Gardens for All Seasons

Birthday flower is the carnation, signifying bonds of affection, health, energy, fascination. For those interested in the finer nuances of the language of flowers, different colours have different meanings: pink, I’ll never forget you; red, my heart aches for you or admiration; a solid colour, yes; striped, no; white, innocence or pure love; yellow, rejection or disdain.

Summer heat brings forth some of the hottest flower displays. In the trees, the bright purple jacaranda flowers give way to flame-hot red, orange and salmon pink flowering gums, and crepe myrtles in a variety of pinks and purples. Take a walk around your town in the early morning or cool evening to admire them and watch the birds and insects they attract. Other hot flowers to enliven summer gardens include dahlias, mandevillas, canna lilies, roses, hibiscus, bougainvilleas, alstroemerias, zinnias, and hydrangeas for the shadier spots.

Hot summer colours include flowering gum …

hibiscus …

and bougainvillea.

Scorching January days are ideal for relaxing with friends and family enjoying a barbecue or picnic. Pace yourself, loiter, loaf and laze during the hot days and catch up on jobs after a cool change. Enjoy the relief of any summer storms and take advantage of the cooler, damper conditions afterwards to tackle weeding, mulching, snail control and any other jobs that need to be done now.

With children home on school holidays, this is a good month for involving them in garden projects, or for play and exploration with them in your own garden or public gardens. See Garden Fun For Kids (page 26) for lots of ideas.

Visit

Don’t have your own garden? Try to spend as much of the hot weather as you can relaxing in the shade of a nearby botanical garden. Take a picnic meal after work or lunch on the weekends. There could be guided strolls around the gardens to participate in and many gardens have school holiday programs of activities for children. It’s a good idea to check with nearby gardens and ask for their yearly program so you can plan ahead.

In Melbourne, for example, you might find jazz in the gardens around Stonnington (www.stonnington.vic.gov.au), walks to discover bush foods at Elwood Beach (www.walking@ portphillip.vic.gov.au), free children’s activities at a variety of locations including the Mornington Peninsula National Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne and Cranbourne (www.rbg.vic.gov.au), and sculpture in the park at Herring Island (www.parkweb.vic.gov.au).

Some annual events to watch out for include the Claremont Flower Show in Tasmania with its vibrant display of summer blooms (www.tasblooms.com); the Frangipani Show at the Tropical Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney (www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au); and the Ginger, Flower and Food Festival at the Ginger Factory, Yandina (www.buderimginger.com), Queensland. The Hunter Valley Gardens in Pokolbin, New South Wales (www.hvg.com.au) usually has a great program of school holiday activities throughout the month.

Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm 10 minutes north of Daylesford in Victoria holds its annual harvest festival in January. All are welcome to join the festivities and soak in the fragrance of the traditionally harvested lavender set among European-style gardens, olive and chestnut groves and a vineyard. Visit the website for lots more about the farm and this and other open days: www.lavandula.com.au.

Lavender harvest at Lavandula Swiss Italian Farm. (Photo courtesy Lavandula)

Celebrate

New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and Australia Day are often celebrated in the garden. Around the nation there are public as well as private celebrations, with the Australia Day sausage sizzle in the park being a traditional part of many municipal ceremonies. Sometimes, too, Chinese New Year falls in January, but see February for more about this.

Typical Australia Day ceremony in a park.

It’s time to …

Plan and prepare

Summer days are often too hot for garden jobs to be any pleasure, so try to do any necessary tasks in the evening or early morning. Spend some hot days quietly planning new projects you have in mind or jobs to be done in readiness for autumn planting. Visit public and open gardens for inspiration.

You can get great planting ideas from public gardens. This photo shows a dry area planting at Melbourne Botanic Gardens.

And this one is an interpretation of a desert landscape at Cranbourne Botanic Gardens.

Plan for shade and scent

If your garden lacks shady areas for relaxing in, do some research to decide on suitable trees to plant when the weather is cooler. You might decide that a large umbrella or pergola is a worthwhile investment. Where there is a shady spot that is often used for summer relaxation, it is a good idea to brighten it up with some flowers, either in pots or in the ground. Much of your summer relaxing probably occurs in the evenings, so consider planting some scented plants to enjoy when the sun goes down and you can’t see the flowers.

Brighten up shady spots

Suitable flowering plants to cheer up a shady spot in your garden include astilbe, blue ginger (frost-free areas only), begonia, Chatham Island forget-me-not, Chinese lantern, clivia, foxglove, fuchsia, gardenia, honesty, hosta, hydrangea, impatiens, ixora (warmer areas only), lady’s mantle, peony, plectranthus, toad lily.

As well, there are numerous plants with interesting foliage that will bring life to a shady nook. These include aspidistra, aucuba, coleus, croton, dracaena (frost-free areas), fittonia (warmer areas only), hosta, houttuynia, lamium, loosestrife, neoregelia (warmer areas only), perilla, prayer plant, spider plant and sweet flag (good for boggy areas or beside a pond).

Bedding begonias.

Clivias in shade.

Plectranthus.

Scents of summer

These flowers will perfume your summer delightfully: alyssum, brunfelsia, buddleia, candytuft, Christmas lily, clove pink, elderberry, gardenia, freesia, frangipani, heliotrope, honeysuckle, jasmine, lavender, lilac, lily of the valley, Mexican orange blossom, mignonette, mock orange, orange jessamine, port wine magnolia, rose, stanhopea, stock, sweet osmanthus, sweet pea, tuberose, violet, wisteria. See also, November’s topic of the month, Fragrance and First Aid (page 278).

Plan for new vegie crops

Continue to plant new crops in the vegie garden to replace those you harvest. Any unused beds can have a green manure crop planted in them to prepare the soil for the next season’s crops. However, in many areas it is too hot for green manure crops to become established. Do some research, decide what to plant and obtain seeds and inoculants ready to sow in the autumn.

Give some thought to autumn plantings; decide where they will go and seek out the plants you want, or obtain catalogues to choose them from. If you are intending to grow autumn/winter vegies from seeds, they should be sown in punnets or pots now. Do make sure the seed-raising mixture does not dry out.

Prepare for bushfire

Bushfire preparation is one very important task, which should be well and truly done by now in those areas that are prone to bushfire, but it needs constant monitoring. See December’s notes for more on this (page 295).

When thinking of new plantings to go in the ground in autumn remember to plant less-flammable trees and shrubs closer to dwellings and sheds and any very flammable trees, such as eucalypts, further away, always taking into account your neighbours’ safety as well. Many exotic trees and shrubs have low flammability. However, for lovers of native plants, there is a range of species to choose from as well.

Low-flammability native plants

The flammability of most eucalypts and many other native plants is well recognised and these should be avoided near homes in bushfire-prone areas, but there is no need to abandon natives altogether. Do some research to find low-flammability species suited to your area. Some to look at are: Acacia elata, A. dealbata, A. howittii, A. implexa, A. iteaphylla, A. mearnsii, A. melanoxylon, A. pravissima, A. prominens, A. terminalis, A. vestita, Acmena smithii, Agonis juniperina, Angophora costata, Atriplex spp., Banksia integrifolia, B. marginata, Brachychiton acerifolius, B. populneus, Bursaria spinosa, Casuarina cristata, C. cunninghamii, Elaeocarpus reticulatus, Eucalyptus maculata, Ficus macrophylla, Grevillea aquifolium, G. ‘Poorinda Constance’, G. ‘Poorinda Queen’, G. shiressii, G. victoriae, Hakea salicifolia, Heterodendrum oleifolium, Hymenosporum flavum, Lagunaria patersonii, Lophostemon confertus, Melia azedarach, Myoporum insulare, Tristania conferta.

If you live in an area where bushfires are a known hazard, do your own research if you are in any doubt about whether or not a plant is suitable for you. Gather some leaves of your intended plantings and try to set fire to them (under safe conditions of course) at different stages of dryness. If they will not burn at all, or smoulder slowly, consider planting them. If they whoosh up or flare and burn quickly, avoid them. The flammability of bark and timber from the plant is another good indicator, but less practical for a home experiment. Remember that there will be much local advice from authorities in your own area.

Water

Make sure your watering system is operating efficiently. Check drippers and unblock or replace any that are not operating properly. Consider replacing sprinklers or microsprays with seeper or dripper hoses. Organise a grey water system, especially if it is a drought summer. Have a roster for water re-use to ensure plants you want to keep do not miss out. Pay particular attention to potted plants and areas under large trees, which can dry out more quickly than you realise, especially if strong winds accompany the heat.

Waterlogged soil in summer-rainfall areas could lead to nutrient deficiencies. Attend to the drainage of affected areas and consider changing to raised beds. Avoid walking on garden beds at any time, but especially when the soil is sodden.

Care for pot plants

Pot plants can be moved to a shadier or more sheltered spot, perhaps even with shadecloth or an umbrella erected over them. Place them in groups in strategic locations, planned for aesthetic appeal as well as shelter and accessibility to water. Sprinkle compost or other organic fertiliser on top of the potting mix, give them a drink of worm juice or compost tea when you have it and apply regular foliar sprays of seaweed and/or fish emulsion to give them a tonic and help them cope with the heat. Nothing will help them, though, if you forget to water them. Large pots will dry out more slowly than small ones.

Use a soil wetting agent or a solid water product in pots to extend the period between watering. So-called ‘solid water’ products are either buried in the pot or placed on top of the potting medium and release moisture slowly so pots need much less frequent watering (see Appendix 3 for details). My experience has not borne out the length of time between watering claimed by the manufacturers, but they do extend the period somewhat. Another product worth trying for your most precious potted plants is a spray-on anti-transpirant. Be sure to coat both sides of the leaves and follow the directions on the container. In desperate times, when water for pot plants is an unavailable luxury, try cutting the plant right back to force it into dormancy during the heat. Surprisingly enough, many plants will live and regrow once watering begins again.

Rewetting dry pots

If a potted plant has dried out too much, the medium could become water repellent. Put the pot into a larger container full of water containing the recommended dilution of soil wetting agent and let it soak for an hour or two. A brick or heavy stone on top of the pot will keep it submerged. For a pot plant that is too big to lift, water slowly with a solution of wetting agent and/or worm juice until the water runs out of the drainage hole(s). Take care not to exceed the recommended dilution strength and do not re-use a wetting agent for at least three months. Use the methods described above to prevent drying out from happening again.

Potted house plants will appreciate a drink of seaweed emulsion.

In areas of heavy summer rain, water standing in saucers under pot plants can cause root damage from waterlogging and also provide a mosquito-breeding pond. It’s best to remove saucers until after the rainy season. Even though there is probably plenty of rain in tropical and some subtropical areas, check pot plants frequently in hot weather as they can dry out very quickly, especially during windy conditions.

Care for lawns

By all means keep your lawn watered, if restrictions in your area allow it. Most benefit is gained from watering on a windless evening. Do monitor sprinklers carefully to avoid overwatering. See November’s notes for more about this (page 265).

A monthly application of seaweed emulsion will help lawns survive through hot, dry conditions.

Mow with the blades set high and leave clippings on the lawn as mulch.

In wet-summer areas it could be a good time to establish a new lawn. Seed might wash away in a heavy downpour, but turf will establish quickly.

Mulch

Continue to top up mulch as it decomposes. Loose mulch such as pea straw is good over summer as it allows easy penetration of water. If mulch is too thick or compacted, light summer rainfall will not be able to penetrate. However, such rain will often not penetrate below the very surface of the soil anyway. Make sure any drippers or seeper hoses are under the mulch so water goes directly into the soil without first needing to soak through the mulch layer. Spent vegies such as pea plants and carrot tops can be used as mulch. Solid organic fertilisers (see below) are best applied under the mulch; liquids can be watered over the mulch and will help it decompose.

Leave grass clippings on the lawn to initially act as mulch and then to decompose and add nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Weed

Be diligent about removing weeds, especially after a good summer rainfall when they will soon germinate. Weeds steal the water that should be going to your desired plants. Pulling weeds is easier after a shower of rain and, if done regularly, need not develop into a major job. Your mulch will also act as a weed suppressant. Tuck weeds under the mulch where they will decompose and add to the soil organic matter, or add them to the compost bin. Deep-rooted weeds such as dock bring up nutrients from deeper in the soil and will release those nutrients as they decompose, to the benefit of your garden. Capeweed and dandelion leaves release useful amounts of nitrogen, but be aware that if you let them go to seed and bury seedy plants in the mulch you will have new weeds springing up. On the other hand, these will be easy to tickle out of the mulch when young.

Fertilise

All plants will appreciate regular foliar sprays with seaweed and fish products to help them survive the heat. Continue to apply compost, Bokashi waste, decomposed manures and worm castings and juice as available or every few weeks to food crops. One application of solid fertiliser at the beginning of summer should suffice for most other plants. Tuck compost or manures under the mulch and water well after application.

Make sure your compost bin/heap stays moist. It will stop decomposing and possibly become a haven for vermin, ants and other pests if you allow it to dry out. Move the worm farm to a shady spot, if you haven’t already, and keep it slightly damp with a sprayer or watering can. The earthworms will soon die if left in an exposed position.

Fertilise actively growing passionfruit vines with compost, vermicast or commercial citrus or rose food.

Heavy rain in tropical and subtropical areas can result in nutrients leaching out of the soil, right at a time when high temperatures and moisture are stimulating fast growth. Apply your chosen fertiliser to all plants, ensuring you use a low-phosphorus product for grevilleas and banksias. Decomposed organic fertilisers are less likely to leach unwanted nutrients into waterways if there is more heavy rainfall after you apply them.

Prune

Spring flowering shrubs can be cut back and shaped as desired as soon as they finish flowering.

Pinch the growing tips from natives and other shrubs as you stroll around the garden to encourage bushier growth.

Remove from shrubs and trees any dead wood that could be a fire hazard.

Remove dead palm fronds.

Dead-head roses and annual flowering plants to encourage new blooms.

Prune Christmas bush as soon as it finishes flowering.

Cut from vines such as wisteria and jasmine long canes that are growing too vigorously. Cut young wisteria shoots back so you leave two or three leaves.

Tropical hibiscus plants can be pruned now to encourage winter flowering.

Snip off dead flower heads from annuals to promote a new flush of flowers.

Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) and snowflake bushes (Euphorbia leucocephala) can have a light all-over trim to encourage bushiness and formation of flower buds (floral bracts) if you did not do this last month.

Cut, shred or chop healthy pruned material and use it as mulch or put it in the compost bin.

Divide and propagate

Bearded irises that have been in the ground for a number of years and are failing to flower as expected can be dug up, separated and replanted. Discard old sections of the rhizome that have already flowered and replant new sections of the rhizome.

Irises can be divided.

If you grow azaleas, camellias, daphnes or fuchsias and want more of them, take some cuttings with a short heel attached.

Winter tomato seeds can be sown into punnets to be ready to go into the garden in early autumn. Just sow into seed-raising mixture and keep moist. Keep punnets in a shady spot until they are growing sturdily. Winter tomato varieties include ‘Giant Tree Tomato’, ‘Oregon Spring’, ‘Riesentraube’, ‘Black Cherry’, ‘Siberia’ and ‘Stupice’.

Watch for pests

Pests to look out for are aphids, grasshoppers, slugs and snails (especially after rain), pear and cherry slug, green vegetable bugs, cabbage butterfly grubs and fruit fly.

Aphids on roses can be crushed between gloved fingers, but if you have been practising organic gardening methods the friendly ladybirds are likely to move in and devour them for you. Beneficial wasps help with aphid control by laying eggs in them.

Grasshoppers are difficult to control chemically. A treacle spray (see Appendix 2) might help as they seem to dislike the stickiness. Manual control is effective for small outbreaks. Grasshopper goo, made by mashing some hoppers into a sludge with water, straining, and spraying the affected plants might help. Drape fine mosquito netting over precious plants you really want to protect. Grasshoppers are sluggish in the cool of early mornings so that is the best time to attempt to net them manually.

Try hosing pear and cherry slugs off the tree with a strong jet of water and painting horticultural glue around the trunk so they cannot climb back up. In an organically managed garden, there will be natural predators such as paper wasps, hoverflies, lacewings, spiders and birds. In severe cases, spray with Success, a product containing a bacterium that is harmless to humans or other garden inhabitants, or Beat-A-Bug Insect Spray. If you have access to wood ash, a fine coating thrown over the affected trees will keep the pests off the leaves. Poultry scratching about under trees will eat the overwintering pupae.

Snail on a capsicum.

Good sanitation in removing all fallen and affected fruit is the backbone of controlling fruit flies, but a holistic approach is needed. Many small-scale growers use exclusion bags or bait traps, either home-made or commercial. Two commercial products worth considering are Eco-Naturalure and Wild May Fruit Fly Attractant. Arranging the garden so poultry can free range under fruit trees and dispose of fallen fruit is another popular option.

Green vegetable bugs are often found on tomatoes and beans. They are reasonably easy to control by hand. When disturbed, they drop, so if you disturb the fruit they are on and hold your hand or a bucket underneath, they will fall into it and can be squashed.

Managing brassica pests

You will often see gardening writers recommending that the brassica family of vegetables be planted now. These include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. However, I usually prefer to leave these for at least a couple of months, though Brussels sprouts should be in no later than now if they are to form good heads. My experience has been that brassicas planted now involve too much trouble in keeping cabbage moths and butterflies off them. By April these pests will either not be around or be in such reduced numbers that they are easily controlled. Also, the vegie plots are usually full of other crops that we prefer eating at this time of year. Availability of water can also be a consideration and is another reason I delay planting brassicas until the autumn break is upon us.

A companion planting tip that might help with control of cabbage moth and butterfly grubs is to interplant nasturtiums at the time you plant your brassica seedlings. One of the factors attracting the moths is the mustard oil the plants contain. Nasturtiums also contain mustard oil and the grubs will happily eat them, perhaps in preference to your crop, so they could act as a ‘trap’ crop to entice the pests away from the brassicas. This will only be worth trying in frost-free areas because nasturtiums are likely to be badly affected by frosts. Also try interplanting and/or surrounding the bed with fragrant herbs such as garlic chives, lavender, sage, mints and pyrethrum, or scattering onion leaves or pyrethrum branches over and around the crop to deter the pests.

A useful product to try is Dipel, made from a natural disease organism (Bacillus thuringiensis), which is effective against moth and butterfly larvae, the pests as well as the nonpests. Sugar mixed with the Dipel spray – 1 tablespoon to 4 L of the made-up spray – acts as a spreader and helps the spray adhere to plants.

As a last resort, spray with a garlic or chilli spray, or powder with derris dust, remembering that the sprays will harm beneficial insects as well and the derris dust is also harmful to nonpest species of butterfly larvae, fish, tadpoles, frogs and ladybird larvae. Be aware too that there have been some reports of harmful effects to humans from using derris dust.

Broccoli.

Plant and sow

Delicious edibles

Temperate

See my earlier comments about trying to grow members of the brassica family at this time of year. My experience has been that it is too hot to plant potatoes now, but do so if you can give them some shade and enough water.

Plant beans (seed), beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bunching onions, cabbage, capsicum, carrot (seed), cauliflower, celery, cucumber, eggplant, endive, herbs, leek, lettuce, marrow (seed), okra (seed), parsnip, potato (tubers), pumpkin, radish (seed), rhubarb (crowns), salsify (seed), shallot, silverbeet, spring onion, swede (seed), sweet corn (seed), turnip (seed), tomato, zucchini (seed).

Tropics and subtropics

Hot conditions and proliferating pests make this a challenging time to be growing vegies in many summer-rainfall regions, but it can be done, with persistence. If the wet is under way in your area, plant artichoke suckers, beetroot, capsicum, cauliflower, celery, Ceylon spinach, cherry tomato, chicory, chilli, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, ginger (tubers), herbs, kohlrabi, leek, lemon grass, marrow (seed), okra (seed), pumpkin (seed), radish (seed), rhubarb (crowns), rockmelon (seed), silverbeet, snake beans (seed), spring onion, squash (seed), sweet corn (seed), sweet potato (shoots), tomato. Plant cucumber (seed), lettuce and zucchini (seed) if you have a shady spot or can erect shadecloth over them. Perhaps you can track down a heat-tolerant lettuce variety.

In the subtropics you can plant beans (seed), broccoli, cabbage and potato (tubers) as well.

Heat-tolerant lettuce varieties

As a rule, lettuces do not like the heat and either bolt to seed or simply wilt in the heat of the day. There are some varieties that are more heat-tolerant and allow you to extend the lettuce harvest somewhat. Look in particular for varieties with red or brown leaves. Try these: ‘Buttercrunch’, ‘Brown Mignonette’, ‘Oak Leaf’, ‘Red Romaine’, ‘Rouge de Grenobloise’, ‘Rouge d’Hiver’ and ‘White Boston’.

Watermelons, rock melons, pineapples and mango trees can be planted now. If the wet is delayed and the weather is hot and dry, delay planting for a while; concentrate on preparing the beds for new plants.

Feed plants with seaweed and/or fish emulsion to help them cope with hot, humid conditions.

Any vacant beds can be planted with a green manure crop of millet, lablab or cowpea to enrich the soil for the next crop.

Mediterranean and arid inland

The same as for temperate areas, but only if water is available and shade can be provided.

Cool

Beans (seed), beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, capsicum, carrot (seed), cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, endive, herbs, kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, okra (seed), parsnip (seed), rhubarb (crowns), salsify (seed), shallots, silverbeet, spring onions, swede (seed), turnip (seed), zucchini (seed).

Delightfully decorative

Temperate

Summer’s flowers are some of the brightest and most vibrant, but they can soon wilt and take on a tired look if the weather is hot, dry and windy, as it often can be. Enjoy these ephemeral beauties while you can.

Buy the following, either as seedlings or as more advanced plants in flower, for an immediate injection of colour and perfume. Of course, keep in mind your ability to water them through the summer. A splash of colour in a pot or three might be easier to maintain at this time of year.

African marigold, ageratum, alyssum, aquilegia, bergamot, boronia, calceolaria, calendula, chrysanthemum, cineraria, coreopsis, cornflower, cosmos, cyclamen, dianthus, forget-me-not, freesia, French marigold, gaura, geranium, gerbera, gypsophila, helenium, helichrysum, hollyhock, Iceland poppy, kniphofia, linaria, nasturtium, nemesia, pansy, penstemon, petunia, phlox, portulaca, primula, rudbeckia, Russian sage, salvia, schizanthus, sea holly, sedum, stock, Sturt’s desert pea, sunflower, sweet pea, sweet William, torenia, verbena, veronica, viola, wallflower.

Tropics and subtropics

Ensure that all garden areas are well drained, building up new beds above soil level if necessary and incorporating drainage under beds in areas that become very boggy.

Flowers to plant include African marigold, ageratum, alyssum, aster, balsam, cockscomb, coleus, cosmos, cyclamen, French marigold, gomphrena, impatiens, Mexican sunflower, mignonette, petunia, portulaca, salvia, sunflower, torenia, verbena, zinnia.

Mediterranean and arid inland

The same as for temperate areas, but only if water is available and shade can be provided.

Cool

African marigold, ageratum, alyssum, aster, balsam, brachyscombe daisy, calceolaria, Californian poppy, chrysanthemum, cockscomb, coleus, cyclamen, dahlia, English daisy, forget-me-not, geranium, gerbera, gomphrena, gypsophila, hollyhock, Iceland poppy, nasturtium, petunia, phlox, portulaca, primula, rudbeckia, salvia, schizanthus, snapdragon, stock, strawflower, sunflower, verbena, viola, wallflower.

Bulbaceous

Many bulbs need to be planted in autumn to flower in spring, but there are some that can be planted now for their lovely autumn blooms. Bear in mind that if your soil gets too hot over the next couple of months the bulbs might cook.

Temperate

Autumn crocus, bearded iris, belladonna lily, blue squill, brunsvigia, clivia, colchicum, dahlia, habranthus, liriope, nerine, rain lily, sternbergia.

Mediterranean and arid inland

Don’t waste your time and money planting bulbs for the next few months, unless you happen to be in a cool microclimate and have plenty of water available. The soil is too hot for you to plant bulbs now. Be patient until April or May.

Tropics and subtropics

Autumn crocus (not in tropical areas), bearded iris (perhaps not in tropical areas), clivia, colchicum, habranthus, liriope, nerine.

Cool

Autumn crocus, bearded iris, belladonna lily, blue squill, clivia, colchicum, dahlia, liriope, nerine, sternbergia.

January cornucopia.

Happenings in the home garden

Growing great food

The multi-grafted citrus tree was pruned to try to keep the growth of the different grafts reasonably even. The vigorous pomelo graft had taken over and unfortunately neither of us likes the stringy, bland-flavoured fruit.

A week or so into the month, the weather had been hot and the forecast was for even hotter conditions over the next few days, so the pot plants and vegies had a dose of liquid emulsion of fish, seaweed and fulvic acid to increase plants’ stress resistance.

The pumpkins and zucchinis, planted in the bed along the west-side metal fence, were wilting badly during the heat of the day, but recovering once they were in shade. We erected a very temporary shadecloth cover to reduce the full force of the sun and the reflected heat and applied some seaweed emulsion. An added challenge is that this bed adjoins a neighbour’s garden with native trees and shrubs along the fence. I’m sure the roots of those plants are now growing into my vegie beds. Perhaps the long-term plan should be to abandon this area as a vegie garden and turn it into a space for compost bins.

In the middle of the month I noticed that cabbage butterfly caterpillars had been eating the buk choy in the aquaponics bed. I’d seen the butterflies around and silently been grateful that I had no broccoli or cauliflowers planted. I had forgotten that the grubs love buk choy as well. Rodney pulled them out, together with the remains of some loose-leaf lettuce that had been harvested. The earthworms got a feed.

Caterpillar damage on buk choy.

The dragon fruit plant (pitaya) was looking a bit yellow so I dosed it with a seaweed and fish emulsion mixture. While I was at it, I used the same mixture on some of the other succulents, tomatoes and carrots in the tank beds and zucchinis and pumpkins in the bed along the western fence.

The tomatoes edging the herb lawn and the potted banana were fertilised with blood and bone.

Late in the month I cut back the strawberry plants and fertilised them with blood and bone to encourage an autumn crop.

Occasional La Niña summers offer a different set of challenges and opportunities for gardeners. The summer of 2010–2011 is a good example. While vast areas of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria were inundated with floodwater and gardening was the last thing on people’s minds, in my area we also had floods and higher than average rainfall, though nothing to compare with the devastation elsewhere. A wet spring was followed by a moister than normal summer. A cool change with thundery showers was my opportunity to tackle a range of jobs that had been put off during the hotter weather. One morning early in the month I dug up a generous crop of ‘Dutch Cream’ potatoes, cut back rampant youngberry vines, mowed them to put into the compost bin, spread around a binful of finished compost, started off a new bin and transplanted seedlings. As the sun, in breaks between the showers, still had enough kick in it to shrivel the transplanted seedlings, they were protected with temporary shade covers.

The harvest

At the start of the month the first small carrots for the season, planted from seeds in mid October, were ready to harvest.

The last of the snow peas were picked early in the month; they don’t last long once the heat sets in. Any that grow too big and actually form seeds can be eaten as ordinary peas or dried and saved for seeds of next year’s crop. The dead plants make good mulch.

Tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, carrots and zucchinis were harvested throughout the month, along with mint, garlic chives, basil, thyme, marjoram, parsley and nasturtium leaves. Most years there is plenty of lettuce, but it can be too hot this month to get new seeds or seedlings established unless a shady spot is available.

Part of the tomato harvest.

Crunchy carrots from a tank bed.

In the fruit department, the first of the ‘Satsuma’ plums were ready by the middle of the month and there were a few strawberries ripening. I note that on 20 January I picked a two-litre jugful each of tomatoes and plums, two cucumbers and a surprise handful of strawberries.

The gardener’s kitchen

Herbaceous Baked Trout

I defrosted one of the trout we had frozen and baked it in the oven after stuffing and sprinkling it with lemon, parsley, garlic and basil. The tray was oiled with olive oil and covered with foil. All these ingredients were home-grown, with the exception of the olive oil, which was harvested nearby and bottled locally by the Rotary Club. It took about 20 minutes at 180°C. The flesh was easy to skin and remove from the bones and served the two of us generously, accompanied by a home-grown salad of lettuce, tomato, beans, cucumber and snow peas.

Dried Tomatoes

The ‘Tommy Toe’ tomatoes were plentiful and I was giving many away. However, they are quite easy to dry in the sun and I hadn’t done this for a while, so decided to dry a trayful. Here’s how.

Cover a baking tray with foil, shiny side up. Cut small tomatoes such as ‘Tommy Toe’ or baby ‘Roma’ into halves, or slightly larger ones into quarters. Place on the tray, cut side up. Crowd them together because they will shrink as they dry. Put the tray outside where it will be in full sun for as much of the day as possible. Cover with a net umbrella or light fabric to keep the insects and dust off. If it is windy, you will need to weigh down the edges of the fabric. Bring them in at night and put out again each morning. It should take about three days of heat to dry the tomatoes. If they are drying unevenly, move them around the tray as needed. Larger pieces could need an extra day. Any moisture, even a dew, will quickly cause the tomatoes to go mouldy, so if there is a possibility of rain, bring them in and complete the drying process in a slow oven with the door ajar.

Store in a cool dry place in airtight jars.

Tomatoes on a tray for drying.

Plums Galore

After giving away ‘Satsuma’ plums to everyone who came through the door and eating a few every day, there were still bucketsful. I used to preserve them in jars, but no longer have the equipment. However, there are a couple of easy ways of preserving them for later use.

Wash, dry, halve and stone the fruit. Place on trays, cut side up or they might stick to the tray. Freeze overnight. Next day, place into freezer bags or containers and return to the freezer. They can be cooked as needed.

Alternatively, wash, dry, halve and stone the fruit. Lightly stew in a little pure apple juice. I don’t use sugar as the juice provides enough sweetness for our taste, but if you prefer them sweeter, add honey to taste. When cool, store in meal-sized serves in the freezer. Use them reheated with yoghurt for breakfast or make plum crumble.

Plums can be cooked and used in a variety of ways.

Gluten-Free Potato Salad

Vary the amount and type of herbs to suit your own taste and what you have available in the garden. I used ‘Desiree’ potatoes, but any other salad potatoes are fine.

6 medium potatoes

½ cup low-fat yoghurt

¼ cup olive oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp chopped garlic chives

1 tbsp chopped nasturtium leaves

1 tbsp chopped mint

Peel, dice and cook potatoes until just tender. Beat together yoghurt, oil and balsamic vinegar. Prepare herbs. Combine chopped herbs with yoghurt mixture. Drain cooked potato and place in a bowl with dressing ingredients. Stir through until potatoes are well coated with dressing. Seal bowl and refrigerate when potatoes have cooled down a little.

Pottering around the garden

Though I don’t often do any new planting at this time of year, I celebrated the New Year by planting a couple of new plants in the bed under the palms. I had recently pruned the Siberian irises, the pansies were not thriving and the bed looked quite bare, despite the addition of two ericas a few weeks previously. Fortunately, after some reasonable overnight rain, the day was cloudy and humid, the soil nicely damp and the weather forecast was for at least a few days of mild temperatures, good conditions for planting.

The new babies are Ptilotus exaltatus ‘Joey’ and Scaevola aemula ‘Fan Dancer’.

Scaevola aemula ‘Fan Dancer’.

Ptilotus exaltatus ‘Joey’.

Summer planting

In much of Australia the hot, dry summers are not generally a good time to plant, especially during drought years. However, if you are sure you will have enough water to ensure that the young plant will not dry out, wait for a cool change or summer storm so the plant baby will have a few days of milder weather to settle in. It might be necessary to rig up a temporary shade arrangement if the plant is in a spot where it will be exposed to the full heat of the sun. Some peat moss or coir fibre incorporated into the planting hole will help keep moisture in the soil. In sandy soil, water saving granules, crystals or gel will do the same job. Solid water products buried beside the plant will keep it watered for a longer time. Mulch the plant well and water with a seaweed solution. Avoid new plantings during a drought summer unless you have a reliable alternative water source.

In wet-summer zones, be sure that new plants are well drained.

In the middle of the month, after several days of extreme heat (temperatures over 40°C), one night there was a gusty wind change and the next morning a little rain. The heat had damaged, perhaps beyond recovery, the smaller of the two feijoas that were planted in August. All its leaves were shrivelled. A few other plants have some wilted and shrivelled leaves, but are basically sound and will recover in the autumn.

Over a few extremely hot days I watered the garden, especially the pots, more than I normally would.

In mid January I dead-headed the roses and brushed webs of web-forming caterpillar off stems of Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’ and L. ‘Love Affair’.

Best blooms

The crepe myrtles and hot pink tropical hibiscus look spectacular this month. There are still grevilleas, daylilies, roses and lavenders and the ever-reliable ericas, calendulas and nasturtiums. One unusual, but foul-smelling, succulent in flower is the stapelia.

Roses, hibiscus and crepe myrtle enliven a corner of the garden.

Chasteberry, erica and hebe attract numerous insects and birds.

The garden looks renewed after summer rain.

The unwatered ‘lawn’ still green in January.

Wild visitors

A flock of little corellas circled overhead chuckling and shrieking and some landed briefly in the red gums one morning early in the month. A few days later, a large flock of galahs circled overhead and landed in nearby trees in the early evening. A couple of corellas flew along with them.

Frequently throughout the month flocks of galahs, corellas and cockatoos fly over at dusk and sometimes roost for a while in our red gums.

Other birds we are likely to see this month are blue wrens and silvereyes fossicking in the shrubs or among the vegies. One afternoon a currawong in pursuit of a sparrow chased it into the living room window. The stunned sparrow was recovering on the deck while the hungry currawong sat 3 m away on a post watching, until our movements frightened it away. The blue-faced honeyeaters come and go. When they