Parkville garden spring update

As the saying goes 'spring has finally sprung' in Melbourne and the garden I work in at Parkville is showing signs of new growth everywhere. It is so nice to be working outside with the sun shining on my back. We have had some fairly serious spring weather of late including winds that ripped through the garden at over 100km per hour! There has also been a few days where we experienced really heavy rainfall. Despite the weather the garden is still looking chirpy with new growth popping up everywhere and in another month or so it should start to look its best with most of the warm weather plants in bloom or just starting to pop open. My current favorite garden bed (the annual bed) is finally showing all of the flowers on the plants I planted there in winter. I have sown seeds including giant Hollyhocks and Zinnias in tubes ready to restock the annual bed for later in the year. I will post another update on the Parkville garden in a month or two when everything is firing at its peak.

The annual bed as it was a couple of months ago

 The annual bed as it is now. This time I planted Kale, Pansies, Violas, Cinerarias and Stocks

These Cinerarias look so much more blue in real life than in these photos. They were at their best about a week ago and are now starting to show some signs of old age.

These next two pictures are of the beds at the entrance. The Echium simplex flowers are almost all open. Also visible in the first picture is are some tree Euphorbias (Euphorbia lambii). In the second shot you can see the Hellebore flowers are still hanging on for dear life in the warm weather and behind them is a Salvia leucantha bush we pruned in the winter.

 

Below is a plant called a Sonchus (not sure of the species). Before this plant flowered I thought it was quite boring but now it has opened it sure is a head turner. It reminds me of a giant dandelion and is nudging 2 metres in height.

We have lots of bluebells in various locations in the gardens and they are all open at the moment.

 

One of the classic Melbourne plants, an Azalea.

This spring the Clivias are putting on a much better show than last year. They must have just the right conditions.

I really like this last plant. It is an Alyogyne which believe it or not is a plant indigenous to Australia. I occasionally  come across plants such as this that seem to look anything but Australian and it surprises me. I love the huge purple flowers. 

Potting mix shootout final results!

Potting mix shootout final results

Last week we took the final measurements for the parsley plants we used for our potting mix trials at NMIT Fairfield (see this link for the start of the potting mix trials http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/week-1-of-potting-mix-shootout.html) . Again I will say that this trial is not strictly a proper scientific experiment as there were several variables that would bias the results slightly one way or the other. That said, the trial did provide some very interesting results. Probably the most shocking result was that of the really cheap potting mixes which didn't contain any fertilizers, wetting agents or water crystals. The results were shocking for these potting mixes because the plants involved only grew a tiny amount (some even got smaller) and the plants also showed signs of nutrient deficiency (in the form of yellowing leaves). Another interesting fact that emerged from the trials was that even those bottom of the barrel potting mixes performed o.k if fertilizer was added so if you add your own fertilizer you could actually get some proper growth out of the cheap stuff.

My personal pick of the bunch for these potting mixes was the Miracle Gro multipurpose potting mix. It was fairly cheap at $6.97 and as a control (without adding any extra fertilizer) it outperformed all the other products.

The final results are below, remember each plant started at roughly 45mm in height.

Results summary for all the potting mixes

1. Hortico all purpose blend
Price: $6.30c
Description on packet: For a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants. Composted pine bark. AS3743
compliant. Contains minerals and fertilizer. Living organisms.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer: 85mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 160mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 90mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 65mm






2. Scotts Osmocote multi purpose
Price: $7.98c
Description on packet: 4 months osmocote. AS3743 compliant. Wetting agent, composted pine bark, living organisms. For a wide variety of plants.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer: 65mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 105mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 75mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 60mm




3. Scotts Osmocote premium
Price: $10.97c
Description on packet: 6 months osmocote. AS3743 compliant. Composted pine bark, water crystals, coir, wetting agent, living organisms. For a wide variety of plants
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer: 130mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 150mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 160mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 130mm





4. Miracle gro multi purpose
Price: $6.97c
Description on packet: Controlled release fertilizer. AS3743 compliant. Composted pine bark, wetting agent, living organisms. For a wide variety of plants.

Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer: 140mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 130mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 170mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 145mm




5. Debco potmate
Price: $10.47c
Description on packet: Controlled release fertilizer. AS3743 compliant. Composted pine bark, living organisms, wetting agent. For a wide variety of plants.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  90mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 115mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 120mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 95mm




6. Debco organic
Price: $13.98
Description on packet: Superior composted pine bark, premium blood and bone, organic carbon, NASAA input for organic production, no household green waste, ph balanced. For a wide variety of plants. No AS3743 compliance logo.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  110mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 120mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 110mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 90mm



7. Rich gro all purpose
Price: $3.78c
Description on packet: Composted pine bark, living organisms, mineral fertilizer. For pots and all plant types. No AS3743 compliance logo.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  90mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 120mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 120mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 30mm




8. Miracle gro organic choice
Price: $9.42c
Description on packet: Composted pine bark, blood and bone, fish meal, seaweed, chicken manure, feather meal, bio stimulants, living organisms, feeds for 3 months. No AS3743 compliance logo.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  90mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 130mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 125mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 45mm



9. Scotts Osmocote plus organics
Price: $11.98c
Description on packet: Composted pine bark, AS3743 compliant, composted manure, blood and bone, seaweed, fish meal, gypsum, wetting agent.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  110mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 160mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 170mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 120mm






10. NMIT Debco pro
Price: ???
Description: This is the potting mix that NMIT TAFE buys directly from Debco by the cubic metre. I don't know much about what is in it and can only guess as the the ingredients from visual inspection. It looked to contain no control release fertilizer or water crystals. Like all the others it is made from composted pine bark.
Final measurements
Height with added nutricote fertilizer:  80mm
Height with added osmocote fertlizer: 95mm
Height with added green jacket fertilizer: 80mm
Height with no added extra fertilizers: 50mm

The plants as they were at the end of the trial. Notice the poor specimens in the centre (they are the ones that were potted up in the cheap potting mixes with no added fertilizers).

Euphorbia lambii also known as the Tree Euphorbia. Another tough and low water use specimen

 Euphorbia lambii aka Tree Euphorbia

I first saw Euphorbia lambii when I started working in my current job working in a huge garden in Parkville. When I first laid eyes on it I was immediately struck by the magnificent symmetrical architecture of its branches. The appearance of this plant really quite individual and I'm not sure why but I have always thought of it as looking somewhat prehistoric. The cultural notes for this plant are basically identical to Euphorbia characias which I have written a previous entry on (see http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/euphorbia-characias-subsp-wulfenii.html). This tree only grows to about 2m in height with a spread of roughly 1-1.5m. It flowers in late winter through to the end of spring. Due to its weedy toughness and ability to self seed quarantine restricts its sale to W.A and N.T in Australia. In other countries with similar climates I believe it is also classified as a weed so please check before planting it.

Toxicity of Euphorbias

 That last entry I wrote about Euphorbia characias was a bit controversial with some readers due to the fact that it is actually a weed in some places but someone was also concerned about the potential toxic affects of the milky Euphorbia sap. I feel obligated to state that you shouldn't eat this plant (I don't know why anyone would) as its sap is toxic. The sap itself can also cause irritation to the skin if contact is made but oddly the sap is also used as a traditional medicine against various skin issues. Do not get the sap in your eyes. A woman at my place of study got Euphorbia sap in her eye and had to get her eyes flushed with water.

Close up of Euphorbia lambii's lime green flowers

This particular specimen is at full size. They don't really get much larger than this (in my neck of the woods at least)

The dividing branch structure of this plant is what makes it look so unusual. 

Bruno Torfs' art sculpture garden in Marysville Victoria Australia

Clay sculptures in Bruno Torfs'  art garden in Marysville

Only my recent trip to Marysville I was left with half a day to fill and no plans. I browsed through the local tourist guide and came across information for an art sculpture garden created by an artist named Bruno Torfs. The tourist guide had only a few pictures and I wasn't expecting much but after my visit to the garden I was blown away by the quality and sheer number of sculptures in the garden.

The sculptures in the garden are all made from fired clay and were very detailed works. Most of the scultures are life sized but there are also several smaller pieces. They are positioned so they blend in with the trees and plants. They do not strictly follow one theme but obvious influences included fantasy characters, humour and also influence derived from Bruno's international travel.  The back of the garden has a running creek and when I visited the melting snows from the nearby mountains and ample recent rain meant it is flow flowing very fast. The river was my favourite part of the trip as it had several amazing sculptures including the 'Lady of Shallot'  sculpture complete with boat.

Asides from the sculptures the garden itself is something of an artwork. Although not strictly a native garden it had that kind of rambling native garden feel to it. The heroes of the plants in my opinion were the Hardenbergias (happy wanderers) which were climbing everywhere in the garden. Both the purple (violaceae) and the white (alba) were in flower and when they are blooming they are stunning. The garden was completely burnt through in the devastating 2009 fires. 40 sculptures were destroyed along with the plantlife (see this link for the aftermath http://www.brunosart.com/aftermath.html). Even so there seemed to be close to one hundred sculptures in the garden upon my arrival.

I highly recommend this garden if you are in the area. If you want more information on the garden and artwork you can see more on Bruno's website http://www.brunosart.com/