Welcome back, I hope you had a very fine break and enjoyed the warm weather. Here at Cranbourne, we’re well into the swing of things and looking forward to an exciting year ahead with plenty of challenges no doubt.

As we move into the warmer months and have to increase irrigation to various parts of the garden, it is inevitable that any undiscovered weak spots in the system start to show up. As a result, our irrigation magicians have been working overtime to complete repairs, keep things running smoothly and ensure that the garden continues to thrive through the summer. Well done, team!

Other jobs that start to come into focus this month are checking and maintaining our plant database and maps of garden beds to make sure we know where everything is and where it came from. Out in the garden, we put our efforts into keeping on top of the weeds and monitoring for any pest or disease outbreaks. Many pests are controlled naturally by weather conditions or predatory insects but some need to be controlled as soon as they are noticed, including some fungal diseases and certain insect species.

For the pretty plant bit of this month’s blog, I’ve got some beauties to share!

Can you spot the Honey Bee visiting this Crinum flaccidum flower?

In the Red sand garden near the Rock-pool waterway is a beautiful, solitary Crinum flaccidum. The white flowers are about 12 cm across and fragrant in the early evening. Here at Cranbourne, their foliage tends to die down over winter and return again in spring. They have responded well to a little extra water, some slow release fertilizer, and good drainage while growing through spring and early summer.

The tiny purple-lantern-like flowers of Kerraudrenia hermaniifolia.

Kerraudrenia hermaniifolia, a small shrub with delicate purple flowers, can be seen in the Dry River Walk. They need free draining soil, prefer a sunny position and respond well to pruning after flowering.

The lovely yellow flowers of the New Holland Rattlepod.

Also in the Dry River Walk is a planting of Crotalaria novae-hollandiae or New Holland Rattlepod. This low shrub can grow to 1.5 m x 1 m and didn’t look very happy through the colder months but has bounced back with a bit of warm weather and is showing off some beautiful racemes of yellow pea flowers at the moment [it's worth noting that this Crotalaria can be a bit weedy in some areas].

In your home garden

January is a good time to give everything a little ‘pick me up’ using something like a seaweed solution or compost tea. Compost tea is easy to make – simply take a porous bag and fill it with some of your finest home-made compost and then sit the bag in a bucket of water. After about a week the water should be brown and full of nutrients and other goodies that your plants will love. Take some of this infusion and dilute it with water until it is the colour of weak tea then apply it to your plants with a watering can. This can help encourage strong growth without causing a rapid burst of tender new foliage which can be susceptible to disease or scorching from the sun or hot wind.

Warm weather and plenty of rain means that plants are growing fast and that includes the weeds [they always seem to grow much faster than anything else]. One of our main jobs at the moment is controlling the weeds by pulling them out or by spraying them with herbicide. As the weather heats up and dries out, some weeds do slow down a bit but for now it’s a real battle.

We are also doing a bit of planting of more heat tolerant species. Another task is dead heading flowers as various spring flowerings come to an end.

Stage 2 of the Australian Garden is coming along well with truckloads of plants making their way from the nursery to be planted in their specific spots in the garden.

Even though we’re moving from spring into summer, there is still plenty of colour in the Australian Garden. The various Kangaroo Paws are putting on a spectacular show throughout the Australian Garden as is Chrysocephalum apiculatum ‘Golden Buttons’ which grows well in full sun and will spread to around 1m. In autumn, when new growth shows at the base of the plant, the older foliage can be cut back quite hard to keep them from getting open and sparse. You can see a stunning display of this everlasting Daisy in the North Line of the Red Sand Garden as you enter the Australian Garden.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me - a row of Golden Buttons

My favourite for the moment is Prostanthera lasianthos ‘Kallista Pink’. This bushy shrub can get up to 4 or 5m high and 3m wide. It prefers reasonable drainage and will tolerate sun or some shade and as the name suggests, it has beautiful deep pink flowers in profusion right about now. Prune to shape after flowering finishes.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me - Kallista Pink Flowers

In the Future Garden you can see Corymbia ficifolia ‘Baby Orange’ which is a grafted Flowering Gum that gets to about 5m when fully grown. Baby Orange does best in full sun, tolerates most soil conditions and is just starting to display masses of bright orange flowers

...and a Baby Orange Corymbia Tree!

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In your home garden

As the weather warms up, the plants that you planted in your home garden this spring may need a little extra water. Until plants are established and have spread roots into the surrounding soil they can be vulnerable to drying out quite quickly as temperatures rise and rainfall reduces.

Also very important to remember for this month – give the BBQ a bit of a workout and enjoy some time outside in the garden.

See you next year!

So while all this weeding and feeding and pruning and planting is going on, we can also try to take a bit of time and just enjoy the garden because it really is beautiful. I know I say that a lot, but it’s true! All around are fragrant flowers of different shapes, sizes and colours. Adding to this riot of spring colour is the rich smell of damp, warm earth that is bursting with life and the lush green of spring foliage.

The spectacular white and pink whorls of the Albany Daisy flower.

While it’s almost impossible to pick favourites at the moment, these few examples of spring colour did stand out for me. Actinodium cunninghamii or Albany Daisy is quite a spindly little shrub to about 0.5 m that you barely notice until it flowers. It needs moist, well-drained soil and prefers a position in dappled shade. What amazes me about this plant is that although the pink and white flower heads look just like a daisy, the Albany Daisy is actually a part of the Myrtaceae family [the same as the Eucalypt] and not related to the daisy at all. Look out for Albany Daisies in the Ephemeral Garden.

A graceful weeping tussock of Velvet Tussock-grass.

 Poa morrisii or Velvet Tussock-grass is a graceful, weeping grass which forms a mound to about 0.5 m. It does well in full sun or part-shade and while it prefers to be kept moist, it will tolerate periods of dryness once established. Every few years Velvet Tussock-grass can be rejuvenated by cutting it back in autumn to almost ground level. There are some great examples of Poa morrissi in the Home Garden.

The five petalled yellow sunburst flower of the Native Frangipani.

Hymenosporum flavum or Native Frangipani has masses of sweet-smelling white to yellow flowers at the moment. You can see them in the Water Saving Garden and the Diversity Garden. Native Frangipani respond well to pruning after flowering to produce a bushy habit and can be pruned hard to rejuvenate them or keep them at a more manageable height as they can reach up to 20m. They tolerate a wide range of conditions and are quite fast growing. Regular feeding will encourage dense, lush foliage and they appreciate a little extra water during a dry spell.

In your home garden

If you’re looking for jobs to do in the home garden this month, then here are a few ideas. Stay on top of the weeding! It is a pain in the neck but they grow and seed so quickly at this time of year that it’s worth the effort now to stop them getting out of hand in the future.

Make sure that you’ve given everything a feed with a slow release fertilizer [preferably organic] and if you have an irrigation system then check it to make sure it’s working properly before the hotter weather arrives.

Most plants respond well to a light prune after they’ve finished flowering and now is a good time to keep up to date with that before it gets too hot.

Most important of all…take some time to enjoy being in the garden in spring – whether it’s your own garden at home, in a local park, or here at the Australian Garden. This is a very exciting time of year to be outside among the flowers.

The Australian Garden Collection

On 11 October, The Australian Garden Collection was launched at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.  These plants have been especially selected for home gardens in the Melbourne region.

L to R: Rodger Elliot, Member of the Royal Botanic Gardens Board Victoria and Elaine Canty, Chairman of the Royal Botanic Gardens Board Victoria at the Launch

So, when you are cruising through your local nurseries this long weekend, look out for these wonderful plants.  For more information on the Collection, see the RBG website at.  Happy Gardening!

The red flowers that give Hakea bucculenta its common name Red Pokers

Right on cue with the start of spring is a big jump in flower activity and lots of those buds that were starting to swell back in July are now bursting to give us a beautiful show of colour in the Australian Garden. Hakea bucculenta (Red Pokers) is a bushy shrub that can reach up to 6 or 7 metres tall, there are several in the Diversity Garden and you can spot them by their spectacular bright red flowers. They need excellent drainage and a sunny position in order to thrive but once established are quite hardy to dry conditions and should also tolerate some frost.

The beautiful Orchid Dockrillia teretifolia x D. pugioniformis

There are many orchids on display this month in the Orchid Undercroft including Thelychiton gracilicaulis (Blotched Cane Orchid) and Dockrillia teretifolia x D. pugioniformis. However, for something that just steals the show with huge white flowers, you can’t go past Telopea ‘Bridal Gown’. To thrive in cultivation this Telopea cultivar needs acidic sandy or loamy soil and a semi-shade position with good air movement. Early tip pruning can encourage the growth of more flowering stems. Look for a stunning show of Telopea ‘Bridal Gown’ in the Future Garden.

Now, what with the days lasting a little longer, and the temperature rising just a bit you may be thinking it’s time to do something in the garden. Well, I reckon that’s a great idea and one of the best jobs you can do in your home garden this Spring is to set up some drip irrigation. If you can add a water tank to harvest rain water as well then that’s even better, but either way this is a very effective way to save water in your garden while at the same time keeping the veggie patch going strong or giving some help to those few special plants that need a little extra water through Summer.

Finally, I couldn’t let September go past without a special mention for the Wattles. These beautiful, versatile and varied Australian plants herald the beginning of Spring and are really showing off at the moment. You can see many varieties of Wattle throughout the Australian Garden.

The Mudgee Wattle - Acacia spectabailis. Is spectacular indeed!

Over the month of August, we start to apply some organic slow release fertilizer because even though it’s still cold and officially winter, the ground will slowly start to warm up soon. Applying fertilizer now gives it time to break down and be washed into the soil so that when the plants start to grow vigorously in spring there are nutrients available for them.

It’s a good idea to test the pH of the soil before applying fertilizer as many nutrients can only be absorbed by plants when the soil is within a certain pH range. For example, if the soil is too alkaline or ‘sweet’ then we can pile on as much fertilizer as we like and the plant that we’re feeding may still not be able to absorb the iron that is provided by the fertilizer.

Another task for this month is cutting back some of the tired-looking Lomandra longifolia and Lomandra hystrix. It’s important to be aware that not all strappy leaved plants respond well to being cut back and each should be cared for according to their needs. We will use a rake or our hands to remove dead foliage from the Lomandra confertifolia and Orthrosanthus multiflorus and thin out the Dianella caerulea by cutting out the unhealthy foliage at the base.

Let’s talk about flowers. Zieria ‘Pink Crystals’ is a medium shrub which has been flowering for a few weeks now but just caught my eye today. There is a mass planting of Zieria ‘Pink Crystals’ in the Eucalypt Walk. The Zieria enjoys free draining soil and a sunny or part shade position, regular light pruning after flowering keeps them compact. Zieria are in the same plant family as lemon trees and the foliage of some varieties have a lovely citrus fragrance.

Zieria 'Pink Crystals'

If you wander around to the Future Garden this month you’re sure to notice the grafted Darwinia lejostyla ‘Coolamon Pink’. This specimen is smothered in pretty bell-shaped flowers and generally grows well in an open position with good air circulation and a free draining soil. As with many plants, a light prune after flowering promotes bushy growth. As always, this is just sample of a few things that stand out for me this month but don’t just take my word for it – why not come down and see for yourself? Now that the Australian Garden is free to enter, there’s never been a better time to visit.

Darwinia leiostyla 'Coolamon Pink'

At home

In the home garden it can be good idea to have a general tidy up and remove any dead material from trees and shrubs. While doing this it’s good to keep an eye out for any signs of disease on the plants in your garden. As the weather warms up and there is still a lot of moisture in the air some varieties of fungal disease become active.

The RBG is having a celebration of the great Australian Wattle on 1 September, which by the way is Wattle Day. Stay tuned for more details on what should be a fun and informative day to celebrate this iconic genus.

Should you decide to pay us a visit this month…what will you see? Well, we’re still focusing on our winter schedule which is largely about preparing for spring. This includes preparing the soil in beds that need to be replanted and researching the best plants to use in each area of the garden. There is also the never ending task of staying on top of the weeds.

Cauliflower Hakea

There are a lot of plants starting to put out flower buds so we can really get a sense of the seasons moving along. The garden doesn’t stop changing even for a day! Of the many species that are putting on a show this month, Hakea corymbosa (which is also known as the Cauliflower Hakea) definitely deserves a mention. This Hakea can grow to 2m high x 3m wide. It prefers a sunny position and must have good drainage. The spiky foliage usually forms a dense thicket without the need for pruning which makes for an excellent barrier or hedge plant [just watch out for the spikes...ouch!]. The flowers attract hordes of bees and nectar-feeding birds such as the New Holland Honeyeater. You’ll find some good examples of Cauliflower Hakea in the Dry River Bed.

Dendrobium 'Hilda Poxon' grex

Also worth checking out are the stunning yellow and red flowers of the Dendrobium ‘Hilda Poxon’ grex in the Orchid Undercroft …amazing!

Epacris impressa 'Cranbourne Bells'

I have two favourite plants for this month and the first is Epacris impressaor or Common Heath, which just so happens to be Victoria’s’ floral emblem. Hurrah! The flowers can be pink, red or white and it tends to like a position that offers a little shade and well-drained soil [I’ve had some growing at home in a pot very happily for several years now].Once established, Epacris impressa is frost tolerant and can be pruned quite hard after flowering to promote a bushy habit. There is a beautiful display of Epacris impressa at the end of the Eucalypt Walk where you will also find our own special form of Epacris impressa ‘Cranbourne Bells’.

Sweet Wattl

My other favourite of the moment is Acacia suaveolens also known as Sweet Wattle due to its mild sweet fragrance. Sweet Wattle usually grows to approximately 1-3m X 2-5m with an open, spreading form. This graceful shrub is quite fast growing and enjoys good drainage and a sunny position. As with many wattles, the Sweet Wattle has no leaves. Instead, it has phyllodes, which are bits of the leaf stem that have evolved to look and function like leaves. This development helps reduce the moisture lost through transpiration and makes for a tough, drought-hardy plant.

Both Epacris impressa and Acacia suaveolens are indigenous to much of the Melbourne area. This means that they have evolved over time to cope with our local growing conditions and also provide valuable food and shelter for local animals, insects and birds. They are both truly stunning at this time of year which makes them an excellent choice for the home garden.

Speaking of the home garden, if you’re looking for a job to do at home, consider building a cold frame this month to help raise some seedlings in early spring. A cold frame is basically a small hot house and can be as simple as an old window set on top of a couple of rows of bricks and angled to catch the warmth of the sun. A cold frame works by magnifying the heat from the sun during the day as it passes through the glass top and then storing that heat in the thermal mass of the bricks and earth or concrete floor. During the night, the stored heat radiates back out of the thermal mass and keeps the temperature in the cold frame a bit higher than outside. This higher temperature encourages seeds to germinate which means you can get plants growing earlier in the season than if you wait for later spring and warmer weather. Having the glass cover also helps protect tender new seedlings from frost damage.

This is also a good time to build any trellising for climbing plants before they start to grow vigorously again in the spring.

There’s a lot of weeding happening out in the Australian Garden this month and following on from that we’ll be topping up mulch wherever it’s needed, making sure to leave room around the plant stems for air to circulate. This reduces the chance of fungal infection.

There are contractors putting lighting into the Red Sand Garden to light up the lunettes for evening functions. On the subject of the Red Sand Garden, Sturt, one of our talented horticulture staff, has a very fine display in the Australian Garden Gallery this month detailing the works that have been completed in the Red Sand Garden –  it’s well worth a look!

In Stage 2 of the Australian Garden, we are continuing to plant in areas of the new garden as they are handed over to us by the landscape construction company. Several large Hoop Pines, Araucaria cunninghamii, and an impressive screen of Tea Trees have been planted in The Ian Potter Lakeside Precinct. Other areas are on the way… these are exciting times, people!

Now, you may think that as we’re getting into winter that there’s nothing to see in the Australian Garden –  well, nothing could be further from the truth. The garden is green and lush at the moment and is lit up in each area with bursts or splashes of colour.

Thryptomene saxicola or Rock Thryptomene is covered in tiny pink flowers.  Rock Thryptomene it is a pretty, low-spreading shrub that will adapt to full sun or part shade and withstand periods of dryness.  Best place to see the Rock Thryptomene is in the Box Garden.

Rock Thryptomene

Westringia ‘Wynyabbie Gem’ is a very hardy shrub currently covered in small lilac flowers.  There is some growing at the entrance to the Kid’s Backyard where it is being pruned into a hedge.

Wynyabbie Gem

In the Future Garden you can see Spyridium scortechinii  ‘White Mischief’. This compact shrub grows to between 0.5 and 1m in height.  These flowers attract butterflies to the garden and often last on the plant for weeks. A light prune after flowering helps keep the shrub in good shape.

White Mischief

For something interesting, have a look at Baloskion tetraphyllum subsp. tetraphyllum at the bottom of the Rockpool Waterway. This rush grows in clumps of thin green stems with rusty feathery tops which make a real feature in the garden. Baloskion generally prefers a damp spot though they are hardy in periods of dry weather as well.

In your Garden

With the onset of the colder weather, it’s a great time to start getting into the physical stuff in your garden at home, whether it is digging up garden beds, building paths or any other hard landscaping work. That way, it’ll all be ready to enjoy in spring!

The Red Sand Garden renovations are almost finished! Drainage and irrigation works are complete, the new surface has been applied and this month the circles will be planted with the hardy Salt Bush, Rhagodia spinescens, which has silver-grey foliage. The North Line will be planted with the Common Everlasting, Chrysocephalum apiculatum, forming a band of green ground cover with masses of long-lasting yellow flowers. It’s been a huge job and we’re all very excited to see the Red Sand Garden returning to its former glory.

The Common Everlasting in all its golden glory.

Allocasuarina torulosa, or Forest Oak, is a medium tree of 8m to 25m in height which is adaptable to a wide range of soils and conditions. It has fine burgundy foliage that rustles in a breeze and after rain or heavy dew is often covered in droplets which sparkle in the morning light.  This creates a lovely mystical atmosphere in the garden. Most Allocasuarina species make excellent windbreaks and also fix nitrogen in the soil which can help to feed other plants. There is a great stand of Allocasurina trees on the way up to the Visitor Centre – listen for their whispering on windy days.

Another plant which has stunning burgundy foliage is Leptospermum  ‘Copper Glow’. This large shrub/small tree has white flowers and grows up to 4m to 6m in height.  ‘Copper Glow’ can be tip pruned frequently to form a hedge or pruned to shape in spring and autumn to create a less formal screen. ‘Copper Glow’ can be seen in the Water Wise Garden.

A beautiful shrub that is covered in red and green tubular flowers at the moment is Correa reflexa. This plant should be pruned to shape after flowering and fed in spring and autumn with a slow release organic fertilizer. They can be seen in the Eucalypt Walk and alongside the entry path to the Australian Garden.

Finally, don’t forget to visit the Orchid Undercroft to see the display of delicate and beautiful Greenhood Orchids including Pterostylis nutans and Pterostylis conoglossa.  Pterostylis requires a sheltered position and free draining soil to thrive.

A hooded beauty - Pterostylis baptistii

Gardening at Home

In your garden in May, it’s important to keep on top of weeding, pruning and feeding plants after they have flowered. Make sure that any organic mulch is topped up to keep the soil warm and later in the month, keep an eye out for early frosts which can damage young or sensitive plants. If there is a frost forecast then a simple cover made from shade cloth or old sheets put over plants at night can offer enough protection.

Look out for the Australian Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show from the 24 to the 28 May 2011.

The Weird and Wonderful Garden

The tree was planted as a seedling in the late 1970′s and had been growing slowly and steadily next to the the Minifie family home, until flood waters brought on an extraordinary growth spurt. With the rapid growth the tree started to develop its characteristic swollen trunk form and lift the footings of the house. They decided that either their front verandah or their beloved Bottle Tree would have to go. The Bottle Tree arrived at the Gardens last December on the back of a semi-trailer!

A crane lifts the Bottle Tree into position.