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.

Clivia seed collection and propagation technique

Clivia plants are a popular choice for filling out a shady spot in the garden. They thrive in shade and suffer in too much sunshine and are often found planted under the canopy of large trees or on the Southern side of an Australian house. They don't need much attention are generally used in mass plantings however buying enough plants to fill out a large area can be expensive. Propagating your own plants from seed is a more economical option.

Clivia miniata flowers in all their glory.

 

 

COLLECTING SEED

 

The first step is to collect some seed. You may notice that Clivia plants have either green or red seed pods. The pods start green then mature to red. You only collect the seed from the red pods because chances are that the green pods seed will not germinate.

 

Green pods need to be left until red

This is what you are looking for. Mature red pods ready to go.

 

 

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

 

To propagate Clivias I used

•  several plastic pots
•  a good potting mix
•  red Clivia seed pods
•  a potting bench (which is actually the top of my BBQ).

I chose to use regular potting mix over seed raising mix or a perlite / vermiculute and peat mix because I plan to keep these plants for a while so starting them in regular potting mix means I wont have to transplant them from the seed raising mix to a potting mix later on. If you do want to start them in seed raising or a perlite / peat mix then you can transplant them after they have sprouted their first leaf.

 

** It is important to plant the seeds within days of picking the pods or the seed may go rotten. Clivia seeds cannot be dried in paper bags and kept for later planting. You need to get them in the potting mix or ground quickly. **

 

 

 

 

PROPAGATION TECHNIQUE (THE EASY WAY)

 

 

1. Peel the pod casing from the seed.

 

2. Remove the white slippery membrane from the seed.

 

3. Plant the seed in potting mix at twice the depth of the diameter of the seed.

 

4. Water in and place in a warm location ideally 23°C to 25°C

 

 

 

A seed pod on the left, a seed with no membrane in the middle and a seed with some membrane intact on the right

 

 

All done and ready to water in. Looks like I picked too many seed pods.

 

 

THE WAITING GAME

 

The seeds can take between 2 weeks and 6 months to sprout! Be patient and water regularly enough to keep the potting mix moist. Clivias are incredibly slow growing. You can expect to wait a year for the plants to reach 15cm high. This can be seen as a good or a bad thing. Bad if you want them to fill out an area quickly. Good if you want to sell them as they can be kept for a long time before they get to big for the boots and need to be planted out.