Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i The Gardener Magazine

The smell of summer is so invigorating! I love the smell of freshly cut grass – it just oozes growth and life. Remember the days when you got grass stains on your clothes because of all the playing and romping in the garden? Well, I don’t do much of that these days, except when my young cousins come over to visit, but I do indulge in another activity that has to do with the lawn... Its probably one of my favourite gardening pastimes – I love it, to simply lie on the smoothly cut lawn and stare at the sky, and then rolling over onto my tummy to see my garden from a whole new perspective. To see the view my Yorkies see all the time. Try this for yourself…

GET THE LOOK One large shrubby rose, like ‘Munstead Wood’, the David Austin English rose in this picture, or any other spreading floribunda, Fairy Tale or Antico Moderno rose, adds depth to a mixed border. An ideal candidate for this would be our new rose, ‘Dancing Ayoba’, which produces flowers all over the compact bush. When choosing roses for a border, pay particular attention to the shape and height of the rose – the bush should not grow more than knee height if it is to be placed towards the front of the border. In this picture, Stachys lanata and catmint are used as companion border plants with spires of foxgloves behind them. Also consider using Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant) as an alternative. If there is a theme that threads…

Lobelia valida is an extremely showy but seldom-grown plant with large, deep blue flowers marked with white on the lower petals and with a greenish yellow centre. It is confined to a short stretch of southern Cape coast from the De Hoop Nature Reserve to Stilbaai, occurring as scattered individuals in fynbos on sandy limestone flats and gravelly slopes. The common name, galjoenblom, stems from the galjoen, South Africa’s national fish, which occurs mainly in shallow waters and used to be common off the southern Cape coast but is now a threatened species throughout its range due to overfishing. The galjoen fishing season used to fall within the main flowering period of this species (October to April), but this fish is no longer allowed to be caught by recreational anglers…

Almost all Indian dishes use dhania seed powder. It is as essential an ingredient as chillies. But if the name doesn’t sound familiar, perhaps coriander does? This herb, with recorded use going back 2000 years to ancient Greece and Egypt, is also known as cilantro in parts of America and Europe, and as Chinese or Mexican parsley. In India it is used as a herb for the flavour of its leaves, for garnishing sauces as well as for blending into a paste with fresh green chillies, mint, shallots, ginger and garlic, for making a green curry. The seeds are used as a spice and are ground into a powder that both thickens and flavours curries, like chicken tikka masala. Grow it Plant coriander in a sunny position, in light but…

Gauteng 1 – 2 October Mulligatawny Farm The spectacular 16-acre gardens of Mulligatawny Farm will be open to the public for the first and only time, in aid of St George’s Turning Point Foundation. The garden exudes whimsy and romance, and there will be refreshments and plants on sale. 09:00 – 17:00 Entrance: R100 Enquiries: Marina Smithers-Carlaw 011 880 7183, 082 556 2084, marina@mspr.co.za 9 October Johannesburg Garden Club’s 65th Birthday Celebration In celebration of their 65th birthday, the Johannesburg Garden Club presents an exclusive event at The Garden of St. Christopher, one of Johannesburg’s most spectacular private gardens. 10:00 – 15:30 Entrance: R350, including refreshments Tickets must be prebooked. Enquiries: prue@jte.co.za, www.johannesburggardenclub.co.za 8 – 9 October Pretoria Sunrise Rotary Annual Open Gardens Ten of the Jacaranda City’s loveliest…

Home-grown Inspired by: No other country in the whole wide world can lay claim to the same sensational indigenous spring colour that we can, with our fantastic Osteospermum hybrids sold under the collective name of Cape daisy. These ground-covering plants need full sun, and are loved by butterflies. Good for: Window boxes, in mixed containers or in single patio pots. Peak time: From spring to midsummer. Some of the tougher varieties will repeat flower in autumn. Trust your fingers! To test if a container needs watering, stick a finger into the soil: if it feels dry, it needs water. Spread the light Rotate a container plant sitting on a patio or a window box around frequently, to stop it from trying to grow towards the light and becoming skew. Container…

FABULOUSLY IN BLOOM October is ‘rose month’, and nobody needs to be reminded of the beauty of these queens of the garden. Although we have access to new rose varieties every year, you can’t go wrong by planting more of the iconic Floribunda rose ‘Iceberg’, which is probably the best-selling rose of all time! INSTANTLY GRATIFYING Go for calibrachoas, which sport a mass of miniature petunia-like flowers. All nurseries and home stores will have them in stock now, and all you have to do is fill all your containers, hanging baskets and window boxes with them. They are great value for money as they flower endlessly in full sun, and you will be surprised at the large range of colours and growth habits available. Heaven(ly) scent Trachelospermum jasminoides (star jasmine)…

These three fruiting vegetables are the highlight of the summer garden, especially for cooks who love Mediterranean food, of which these are the staple. October is the main sowing month for all three and they have the same requirements: full sun, fertile, compost-rich soil that drains well, and regular, plentiful watering. Start in seedling trays and transplant when plants have their first proper set of leaves. Space tomato seedlings 60-80cm apart, brinjals 80cm apart and peppers 45cm apart. All grow easily but they do need attention (staking and pinching) during their long growing season, vigilance for pests from midsummer onwards, and some extra feeding towards the end of the season. But the rewards are worth it. No shop-bought tomato has the flavour of vine-ripened tomatoes, brinjals quickly lose their glossiness…

Gauteng Saturday 1 – Sunday 2 The Horticultural Society Spring Flower Show Floreum Hall, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia Saturday 13:00 – 16:00 Sunday 10:00 – 16:00 Enquiries: 082 951 1432 Friday 7 – Sunday 9 Spring Orchid Show Floreum Hall, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia 9:00 – 16:00 Enquiries: Marinus 082 447 5081 Saturday 15 – Sunday 16 Shibui Bonsai Kai Annual Bonsai Exhibition Floreum Hall, Johannesburg Botanical Gardens, Emmarentia 10:00 – 17:00 Enquiries: Ruza 082 873 7955 Saturday 29 Talk: Review of plants grown during the year. Readying plants for the show Fourways Fuchsia Club meeting Fryslan Garden Centre, 74 Witkoppen Road, North Riding, Randburg Sunday 30 The Women’s International Zionist Organisation’s Garden Day Open gardens, and talk by landscaper Patrick Watson Westcliff, Johannesburg Enquiries: Helen 083 267 2607, Jenny…

Liriope muscari ‘Evergreen Giant’ A large, clump-forming perennial with strap-shaped, grass-like foliage that belongs to the same family as mondo grass, this liriope is grown primarily as a tough foliage plant with graceful arching leaves that can grow to almost 1m in length. Clumps usually attain a mature height of 50-60cm and can be equally as wide if left to grow. Slender flower spikes with small lavender or mauve blooms appear amongst the foliage during late summer and early autumn, but it’s the lush, dark green foliage throughout the year that makes these plants such a firm favourite. Use them for mass planting, as fillers in borders or even as specimens in a pot or container. It is cold and frost tolerant. Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ This sub-tropical foliage plant belongs to…

The country’s leading garden centres belong to the Garden Centre Association (GCA). All participating GCA members are visited by two accredited evaluators, at a time unknown to the centre so there is an element of surprise. The evaluation is done on what product offering the customers get to see and interact with. The awards are based on quality standards. The centres are evaluated not only on products, departments and displays, but also on staff, service and surrounds. The competition improves the standards of all the Garden Centres and Home Stores participating, because it is such a coveted achievement to be the best Garden Centre or Home Store in a region. To be amongst the top 3 in the country is of course the highest achievement of them all. Therefore the…

A new hibiscus range to inspire you Hibiscus rosa-sinensis hybrids have long been called the ‘Queen of Flowers’. Their colourful blooms adorn gardens in warm subtropical climates all around the world, and today plants are cultivated for use as indoor or patio plants for cooler climates as well. In South Africa, hibiscuses are grown predominantly as outdoor garden plants. They grow into short to medium-sized shrubs for planting out in the garden or for use in large tubs and containers. Wherever they’re growing, hibiscuses provide an abundance of magnificent blooms all through the spring, summer and autumn. Not many flowering shrubs can match them for a long blooming season. Malanseuns Pleasure Plants recently introduced a new range of hibiscus hybrids to the South African garden market. HibisQs, as they are…

BRIGHT IDEAS • Grow runner beans up an obelisk or trellis with a clematis. • Plant nasturtiums with runner or bush beans as a trap crop. The aphids will go for the nasturtiums and leave the beans alone. Pull out infested nasturtiums and throw them away. DO’S AND DON’TS OF MULCHING Now that the soil has warmed up, start mulching. It inhibits weeds, protects soil life and keeps roots cool and moist for longer. • The coarser the mulch, the less attractive it is for snails and slugs. • Don’t mulch too thickly (2-5cm is ideal) because it can prevent water from penetrating. • Wait until plants are a few centimetres high before mulching, and don’t pile mulch up against the stems of plant, as it can cause them to…

1 KEEP THEM SHARP Make sure all your gardening blades are functionally sharp with the Multi-Sharp Garden Tool Sharpening Kit. Use this kit to keep your shears, secateurs, pruners and loppers, as well as your rotary mower blades, razor sharp. www.maxitools.co.za 2 ADVANCED GRASS TRIMMER The Makita DUR365UZ 18V Twin Battery Cordless Grass Trimmer differs from rivals in having a compact direct-drive system featuring an outer rotor brushless motor that is fitted to the head of the trimmer. The bike-type handles have been designed so that the vertical centreline stays aligned with that of the user, creating a comfortable posture and resulting in less operator fatigue. It’s lightweight and quiet, with a sound power level of only 86 decibels. The batteries and charger are sold separately to the trimmer. The…