassador and floral educator Nadine Brown of https://www.theivyinstitute.com.au/home about the meaning of sustainable floristry.
Listen to the podcast

So ask the question when you next buy flowers, are these flowers locally grown?

Check out the sustainable floristry website https://www.sustainablefloristry.org/

  

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

Perfumed Flowers and Orchids

TALKING FLOWERS

Perfumed and Non-Perfumed Flowers

Why do some flowers have scent and others not?

It's all about pollination because scent is a signal that directs pollinators to a particular flower whose nectar and/or pollen is the reward.

Volatile oils are emitted from flowers can have either slight scent or strong scent depending on how far away the plant needs to attract its visitors.

• Those plants that  are pollinated by bees and flies have sweet scents, whereas those pollinated by beetles have strong musty, spicy, or fruity odours.

Perfumers have never been able to exactly match perfumed their scents to the complex scents that flowers exude.

But floral volatile oils are essential in allowing insects to discriminate among plant species and even among individual flowers of a single species. 

For example, closely related plant species that rely on different types of insects for pollination produce different odours.

I'm talking with Mercedes Sarmini from www.floralgossip.com.au

Mercede's list of favourite perfumed flowers are:

Ms Carnation:Ms Rose

Mr Hyacinth:Ms Lavender

Mr Freesia: Ms Lilac

Mr Tuber Rose: Mr Lily of the Valley

Ms Stock: Ms Jasmine: Mr Belladonna Lily

Ms Bouvardia

Orchid Cut Flowers

Potted plants:

Like other orchid species, humidity is important for the best growth.

•  a small tray of rocks or pebbles should be used for potted plants

Water should be added to keep the pebbles covered at all times.

 Damp soil is important during peak growing and blooming seasons.

A good orchid potting bark that retains some moisture should be used. 

• Daily misting should be used to increase humidity.
• Several hours of indirect light is best for live plants. Direct light can cause leaves and flowers to scorch on the edges. A warm windowsill with lots of indirect light can be the best spot.
•  Fertilizers may be used to produce better blooms for many species.Care should be taken to avoid overusing fertilizers for potted plants.Overuse can lead to stunted plant growth or scorching of the leaves.

Cut Flowers

• Dunk in a bucket of water for 15 minutes.
• Cut the stem straight across
• Mist the flowers daily with filtered or "burped water."

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

Native Fuchsias and Make Those Flowers Last

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Correa species
Plants with bell shaped flowers are pretty much sought after by gardeners because the flowers are unusual and add an extra dimension to the floral palette.
The good old fashioned fuchsia is however not easy for gardeners to grow in some districts so what can you do?

Correa alba

Turn to the native equivalent, which is much more hardy and suited to a variety of climates.
Let’s find out more.
I'm talking with Adrian O’Malley, horticulturist and native plant expert.

Family:Rutaceae

Distribution: mainly eastern Australia

Flower: C. reflexa has the tips of the joined petals, turned back with eight stamens that stick out. May to November is the main flowering time with spot flowering in between.

Location: Light shade with moisture: suitable for under trees.

• Notes: They may not last forever in your garden, but will brighten up the cooler months.
• They like dry shade but do better with a bit of a drink, especially as they have fine shallow roots. Mulching with help retain moisture.
• If they grow leggy, give them a light prune.

Adrian and I focussed on four species of correa:

• Correa, reflexa,
• Correa pulchella, wide colour range from pale red, pink and orange that flower in autumn and winter.

  

  Correa bauerlenii: Chef's cap Correa

• Correa alba with whitish flowers and tomentose leaves
• Correa bauerlenii.tends to be limey green scented flowers.

TALKING FLOWERS

How to Make Your Flowers Last Longer.

I'm talking with Mercedes Sarmini www.floralgossip.com.au

Basics: Mercedes' definition of cut flowers to help you with how to treat them. 

Mercedes, classifies them not by their sexual reproduction organs by into two categories, seed grown or grown from a bulb, corm, rhizome or tuber.

• Male Cut flowers: grow from a bulb, corm, rhizome or tuber.
• Female cut flowers: grow from seed.
• Male cut flowers: stems are cut straight across.
• Female cut flowers: stems are cut on an angle.

How Much Water Do I Put into the Vase?

Mr Tulip: Mr Hyacinth: Orchids: shallow water only.

Miss Sunflower: Miss Gerbera: shallow water only.

• Change the water daily-use only filtered water or water that has been standing for 4 hours.

Flower food:change the water on the third day. 

Not all cut flowers like flower food-anything native, woody stem cut flowers.

• Mist your flowers daily for orchids with only filtered water.
• Cut your flowers when early morning or evening when starch is at it's highest within the stem.

Pruning When and Bluebells

DESIGN ELEMENTS

When To Prune

Pruning is one of those jobs that eventually every gardener that grows anything will undertake.

Now that you’re committed to pruning that tree or shrub or hedge, what is the most important consideration do you think?
Do you know the name of the species of plant?
Some gardeners would have the ubiquitous plants like murraya, Viburnum tinus, star jasmine and Japanese box.
Others may be more adventurous and have Chinese fringe flower,(Loropetalum chinense), Bower vine (Pandorea jasminoides), or even a trumpet vine (Beaumontia grandiflora).

Do you know when it’s about to flower or set fruit?
So when should you prune it?
Well, today it’s about when’s the best time to prune.
Let’s find out.

I'm talking with Jason Cornish from www.urbanmeadows.com.au
Jason's tip is to wait until after flowering before commencing pruning as a general rule.
Pruning hedges is different because the flowers are not the feature, but the neatness is.
Depending on what the plant species is, for hedging, pruning occurs 2-3 times a year.
fore example, viburnum hedges.
For vigorous hedges such as Plumbago, you will need to prune 4-5 times per year.

• TIP:If you don’t know what shrub or tree that you’ve got, the best advice is to wait until it flowers or sets fruit, and then prune after that.
• Jason's General Rule Nr 2 : Jason’s strategy is lightly and often.

If you have any questions for me or for Jason, please write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

TALKING FLOWERS

Bluebells

There are English (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and spanish bluebells. (Hyacinthoides hispanica).

• Family: Asparagaceae

Flowering in Spring, the bluebell is blue.  but, there are also bluebells that have a creamy colour or an off white hue and even pink.

It might not look like it but bluebells has six petals.  These petals are all fused up together forming a narrow bell shape.

The main differences between a Spanish bluebell and  English bluebell 

English bluebells flower on one side, Spanish bluebells flower on both sides of the stem.

English bluebell is stronger scented. Spanish bluebell has only a very slight scent.

Spanish bluebell grows well in full sun but English bluebells prefers at least partial shade.

Spanish bluebell flowers lift their heads towards the sun. English bluebells never do.

• Superstitions:

Bluebells is a tool used for calling fairies.

“Ring” the bluebells like you would a normal bell and the fairies would come. But the downside is - if you actually hear it ring, it’s a superstition that someone that holds dear to your heart will die.

•  In a vase.

Cut the bluebell stem straight across the base and place in shallow water in the vase. Any more water and the stems will soften and fall over.

Replace the water in the vase daily.
I'm talking with florist Mercedes Sarmini of www.floralgossip.com.au

Video was recorded live during broadcast of Real World Gardener on 13th November 2019

Ground Cherries, Persian Roses, No More Lawns and Easy Gardening

Battery operated line trimmers

We’re talking the new wave of battery operated tools in part 2 of this segment in Tool Time growing an unusual berry in Vegetable Heroes, starting a new series on lawn alternatives in design elements, plus bloomin' Ranunculus flowers in Talking Flowers.

TOOL TIME

Battery Operated Garden Tools part 2
Last week, part 1 of the topic of battery operated garden tools was aired because there was so much to be said about them.
This week, it’s part 2 with a brief summary of what points that were touched on in part 1.
So, the new wave of garden tools are battery operated.
Let’s get into the topic
I'm talking with Tony Mattson, general manager of www.cutabovetools.com.au

Batteries for garden tools can be purchased as 3, 4, 5, and 6 Amp Hours.

How long the battery lasts depends on which garden equipment you are using and how much load you will be putting on that particular piece of equipment.

It's advisable to buy two batteries at the initial purchase so that one can be charging while you are using the other.

Typically, recharging batteries takes between 30 - 45 minutes.

TIP: batteries aren't interchangeable between brands.

Battery operated lawnmowers don't leave a tread.

Make your brand selection based on the range of equipment that meets your needs.
Battery powered tools are easier to start, lighter, have no petrol smell, and best of all are much quieter and cheaper to run.
If you're wondering whether or not a battery operated lawnmower will cut through buffalo or kikuyu lawns. Tony says, no problem at all, and no tread marks on the lawn because the lawnmower is so much lighter.
If you have any questions for me or for Tony, why not write in to Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Cape Gooseberry: Physalis peruviana syn. P. edulis  also sometimes called the ground cherry.

• Cape goosebrerries can be grown in all parts of Australia, although they do best in temperate and subtropical areas, however, we can grow them elsewhere with a bit more care.

Did you know that Cape Gooseberries are thought to have originated in Peru and were one of the few fresh fruits of the early settlers in New South Wales?

So What Does It Look Like?

Cape gooseberry

• The plant is a straggling bush up to one metre tall with yellow fruits inside a brown papery envelope.
• It’s a short lived perennial  and can tolerate some frost so growing it further south shouldn’t be a problem.
• In colder climates treat the cape gooseberry as an annual, much like you would tomatoes.

The cape gooseberry is related to tomatillo, and husk tomato, in fact, all in the genus Physalis.

TIP:Don’t confuse the Cape Gooseberry, Physalis peruviana with an entirely different species referred to as Gooseberry bush. Ribes uva-ursi

The Gooseberry bush will produce very sweet, tart berries, but the cape gooseberry is quite different- and nice!

• Cape Gooseberries taste like tiny cherry tomatoes .

  

  Cape gooseberries are surrounded by a husk

The best thing is that Cape Gooseberry is very easy to grow and as the fruit are popular with birds and plants can be easily spread around the garden.

The berry is the size of a cherry tomato,1-2 cm in size and is very aromatic and full of tiny seeds.

How you know that the berries are ripe is when they turn a golden orange and drop to the ground.

When to Sow

• The time to sow Cape Gooseberry seed in every region except Tropical is now until December.
• For Tropical zones, March through to August is the time to sow seeds.
• If you sow the seeds in Spring and/or Summer you’ll get an Autumn harvest.
• They’re not fussy about soil types and even do very well in poor soils and in pots.
• The preference thous is for sandy to gravely loam.
• They need lots of water throughout the growing year, except towards fruit-ripening time.

How to sow the seeds

Sow seed at the usual depth rule-3x the diameter of the seed.

Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 25°C

Space plants: 50 cm apart if you want to go into production otherwise just try one plant first because they do produce quite a few fruits.

Harvest in 3-4 months or 14-16 weeks.

To get the most fruit from your cape gooseberries, they need to be in a sunny place as long as there is no risk of frost.

• Water them regularly and, when they grow flowers, feed them every two weeks with a tomato food.
• Cape gooseberry plants get the same pests as what you’d get in your area from the common tomato. No surprises there.
• So it would be a good idea to plant them amongst your flower border where they will grow quite happily and confuse the nasties at the same time.

How Do You Eat Cape Gooseberries.

Cape gooseberry once extracted from its husk, can be eaten raw tasting bit like ordinary tomatoes maybe a bit more zingy.

They can be added to salads, desserts and cooked dishes, they are delicious stewed with other fruit, especially apples.

They also go well in savoury dishes with meat or seafood,  as a flavouring, and in jams and jellies.

They can also be dried and eaten much like raisins or other small dried fruit.

Cape gooseberries contain large amounts of pectin, and are therefore suitable for jams and pies

Grab some cape gooseberry seeds from online seed suppliers, sprinkle a packet over your garden & go nuts!

The variety Golden Nugget grows to 1m

Why are cape gooseberries good for You?

Apart from their taste, Physalis is a good source of nutrients, minerals, vitamins.

Vitamins A, C & B, high in protein and rich in iron.

Put some berries in the bottom of a cup and mash them with a

wooden spoon.

Add some water into the cup. The mashed fruit should float, and the seeds will sink to the bottom.

Strain off the mash and water and dry out the seeds on clean tissue paper.

Sow the seeds thinly on the surface and cover them lightly with more compost.

Put the pot in a see-through plastic food bag/mini greenhouse and

tie the end up. This is to keep all the moisture in so the pips don’t

dry out.

 The seeds will germinate in a few days, so you will need to check them every day.

If the compost looks dry, give it a little water. When the seeds have

sprouted, remove the plastic bag and put the pot on a sunny

windowsill. Once the seedlings have four or five leaves, they will

need to be potted up in separate pots, using the same compost.

Repot your plants as they grow.

THAT WAS YOUR VEGETABLE HERO FOR TODAY

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Lawn alternatives: considerations

Do you have places in the garden where your lawn just will not grow?

Perhaps it's in a shady part where moss seems to appear in winter instead of green lawn.

Or is it under or near trees where the tree root competition is too much and the lawn is patchy?

Then again, you may be just tired of the constant mowing during the warmer months of the year and want to swap mowing for low maintenance lawn alternatives.

So what are the considerations?

Let's find out.I'm talking with Glenice Buck, landscaper and consulting arborist with 

www.glenicebuckdesigns.com.au 

Lush lawns need lots of maintenance such as watering, fertilising and mowing.

If you live in a region that experiences periods of intense heat and drought, this type of lawn may not be possible to maintain. 

Add caption

Looking at brown lawn is not that much fun so exploring other options that need less frequent irrigation is a good alternative.

Unless you make the right lawn alternative choice, you may be swapping the mowing for the weeding.

Over the coming weeks, Glenice will talk about what lawn alternatives suit high foot traffic and low foot traffic areas.

TALKING FLOWERS

Ranunculus: 

Family:Ranunculaceae also includes anemones, clematis, delphiniums, nigella and hellebores.

Grow from claw-like tuber or corms but now referred to as thickened rhizomes.

Growing tips:

Ranunculus

These plants are very hardy and will grow in a wide range of conditions.

If you missed planting them out in autumn for a spring show, treat yourself with a bunch of ranunculus from your favourite florist.

Mercedes Tips: www.floralgossip.com.au

• Cut the stems straight across before placing them in a vase.
• Place them in water that has been filtered or standing for 4 hours so that all the chlorine has evaporated off.
• Throw in a few ice cubes to perk up your ranunculus flowers
• Flowers have a vase life of 8 - 10 days.

As they prefer to have their roots kept cool and moist, plant Ranunculus species in a sunny or partly shaded position with moist well-drained soil.

Don’t like clay soils.

I'm talking with Mercedes Sarmini florist, and floral therapist.

This video was recorded live during the broadcast of Real World Gardener radio show in Sydney.

Mind Your Beeswax, Rhubarb and Wattle

Join host Marianne and guest Margaret Mossakowska to find out about using beeswax in the Good Earth Segment, growing crowns in Vegetable Heroes. Touching base with a local community garden and a national emblem in Talking Flowers.

THE GOOD EARTH

Household Uses of Beeswax
Honey isn’t just the only thing that beekeepers produce.

• Beeswax is a by product of honey making.

Did you know that beeswax is an important ingredient in moustache wax and hair pomades that make hair look sleek and shiny?
Well, we’re not going into that so how else can we use beeswax around the home other than for making beeswax candles?

Beeswax food wrap

I'm talking with Markaret Mossakowska of www.mosshouse.com.au
Let’s find out

Did you know that you can also coat things with beeswax, like hand tools, cast iron pieces and shovels to prevent them from rusting out.
You can even rub beeswax on the wooden handle of your shovel to help protect against wear and tear.
NSW amateur beekeepers associations https://www.beekeepers.asn.au/
The ABA currently has 20 clubs/branches around NSW.
There are also a number of areas where new clubs are being started.
If you need any help finding a club near you, please contact the ABA Secretary.
For listeners outside NSW there’s also a national body, http://www.honeybee.com.au/beeinfo/assn.html
If you have any questions either for me or for Margaret you can email us Realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2rrr, PO Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Rhubarb  or botanically Rheum x hybridum.

Do you think of Rhubarb as a fruit?

• You wouldn’t be the lone ranger on that one, because we’re used to eating it mainly in deserts, such as Rhubarb and apple crumble, or Rhubarb and Apple pie or strudel. 
• But did you know that rhubarb is actually a close relative of garden sorrel, which means it’s a member of the vegetable family.
• If that’s a bit Confucius, in 1947, in the United States, a New York court decided since it was used as a fruit, it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties.
• Of course 5,000 years ago Rhubarb was used for medicinal purposes when Chinese people used the dried roots as a laxative. This is the Chinese variety of Rhubarb.
• Different varieties of Rhubarb have different medicinal uses.

So what is Rhubarb?

Add caption

Rhubarb-the vegetable used as a fruits, is an herbaceous perennial.

Herbaceous because it dies down in winter except in warm climates, perennial because it regrows  from year to year.

Rhubarb has short, thick Rhizomes –the underground horizontal stem part of the plant.

The leaves are sort of triangular shaped and crinkly with small greenish flowers.

What we all like to eat is the long, thick (and tasty) petioles or stalks.

How do you prefer to eat your Rhubarb?

In sauces or pies, you can actually eat the stems raw in a salad or stewed.

Perhaps Rhubarb and ginger muffins or for something savory, how about rhubarb with pork or chicken with baked rhubarb?

WHEN’S THE BEST TIME TO PLANT RHUBARB?

Rhubarb crowns can be bought and planted in September if you live in, sub Tropical areas,

Temperate zones; July to September-October .

Cool temperate districts August to November in and for once, arid zones have hit the jackpot and can plant Rhubarb from July right through to February. Can’t get much better than that.

In temperate and cool climates the above ground parts of the plant completely withers away during the colder months, so don’t be alarmed, your plant hasn’t died it’s just dormant.

Unless of course the winter has been warmer than usual and you’re growing it in a pot.

It’s probably still got leaves and is flowering now.

Rhubarb crowns

But apart from that,you can buy the dormant crowns now and plant them right now.

Rhubarb can be grown in pots as long as the pot is large enough, say 30 cm wide.

In fact there’s a variety called Ruby Red Dwarf that’s perfect for potted gardening because it has short thick stems that are bright red.

IMPORTANT TIP: In case you think you can also eat the leaves-DON’T.

The leaves contain oxalic acid and are toxic.

There’s no safe method of using them in cooking at all.

A few vegetables have oxalic acid but in this case the concentrations of oxalic acid is way too high and it’s an organic poison and corrosive.

Other toxins may also exist.

Rhubarb is usually propagated by planting pieces or divisions of 'crowns' formed from the previous season.

Dividing Rhubarb for re-Planting

If you have a friend that grows rhubarb, ask them to make divisions by cutting down through the crown between the buds or 'eyes' leaving a piece of storage root material with each separate bud. 

This is a good way to share your plant with friends.

• Divide your Rhubarb in Autumn or winter when it’s dormant but here’s another tip- not before it’s at least five years old.
• Rhubarb is a heavy feeder, that means needs lots of fertiliser during the growing season.
• Use large amounts of organic matter like cow manure mulches applied in late autumn and work that mulch carefully into the soil around the crowns.

Tip:Use only aged manures, not something fresh from the paddock, or you will get fertiliser toxicity which will stop the plant from thriving and you might even risk losing your rhubarb plant.

• During the active growing season you will also need a side-dress of fertiliser using some sort of complete fertiliser at three-monthly intervals do this also after you picked off some Rhubarb stalks for dinner as well. 

You don’t have to dig up your rhubarb plant, as it’ll last for 10-15 years. So plant it in a place that’s permanent, otherwise choose the pot alternative.

• The biggest question people have about rhubarb is why aren’t the stems red yet?

There’s good news and then there’s bad news.

• The good news, stems stay green for the first few years on some cultivars, but they will eventually turn red.
• If you have bought a crown that claimed it would be red-stemmed and you’rs isn’t, there is a simple answer.
• The soil is too acidic so add lime.
• One of the main reasons for acidic soil around the rhubarb is when the leaves dye down and are left to decompose on the soil, they acidify it.
• On others, especially those grown from seed, they will always be green and this is because seed grown rhubarb isn’t always reliably red, even if the seeds came from a red stemmed parent plant.
• So the bad news for you is that these plants will always be green.

If you really want red stems, and I don’t advocate adding red food colouring to the cooking, either look out for a friend or neighbour with rhubarb that has red stems, and ask for a piece or order some red ones now.

You don’t have to be online, there’s nothing wrong with the post and all companies will be happy to post a catalogue to you free of charge.

There isn’t much that goes wrong with Rhubarb …although some districts may get mites in the leaves or borers in the stem.

Unless you are growing plants in really heavy clay, you won’t get crown rot either.

Some varieties for you to try-and I’ll bet you can’t decide which one-I’m still thinking.

Rhubarb-Big Boy and Mount Tamborine-originally from Queensland and almost never seen in the supermarket-they reckon that the large stems are too big for the shelves.

Rhubarb Cherry Red and Winter Wonder-grown by market gardeners in the Mornington Peninsula hinterland. Sometimes seen at farmers markets.

Why is Rhubarb a vegetable Hero?

The good news is that rhubarb is low in Saturated Fat and Sodium, and very low in Cholesterol.

It’s also a good source of Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fibre, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.

So Apple and Rhubarb Crumble for you then?

THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

COMMUNITY GARDEN IN HENLEY

When a community garden sets up in your district are you excited or non-plussed?
What things do they get up to anyway?

Let’s find out. I'm talking with Nicole Miranda from the Happy Hens Community garden in Henley.
If you are interested in joining the community garden at Henley you need to first register your interest by filling in a form from their website www.happyhens.org.au

 Feel free to tend to the Henley Green Community Garden at any time.

We meet every Friday from 10am - 12 noon Monday from 9 - 11am and Sunday 3 to 5pm

at Henley Green Community Garden

If you have any questions for me or for Nicole, please write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

TALKING FLOWERS

Wattles:Acacia species.

Family: Mimosaceae, 1, 000 species out of 1350 worldwide originate originate in Australia.

Australia's Acacias have a huge range of flower and leaf shape. Some have fern like foliage, others have leaves like they should belong on a gum tree. 

Flower colour is mainly yellow, followed by cream, but one outstanding cultivar has red flowers.

Acacia leprosa "Scarlet Blaze."

Most of the species flower during the end of winter or the beginning of spring. The most common Acacia, the Golden Wattle (Arcacias pycnantha) is found in the South Eastern parts of Australia, and the hotter and drier climates.

Acacia pycnantha or Golden Wattle tree, is a shrub of about 4-8 metres. 

Vase life:4-6 days.

I'm talking with Floral therapist Mercedes Sarmini of www.floralgossip.com.au

Video was recorded live during broadcast of Real World Gardener radio show on 2RRR, 88.5fm Sydney.