Fantastic Frangipani

Feature Interview

Frangipani Society of Australia
So many gardeners love the sight of flowering Frangipani's with their exotic scent, and colourful blooms.
Frangi's as they're known, can have a bewitching effect on the  collector, admirers and avid gardeners.

Sometimes if you weren't a collector but went to a Frangipani Show, you suddenly became one because there are so many colours and cultivars that you just have to have.
Not everyone can grow them though and there are some helpful tips that need to be followed.
I'm talking with Anthony Grassi, Coordinator of the Frangipani Society of Australia's shows.

Why isn't my Frangipani flowering?
Often a question asked and her'es the answer.
Frangipani's need 6 hours of full sunlight to initiate flowering.
However, if you have a tree that was grown from seed, then expect to wait a minimum of 3 years, and sometimes up to 10 years, before it starts to flowers.
Cutting grown frangipani's will flower in the first year, but not in the second because the tree is putting it's energy into establishing a strong root system.
Flowering will recommence in the 3rd year.

Fertilise when the claws first appear in Spring with a 6 months controlled release fertiliser and add granular sulphate of potash.
Sudden Impact for Roses is also a good alternative.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Which Foods Can You Re-Grow?
Have you ever wondered about re-growing food from the bits you cut off from veggies?

Instead of throwing those ends into the compost, or giving them to your chooks or worm farm, while all these things are good, you could be saving yourself some money by popping them into the veggie bed.
Here a just a few of the many that you can re-grow.

Let's start with the greens like lettuce, Bok Choy and cabbage are relatively easy to grow from scraps.
Place any leftover leaves in a bowl with just a bit of water in the bottom.
Keep the bowl somewhere that gets good sunlight and mist the leaves with water a couple of times each week.
After 3 or 4 days, you will notice roots beginning to appear along with new leaves. When this happens you can transplant your lettuce or cabbage in soil.

Celery: to re-grow celery, cut off the base of your celery and lay it in a bowl with just a bit of warm water in the bottom.
Keep the bowl in direct sunlight as long as possible each day and after about a week, leaves should appear along the base.

When this happens, you can transplant your celery in soil and wait for it to grow to full length.

Lemongrass is a snap to grow.
After trimming the root that put it into a jar with enough water to cover it and leave it in the sunlight. 

After a couple of weeks, new leaves will shoot and you can plant those into your herb garden.

Gardeners the world over have probably tried growing Avocado from the seed just for fun.
All you need to do if you haven't tried this before is to wash the seed and use toothpicks to suspend it over water in a jar.
The water should come up enough to cover the bottom few centimetres of the seed.
Place your jar in a warm place but not in direct sunlight and remember to check the water every day and add more as needed.
It can take up to six weeks for the stem and roots to appear and once the stem reaches about 15 cm you will need to cut it down to 7 cm.
When leaves begin appearing, you can plant the seed in soil, remembering to leave about half of it above ground.
Of course there’s no guarantee that your resulting tree will have the same fruit as that of the seed.
Pot luck I guess.
Who knew that potatoes can be grown from potato peelings?
You need peelings that have eyes on them. 

Cut those peelings with at  least two or three eye, into 5 cm pieces. 

Dry them out overnight,then plant them about 10 cm deep in your veggie bed.
It helps if the eyes are facing up when planting.

In a few weeks your potato plant will begin to grow.

Sweet potatoes can be re-grown as well.
You just have to cut the sweet potato in half and suspend it using toothpicks above a jar or take-away of shallow water.
Roots will begin to appear in just a few days and sprouts will be seen on top of the potato around that same time.
Once those sprouts reach about 10cm or so in length, just twist them off and place them in a container of water.
When the roots from this container reach about 2-3 cm in length, you can plant them in soil.

Ginger or Turmeric root is very easy to grow and once you get started, you can keep your supply of ginger full.
Plant a spare piece of your ginger root in potting soil, making sure that the buds are facing up.
You’ll notice new shoots and new roots in a few weeks.

Let this grow for about a year before harvesting the roots.
Remember to save a piece of the rhizome so that you can replant it and grow more for the next time you need it.

Pineapple is easy.

It’s been mentioned before on Vegetable Heroes but you can grow your own pineapple even if you don’t live in the tropics.
You just cut the top off and insert a few toothpicks to hold it above a jar filled with water or pot it up into Bromeliad mix
If you’re growing it in water, remember to change the water every other day or so and keep the container filled so that it reaches just about the base.
You’ll notice roots in about a week or so and once they are formed you can transplant into potting soil. 

If you live in a cooler area, it is best to grow your pineapple indoors.

Who doesn’t know about re-growing garlic from scraps?
Sometimes the garlic sprouts a green shout while it’s still in the fridge.
Garlic is really easy to grow and can be done from just one clove.
When you buy garlic, you get several cloves so just pull one off and plant it with the roots facing down in potting soil.
Non-organic garlic has been sprayed with chemicals to stop it sprouting, to bleach it and to kill insects and plant matter.
However, if you do manage to see one sprout, Garlic likes plenty of direct sunlight so in warmer weather, in a sunny position during the day.
Once you notice that new shoots have established, cut the shoots back and your plant will produce a bulb.
You can take part of this new bulb and plant again.

Onions and Leeks:If you want to re-grow onions or leeks, when you've cut the end off  make it at least 1 cm of onion. 

Put this piece in the veggie bed and cover lightly soil and keep in a sunny area. 

Growing from seed is sort of like re-growing scraps because the seeds are coming from the veggies your bought home with you.

If you like your pumpkins, you can save those seeds and plant them.
Just spread the seeds out in a sunny area outdoors and cover with soil. You can also plant an entire pumpkin. 

Of course many gardeners grow a number of hot peppers from the seeds that are leftover. 

Just collect the seeds from your habaneros, jalapenos or any other peppers that you have on hand.
Plant them in potting soil and keep in direct sunlight unless it is warm outside and then you can just plant them in your garden area.
Peppers grow relatively fast and don’t require a lot of care. Once you get a new crop, just save some of the seeds for replanting again.
Just be mindful of the growing season of peppers.
Pepper seeds are best planted in late Spring, or early Summer so they can grow in the warmest months of the year.

If you like tomatoes then become a seed saver and grow your own by saving those seeds of your favourite store bought tomato.
You just have to rinse the seeds and allow them to dry.
Plant in a good, rich potting soil until you notice growth coming in.
Allow the seedlings to get 5 cm high before transplanting them outdoors.
During cold weather you can grow your tomatoes indoors.

Of course many stone fruit and citrus can be grown from their seeds but in Australia, all citrus is grafted onto a hardier root stock so the one you grow yourself from seed won’t be as vigorous and the fruit could suffer as a result.

Mushrooms are good to go!

Unbelievable you can grow mushrooms from cuttings, although they are a bit more difficult than many other vegetables.
You’ll need a warm area with a lot of humidity and soil that is rich in nutrients.
It’s much better to grow your mushrooms in a pot as opposed to in the ground because you have a better shot at controlling the temperature and the humidity.
You just have to cut away the head of the mushroom and plant the stalk or stem in the soil.
Leave the very top exposed and this base will begin to grow a new head.

To regrow bulb fennel requires that you keep the roots intact.
You need about 2 ½ cm of the base of the fennel to get it to regrow.
Just place this base in a jar or bowl with about a cup of water and leave it in direct sunlight.
When the roots grow strong and you notice new green shoots coming up from the centre of the base, you can transplant into soil.

Re-grow, Basil and Coriander from a piece of stem about 5 -10cm high. 

Place this stem in a glass of water with the leaves well above the water line.
Leave the glass sitting in a bright area but not in direct sunlight. Roots should begin to form in a few days and when those roots reach 5cm long, you can transplant them in soil.
Re-grow a turnip for the top that you've just cut off when preparing to cook them.
Put this cut off piece into a jar of water.
You should notice new green tops growing in just a few days after you begin.
Just allow the root to continue growing until it’s ready to be transplanted in the ground. This works with many root vegetables such as beets, turnips and even parsnips.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Burmese Honeysuckle: Lonicera hildebrandiana

If you like the colour golden yellow and you like perfume in the garden, consider planting one of the world’s most spectacular climbers.

The scent is to die for and it’ll knock your eyes out as well.
Yes, it’s a climber but you can let it scramble over the ground.
Let’s find out about this plant.
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


Burmese honeysuckle is a non-invasive version of honeysuckle but be warned it’s a climber on steroids.

Often said by Peter Nixon garden designer, " you might need a whip and a chair to keep this one under control."

What may entice you though is that its berries taste just like Gin and Tonic.

Get Loopers, Grow Veggie Scraps, Smell Boronias

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
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

PLANT DOCTOR

with Steve Falcioni from www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au

The caterpillar stage of various moths, and butterflies eat the leaves and flowers of your plants non-stop and can destroy your crops almost overnight.eaten by this pest.

Somehow they’ve eluded being caught because they blend in so well with the colour of the leaves.

Loopers are very tenuous-the Basil leaves on the left were washed and dunked in water, yet these loopers managed to stick on.
The only alternative was to go over every single leaf to see how many there where!

The not so friendly garden looper.
Let’s find out what you can do about them.
Keep the garden free of weeds, check susceptible plants for garden looper eggs and crush them before they hatch.
They’re quite small so look very carefully.
Check the undersides of leaves for young looper larvae.
Hand pick and destroy them by dropping the caterpillars in soapy water.
You can net your veggie bed with fine netting to stop the moths laying their eggs.
For a rather yukky remedy you can try Cabbage looper soup spray.Larvae are susceptible to a virus that kills them.
And infected caterpillars will look yellow or white, and swollen.
Blend these sick caterpillars with water and spray it on plants to infect other larvae.
Best thing to apply is Dipel which contains Bacillus thuringensis when larvae are young.
If you have any questions about garden loopers why don’t you drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Growing veggies from scraps!
Who knew that you can re-grow celery, spring onions and a whole bunch of veggies from their scraps?
That’s right leeks, lemongrass, bok choy, cabbage, potatoes, garlic and ginger, -all these plus more.
There’s there are heaps of different foods that will re- grow from the scrap pieces that you’d normally throw out or put into your compost bin.
 Here’s howLet’s start with Celery, yes celery, it’s quite simple: just stand the base of the celery bunch in a small dish of water for a week or so until new leaves appear in the centre.
The leaves will be yellow at first, and once they really emerge and turn green, you can plant the celery in the ground or in a pot.How about re-growing Leeks, Shallots Spring Onions and Fennel?You can either use the white root end of a vegetable that you’ve already cut, or buy a handful of new vegetables to use specifically for growing.
Simply place the white root end in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position. I keep mine in the kitchen window.
The green leafy part of the plant will continue to shoot. When it’s time to cook, just snip off what you need from the green growth and leave the white root end in water to keep growing.
Freshen up the water each week or you’ll have a regular supply of leeks shallots and spring onions.
As for Lemongrass
Lemongrass grows just like any other grass.
Same thing to re-grow it, place the root end (after you’ve cut the rest off) in a glass jar with a little water, and leave it in a sunny position.
Within a week or so, new growth will start to appear.
Transplant your lemongrass into a pot and leave it in a sunny outdoor position. You can harvest your lemongrass when the stalks reach around a foot tall – just cut off what you need and leave the plant to keep growing.
What about Bok Choi, Romaine Lettuce & Cabbage?

Just like leeks, these vegetables will re-grow from the white root end.
Cut the stalks off as you normally would, and place the root end in a shallow bowl of water – enough to cover the roots but not the top of your cutting.
Put your leek celery or bok choy in a sunny spot, spraying occasionally with water to keep the top moist.
After a few days, you should start to see roots and new leaves appear.
After a couple of weeks or so, transplant it into soil with just the leaves showing above the level of the soil.
The plant will continue to grow, and within a few weeks it will sprout a whole new head.

TIP:If you don’t like the idea of have jars cluttering up your windowsill with bits of veggies stuck in them you can plant your cutting directly into soil (without starting the process in water)
But you will need to keep the soil very moist for the first week until the new shoots start to appear.

GINGER
If you like Asian cooking you’ll like to grow your own Ginger.
Ginger is very easy to re-grow. Simply plant a spare piece of ginger rhizome (the thick knobbly bit you cook with) in potting soil with the newest (ie. smallest) buds facing upward.
Ginger prefers filtered, not direct, sun in a warm moist environment.
Before long it will start to grow new shoots and roots.
Once the plant is established and you’re ready to harvest, pull up the whole plant, roots and all.
Remove a piece of the rhizome, and re-plant it to repeat the process.
Of course if you’re not in the right climatic zone, you will have to grow this one indoors for a bit before putting it outside.
For those gardeners in cool temperate areas, Ginger makes a very attractive indoor-plant, so if you don’t use a lot of ginger in your cooking you can still enjoy the lovely plant in between harvests.
POTATOES

We all probably know about re-growing potatoes.
Re-growing potatoes is a great way to avoid waste, as you can re-grow potatoes from any old potato that has ‘eyes’ growing on it.
Pick a potato that has robust eyes, and cut it into pieces around 5cm square, making sure that each piece has at least one or two eyes.
Leave the cut pieces to sit at room temperature for a day or two, which allows the cut areas to dry and callous over.
This prevents the potato piece from rotting after you plant it, so that the new shoots get the maximum nutrition from each potato piece.
Potato plants need a high-nutrient environment, so make sure you’ve added compost to your soil before you plant them.
Plant your potato pieces around 20cm deep with the eye facing upward, and cover it with around 10cm of soil, leaving the other 10cm empty.
As your potato grows and more roots appear, add more compost/potting mix or soil, depending on whether you’re growing your potatoes in a grow bag, in the ground or in a compost bin.
If your plant really takes off, mound more soil around the base of the plant to help support its growth.
Garlic is another easy one that I’m sure a lot of gardeners have tried already.
Garlic quite often sprouts in the fridge even so of course you can re-grow a plant from just a single clove.
Just plant it, root-end down, in a warm position with plenty of direct sunlight. The garlic will root itself and produce new shoots.
Once established, cut back the shoots and the plant will put all its energy into producing a tasty big garlic bulb.
And like ginger, you can repeat the process with your new bulb.

ONIONS are one of the easiest vegetables to grow from scraps too.
Just cut off the root end of your onion, leaving about 1-2 cms of onion on the roots. This needs to go into a sunny spot in the garden  then cover the top with soil. Keep the soil moist.
Onions prefer a warm sunny environment, so if you live in a colder climate, keep them in pots and move them indoors during frostier months.
As you use your home-grown onions, keep re-planting the root ends you cut off, and you’ll may never need to buy onions again.
TIP: One thing to note-if you try this with root veggies say a carrot, a plant that re-grows from planting a carrot top will NOT produce edible carrots, only a new carrot plant.
The vegetable itself is a taproot which can’t re-grow once it has been removed from the plant.
MUSHROOMS
Lastly, one for the mushroom officionado.

Mushrooms can re-grow from their stalks but they’re one of the more difficult vegies to re-grow. Mushrooms like darkness, warmth and humidity and nutrient-rich soil.
This time you need a mix of soil and compost in a pot (not in the ground) so your re-growth is portable and you can control the temperature of your mushroom.
Gardeners have reported the most success with a warm filtered light during the day and a cool temperature at night.
Just remove the head of the mushroom and plant the stalk in the soil, leaving just the top exposed.
In the right conditions, the base will grow a whole new head. Apparently  you’ll know fairly quickly if your mushroom has taken to the soil as it’ll either start to grow or start to rot in the first few days.
AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT FOR TODAY!

DESIGN ELEMENTS

with landscape designer Jason Cornish

Have you got a pool that you don’t use any more?
The kids have grown up and it’s just sitting there looking a bit green.

You might need more space that the unwanted pool is taking up.

Pools cost quite a bit to put it in so what happens when they become just one big drain on the pocket?

Filling them in is an option, but that’ll be quite expensive too.
So what else can you do with that pool, even with a budget in mind?


Let’s find out what this is all about.



Something to think about if you don’t want that pool anymore. Besides the unused pool is probably acting like a pond anyway, but you can make it into a more environmentally friendly ecosystem what will attract dragonflies and even small birds if you plant sedges along the edges.
Apart from the environmental benefits, you'll be using less chemicals-good for your hip pocket and the planet.
Less power usage if you don't want or need a pump in the pond.
You can still swim in the pool if you like and the conversion is reversible.
Pool conversions are more practical than just filling in the hole and you have something aesthetic too.

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Muogaumurra nature reserve

Boronias are small shrubs that grow all over Australia.
Those Boronias that grow naturally on the eastern states are much more longer longer than there exotic cousins from Western Australia.
But regardless of where they come from, Boronias put on a perfumed show that’s hard to resist.
Most highly perfumed and most prized Boronias are from WA and most of the plants you come across at regular retail nurseries are propagated from cuttings.

WHY ARE PLANTS FRAGRANT ?

The fragrance of flowers is thought to be mostly to attract insects, birds and animals to pollinate the flowers. This may attract a range of pollinators or only one e.g. Red clover which is only pollinated by bees. Boronias - Boronia megastigma varieties (The brown Boronia), and B. serrulata have very fragrant flowers. B. 'Sunset Serenade' and B. denticulata have aromatic foliage. Tips for growing Boronia

     Most important-excellent drainage, so sandy soil or raised beds.
  Don’t let the plant dry out but don’t overwater it, especially in humid weather because this plant and many other Australian plants are prone to getting root rot fungus that loves moist warm soil.
Protect the roots from soil temperature variations-either by planting in an easterly or north easterly aspect or under an open canopy tree, like a gum tree, and protect from winds. Mulching is paramount, and the stones theory might work too.
  Prune-yes Australian plants need pruning in the home garden. Don’t be afraid.  For Boronias prune when they are growing strongly, especially the flowers. Put them in a vase.
Fertilise Boronias in Autumn, not Spring, otherwise you won’t get many flowers and just green growth. Use organic fertilisers or some controlled release ferts-the ones with coated small balls.
Lastly, as soon as you buy your plant, think about taking cuttings-from February to April-take firm new growth, that happened after flowering.
They should strike in 6 weeks if you put them in a mini-greenhouse.

Some cultivars

·        'Harlequin' - red and yellow striped flowers
·        'Heaven Scent'- compact cultivar with brown flowers
·        'Jack Macguire's Red' - red flowering form
·        'Lutea' - yellow flowering form
·        'Royale' - dwarf form
·        Other hybrid boronias are grown simply for their attractive flowers, rather than their perfume, including ‘Purple Jared’ (brilliant purple flowers), ‘Aussie Rose’ (rose pink flowers) and ‘Lipstick’ (lollypop pink flowers).

·        Climate: Boronias are at their best in the cooler areas of southern Western Australia, the Dandenongs and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Tasmania and the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.

Try growing from seed. Try grafting if you’re an advanced gardener. Use Correa as root stock.

Specialist native nurseries graft Boronia megastigma on to root stock of eastern Boronia species, that tend to produce much stronger root systems when grown from cuttings.