Monday April 13th, 2009
Swainsona formosa (Sturt's Desert Pea) Photo M Tranent
Swainsona formosa (Sturt's Desert Pea) Photo M Tranent
Swaisona formosa (Sturt's Desert Pea) Photo M Tranent
I was sent some lovely photos of Sturt’s Desert Pea by a reader of this blog. As you can see, the plant is dense and lush, as you would want to have it in the garden, not in a state of survival.
Sturt Peas need to be watered. They respond with excellent growth and numerous flowers. Water well pots are very good.
The only exception to this might be if you had a self sown plant. These are remarkably hardy as self sown plants seem to send the roots very deep.
They also respond to being fed. Use a fertiliser designed for native plants.
In the photos the plant is growing in a raised bed. It has been shown that so long as the planting mound is at least 10cm(4 inches) above the surrounding soil, that will give the required good drainage.
Thursday February 26th, 2009
Olearia passerinoides (Daisy Bush)
Olearia passerinoides is a mallee daisy and is quite a large bush with bright green leaves, different to many mallee daisies which often have grey green leaves. Although this is a shrub, to me it behaves as a perennial shrub, in that new growth appears along the older wood.
The bush has a tendency to become scruffy, with the leaves higher up the stems and the flowers also high. If it was cut back to the lower growths, it would have dense foliage and be a more compact plant, and I suspect the flowering would also be quite spectacular.
As usual, I promise myself that I will do this, and yet another season goes buy. Mine have just finished flowering, so out with the secateurs tomorrow, while I think of it.
Olearia passerinoides is drought, lime and frost tolerant. It has clusters of small white daisies and grows to 2-3m tall by about 1.5-2m wide if left to its own devices. Pruning will keep it to a more compact size.
Sunday February 15th, 2009
There has been relief from the heatwaves and I have been potting on struck cuttings as fast as I could. I wanted them in their pots and in the hot house before the next burst of heat. New roots dry out so quickly when planting on. Sometimes I have taken potting mix, seedlings, pots and boxes for the plants inside to work, but the hassle is still finding somewhere to store the newly potted seedlings. Not to mention the mess to clean up and the lugging of boxes of plants to the hot house.
The hot house has allowed me to keep the survival rate very high as the humidity keeps a blanket of moisture around the soft leaves. The next step is gradual hardening off.
I have a number of plants I am looking forward to planting out next month, taking advantage of the warm ground to get them growing well before the frosts slow things down. Unfortunately it means bucketing extra drinks to the plants until the rains in late autumn, but it will be worth it to have them well established before next summer.
I want to do a survey around town to see what has survived this summer and under what conditions, drippers, hand watering or none at all.
Thursday February 12th, 2009
Dampiera rosmarinifolia
I found another good photo of this suckering plant which spreads by underground shoots form the root stock. It is a good hardy plant to have in a perennial border. It is easily kept confined.
It is drought tolerant and frost hardy and grows in lime soils.
Monday February 9th, 2009
The following is an extract from an article on the ABC Website concerning the research that has been going on with Eremophilas. These are hardy plants, with attractive flowers which are loved by Honeyeaters.
More on Eremophilas can be seen here. Also see the category Eremophilas.
Australian native plants are being used to develop new antibacterial agents for coating biomedical implants (Source: Hans Griesser)
An extract from a flowering desert plant, used as traditional medicine by Indigenous Australians, could one day be used to coat hip transplants and other biomedical devices, say researchers.
Professor Hans Griesser and colleagues are presenting their work this week at a biomaterials conference at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.
“We can learn so much from nature and traditional knowledge,” says Griesser, a materials scientist from the University of South Australia.
He says Aboriginal people use leaves of Eremophila plants, which grow in Australia’s desert areas, to make ointments for skin abrasions and gargles for throat infections.
More of the article can be read here.
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