Firewheel Tree and What Next After Fire

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Stenocarpus sinuatus: Firewheel tree

At this time of year (late summer in Australia), there’s a spectacular tree in some parks and gardens that is full of the native birdlife because they’re after the nectar laden bright red flowers.

One of my favourite trees. The flowers are just magnificent and so unusual.

Like the spokes of a wheel, they inspired the logo for my radio show.
 

Stenocarpus sinuatus : firewheel tree

A beautiful tree that is often overlooked for gardens but maybe you should grow it.
I'm talking with Adrian O”Malley, horticulturist and native plant expert.

The tree is laden with nectar and as usual, the crazy parrots, such as lorikeets, go for the flowers, screeching their delightful tune as they take a sip.
Sometimes, the nectar ferments in the hot sun making the birds a little more jolly.

Ring tail possums like to chew on the new leaves during the warm months.

The leaves are quite large, up to 20cm in length and they are quite leathery.

The green, lobed leaves are similar to those of maple trees, featuring five main veins which are yellowish-green and prominent on the underside of the leaf. One of this tree’s most outstanding features is its distinct autumn foliage – a highlight of the autumn season, so people reckon, but not so much in my garden.
My tree has profuse bright red and orange flowers creating a spectacular display from summer to autumn. Shaped like the spokes of a wheel before they open, these symmetrical blossoms may be up to 10 cm in diameter and are highly attractive, especially to birds.
The leaves are not great for composting, in fact it would take years, so best to put them in the green bin.
Adrian says that you can grow this tree in a pot for some years, but make it a large pot.
When the leaves start dropping you might need to think about putting in the garden or shifting it to an even larger pot. 
You can also root prune the tree and keep it in the same pot.
Worth having.
If you have any questions either for me or for Adrian, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com

DESIGN ELEMENTS

What Next After Fire?

This series is about the task of assessing and rebuilding a garden after a fire event.
There may be burnt trees and shrubs on your property, but can you just get out the chainsaw, axe or other pruning tools and chop them down?

Yep, burnt ground and trees after fire

Should you seek advice first?

Let’s find out.
That was Wayne van Balen, immediate past president of the Institute of Horticulture and Manager of the registered horticulturist program.
A fire event is not open slather to remove trees and shrubs from your property unless there’s a risk of person or property damage.
Assessment has to be done first.

Parlour Palms and Fire Damage on Plants

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Chamaedorea elegans: Parlour palm

Do you love or hate palm trees?
The gardening community is divided into two groups, those that love the palm trees and those that hate them.
Probably because people persist in growing the environment weed, the cocos palm, which although grows really fast, is particularly ugly.

Chamaedorea elegans: Parlour palm

There are many more well behaved palms and more lovely palms out there.

So let’s find out.

I'm talking with the plant panel were Jeremy Critchley of www.thegreengallery.com.au and Karen Smith, editor of www.hortjournal.com.au

 Chamaedorea elegans is in the class of smaller palm trees, that is also one of the most palms sold around the world.

Parlour palm makes a fabulous indoor specimen because of its leaf fronds that emanate as a cluster from the base. It's also known to purify the air indoors (NASA list of top 50 plants) as well as tolerate low light levels.
You can keep the parlour palm indoors for many years, but planted out in the garden under other leafy palms or larger leaved shrubs, it grows as a bushy alternative to the single trunks of most other palms.
Plus, you don’t have dropping palm fronds like you do with cocos palms and a few others.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Assessing Fire Damaged Gardens Part 1

This series is about the task of assessing and rebuilding a garden after a fire event.
How to tell if the plant is viable, what to do with soil that’s been burnt and has a layer of ash, and what to think about when choosing plants to replant those that didn’t recover.
So let’s start off with assessing what plants remain.
I'm talking withWayne van Balen, immediate past president of the Institute of Horticulture.

The recent bushfires in Australia has seen how fire can damage and even kill trees in your backyard. The extent of the damage depends on how hot and how long the fire burned. 

Many fires were out-of-control fire damaging trees in your garden in various ways. 

Some trees were completely or partially consumed, which leads to drying out or just plain scorching.

Some trees were simply just singed.

Many trees damaged by fire can recover, given your help.

This is particularly true of Australian native trees that have adaptations to recover from fire, when they were injured.

 But the first thing to do, even before you start helping fire damaged trees, is to determine the ones that need to be removed.

• The big tip is to not rush out to cut everything down that looks scorched and burnt.

Plants, native or not, can regenerate but it may take some time.