Shakespearean Idylls with Wattle Capers and Correas

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

SPICE IT UP

with Ian Hemphill from Herbies Spiceswww.herbies.com.au



Acacia pycnantha

Did you know that there are nearly 1000 Acacia species found in Australia?
Have you ever thought of eating wattleseed? 
Not all wattleseeds are edible but those that are can be eaten cooked or dried and milled into a flour.

Acacia pycnantha is on the list as having edible wattle seeds.
The seeds of this genus, or group of plants has been used by indigenous Australians for thousands of years.
They crushed the seed into flour between flat grinding stones and cooked  cakes or damper with it.
Let’s find out what how we can use it in cooking.
You might be surprised to learn that wattleseed has been commercially used as a flavouring component in some foods since 1984.

The main species  that have been  used traditionally as food and now for seed harvest are

• Acacia aneura – Mulga Wattle

• Acacia pycnantha – Golden Wattle
• Acacia retinodes – Silver Wattle
• Acacia longifolia var. sophorae – Coastal Wattle.
So it turns out that wattle seed tastes like chocolate, coffee and hazelnut.
It’s often added to ice cream, chocolates and bread, but don’t stop there,- you can use it in whipped cream and other dairy desserts.

There’s even a beer brewery that makes Wattle Seed Ale.
The best thing is that Wattleseed contains potassium, calcium, iron and zinc in fairly high concentrations so it’s really good for you.

VEGETABLE HEROES Caper Bush

I’m going for something out of the ordinary, and it’s capers.
Capers that you buy in the supermarket look like little green soft fruits that sometimes come in a brine and sometimes are packed in pure salt in jars.

Capers or Caparis spinosa sometimes Caparis spinosa rupestris, is actually a bush which is called caper bush.

Caper bush with flowers and buds

Caper bush plants are readily available and grow as a hardy shrub originating in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Northern Africa.
If your region can grow olives, grapes, almonds, and pistachios, then you can also grow capers.
Have you ever eaten Spaghetti alla Puttanesca,- that’s chockers with capers, what about Penne with anchovies, capers and toasty crumbs?
Ever heard of caper butter on crusty bread with vegetables and meats, or used in stuffing for fish?
The possibilities are endless.
For a bit of history, did you know that capers are an ancient food and legend has it that Cleopatra served capers at feasts intended to win the love of Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar.
So why grow them yourself?
Did you or do you still pick capers from a dish if they’ve turned up in something you’ve ordered?
No surprises really, because, we’ve been used to a much inferior quality that’s not been packed in the right medium.
What you really should have is a plumper olive-green bud that adds a lot of flavour to your food.

Another reason-Ever heard of organic capers?
No? That’s because there aren’t any, so if you want to avoid the high toxic residues that some imported capers carry, you need to grow your own.
Plus because you’ve grown them and pickled them soon after, the flavour of your capers will be more intense and firmer than the imported kind.
Did you know that Australian Capers are grown with minimal water on the dry rocky slopes of the River Murray?
In fact they’re grown commercially in both South Australia and Western Victoria.
Strictly speaking capers don’t belong in vegetable heroes because they’re neither a fruit or a vegetable.

So what are Capers?  

capers are the unopened flower bud and you might be surprised to learn that they’ve been used in cooking for over 5000 years!
The bush itself only grows to a metre, and it’s a pretty tough plant needing no extra water after it’s established.
Apparently they’re as dry tolerant as Eucalypts and Wattle trees because like gum trees and wattles, capers have a deep tap root that can search for water as well as a surface root system that picks up the morning dew.

Growing capers.

Well drained soil is the best kind for this bush and adding good compost and lime to the soil will also help the caper bush along.
Although capers love hot temperatures, frost is no problem during the active growing season.

Caper bush flowers

The flowers are white with long purple stamens and usually only lasts for one day.
But if you want to use them in cooking, capers need to be picked when the bud is still tight.
You’ll get buds every couple of weeks during the warmest months.
That’s not all that you can use from the caper bush.
If the flower opens, leave it on the bush so it can grow the oblong shaped berries that contain quite a few seeds.
These berries can also be pickled.

How do you pickle your capers?

It’s pretty easy really.
Traditionally the caperberry is pickled by soaking in salt water for a day, then washing the salt off and storing the berries in white wine vinegar.
Another method to pickle your capers is to add coarse salt to the picked capers (40% of the weight of the capers) and stir occasionally for about 10-12 days, when the liquid that forms on the bottom is drained off.
Add salt again (half the original amount) for another 10 days or so.
Then the capers are ready to use, just wash off the salt, or stored in dry salt. They can be made ready for use by soaking in a bowl of water to remove the salt.

Gourmet delights with capers.

Scatter a small handful into any fish dishes
Sprinkle into a potato, green or tomato salad
Add when you make your favourite pasta sauce.
Blend with butter and dab on crusty bread, grilled meat or vegetables

 Why are they good for you?

Being flower buds, capers are in fact very low in calories, 23 calories per 100 g.
Capers are one of the plant sources high in anti-oxidants.
The spicy buds have healthy levels of vitamins A,  K, niacin, and riboflavin.
Niacin helps lower LDL cholesterol.
Capers also have minerals like calcium, iron, and copper in them.

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Shakespeare inspired garden design.

Ann Hathaway's cottage-Stratford on Avon

Do you like a good play or going to the theatre? If you do you might know that one of the world’s greatest playwrights, William Shakespeare, was a dab hand at incorporating plants into his plays.

He seemed to know so much about them that it’s thought he was an avid gardener.

For example in Hamlet he uses fennel, columbines, rue, daisy and violets – I love that mix of 3 lovely flowers, an aromatic foliage herb and an edible plant

Midsummer nights dream –

I know a bank where the wild Thyme blows,
Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows;

Quite over-canopied with luscious Woodbine,

With sweet Musk-Roses and with Eglantine

For all the readers and lovers of Shakespeare. You might have a favourite piece of prose, or remember a particularly touching poetic line – he was and remains the most prolific author to use references to plants and flowers.

In fact if you visit Stratford Upon Avon where Shakespeare retired to, I fancy you might see a Shakespearean garden at Ann Hathaway’s cottage.

There are even a number of public gardens using that theme around the world.

Let’s find out what this is all about.  
I'm talking with landscape designer Louise McDaid

  PLAY: Unusual Themes_Shakespearean gardens pt3_2^nd July 2014

In Shakespeare’s time, gardens would’ve been formal as in the Elizabethan period.

Ann Hathaway's garden-Stratford On Avon, England

What a great theme for a garden.

You could even put signs near the plants that provide the relevant quotations.

Ophelia says in Hamlet “There’s rosemary that’s for remembrance, Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies that’s for thoughts.’

Of course from Romeo and Juliet, the best known quote or misquote- "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

If you have any questions about Shakespearean gardens why not write in otherwise all information will be posted on the website atwww.realworldgardener.com

PLANT OF THE WEEK

CORREAS REVIEWED.

Do you like the trumpet shaped but diminutive flowers?

Then this next plant is one for you.

Correa reflexa

Some of the newer varieties have cute names like Capuccino, Coconut Ice, Fat Fred, Dancing Lipsticks, Incognito and Federation Belle.

In fact there are now so many hybrids that I lost count after one hundred.

Some of the common varieties found in Nurseries are, C. reflexa, C. glabra, C. alba, C. pulchella, and also the many hybrids/cultivars.

Caring for your plants

 Correas have 4 petals fused together in a pendulous bell tube, with colours ranging from yellow, red, green or combinations but also has white flowering forms.

Plants range in size from the prostrate form but most are about 1 metre to 2 metres in height.

Good drainage is a must for best results and raised beds could be an option in clay soils.

Correa glabra

Correas respond well to tip pruning after planting and can be made into compact bushes by clipping, with either shears or a hedge trimmer and hedges are quite common. T

his clipping should be timed so as not to interfere with the flowering time of the plant otherwise flowers will not form.

Very little maintenance is required with these plants apart from a trim once a year and don't let them dry out in warm weather if you're on sandy soil.

Fertilise your correas with something for natives only as they're phosphorus sensitive.

These fertilisers have an average N.P.K. rating of 17.9 : 0.8 : 7.3 and are safe to use on your Correas.

Grow them in a row and trimmed like a hedge, singly in a pot or in the garden?

Correa pulchella

For autumn and winter colour, these plants fit the bill lower down to the ground.

Correas prefer a soil that’s moist and well drained.

But they tolerate full sun and even partial shade.

If you like your plants looking neat, trim Correas twice a year but not during their main flowering season.

 



Clever Ravens and Conifer Gardens

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

WILDLIFE IN FOCUS

with ecologist Sue Stevens
You mightn’t know this fact but Ravens are in fact native.

Ravens are all closely related and descended from one common ancestor.

When it comes to intelligence, these birds are as clever as chimpanzees and dolphins.

Many ravens got the food on the first try, some within 30 seconds.


In the wild, these birds have pushed rocks onto predataros to keep them from climbing to their nests, and played dead beside a carcass to scare other ravens away from a delicious feast.
If a raven knows another raven is watching it hide its food, it will pretend to put the food in one place while really hiding it in another.
Since the other ravens are smart too, this only works sometimes..
Let’s find out more about these clever birds..

As Sue mentioned, Ravens recognise people carrying guns, they avoid traps, and they follow and harass large predators for food, or follow trappers and steal bait from traps.
The best fact of all is Ravens have learnt to turn road-killed cane toads over and eat them from the belly, thus avoiding the dorsal poison glands.
You might this hard to believe but did you know that in captivity, ravens can learn to talk better than some parrots.
They also mimic other noises, like car engines, toilets flushing, and animal and birdcalls.They’re also as good a flyer as falcons and eagles.
Turns out that Ravens' family tree evolved in Australia.
They then radiated out into the rest of the world where they proceeded to become the world's most diverse and successful group of birds.
If you have any questions about Ravens or have a photo to send it, drop us a line to realworldgardener@gmail.com or write in to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675.

VEGETABLE HEROES

Success with Raising Seeds and Seedlings

 

If you’ve grown plants from seed, you would know that’s it more rewarding in many ways than just buying seedlings from somewhere.

A main advantage of growing from seeds is that it’s cheaper than buying seedlings, and raising your own seed gives you more control over exactly how your seeds are raised, and how many you choose to grow at any one time.

Also there is a wider variety of heritage, non-hybrid varieties available by seed than as seedlings, meaning you can grow some unusual vegies that you simply won’t find in the shops.

Growing from seed isn’t always easy and I know many a gardener from my days at Yates, that failed to germinate a whole bunch of different seeds.

The answer to the seed raising question in a lot of cases was answered by saying that if seedlings get too wet or too dry, then they’re not going to germinate.

So, are there any sure fire techniques that could work for you for some of those tricky seeds?

Some gardeners and horticulturalists keep a record of everything they sow.

Whether you are producing a few plants for your home flower and vegetable gardens or working at a larger-scale nursery, developing a propagation journal is a good place to start if you’re having a hit and miss type of problem with your seeds.

Keep a record when seeds are sown, the germination date and success rate, and when seedlings are ready for transplanting each year.

At the end of the year, evaluate the timing of when you put the seeds in, noting what went right and what went wrong.

Next year your might then consider making adjustments so that you’re growing plants under optimum conditions.

Also keep track of where you bought the seeds, as their quality and reliability might vary.

Having said that, seed companies sell thousands of packets of each variety of seed and these have been batch tested for germination rates at above 85%.

It’s pretty unlikely that a batch of seeds is unreliable without implying that several thousand other seeds won’t germinate either.

The next thing is to store your seeds properly-not in a garden shed if it heats up during summer and is freezing cold in winter.

 

The cold won’t matter so much as the heat.

• Seeds are a fragile commodity, and if not treated properly, their viability takes a dive.
• Did you know that some seeds can survive for thousands of years under the proper conditions, while others will lose viability quickly, even when properly stored.  Parsnips is one that loses viability very quickly.
• The best way to store your precious seeds is to keep seeds in a cool, dark location with low humidity, like a cool laundry that won’t fluctuate in temperate that much.
• Some say put them in the fridge, but if you’re like me, you’d need a fridge just to keep the seeds in.
• Store the seeds in a plastic container, and label the top with the expiry date of the seeds.
• There is a test you can do for seed viability for many of your seed, although it’s not 100% bullet proof, and that is once you are ready to sow, you can soak them in water for a few hours.
• The seeds that are still living will sink to the bottom, while the dead ones will float on the surface. This test generally works better for larger seeds as a general rule. It’s worth a try in any case.
• When sowing seeds in punnets, especially if you’re re-using them, give them a good soak with a 10% solution containing  bleach so that any pathogens that might kill of the seeds is killed.
• This’ll take about 15 minutes.
• You’re better of sowing plants that resent root disturbance when transplanted into small, individual containers like cell packs or plug trays. Recycled plastic containers, like empty yogurt or margarine tubs, work well, too, as long as you've poked holes in the bottom for drainage.
• It doesn’t matter what type of container you use as long as it’s clean and free of pathogens.
• Another big factor in seeds not germinating is covering them with too much or too little seed raising mix.
• If you’ve got an old kitchen sieve, use that to sprinkle the mix over the seeds after you’ve sown them into the punnets or vegetable garden.
• Very fine seeds that need light to germinate should be barely covered if at all.

Vermicullite on seeds

• In this case, I tend to light sprinkle some soaked vermiculite over the seeds, so they won’t dry out but are weighed down by the mix.
• Each seed must make good contact with the soil and the best way to do this isn’t with your fingers-the seeds might stick to them, but with a small piece of wood, or the bottom of a glass jar.
• Water in your seeds either from the bottom up, or with a spray bottle so the seeds aren’t dislodged.
• Then cover your seeds with a plastic bag, a cut off plastic drink bottle, or in a mini greenhouse.
• Don’t water again unless you that you need to rehydrate your seed container.
• The best way to do this is, place the entire punnet, pot or whatever you’re using in a basin with about 5-7 cm of luke-warm water and allow the planting medium to wick moisture from the bottom.
• If just the surface has dried, you can lift the plastic covering and spritz the surface with water from a spray bottle.
• As soon as the seeds germinate, remove the plastic covering..
• Most seeds like temperatures of around 18 ° to 25°C to germinate.
• If your put your seeds near a hot heater or use, a heating pad designed for germinating seeds, you’ll get a much fast germination rate in the cooler months.
• In this case be sure to check for moisture often, since the seed containers may dry out more quickly.
• Keep in mind that most seeds won’t germinate without sunlight.
• Once the seeds have germinated they’ll grow best if they have at least 8 hours of sunlight each day.
• Indoors, place seed trays in a sunny, north-facing window and give the tray or whatever a quarter turn each day to prevent the seedlings from overreaching toward the light and developing weak, elongated stems.
• Once your seedlings have grown at least 4 leaves, they’ll need some nutrients fairly regularly to keep your seedlings growing strong.
• When the embryo inside a seed is developing, it relies on food stored in the endosperm to fuel its growth. As the shoot emerges from the soil and the true leaves develop, the initial nutrients supplied by the endosperm will be depleted.
• Most seed-starting mixes contain a small amount of nutrients to help the initial seedling growth and not burn the developing roots.
• Once the true leaves emerge, it’s time to begin a half-strength liquid fertilizer regimen on a weekly basis and to get the most out of your seedlings, start using some kind of seaweed solution to get strong root growth.

AND THAT WAS OUR VEGETABLE HERO SEGMENT  

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Conifers in the landscape

with landscape designer Louise McDaid
Are you looking for something out of the ordinary to kickstart your garden?
Have all those gardening and lifestyle magazines left you a little bit bored with the same old same old?
Unique ideas are as rare as hen’s teeth but I think we've got some great ideas in part 2 of garden design with unusual themes-ground cover conifers.
Conifers are really tough and can take dry conditions – and there are some fantastic ground covers. Many of them spread to create carpet like covering over the soil which is an excellent weed suppressant.
For a large area or slope they are a very useful plant used en masse.
In a smaller garden situation, they perform well too and look best if used just like you would other ground covers, teamed with plants in a range of sizes and forms for a cohesive arrangement. Or use them as spillover over a retaining wall.
Let's hear all about part two and weeping and ground cover conifers....

 

 

 

One of the most spectacular of all feature plants, conifer or not, is the weeping Atlantic cedar Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’. It’s long cascading branches drip with blue-green leaves – it can be grafted onto a standard form and the branches look fantastic flowing over an arch.

Hope you’ve found a bit of inspiration to grow some conifers in your garden!

 

 

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Blueberry Burst

 A new variety of Blueberry is Blueberry ‘Burst’ .

Blueberry burst is a naturally dwarfing evergreen blueberry that has fruit double the size of regular blueberries and gives you much more.
The best advantage of this cultivar is that it's a low chill variety with early flowering and fruit harvest.

Blueberry Burst

Fruiting starts in July in hot climates and August in cold climates, concluding within 3-4 months. Blueberry ‘Burst’ has been successfully trialled in both hot and cold environments throughout Australia.
Grab one or two, and if you don’t have room in the garden, they grow especially well in pots. Keep them in full sun and fertilise them with either Fruit and Citrus Food or Camellia and Azalea Food and you’ll be picking more blueberries than you can possibly eat.

Blueberry flowers

Blueberry Burst has been especially bred to grow in pots so you can grow it even if you don't own a garden. Like all fruiting plants it grows best in full sun. Choose a pot that holds at least two bags worth of premium potting mix. If the pot has a saucer your plant will grow even faster. Water it twice a week with a bucket of water.
Because this new Blueberry is cutting grown, it will produce fruit the first season. The plants are flowering now so you will be picking sweet tasting juicy fruit this August / September. There are no nasty chemicals required but you may need to protect it from the birds as the fruit turn purple.

Rhubarb, Rhubarb, Rhubarb and Unusual Garden Themes

 

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

DESIGN ELEMENTS

Keukenhoff Gardens-Netherlands

with landscape designer Louise McDaid
Are you looking for something different for your garden,


Keukenhoff Gardens, Netherlands

You’ve been looking through garden design books, or books about famous gardens from other places and just can’t seem to find something that’s a bit different but is doable in your own garden.
Some of the English, Italian or American gardens are on too much of a grand scale for you to get any real idea of how to incorporate it into your own garden.
So why not start you’re your own theme for the first of 5 weeks of ideas.
We start the series with a look at conifer gardens in part one.
Louise says

"Conifers can be a bit divisive amongst gardeners – many love them for their particular shapes and variety, but a lot of gardeners loathe them and just cant’ get that picture of a 70’s style garden out of their mind, a time when the yellow leafed ones were popular like the Swanes Golden Cypress (cupressus sempervirens). "

There are so many that you’re sure to find something that suits your garden, even if you might not want a whole area turned over to conifers. While they look great planted in groupings, you can use them effectively amongst shrub borders, as screening or as features.
Let’s find out what this is all about.

Conifers need not be dull and boring if you look for something a bit different to add to your own garden.
A patch of lawn surrounded by a flower border with a tree in the middle: Does this sound like your garden?
If so, jazz it up with some unusual garden ideas and there’ll be more keeping over the next four weeks.
some of the conifer varieties mentioned are

Blue Arrow

C. sempervirens 'Glauca'

Juniperus scopulorum ‘Blue Arrow’.

Cupressus sempervirens 'Glauca’






Japanese black pine (pinus thunbergii)



If you like the idea of conifers, but aren’t sure how it would work in your garden, choose one of the ones Louise mentioned either from this week or next week’s episode, and it it’s not available, don’t give up, either order it online, or from a mail order catalogue or from your garden centre.

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.
It wasn’t until the early 19^th when Rhubarb became popular in food being used in desserts and wine.
Ever heard of Rhubarb mania? Yes there was a time before WWII when it was so popular that it was referred to rhubarb mania.

So what is Rhubarb?

Rhubarb-the vegetable used as a fruits, is an herbaceous perennial.
Herbaceous because it dies down in winter, 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,.
July to September-October if you’re in Temperate zones;
August to November in cool temperate districts 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.
That’s why, you can buy the dormant crowns now and plant them.
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.
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.

WHEN ARE THE STEMS GOING TO TURN RED?

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.
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,  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 or buy crowns that will have guaranteed red stems.

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.
These varieties are available from www.diggers.com.au

Why is Rhubarb a vegetable Hero?
The good: news  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,

PLANT OF THE WEEK

Eucalyptus Caesia

   
This week’s plant of the week has got be one of the standout plants for the colour of the leaves, bark and flowers.
This week, plant of the week is highly decorative and one of the most sought after gum trees for home gardens.
It’s a native tree, and is a brilliant ornamental tree growing to about 8 m before the foliage starts to weep.
The young branches are red and glossy with older growth being covered in a whitish bloom and the bark peels in curled strips. The flowers are stunning large showy pink to red with yellow at the tips of the stamens arriving in Spring .
Not only is the tree not too big, but Yes it’s a gum tree from the central Wheat belt region of Western Australia, where it is found on a small number of granite outcrops, but it’s too good not to have one in your own garden no matter how small.
I’ve seen it do well in pots for a great many years.

 Listen to the podcast with fellow horticulturalist Sabina
 

Eucalyptus caesia and E. caesia 'Silver Princess" are both small but spectacular feature trees in residential gardens and sometimes as a street tree.
Both eucalypts have dark brown bark which peels in curling strips to show a pale undersurface and has deep green leaves that looked like they’re coated with a whitish bloom.
The beautiful pinky-red flowers in winter and spring are big for a eucalypt.
Flowers are followed by large "gumnuts" about 3cm in diameter.
Eucalyptus caesia grows to about 6-9 m high.
Eucalyptus caesia 'Silver Princess"  grows to 5 metres in height.
Apart from the eye candy this tree has, it’s also very useful as a food source and nesting site for birds.
If you have any questions about growing Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess, why not write in to realworldgardener@gmail.com
Calcium, Potassium and Manganese.