This news story, appealed to me :-). Related Coverage - Retired farmer creates new fruit
- A cross between a plum and peach
- Fruit said to be 'very tasty'
IS it a plum? Is it a peach? It's probably a pleach as it's a morph of the two tasty stone fruits. Whatever it is, it's a love child of the two, accidentally created by a retired NSW farmer. Bruce Davis from Mudgee in the state's central west couldn't believe it when he discovered he had grown a cross between a peach and a plum. The fruit looks like a peach from the outside, but resembles a red plum when bitten into. The unusual fruit is believed to be the first of its kind ever grown in the state. Mr Davis grows peach and blood plum trees alongside each other and believes the peach/plum tree may have grown from compost that contained plum seeds. "It's a really interesting piece of fruit and it's very tasty,'' Mr Davis said. A cross between a plum and an apricot, known as a pluot, has been grown in the past, but a peach and a plum is a new combination for NSW, Primary Industries Minister Steve Whan said. Paragraph.
Potatoes have been much maligned with the low carb diets and emphasis on calories and brightly coloured vegetables, but the potato is a valuable nutritious food.Potatoes are starchy tubers that grow underground, swelling and getting larger as the top half of the plant matures. I am growing a crop of five varieties of potatoes on the roadside verge of our country summer retreat home, here in Northern Victoria. They require little attention aside from a morning watering if there has been no rain.Potatoes are very inexpensive to buy, some people might wonder why you would bother growing your own, as a gardener, I see them as having two great advantages. They are a wonderful, first crop into the ground. I mulch my potatoes as they grow, then dig this mulch and the dried foliage of the potatoes into the ground after I harvest the potato and this greatly improves the soil, leaving it full of vegetable fibre, nutritious, friable and moisture retaining, ready for growing a more demanding of soil quality crop the following year.My homegrown potatoes will be chemical free. It is a small private country road, only used by a few residents, only one resident up the road, past us, so there is no passing exhaust pollution. This will be a very healthy vegetable crop once matured.Potatoes do not need a rich soil so are the ideal first crop. They are more at risk of disease if grown in the same soil where you grew potatoes or tomatoes the previous year. can be finicky to grow, because of pest and disease problems. Being high up on the roadside bank the ground is well drained so there is no risk of rot.Latin Name Solanum tuberosumCommon Name: PotatoExposure: Full / Partial SunSize: Varies widely with variety. I am growing five varieties.Harvesting: Days from planting to Harvest: 2 - 4 Months. The entire crop is ready to harvest once the tops of the plants die off. You can leave the potatoes in the ground for a few weeks longer, as long as the ground is not wet. New potatoes are small, immature potatoes. You can harvest a few of these without harm to the plant, by gently feeling around in the soil near the plant, once the plant reaches about a foot in height. Harvest carefully, by hand or with a shovel. Turn the soil over and search through for treasure. The tubers can branch out and digging in with a fork is a sure fire way of stabbing a potato or two. Growing Conditions & Maintenance:What to Plant: Seed potatoes aren’t really seeds at all. They are full-size potatoes that are allowed to start producing shoots in the potato eyes. You’ve probably seen this happen when you’ve stored potatoes in the kitchen for too long. Seed potatoes can be planted whole or cut into pieces, with each piece containing an eye or two More Vegetable Growing Tips·Pumpkins - How to Grow All Kinds of Great Pumpkins·Asparagus - Growing Asparagus in the Home Garden·Eggplant - Growing Eggplant in the Vegetable GardenHome Vegetable Gardening·Vegetable Gardening in a Small Space·A Long Producing Vegetable Garden - Extend Your Vegetable Growing Season·Cool Season Vegetable Gardening - Fall and Winter Greens & Reds & MoreRelated Articles·Growing Sweet Potatoes - How to Grow Sweet Potatoes in the Home Garden·Springtime Gardening with Kids - Taking your homeschooling outdoors.·Chia Tatos Craft·How to Grow Cabbage and Kale·Plant Perennial Seeds - Grow a Perennial Plant from Seed Video - About.com
Corymbia (Eucalyptus) ficifolia Red flowering, Gum tree is a true beauty.Reg and I stayed overnight in Narre Warren at our youngest daughter, Carla’s home.I went for a walk at 6am, through the green belt between the rows of suburban houses and then into the court to stand and enjoy the garden I had created, at my former home. I have always loved designing gardens and this one is now five years old, the structure and plantings are as I originally planned and planted, the trees are 18 months more advanced and even more beautiful than when I left this garden, to live and travel permanently in the country.There are two grafted Eucalyptus ficifolia, (flowering gums) in the nature strip, looking beautiful. Red-flowering gum is a prominent tree in the sand belts in the southern Melbourne suburbs. Because of its tidy, rounded shape, elegant foliage, and showy summer flowering, C. ficifolia is a breathtakingly beautiful sight in full bloom in sunshine. This tree grows at its best, when grafted onto sturdy rootstock ensuring a stronger growing tree and a more reliable colour than if the tree is grown from seed. On our drive home from Narre Warren to Northern Victoria, we stopped and walked again around the town of Yea and it was here I took these photos of a young, spectacular, red flowering gum. Books » Science » Biology » Botany
Corymbia Ficifolia
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Corymbia ficifolia or the red flowering gum also known as Albany red flowering gum (previously known as Eucalyptus ficifolia) is one of the most commonly planted ornamental trees in the broader eucalyptus family.In 2009, Parra-O and colleagues published a combined analysis of nuclear rDNA (ETS + ITS) and morphological characters published to clarify relationships within the genus Corymbia. C. ficifolia was found to form a natural group with two other Western Australian species C. calophylla and C. haematoxylon. They classified the group as section Calophyllae within the subgenus Corymbia.
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Books » Home & Garden » Gardening » Trees
Trees By Hugh Johnson
"Trees" is a fully illustrated guide to more than 600 trees. The text sparkles with fact and folklore, illuminating the subject with authority and enthusiasm. Fully updated, it includes all th e newest tree varieties and cultivars. The book first looks at the structure and life cycle of trees; their role in the ecosystem, planting and pruning; and, the use of trees in garden design. The core of the book is a complete record of coniferous and deciduous trees, grouped by family, in which an authoritative main text is complemented by a comprehensive index of trees, listing and illustrating alphabetically every important family, species and variety by their horticultural name. Finally, a reference section includes a guide to choosing trees for the garden and an A-Z listing of the most important and popular species and varieties of trees.
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My cottage garden brings me delight in flowers that bloom all year and none work harder to produce continual show of colour in the garden that my Hemerocallis or day lily as they are know because each flower only lasts one day. The flowers rise above attractive green strappy leaves and they flower profusely for months. With early, mid and late season varieties, I have colour from my day lilies in the garden for all but the coldest months.My daylilies are all the more special to me because they are a ‘friendship garden’, plant. I got all of mine from my beautiful friend, Garden Gems.Plant profile, Hemerocallis Daylily It's no exaggeration to say that daylilies are the premier flowering perennial. From a handful of wild species belonging to the genus Hemerocallis, breeders have produced tens of thousands of hybrids in a dazzling array of colors, patterns, and shapes. Adding to their appeal is their hardiness, ease of care, and ability to combine well with other plants. With so many daylilies currently available, a pictorial guide to the best and most exciting cultivars is essential. More than 1700 daylilies - 1400 of them new to this edition - are illustrated in close-up, detailed photographs.Each photograph is accompanied by a comprehensive description that includes information on color, size, bloom season, and parentage. Also included are chapters on daylily physiology, the history of the genus, the history of daylily hybridizing, hybridization techniques, and cultivation. Peat and Petit have created an authoritative reference and essential resource for anyone - nursery professional, hybridizer, designer, or enthusiast - who wishes to explore the vast potential of these beautiful plants.
About the Author
Ted L. Petit, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Toronto, is a daylily expert based in his Florida garden, Le Petit Jardin. A daylily breeder for more than twenty-three years, Ted has a four-acre daylily garden and hybridizing facility, where his hybrids have won numerous awards from the American Hemerocallis Society. Ted appeared on a half-hour daylily special on H&G TV and has written three books on daylilies, including, The Daylily: A Guide for Gardeners, and The New Encyclopedia of Daylilies, both published by Timber Press. Ted lectures at daylily symposia, is a member of the American Hemerocallis Society, and is on the Board of Directors of the Lake Tahoe International Daylily Meeting. Other than gardening, Ted enjoys fine cooking and great wine. John P. Peat of Toronto, Ontario, is a research technician in biology, daylily hybridizer, and nurseryman. He is the owner of Cross Border Daylilies.
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Few perennials are as tough and versatile as daylilies (genus Hemerocallis), and even fewer offer daylilies' enormous range of color, shape, and growing characteristics. The ease of hybridizing daylilies is a major attraction for the enthusiast. Any backyard gardener can hybridize daylilies, but this blessing of easy breeding can also be something of a curse to the newcomer. Tens of thousands of new daylilies are bred each year. How to choose and grow daylilies amidst this profusion? John Peat and Ted Petit have come to the rescue in this authoritative overview of all aspects of daylily history, cultivation, and breeding. Inspired by R. W. Munson Jr.'s classic treatment, Hemerocallis, they fully describe the history of the modern daylily. In the heart of the book, they detail the various types of hybrids and provide indispensable advice for growing all of them well. More than 200 beautiful color photographs and illustrations round out the work.
About the AuthorJohn P. Peat of Toronto, Ontario, is a research technician in biology, daylily hybridizer, and nurseryman. He is the owner of Cross Border Daylilies. Ted L. Petit, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Toronto, is a daylily expert based in his Florida garden, Le Petit Jardin. A daylily breeder for more than twenty-three years, Ted has a four-acre daylily garden and hybridizing facility, where his hybrids have won numerous awards from the American Hemerocallis Society. Ted appeared on a half-hour daylily special on H&G TV and has written three books on daylilies, including, The Daylily: A Guide for Gardeners, and The New Encyclopedia of Daylilies, both published by Timber Press. Ted lectures at daylily symposia, is a member of the American Hemerocallis Society, and is on the Board of Directors of the Lake Tahoe International Daylily Meeting. Other than gardening, Ted enjoys fine cooking and great wine.
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Less than a week till Christmas and the Christmas lilies have opened to decorate my garden with Christmas Cheer.
It has been a wonderful week, family togetherness, dinners, shopping with the extended family, Reg improving gradually in health and we are packing the caravan and planning for our 2010 tour.
There is not one piece of tinsel in our house and I love it that way, the Christmas decorations are for the children, I have quite enough clutter inside, these Christmas lilies were to be my only Christmas decoration and they bloomed in time and I love them :-).
I am not into fancy gourmet restaurant meals. Natures fruit picked ripe from a garden is the gourmet experience, I crave. I had never grown Patio Tomatoes before. I bought one to try this year, planted it in my courtyard, near my bath. lol, J Now I have the decadent experience of reclining in a bath in my courtyard garden, under a shade canopy, reaching out and picking ripe patio tomatoes and snow peas and eating them fresh plucked. J. Now that is my idea of fine dining. J I had not realized what a small compact bush they made or how early, the fruit would ripen. By mid November, I have been harvesting salad vegetables from my garden.Next year I plan a border of Patio Tomatoes, they are an attractive easy to grow, productive border plant. The taste of home grown produce, picked ripe from the bush, eaten within moments of plucking can hardly be equaled. Books » Home & Garden » Gardening » Vegetables
Small is Bountiful Getting More from Less in Your Small Space
By Liz Dobbs
"Small is Bountiful" covers everything you need to start growing your own food, however small the space available to you. Whether you have never grown anything before or are a seasoned gardener looking for new ideas, you'll find both inspiration and practical tips on planting, harvesting and nurturing. Each chapter takes you through the different stages of how to get the very best from your garden: Big Ideas for Small Spaces looks at the space and site you have available for growing crops. Small Bites offers ideas for planting fast-growing crops such as leafy salads, edible flowers, and herbs, and Bigger Servings explains how to increase the yield of fruiting and root crops. Here you'll find favourites such as potatoes for the patio and a crate of cook's herbs. There is advice on choosing the right plants, planting ideas, and detailed care instructions, plus recipes and tips on how to store and preserve your bountiful harvest. The featured planting has been developed around planting 'recipes', based on how you would use the harvest in the kitchen - for example the container "A Taste of Italy" gives you a marvellous tomato and basil combination. With beautiful photography and clear instructional text, the 34 projects look as good as they taste.
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