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- I had a letter from a bloke in Hawthorn last week about how he’s managed
to get possums out of his roof. Timely too since they notoriously move
indoors in this cold weather. He tells me that St Agnes Primary School has
been making and selling Possum Boxes to erect in your garden (ph 8263-3541
for $25.00). Now it seems one pair of possums will not encroach on another.
Very territorial. So by erecting a new residence out in the garden rather
than tolerating them under your roof, everyone’s happy. They’ll soon
colonise the new home and you get relief from the ‘regular as clockwork’
ceiling thumping at 9pm and again at 6.30am as they return.
- Last month we had a web-troller enquiring about where to get Lupin seeds,
since AQIS had restricted their import. Well almost as a response, the newly
released Eric Vale seed range for this year has two varieties of Lupins in
it. There’s an annual called ‘Magestic Sunrise’ (that’s how it’s
spelt on the packet!) and a perennial called ‘Lulu Dwarf’ and the only
stockist in this area is Heynes Nursery on The Parade at Beulah Park.
- Bulbs are sprouting well at present and that means spreading a little
superphosphate around close to their stems. Then on a sunny morning foliar
spray them with a high potassium fertilizer such as the ‘Flower and Fruit
Set’ products.
- Even the little Anemone benefits from a spray over the foliage of the
above product. The tiny corn of the anemone doesn’t store nutrient like
the big fat daffodil, so it needs help, but using the usual water soluble
fertilizers that contain too much nitrogen, just helps then set bigger
leaves, but does little for their flowers. Potassium is the secret and by
applying it as a foliar spray it does not leach nor get locked up in your
soil.
- Ever thought of raising your own rose? Well if any of your roses bushes
have set plump red or brown hips (seed capsules) this year pluck them off
and stick them in the crisper of your fridge for the next 6 weeks. Then lie
the hips on a sheet of paper in the sun and let them desiccate. Then after
two weeks of that, take a sharp knife to them and cut them open, revealing
the woolly white seeds.
- Sow these rose seed onto seed raising mixture by just pressing them into
the media about 5mm and in 6-8 weeks they will germinate. Best news is that
they flower in their first year, so if you don’t like the flower colour or
shape, then you just compost them. Of course the odds are about 10,000:1
that you’ll get a good one, but that’s better odds than winning at
Lotto.
- Annie bought a lovely bright ceramic pot for her office cyclamen recently
and was surprised when I suggested that we just plunge the container it came
in into the ceramic pot and backfill it rather than re-pot the cyclamen.
Reason being that the cyclamen only has a small root run, and can easily be
over watered by doting office folk. Both are doing well.
- Down in the herb garden right now plant some parsley or sow some seed as
well as rocket. Both will really take off at present and no household ever
seems to have enough of these tasty salad additives.
- My butcher Paul keeps cactus and in winter he’s getting them rot off
even though he’s not watering them, but of course the all-mighty is!
Solution is to move the potted collection around to the northern side of the
house and stage them under the eves. Do the same with a potted frangipani or
bougainvillea, since just like the cactus they don’t like cold winter
rain.
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