South Australia - 1st April 2002

• It's still not too late to plant some varieties of Sweet Peas. The Modern Spencer English Sweet Peas can be planted locally from now until mid June to flower in September. Locally grown seed is available from the McDougall clan at 18 Second Street Gawler South 5118 send a stamped SAE for their price list of named varieties or email gawlersweetpeas@iprimus.com.au to be emailed their list. Packets at $1.00 each or a single named variety.
• Annie was busy planting pots of bulbs and corms two weekends ago into pots and distressed that only seven of 30 Freesias have popped their heads up. From the size of the corms, I'm not that surprised, so I'll over plant them with another packet, but it highlights that size really does count when buying bulbs and corms. So it's worth picking them over at the store, to get the biggest, especially with bulbs, because a small bulb is seldom an asset!
• The earliest of our bulbs that appear every year are certainly Jonquils and I saw recently that Yates have a three cultivar pack of ESP Jonquils such as Erlicheer, Soleil d'Or and Paperwhite (hence the ESP), three of the best Jonquils as a fund-raiser for the Retina Australia organization. At $6.55 the 6 large bulbs are good value for a stunning and fragrant July-August effect.
• If you have a Kikuyu lawn that has spread beyond it's defined border, now is your last chance to spray it with glyphosate to kill it. The lawn needs to be in a state of growth for the knockdown to work and in a few weeks time the Kikuyu slows down its growth or goes dormant in some areas.
• Tree Dahlias are making strong growth now and unless fed with a high potassium nutrient over the next week or so, will flower poorly in April-May, so it's time to feed them with a high potassium fertilizer. If you can't find one, use tomato fertilizer it works a treat!
• My vegetable garden gets a bit shaded in winter and so I have to resort to growing Silverbeet, Kohl rabi and Rocket. All of which grow quite acceptably in partial shade, but even better in full sun, so only opt for the shaded aspect in winter if you have no other options.
• The selection of new rose cultivars that arrives from overseas each year is rather daunting, so interesting to see that the House of Ross Roses at Willunga, has launched a "True Blue" Australian collection to take the guess work out of selecting 10 of the best locally-bred roses. They have a colour brochure and all the info you need to make a choice or check them out at www.austblue.com Too many good local roses get passed over, when their disease resistance is outstanding compared to many of the off-shore imports.
• If you don't have a garden at all, flower a hyacinth on your windowsill. The hyacinth vases are on sale at nurseries and their specially shaped neck prevents the bulb from falling into the water. Buy a large blue flowering hyacinth bulb as they are the largest and easiest to grow indoors.
• Make sure the water is filled to within 5mm of your bulb base in the vase or it will rot. Place a chip of charcoal into the water to keep it sweet. Tank water is best if you have some and then place the vase and bulb in a dark cupboard for about three weeks or until roots appear. Then out to the windowsill to flower in about eight to twelve weeks.
• My vegetable garden gets a bit shaded in winter and so I have to resort to growing Silverbeet, Kohl rabi and Rocket. All of which grow quite acceptably in partial shade, but even better in full sun, so only opt for the shaded aspect in winter if you have no other options.
• Annie was busy planting pots of bulbs and corms two weekends ago into pots and distressed that only seven of 30 Freesias have popped their heads up. From the size of the corms, I'm not that surprised, so I'll over plant them with another packet, but it highlights that size really does count when buying bulbs and corms. So it's worth picking them over at the store, to get the biggest, especially with bulbs, because a small bulb is seldom an asset!
• The earliest of our bulbs that appear every year are certainly Jonquils and I saw recently that Yates have a three cultivar pack of ESP Jonquils such as Erlicheer (cream), Soleil d'Or (yellow and orange) and Paperwhite (hence the ESP), three of the best Jonquils as a fund-raiser for the Retina Australia organization. At $6.55 the 6 large bulbs are good value for a stunning and fragrant July-August effect.
• I see the Fern Society of SA advocating the use of potassium fertilizers on ferns in a recent newsletter. Generally regarded as the flowering nutrient, we often overlook its vital role in the photosynthesis process and how potassium creates thick cell walls on plants that enable them to withstand diseases, especially fungal.
• If you grow fungal prone cultivars of roses or any other plant for that matter, you might try a regular foliar spray of a potassium nutrient for control. The Fruit and Flower set potassium liquids on the market are particularly easy to apply and don't leave a salt residue, like potassium sulphate does when applied to the soil.
• Expect a flush of rose blooms over the next few weeks as a result of the recent cooler weather, so a foliar spray of potassium right now would give them the resistance to withstand the odd fungal infestation. Soil fertilizing of roses, now that their winter dormancy is imminent, seems a waste of effort, but foliar sprays are taken up quickly.