The Nursery will be open again Saturday 29 and Sunday 29 July – 8.00am to 3.00pm.
Apologies to the folk who visited this past weekend and who were turned away or found us closed. We had a bit of an issue which ended up with me in an ambulance and off to hospital – but nothing broke and we are back on deck.
So we will be open to the public again 28 and 29th July. Come for a drive, walk the garden – now that the rain has stopped – enjoy the camellias – and buy some, if that is what you would like.
Grafting – now is probably the best time to try grafting that favourite camellia if you are wanting to get a few new plants of difficult to acquire varieties. Quite a number of japonica camellias are inconsiderately difficult to propagate from cuttings which we prefer to take in summer (December and January for us) when the new growth is just hardening off, and many reticulata camellias just about have to be grafted to be able to get a nice plant within a reasonable time.
There are many places on the internet that will give tips on grafting. Now is a good time to give it a try.
Some folk have indicated that some of their camellias are looking poorly – and one possible reason for us is the considerable rain we have had lately in SE Queensland. Have a walk around your garden and see where the water runs, either on the surface or below the surface, see if the water lies around for a few days or the ground is wet and slushy for an extended period of time. These are areas that camellias will not like – it is quite possibly too wet. Camellias insist on a well drained soil, and moving your new camellia plants to a better position, or one prepared so as to give good drainage, will give you better results. Using coarse sand or gravel mixed in with the back-fill and mounding the plant up on a little hill is often sufficient to give enough drainage for the plant to survive those high rainfall events.
This is a great time in the garden with many camellias in full bloom, some just starting and the retics yet to reach their peak – our magnolias are starting to colour up with flowers on Felix, Vulcan, Picture, Brozzonni, Royal Crown, Butterflies, soulangeana x Rustica Rubra (one of my favourites) along with many michelias like Silver Cloud and All Spice, with their fragrance filling the air all around the garden.
The vireya rhododendrons are still flowering up with a dozen or so flowering with their heads of pinks, yellows, orange, bi-colour and reds splashing their colour around the garden.
Get out and enjoy it.
If it’s cold, put some extra clothes on, if it’s hot then take some off – just remember to be sun smart and leave your hat on!
What a great time of the year to be a gardener!
