Here in Australia we are celebrating National Eucalyptus Day today, 23 March 2020. The fossil evidence for the first known Eucalypt was from the Tertiary 35-40 million years ago. There are over 900 species of Eucalypts in the Family Myrtaceae in Australia. I share with you my favourite Eucalypt that is growing in a friend’s yard. It is the lemon scented gum, Corymbia citriodora. It … Continue reading National Eucalyptus Day
Today, we the Grantham Gardeners, pay tribute to our friend Sandra, who passed away this week. For many years she was a hard working member of our little gardening community, sharing her energy, knowledge and friendship. She made sure that we made time for social gathering during our gardening work. Talented in needlepoint, knitting and crochet, she created this bright tea cosy for our teapot … Continue reading A Tribute for Sandra
Recently, I had the pleasure of observing the night flowering Hylocereus undatus as it bloomed. This is the flower of the pitahaya or white fleshed dragon fruit. Catching the plant in flower can be tricky if the plant is small like mine, (it had only one flower) and it blooms only over one night between dusk and dawn. It is easy to overlook the emerging bud as … Continue reading The Spectacular Hylocereus undatus
The Collectors’ Plant Fair Sydney returns this coming weekend. Over 100 growers from all over Australia will be bringing their array of unusual and rare plants to you. Details: http://www.collectorsplantfair.com.au/ Dates: Sat & Sun 6-7, April 2019 Times: Saturday … Continue reading The Collectors’ Plant Fair 2019
Moon phase gardening has been used since ancient times. It was possibly the first use humans made of the lunar cycle and evidence traces it back thousands of years to the ancient peoples of the Nile and Euphrates River Valley. This method of timing planting, cultivating and harvesting is still used today though little modern science has been conducted into its methods. Moon phase gardeners … Continue reading Planting by the Moon
Late winter and early spring is the ideal time to graft a compatible variety onto an established citrus tree as the sap is flowing and the bark slips more easily to allow grafting. Expand the varieties on your established citrus by grafting another variety onto it. Not only does this give you different fruit over the year but also saves space in a smaller … Continue reading How to Graft Citrus
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One way to support our farmers through the difficult drought times that the Australian agricultural sector is facing is to go the extra mile to seek out and buy Australian grown produce. So much effort and care has gone into the production of the fruit and vegetables that we buy each week and we should support our local farmers. In fact, many growers bring their … Continue reading Support Our Farmers
The Collectors’ Plant Fair Sydney returns in 2018 with over 90 growers from all over Australia, bringing their array of unusual and rare plants to you. It will be on next weekend, 7th and 8th of April. Bring your friends, buy a plant that is not easily available, chat with growers and experts, find that book or have a coffee or some of the other … Continue reading The Collectors’ Plant Fair Sydney 2018
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What an abundance of Australian grown summer fruit: nectarines, peaches, apricots, plums, new season apples, pears, figs, mangoes , the summer delicacy, prickly pears and much more were available this morning at Parklea Markets in outer Sydney. Fruit growers, Rod and Boris, brought them to us, as they do each week, direct from the farm in the premier fruit growing region of Orange, NSW. The … Continue reading Apples and Summer Fruit from Orange
The real benefit of growing your own vegetables is being able to eat seasonally. However, it is easy for anyone to choose vegetables that are in season as the basis of their diet. Not only are seasonal vegetables fresh, plentiful and well priced but they can also be sourced more locally and so will have travelled fewer miles to reach us which makes for sustainable … Continue reading Eating Seasonal Vegetables in Winter
