Archive for the 'Drought Tolerant Plants' Category

More On Kunzea Pomifera (Muntries)

1 Comment »27th March, 2007; Category: Bush Tucker, Climbers and Ground Covers, Drought Tolerant Plants

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) Plants

I was so busy eating the Muntries fruits that I did not think to take a photo of them. What a silly thing to do. It still amazes me that the plants are so prolific in this area.

The dark green patches are the Kunzea plants.

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) In The Scrub

1 Comment »25th March, 2007; Category: Bush Tucker, Climbers and Ground Covers, Drought Tolerant Plants

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) out in the Mallee

Last week we went the long way around to an Australian Plant Society meeting out in the Mallee Scrub. I wanted to take some photos of Banksias that had been planted in an area near a soak.

The photo shows some of the Kunzea pomifera (Muntries), that grow in this area. There were acres of the plants. The green patches on the ground are patches of Muntries. Very few weeds grow in the patches, just the occasional grasses. There were still berries on the plants and they were sweet to eat. I was surprised that the birds had not got to them all.

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries) As Bush Tucker

1 Comment »14th March, 2007; Category: Bush Tucker, Climbers and Ground Covers, Drought Tolerant Plants, Hardy Australian Native PLants

Kunzea pomifera (Muntries)

Some comments on a previous article about Muntries that I wrote some time ago has prompted this article. Apparently there was a session on Land Line (ABC TV) recently about growing Muntries, probably commercially as Bush Tucker. (I did not see the programme).

A few weeks ago the local green grocer had a plate of Muntries for customers to sample. They had small punnets of the berries (like those in which strawberries are packed and sold) to sell. This is the first time I had seen them in the fresh fruit market. The berries were quite large compared to the ones I had picked out bush. I know some selecting had been done to find plants yielding larger fruits. The problem is that the sweet apple-like flavour was missing completely. I was not impressed with the larger fruit as they had a floury texture.

Why is it that people are content with a loss of flavour for the sake of larger fruit and therefore the economic advantages associated with handling? The same thing has been happening to tomatoes for years. It was certainly doing a diservice to what is a delicious small fruit.

There is another article I have written about Muntries here.

Chloris truncata (Windmill Grass)

No Comments »20th February, 2007; Category: Drought Tolerant Plants, Frost Hardy Plants, Hardy Australian Native PLants, Native Grasses, Pruning Australian Native Plants, Tufted Plants

Chloris truncata (late summer)

My original idea with this grass was to test its hardiness and suitability as a lawn grass.

After I decided to not water a patch until it became unacceptable as a lawn to test the time between waterings, we had 3.5 mm of rain. This was three and a half weeks between waterings and was almost at the stage of considering it to be in need of a watering. As a general rule I would say that 3 weekly intervals would keep a reasonable greenness about the grass. It is looking a bit tatty at the moment as it hasn’t been trimmed since late spring. We have also had many days above 35C and at least ten days above 40C.

I certainly think it is worth persevering with this grass in low rainfall areas, especially in areas where it occurs naturally.

See here for other posts on this topic.

Olearia passerinoides (Daisy Bush)

4 Comments »29th January, 2007; Category: Daisies, Drought Tolerant Plants, Frost Hardy Plants

Olearia passerinoides

Olearia passerinoides flowers during the summer here. The white flowers are about the size of a 10 cent coin. Not spectacular but the white flowers on bright green bushes bring a sense of freshness and coolness to the hot summer days.

This plant is native to the district and is drought and lime tolerant. They are shrubs to about 3 metres tall and 2 metres wide. Not much study has been done on Olearias and their cultivation. The dryland plants need to be pruned to prevent the flowers appearing on the whispy ends of foliage. New growth appears low down in the bush and pruning can be done at these points to force out more dense foliage and create a tidier bush.

Daisy bushes attract butterflies and the birds that chase them. The birds in our yard use the bushes as staging posts to come down to the bird baths.