We now hope that the problems that some have encountered with the photo gallery are gone.
By mid February, our earliest sasanquas started flowering – Mikuni Ko, Sparkling Burgundy, Bonanza among them. This is really too early for us as we are still having 30 plus degree heat, and so the flowers wilt a little in the heat. But it still brings that colour and fragrance to the garden.
All the bushes are budding up really well and this promises to be another great season. We have had rain – 527mm in January, 269mm in February and just 120mm this last week – that’s almost a metre or just over 36 inches. We are fortunate to have a sloping property and a well draining sandy loam soil. We do have one garden which is too wet for some camellia, and the japonicas that we planted there some 12 or so years ago showed their displeasure within two seasons. The row of sasanquas that we planted a metre up the garden are thriving. This reinforces that raising the bed in wetter areas is important.
The vireya rhododendons in the garden are looking great, so much flower at the moment brings those stunning yellows, oranges, reds and everything in between into their own. These also insist on a well drained position in very freely draining soil. We find staking young plants ensure that they stay upright. We also plant a couple of the same variety quite close together so that they support each other – it also doubles the flowers.
We have a fine variety available this season, and we look forward to seeing some of you on our open days. These will start April. We also have a few local garden shows that we will be attending.
We continue to do mail order – east coast Australia mainland only at the moment – so if there is something you want, drop us an email.
Happy gardening – and remember – ‘Improve your Plant Life Balance’ – plant ‘More Trees Please’.
