Garden News January 2021

 

First blog for 2021, oh, how the years fly by.

First, I would like to make a comment on the Aroid craze and it’s not just Australia it’s all over the world.

Crazy prices, up to 1000s of dollars just for cuttings. Personally, I would really baulk at paying any more than $50 for a plant but made one exception and that was to buy an Amorphophallus titanium for $120, unfortunately it rotted this season.

Hoping this year will be better than 2020, what a disaster that was, all garden meetings and shows cancelled and we had to cancel our 19^th Open Garden.

We would have liked to have opened but Queensland Health would not listen despite two letters stating exactly how we would implement a Covid plan and not let excess numbers of visitors into the garden.

To cut it short we would have a limit of 50 into garden regulated at the gate and another 50 waiting on the front lawn where there would be refreshments.

I really doubt that they even read my letters properly as all we received back was an Email to advise us to go to the Covid site, and that was a useless exercise.

So, we cancelled despite hearing that others had opened their garden and were not worried about numbers but having been dobbed in a couple of times to authorities we were not prepared to take the risk as there’s always one nasty person in a crowd.

So, lots of work raising garden beds, building benches and new shade areas and of course buying and planting more plants.

I am very pleased how the garden is looking and it should look spectacular for 2021 opening.

We are starting to get bookings for bus tours and garden presentations. I have finished a new presentation ‘Aroids and Colour in the Giving Garden’.

I bought Judy a Heat mat for Christmas and built a double story hothouse, it’s now full of seedings that Judy is raising.

We have really been disappointed in Rocky Point potting mix and have changed to a mix available from Centenary landscapes, how a business could ruin a good product astounds me, anyway we are happy with the new mix.

Massive Amorphophallus paeoniifolus.

Aroids from our garden.

 

Garden News November 2020

 

November was a horrible month with absolutely no rain and was hot and windy almost every day.

It was a month to forget.

We attended our first garden meeting since February, it was 'The International Cordyline Society' and the meeting was held at the Chandler Rifle Club house.

We were big fans of the Rocky Point premium potting mix but now are very disappointed that they have changed the formula to a mix that just looks bad, bits of wood and sand.

We were given a bag of Centenary Landscapes 'Ultimate mix' and it looked good so we travelled to Darra and picked up a metre in the trailer.

I have been busy creating more shade areas and expanding a garden, the work never stops.

The place is very dry as no rain for six weeks.

We have had a few visitors who came to purchase Caladiums and some other plants.

Judy is still busy potting away and has some very rare plants available when things get back to normal.

On the 9^th of November I sent a letter to the Chief health Office regarding opening our garden in January, a month later I have not had a reply.

Not happy with that as they can allow 52,000 people to attend a football match with absolutely no social distancing, masks, sanitizer ect.

Seems to be all about money.

October 2020 Garden News

 

Yet another Covid 19 garden update.

Will I and everyone else be glad when this is over.

Of course, no garden presentations or bus trips to our garden but clubs are starting to book us in for next year.

On the 19^th October it was our seventh month of drought and the garden was looking then a miracle happened, it rained and we ended up with about 140mm which of course made us more than happy.

The garden has roared back and is looking green and lush especially after kelping and putting three 25 kilo bags of Nitrophoska Blue on all the garden beds.

I am angry as the Landscape yard where I found decent garden soil has changed their mix and it’s obviously cheaper for them as it is about 90% organic, not what I like.

Then we purchase our usual Rocky Point premium Potting Mix and find that they have also changed their mix and certainly not for the better. So dammed frustrating.

We are welded to the fact that we will not be able to have a 2020 Open Garden in November as numbers will be limited to 40 people only. Silly thing is it does not matter whether you are a private residence of 400 or 4000 sm, it’s still 40 in total and that includes Judy and I and our helpers.

There would be a riot and we usually have a queue to get in.

We are waiting to see what January brings and we may have our opening mid-January, fingers crossed.

Still buying new plants and gardening every day, what else would I do?

The big job for the month was the removal of four Foxtail Palms which had just become too big and dangerous and once they were removed to redo the existing garden.

More shade.