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South Australia - December 2001 |
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Select
the date from the list shown below for this months tip |
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3rd Dec.
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With the moist soil from recent rains and the following fine weather,
creepers and climbers are really on the move, creating long runners of tendrils
that need heading off. Prune the tips off from long stems and they will produce
lots of short side shoots that produce the flowers on your Wisteria and other
flowering vines.
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10th Dec.
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I saw tissue cultured Eucalyptus ficifolia plants this week in
local nurseries. They are in reliable pink, orange and red colours and trying to
get them true to colour from seed when I was a nurseryman, was the bane of my
life. This has to be a most significant breakthrough for the gardener who has
salivated over these sensational native flowering trees in January-February in
Kensington’s streets, but never been able to get the ‘right’ colour.
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17th Dec.
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Those lovely New Zealand Christmas trees waving their dense heads of red
flowers are certainly looking good this year with the extra rain, but if you
have a variegated variety remove the reverting green branches or they will take
over in a few years.
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24th Dec.
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Only the brave plant seedlings at this time of year, especially if you plan
to be away for a week or two. Anyhow, in the veggie plot it is time to plant
the late tomatoes and ‘Burnley Bounty’ is the best late variety for this
area. No others even come close. Bred at the famous Burnley College of
Horticulture in Melbourne (as it was known then).
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31st Dec.
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Hardy bedding plants to go in now are the grey leaf white flowering salvia
‘Victoria White’ is a beauty for this area. It’s a very strong salvia
and takes our dry summers better than most of the red cultivars. Plant the red
salvias by all means but only if you have a micro-irrigation watering system
that will give them a humid afternoon on most days!
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