In an earlier post on growing Xanthorrhoea, a comment was made about using milk cartons as a cheap deep pot that will accommodate the root systems of Australian native plants. As a result of that comment, ‘Roughbarked’ sent some very useful ideas on how to actually use the milk cartons as planters and as tree [...]
The Eucalyptus gum nuts (woody fruits) that are left on the tree after it has flowered, contain seed and chaff. When they have ripened some fall off naturally, or are nipped off by parrots and lorikeets. These gum nuts can be collected and placed in a container or paper bag and left in a dry [...]
A new book was launched today at the South Australian, Australian Plants Society Autumn Plant Sale. This book is a tool, rather than a list of plants. It provides a process whereby the gardener can establish whether a plant could be grown in their garden given the natural rainfall, soil pH, soil structure and whether [...]
Having written about the frost hardiness of Banksias, I thought I would look at the general growing conditions. There is a number of species which do very well in the alkaline soils locally and once established, manage on the local rainfall of 334mm a year, falling mostly during the winter. The first requirement is good [...]
I have been finding plants in the nursery that need to be planted out while the soil is still reasonably warm. There are quite a few, including some very neglected Eucalypts. Thought I would do a list in the blog of plants for our dry situation here. The average rainfall here is 330mm or 13 [...]