|
- With bulbs of all sorts in the stores and at your door from mail order this month, there
are a few timely reminders, like take your bulbs out of their mail order packaging and
allow them to air in a dark well-ventilated place.
- Tulips and Hyacinths can be stratified in the fridge, which means they are put into the
crisper of your fridge for 4-6 weeks at 3-5 degrees C to replicate a cold northern winter,
then when planted they come into growth immediately and flower uniformly in
August-September. Left to their own devices Tulips generally flower in late September to
mid October in this area and if they get a few warm days the flowers are cooked. The likes
of Daffodils, Freesias Anemones and have no need for stratifying.
- When planting, use a sprinkle of sharp sand at the soil contact point to the bulb to
reduce likelihood of basal rot on the bulb, which is common on Daffodils in our heavy
soil. If you use organic pellets make sure they are not in contact with the bulb, as they
all harbour fungal spores and can wreck a well laid out bulb scheme.
- A desperate letter from a Clapham reader about how to control the white flowering
rampant Convolvulus creeper that has overtaken her whole backyard. It just laughs at
glyphosate because it has a woody permanent rootstock and so it needs an aboricide with
the active agent triclopyr. These are variously sold as "Axit®" and as
blackberry and poplar controls. It works best when applied by sponge to a freshly cut
stem, close to the ground.
- A Clarence Park horticulturalist sheds some experience about the life of glyphosate when
mixed with water and stored. He notices that after 2 months it is totally ineffective as a
herbicide, so the message is mix what you can use immediately as it does not store well
and use tank water if you have a supply as the colloids or turbidity in some of our
reticulated water cause a rapid breakdown of the active agent.
- I see Feijoas ripening all round the district at present. Many folk don’t even
realise they are not only edible, but absolutely delicious, providing a very fragrant and
exotic taste to fruit salads. The green fruits are almost undetectable when on the tree,
but are still edible when they fall to the ground. If firm, squish them between your palms
before scraping the mushy contents out and don’t eat the skin, its altogether too
tart.
|
