Spring has sprung in my Macedon garden 2013

Things have been really busy on the garden front this spring (hence the lack of October blog entries). My private weekend gardening jobs have really picked up due to the change of seasons and I've been cutting down jungle thick front / backyards almost every weekend. My first weekend with no jobs was one which I planned to do my own lawns and other garden jobs but I was feeling burnt out garden wise and the garden has suffered as a result. The lawn is getting quite long with plantain weeds sending up their flower spikes everywhere. The weeds in the garden beds have started to grow steadily but luckily they are not as bad as they could be due to some really early spring weeding that I completed.

That said, I have kept on top of a few other garden goals at home other than the mowing and weeding. So far I have made sure that I plant some seeds every weekend and it is starting to pay off with lots of veggies and flowers shooting up. The veggies done from seed have been bush beans, climbing beans (blue lake), loose leaf lettuce and Galangal (well technically not a seed but a planting nonetheless). All have sprouted bar the Galangal and I am really hoping that it does grow because I have never grown or tasted it. On the flower side of things I have lots of sunflowers popping up from seed I collected from last years flowers that I planted in Parkville (click on this link to see them when in flower http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/lillies-echinacea-and-sunflowers.html). I've also been nurturing the herb garden at home and finally have a good selection of herbs at hand for cooking. Another really pleasing sight in my garden are flowers that have self seeded from last years annuals including black Pansies and Hollyhocks! I really hope the Hollyhocks take off and tower above the rest of the flowers come summer. My Garlic crop looks almost ready so I should be harvesting in a few weeks or so. Unfortunately some animal nipped the tops off a  quarter of my Garlic crop (looking at the animal tracks I think it may have been a Wombat). Whatever it was it came back 3 times at night but since then has not returned.

All in all this spring has seen many successes in terms of growing new plants and a few inevitable failures along the way but I guess that is part of the learning experience. I think this weekend maintenance on my home garden is a must or things will really start getting crazy. Time to start pushing the old mower :)

A mass of cottage flower goodness

This picture of the Kniphofia flowers was taken early spring (maybe the first week). I'm really glad this plant flowered as it was a bit of a gamble as I've never seen any growing in the colder Macedon climate. The good thing is that I had these flowers showing for much longer than the Kniphofias in Melbourne. The down side is that the foliage of the plant looked a little stressed due to winter frost. 

Another early spring picture of my Tulips with Aquilegias in the background. These Tulips were planted last year and came back with a vengeance. 

The Garlic is looking really strong this year. I have been eating the small bulbs and planting the bigger ones for the last 3 years in the hope of producing a better crop.

Polyanthus flowers are still going strong.

I planted lots of Violas this year and this one is my favorite. I love the colouring it reminds me of fire.

Heaps of yellow and also orange Calendula flowers are starting to burst.

One of the big success stories are my Snow Peas. They are really heavy croppers. One of my daughters rushes out to pick them every morning and there are still lots left over when I get home from work. Here is a link to when they started out http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/snow-pea-climbing-frame-construction.html. There is also Broccoli, Broad Beans and Bush Beans in there.

This unassuming little fellow is one of many pansies that self seeded from last years flowers. 

Not sure what this beautiful plant with the pink flowers is called. It must be something incredibly common as it grew from a 'cottage garden mix' of seeds. Unfortunately I lost the packet so I can't identify it. I'm sure one of my fellow gardeners will know its name....... Several months later I was told this goes by the common name of 'Corncockle'.

Below are Aquilegias that have been going strong for 2 years now. I got them when I was working at Stephen Ryan's nursery 'Dicksonia Rare Plants' on Mount Macedon. They were growing in the path like a weed and a fellow employee suggested I take them home and plant them.

Icelandic Poppies that I grew from seed are still popping open. They really are an awesome flower and keep opening up one after the other for a long time.

My better half loves planting Australian natives in the front yard and the Grevilleas are on show right now. 

This is the very first rose from the David Austin rose bush that I won in a competition earlier in the year. It is not much to look at now as it is just unfurling but in a few days it should be in all its glory. I never used to like roses but since after winning this and another in a competition I have become quite obsessed by them.

My 'herb boat' the SS Herbsman is fully loaded with Lettuce, Coriander, Continental Parsley, Curly Parsley, Oregano, Chives, Rocket and for some strange reason Brocolli. The frame in the background is for my climbing beans. My god look at the length of the lawn. Its as though the boat is sailing on a sea of grass.

There it is, my favorite pocket of the garden in its entirety. Rambling, out of control and absolutely packed with plants both edible and ornamental. Just the way I like it.

Snow pea climbing frame construction and other cool season vegetables

Well the weather was cold and wet but I managed to get some cool season vegetables in the ground at home in Macedon. I was lucky to receive a package of seedlings grown by a friend so I had to quickly get them in the ground as there is nothing worse than letting some donated seedlings go to waste. In the package was some snow peas, broccolini, bok choy and more broadbeans. The broccolini and bok choy seedlings were very small and I have had some cold weather and strong winds so I'm hoping they will make it. I know from previous experience the broadbeans are really tough so I'm sure they will be fine. The snow peas are something I've always wanted to grow so I left nothing to chance and constructed a proper support frame for them. The frame is essentially just 3 hardwood garden stakes joined together with some jute string strung between the upright stakes. The spacing for the string is about 10cm between the horizontal runs. If it all works out it should be a heavy cropper as I know several people who have told me snow peas thrive in the cooler Macedon climate and will produce peas for quite a long time.

 Here they are as received. Snow peas, broadbeans, broccolini and bok choy. Thanks Anne Kennedy you are a legend.

My 3 stake climbing frame all tied up with jute string.

 Climb my pretties. Climb like the wind!

My Macedon garden winter update

WINTER IN MY MACEDON GARDEN

All plant growth at my home garden in Macedon is starting to slow as winter is finally here. It has been a while since my last entry as I've had several colds lately and have been busy with other things including my horticulture study. On top of that we have had heaps of rain here lately and some of it has been really heavy to the point where I was worried about small seedlings getting damaged. To be honest I find it quite difficult to get outside and garden at home in the winter especially after a day of gardening at my work in Parkville. Nevertheless I suppose I have accomplished some things over the last month at home including cutting the lower branches off my dreaded Cypress tree in the front yard and also propagating some new plants. Almost all the garlic I planted some weeks ago has now sprouted and it looks like I will get over 130 bulbs at harvest time. I have discovered that there is a food swap service at the Woodend market near my home town where you can take produce and swap it for other food products. When my garlic is harvested I'm going to go there are swap some of it for other things as I'm sure I'll have lots more than I can eat. I am also still trying to nurse an Australian native frangipani tree through the cold Macedon winter. Lots of people have told me that you can't grow them in Macedon but I'm hoping that if I can get it through the frosts of winter by protecting it with polythene then It will be big enough to survive the next winter on its own.

I loved this winter Iris the moment I saw it in Parkville. I propagated several of them by division about a year ago and bought them home to Macedon last year and for the first time they are now flowering. I'm not sure exactly of the species but I think it is called Iris histrioides.

To be honest the pictures of my Acer palmatum (Japanese maple) were taken a few weeks ago and they are now bare but I couldn't resist showing it off in its autumn glory.

This is the view from my lounge room of the maple. I wish I had pictures of it when it had more leaves on it. These sort of trees really excel in Macedon compared to in Melbourne. The cooler weather here really makes them (and any other similar deciduous trees) colour up really nicely. 

My Nasturtiums which I propagated from seed are really booming in the cold of winter.By the time it is flowering season I'll have heaps on them on show.

The good old scarlet broadbean plant that sowed itself from last years fallen beans is still kicking along nicely. 

Below is my Kniphofia plant that I obtained from Parkville by dividing a clump. Its grown very large in the year since I planted it and is due to start sending up its flower spike any day now. I'm a bit concerned about those yellow spots and tips. Not sure exactly as to what they are.

 No it's not a garden bed full of weeds, it's my annual flower bed with small seedlings planted in it. I lost some of the seedlings due to the really heavy rain we had here not long ago.

Below is my treasured native frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum) in its protective plastic covering.

This is what it currently looks like. It is about 1 metre tall and is indigenous to Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. I really hope I can get it to grow into a mature tree. The first time somebody showed me this tree it was in full flower and I could smell its perfume from over 10 metres away. 

 

I've been a bit obsessed by succulents lately and below is one of many that I have propagated from cuttings. I don't know the genus or species.

 

 Two of the several Aeonium cuttings I did in April this year. They have all grown roots and are displaying healthy growth. The link on how to propagate them is below if you are interested.

http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/how-to-propagate-aeoniums-from-cuttings.html

 Another different type of Aeonium growing well from a cutting.

After publicly disliking Geraniums (or more accurately Pelargoniums) for many years I found one that I couldn't resist taking some cutting from and planting them in a large pot outside my daughters bedroom window. I let the cuttings dry for 3 days (probably not ideal) before planting them. I was worried they might not work but I'm fairly sure they have grown roots. Pelargoniums are famous for being one of the easiest plants to strike from a cutting.

 

Well this next picture to most people could well be the most boring picture of a plant in the world however when I first saw this I was really excited. That is because it is the first of my Clivia seeds to sprout above the level of the potting mix. It took just over 3 months for this to appear as Clivias are notoriously slow growing plants. A link to propagation instructions is below.

 http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/clivia-seed-collection-and-propagation.html 

This little trooper is 1 of 2 Streptocarpus plants I propagated in March last year. I'm not a fan of these and had to prop them for my horticulture studies. I haven't done anything to care for them and they have somehow survived. I think I might actually show them some love and pot them on to a larger home.

Last of all is 1 of 2 garden beds loaded with garlic. It is all doing very well and it should be a bumper crop at the end of the year.

Cleaning the slate for my Macedon garden

The heat of Summer is definitely over and Autumn is bringing the cold weather back to my garden in Macedon. Luckily I'm on top of the gardening at home for a change so hopefully this year I will have a nice Winter garden. I've cleared the annual flowers and I bought some mushroom compost and dug it through the garden beds. One major job I'm glad to have completed is the planting of last years garlic crop. In total I've got over 150 cloves planted in 2 beds so that should equate to roughly 120 - 130 bulbs when harvested taking into account a few failures (rotten bulbs). I've got the new annuals growing in pots and some are ready to plant out. The new annuals are cornflowers, larkspurs, poppys, stocks, asters, pansies and snapdragons. The annuals are all growing under perspex coldframes which are ex display cases that I rescued from the rubbish tip. Also I've got 20 Haworthia succulents and several Aeoniums growing in small pots protected from the frost. I know it's not much to look at now but I've essentially wiped the slate clean and in a couple of months the beds will be full with colour.

The empty beds waiting to be planted out



Several Nasturtium plants that my daughters and I started from seed.

This one snapdragon from last year is still going strong the others were finished so I removed them.

An out of focus Rudbeckia. This plant was given to me by Mick from the local Macedon nursery near the general store. I had to do an assignment for TAFE which involved questioning him and photographing plant tags in his nursery. The fact that he gave me a plant after taking up all his time and messing around with his plants says lots about his character. I recommend you visit his nursery if you are in town he is a great guy.

The colframes steaming away on a cold Macedon day.

Several of the Haworthias in their pots. Such great little plants, they remind me of octopuses.

One crimson broad bean plant that self seeded from last years crop. I love it when plants self seed, its such a nice surprise (unless they are weeds self seeding).

                          

What's in the Macedon garden December 2012?

Summer update on my garden in Macedon. The lawn has lost its green lustre and is now a shade of straw which although unsightly means I don't have to mow as often, thank god! I planted lots of annuals and had mixed success with them. Lots were taken out by my own chickens when they were seedlings. I really did the annuals on the cheap and they were all the bargain basement seedlings from the local nursery (not that the nursery has a basement). The pansies however, were all from seed. I refer to them as my Grandma annuals because they are the old fashion favorite annuals and quite common. I bought half a metre of mushroom compost and dug it through some really poor soil to rejuvenate it and spread the rest as a mulch. The plants have really responded to it so I will definitely do it again next year.

The Marigolds took quite a hammering from the chickens and only a few survived.

The Snapdragons were untouched by both chicken and snail and all survived and thrived as the one below.

Below is the giant Ullswater blue pansy

Blackjack pansies.

My pride and joy this year giant Hollyhocks. I've been on a mission to grow these for a couple of years and have failed until this year. Even this lot has come close to being lost. First they contracted celery mosaic virus and had to be nursed back to health so they adapted and managed to overcome the symptoms of the virus. Secondly they came under attack from cabbage butterfly caterpillars (which I had to spray to clear). Thirdly they were smashed by really strong winds one night and a couple were on the ground the next day. I had to stake the wind damaged ones but they are looking good now. They haven't flowered yet but look ready to pop. I'll get some more photos when they bloom.

Awww a small Hollyhock bud.

This perennial is a Kniphofia (unsure of the species though). Its now much to look at now but it has a wonderful flower head in winter. It goes by the common name of 'red hot poker'. I propagated this by division last autumn and it looks ready to flower next winter.

Hydrangea macrophylla is an old fashioned favorite. These existed on the property when we bought it. They are an extremely common plant here in Victoria but i can't bring myself to get rid of them. I must have the acidic (low PH) soil here as the flowers are always blue.

My daughter planted these Impatiens and as with all the things she plants they have somehow thrived even with minimal intervention.

Below are some blueberries from my only blueberry bush. There seem to be lots on the bush this year so if the birds don't get to them I should harvest enough for a couple of punnets.

The ever reliable chives

The broadbeans have been really successful. They are nearing the end now but I've harvest heaps. Almost every day I pick some and eat them raw.

One of six sunflower seedlings. Fingers crossed some will grow to maturity. The bloody snails love these things.