All up and down the east of Australia the sun is out again and gardeners are getting ready for a big weekend.
Planting is done and the garden is looking great - all ready for summer.
It’s time to spread some mulch all around the garden to keep the moisture in the soil and the fungal spores at bay. Keep the water up and watch out for incoming pests that can ruin all your hard work.
Nothing says 'Christmas' better than geranium 'Big Red' on the table. Photo - Robin Powell
It’s Time To
Get your bumper Garden Clinic Christmas Hamper
The perfect gift for your favourite gardener is without a doubt the annual Garden Clinic Christmas hamper. And this year it's our biggest hamper yet and includes the award winning Geranium 'Big Red' for your Christmas table. But don't delay because stocks
are limited. Call the clubhouse on 1300 133 100, or head to the Join page on the Garden Clinic
website.
Admire
The stunning flowers of tall bearded iris have silky petals in a painter’s palette of dazzling colours. The rhizomes need sun exposure; don’t be tempted
to bury these treasures.
Trim
Regularly dead head spent rose blooms, including a good length of stem, to maximize follow-up flowers. Apply rose food after each flush of blooms and water
in well.
Prune spring-only bloomers such as banksia rose and old-fashioned, spring-flowering roses as they finish flowering to encourage side shoots and more flowers
next season.
Protect
Apply a protective coating of Droughtshield or Envy to tender, large-leafed shrubs such as hydrangeas and mist flowers (Bartlettina) to
prevent wilting on hot dry days.
Avoid water stress in citrus trees as they set next season’s fruit. Give trees a deep weekly soaking and mulch around the root zone to help retain soil
moisture.
Raise the mower blades a notch or two. A longer lawn copes better during hot weather as the leaf blades shade the grass roots. Take advantage of a rainy
day to boost growth using an organic lawn food.
A layer of mulch, 35 mm thick, helps plants cope with the hot, dry weather by retaining soil moisture, and keeping roots cool.
Bush Garden
I usually talk about one of the many native plant varieties available now. There are simply loads of native plants to choose from at your local nursery
that are long flowering, hardy and attractive.
Look out for Bottlebrush like Calistemon ‘Better John’. It makes a fantastic little Aussie Christmas tree with it's compact, tightly packed foliage and
prolific flowering.
Calistemon 'Better John'
Or Kangaroo paw ‘Landscape lilac’ by Angus Stewart - one of our all-time favourite natives. Towering purple flower stems - some up to 7 feet tall!
Fan flower Scaevola ‘White Bondi’ is looking fabulous right now. You can take cuttings and generate more for next season.
Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’ has striking deep violet flowers and is a huge hit with native birds.
Check out the vast range of Australian native plants at your local nursery this weekend.
Whats On
Book your seat on the chartered Qantas Pathfinders Charity Flight for an unforgettable trip to Tasmania and help raise funds for Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children.
Enjoy an immersive experience in the best Tasmania has to offer and be treated to a stunning lunch featuring locally produced artisan food and wine at
Tasmania’s iconic Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
The flight is scheduled Saturday 12 November, 2016 and departs from Sydney Domestic Terminal at 6.30am and returns around 8.00pm
Book now to avoid disappointment as seats are limited. Email kaye.bailey@ridbc.org.au and she will contact you.
In the veggie patch
I've already harvested lettuce from my patch. I like to have several plantings of leafy veg through spring and into summer. It makes good sense – I never
have too much of one particular thing, and I get plants maturing at different times, meaning there are always leaves ready to harvest and smaller plants
growing for next week's salads.
Stagger the planting and you’ll stagger the harvest. I’ll again be planting some lettuce soon. It’s a good idea to have a 3rd, 4th and 5th go at planting veg like leeks, onions, lettuce and other veg to stagger the harvest well into summer. Give it a go in your veggie patch.
Linda planting out some lettuce seedlings in the veggie patch. Photo - Scott Hawkins
Come away with us
Singapore Gardens
Singapore is the City in a Garden – a mix of multicultural modernity and 19th century charm wrapped in beautiful tropical gardens. Our 2017 Singapore Gardens tour features a visit to the city’s new drawcard,
the Gardens by the Bay project and the incredible Supertrees.
Join Linda on this fantastic tour and escape the winter chill in the bustling cosmopolitan heart of Asia. To book your seat, or to enquire about any of
our tours contact Royce or Roslyn on 1300 233 200, email us at travel@rosstours.com, or visit www.rosstours.com
Take a seat at the iconic Raffles Hotel in downtown Singapore on the Ross Tours Singapore Gardens tour.
Garden News
The 2016 National Rose Trial Garden of Australia Award Winners
The National Rose Trial Garden of Australia was established in 1996 when the rose trial garden was developed within the Adelaide Botanic Gardens. These
trials are managed jointly between the National Rose Society of Australia, the Botanic Gardens of SA and the Rose Introducers of Australia.
The latest awards from the National Rose Trial Garden of Australia were announced in Adelaide on 25 October. The charter of the trial garden is to identify
and promote roses best suited to Australian growing conditions and provide information on roses to the public, and feedback to rose breeders, growers
and retailers.
The top prize, the ‘Marion de Boehme Award’ for the Best Rose of the Trial and Gerald Meylan Perpetual Trophy for Best Groundcover and a prestigious Gold
Medal was awarded to a new rose named ‘Eye Shadow’, bred by British hybridiser Chris Warner. ‘Eye Shadow’ is a low maintenance Groundcover rose with colour, scent, prolific flowering and tough, healthy foliage.
Gold medal winner, 'Eye Shadow'. Photo - Les Johnson
After 30 years of selective breeding, Chris Warner has earned a global reputation for his breeding program and collection of beautiful roses created using
a plant genus known as Hulthemia Persica.The Persica rose native to the Middle East has blooms distinguished by a dark spot at the
base of each petal, giving the impression of an ‘eye’.
Chris Warner, of Warner’s Roses in Shropshire, has introduced a collection of roses in a range of colours with exceptional disease resistance and a good
growth habit. These include ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘Eye of the Tiger’, Berry Delightful, ‘Bright as a Button’ and now the Groundcover rose ‘Eye Shadow’
which will be available in two years.
Another UK amateur breeder to achieve success at the 2016 Awards was Calvin Horner who received a Bronze Medal and Trophy for the Best Floribunda of the
Trial for the soon to be released fragrant floribunda ‘Happy Home’.
A classic high-centred fragrant Hybrid Tea named ‘Wedding Bells’ bred by Kordes in Germany and entered by Treloar Roses took the Silver
Medal and two Trophies. This rose received the award for the Best Hybrid Tea of the Trial and the Irwin Award for the Most Pest and Disease Tolerant
Rose.
Silver medal winner, 'Wedding Bells'. Photo - Les Johnson
Treloar’s also picked up a Bronze Medal for an attractive Hybrid Tea rose with a strong seductive perfume named ‘Dark Desire’. This rose
also won the Trophy for Most Fragrant Rose of the Trial.
The rose ‘We Will Remember Them’ was announced the most popular rose receiving the 2016 People’s Choice Award.The event was a huge success
with an increase in visitors and the number of votes up by 60%. Over 1204 members of the public had an opportunity to select their favourites. With
698 votes the yellow blend Hybrid Tea, bred by Guillot in France and entered by Knight’s Roses, was the clear winner.
Knight’s Roses released this rose earlier this year as a rose of remembrance to recognise the contribution of the Australian Armed Forces during World
War I. Knight’s will donate part proceeds from rose sales to the Office of Australian War Graves to assist the maintenance of war cemeteries in France.