Crassula ovata aka Money Tree or Jade Tree. One of the easiest pot plants to grow.

Crassula ovata

Without a doubt Crassula ovata is one of the hardiest and neglect tolerant plants I have grown to date. It has a few different common names 'Money Tree' being the most common. The problem with common names is the confusion that arises when different plants are given the same common name and Crassula ovata is one such plant. I have found that people often give all Crassula's the moniker 'Money Tree' especially the smaller leafed Crassula (I'm unsure of the botanical name). The great thing about this plant is that it is almost a 'pot and forget' plant. Being a succulent it requires very little water in the summer and even less in the winter. It is also almost fail proof in terms of its strike rate when propagating it from cuttings which can be either stem or leaf cuttings. It flowers in winter and can be planted outside in the ground or potted up and placed either inside or outside. The only trouble I have had with my potted Crassula is frost damage which occurred when I moved the plant from its original position where it was protected by my verandah. Crassula ovata is originally native to South Africa but is now found many countries. It is often used as a Bonsai plant. Crassula ovata is a great plant to gift somebody who desires a low maintenance plant. 

This Crassula was located in a car park in Brunswick Victoria. This attests to its hardiness as it would have to endure all sorts of damage in that location.

A close up of a tiny white / pink flower cluster.

As with many other succulents the appeal is mostly in the foliage. 

This is what heavy frost will do to a Crassula. This poor fellow is from my home and it had to endure not only heavy frost but also snow this winter. If I had kept it under the cover of the verandah it would have been fine. I'm predicting it will bounce back once the weather warms up.

How to prune a rose bush

How to prune your rose plants

Winter pruning;

For standard roses the best time to prune (in Melbourne) is late winter when the plant is dormant. I pruned my roses a few weeks prior to writing this blog entry.

Why do you need to prune roses?

• To remove weak spindly growth and direct energy to stronger braches and therefore give a larger flower size.

• To remove dead or diseased branches which can harbour pests and disease.

• To direct the growth of the plant outwards to produce the classic vase like shape of a rose bush and also increase ventilation by eliminating inward crossed over branches

• To shorten back last seasons growth by two thirds or maybe a little more to encourage regeneration and keep a more compact shape

Making the cut;

So you are ready to make your first cut. You will need a sharp set of secateurs and if you want to get really thorough you can sterilize the blade(s) with some Alcohol or bleach. Sterilizing them can help prevent the spread of diseases. Commonly it is taught that you need to make an angled cut 5mm above an outward facing bud. You want to cut to an outward facing bud to direct growth outwards and create what is known as a vase shape.

 Cutting 5mm above the bud is important as it prevents die back. Die back occurs to all the stem above the last bud which you cut to which is why a close cut matters

The theory behind why an angled cut is necessary is that an angled cut directs water away from the bud. Some people have told me they don't believe in angled cuts as they increase the size of the plants vascular plumbing and therefore encourages water to pool in the vascular entry points. Personally I don't worry too much about the angle and concentrate more on the position of the cut in relation to the bud.

The last point I will make is that if using bypass secateurs you want to cut with the blade facing towards the part of the stem you want to keep and the anvil facing the direction of the part of the stem you are going to discard (see picture below). This is to prevent bruising the stem / bud.

Summer pruning (dead heading);

Which is essentially dead heading old spent flowers from the rose bush. If you do not dead head the flowers then a rose hip will develop from below the spent flower. This has the effect of suppressing further flower bud development. I've always been told that when pruning off the old flowers you should go down to what is known as a five leaf set. People have told me that if you do that you should get new flowers appearing from the bud which develops from the base of the five leaf set. I'm not sure whether the science supports that theory but it was worked for me in the past. As I'm writing this during winter I can't provide any pictures for this procedure but I will write an entry in the Summer which includes pictures to help you understand this method.

Picture of a rose bush during mid - late winter in Melbourne. More specifically it is in the garden of my main workplace (one of many) which is the college called International House (Melbourne University). This is the 'before shot'.

Hopefully you can see important things in the picture below. The first is that I have the blade of the secateurs positioned on the side of the stem I want to keep and the anvil on the side of the stem I will discard. The second thing that I hope you can identify is the little bud which I'm aiming to cut roughly 5mm above.

This is the 'after shot'. It looks bare now but will look fantastic once it has new growth and flowers.

After a few weeks that little bud you pruned above should be putting out new growth like the one in the picture below which is a rose bush in my home garden. This particular but looks a bit rough maybe I should have sharpened my secateurs before pruning.

Erigeron Karvinskianus aka Seaside Daisy. A classic ground cover plant.

Erigeron Karvinskianus (Seaside Daisy)

I was recently doing a job overhauling a clients front yard and needed a ground cover plant to fill a space. The plant needed to be able to tolerate some shade, tough, a relatively low water user and a prolific spreader with the ability to out-compete any weeds that might pop up. A mass planting of Erigerons immediately came to mind.

Erigerons have been a staple plant of many cottage gardens in Melbourne for as long as I can remember. They are a plant I had trouble formally identifying. When I asked people what they were called people just shrugged there shoulders and said things like 'I don't know... That daisy plant'. They are unassuming and common but don't let that deter you. Erigerons are a tough little blighter of a plant able to tolerate dryness, shade and general neglect. I have them in my own garden in Macedon where they have proven to be very frost hardy. I have never watered them and they still thrive. Another great thing about seaside daisy plants is how they seem to constantly have at least some their tiny white / pink flowers on show in the cooler months were they are at their low ebb.

Seaside daisy spacing for use as a ground cover

Information on the plant tags for Erigerons usually states a width of about 1 metre. When I planted out my clients garden with them I spaced them at 40cm to ensure a fast meshing of their foliage. I had improved the soil in which they reside so I wanted fast coverage on that area so weeds couldn't take hold. Seaside daisies will self seed and spread around a bit so you could probably get away with planting them a little further apart if  need be. 

The classic daisy flower of Erigeron Karvinskianus

 Here they are having no trouble covering the soil under an established Hakea tree in my garden in Macedon. Keep in mind this picture was taken in winter and they are usually described as being a warm season flowering plant.

Fuchsia boliviana. A plant for a south wall or shady spot in the garden.

Fuchsia boliviana

Selecting plants for shaded areas in the garden can seem like daunting prospect for the beginner gardener. There are many to select from and finding them is as easy as going to your local nursery and asking for some options. One option if you live in Melbourne or a place with a similar climate is a medium sized bush called Fuchsia boliviana.

Fuchsias are quite versatile plants in the sense that they can tolerate shade and are quite happy either in the ground, potted or in hanging baskets. You can prune your fuchsias to a desired shape in winter. I would not describe them as low water use plants. To thrive they need a good amount of water in the hotter months of the year and will benefit from a feed whilst in their peak growth period. They don't like extremely hot temperatures (close to or above 40 Celsius) but if given shade and lots of water they can survive short periods of extreme heat.

When people think of fuchsias the image that I'm guessing would mostly come to mind is that of the smaller fuchsia shrubs with the intense pink and purple flowers. Fucshia boliviana is a different kettle of fish, it has large drooping red flowers that are of a different shape to their more popular and smaller cousins. You can probably guess from the name that this plant is native to Bolivia, Peru and Argentina and in Melbourne it flowers in late summer and autumn. They can grow to between 2 and 4 metres tall. The one pictured below I have looked after for almost 3 years now. It has survived temperatures of 40 and over. It even made it through a small heat wave where the weather was almost 40 or over 40 for 4 days in a row. It even survived for 2 years with no irrigation other than me giving it the occasional hosing. It did take on a much more vigorous and healthy appearance after I installed drip irrigation to water it. It is located hard up against the corner of south and east facing walls so it virtually gets no direct sunlight. If you live in Melbourne and are willing to give some care to your garden then Fuchsia boliviana is a great plant for a shaded area.

 The plant in its entirety in late autumn.

 Close up of the striking red / pink flowers.

 Hidden from sight in the first picture is this other variant that is growing behind it. Not sure of its name but is the same plant but with white sepals on its flowers.

Visit to Stephen Ryan's amazing garden 'Tugurium' in Macedon, Victoria, Australia

Open garden 'Tugurium' in Macedon

Last Easter weekend I had the pleasure of manning the gate at Stephen Ryan's home garden in Macedon. Stephen is well known in horticulture circles throughout Australia and is particularly well known amongst plant and garden buffs in his home town. He has amazing plant knowledge and is the president of the Macedon horticultural society.

I first met Stephen almost 4 years ago when I visited his nursery on Mt Macedon. I spoke to him about wanting a career in horticulture and was lucky as he recommended me for a job and thus my life as a gardener began in proper. He has a passion for collecting plants and runs a rare plants nursery. He has GPCAA (plant trust) collections of the genus cornus, acanthus and sambucus. He was the previous host of the popular Australian television show 'Gardening Australia' and is also an all round nice guy.

His garden is called 'Tugurium' which is latin for hovel or basic dwelling. My fellow gate minder on the open day told me Stephen humorously named it so after hearing somebody rudely remark that his property (when it was first purchased and essentially a vacant block of land with a small house) looked like a hovel. The property in its original state had virtually no topsoil. All the topsoil there now is the result of organic matter being dug in. Spent potting mix from Stephen's nursery is also regularly added to the topsoil and garden beds. The garden is basically a garden which has an amazing amount of different plants in it with a narrow paths that meanders throughout. There is a veggie patch, chook house and pond area. The garden is so full of plants that walking along the narrow path creates the sense of several walled garden areas as you cannot see the garden in its entirety only what is in your present space. The front of the garden is a bit more open and has several established trees and big manna gum that was planted to provide a home and food for the local Koalas.

There is lots to see in this garden I would definitely recommend a visit next open day. The sheer number and variety of plants that are jammed in this property is staggering and the garden path walk is an experience to remember.

Link to Stephen's website below
http://stephenryan.com.au/

Medlar tree with fruit in the front of the garden

Abutilon plant. An oldie but a goody.

One of many garden beds in the front of the garden. A good example of how many plants are incorporated into the garden. Not sure of all of their names but I can spot Rhus trees and Miscanthus grasses.

This timber walkway forms part of the garden path that winds through the garden.

More of the path with the popular Dicksonia antartica (common name soft tree fern). Tree ferns thrive up in Macedon where the weather is a bit cooler than Melbourne.

I think Stephen's plant collecting is getting out of control. This sun dial was engulfed by so many plants that I'm pretty sure that no direct sun would ever strike its face. I could be wrong it was an overcast day.

Wow what a great looking pond area. I think the downfall of many ponds that people place in their gardens is that they look too manufactured whereas this one has a nice natural appearance.

Chicken coop and run. This one is nicknamed 'Cluckingham palace'.

A view of a portion of the garden path. You can see here how the garden creates the effect of walking into several walled gardens due to the sheer number of plants and clever placement of gates and archways. 

Another section of the garden towards the rear of the property. Amaranth plants and a small section of the veggie garden.