Mallee Native Plants

Daisy Seeds

No Comments »29th March, 2006; Category: Daisies, General, Propagating

I own my own small scale nursery and there always seems to be too much to do. I decided that I had had enough one day and thought I would just propagate for myself. Trouble is I can’t walk past a plant with cutting material on it and one packet of seed provides many more plants than I can use. I propagate for the major Plant Sales organised by the Australian Plant Society in Adelaide, and the occasional country market.

Hence the mad flurry of activity at the moment. No cuttings and seed in means no plants later. You cannot decide to go to a sale and not have worked months before to have the plants available. Raising seed is quite successful at this time of the year.

So I was really pleased to see that the seed of two Olearias (daisies) have begun to germinate. One that I prize greatly is a lovely mauve daisy, Olearia ciliata native to the mallee areas and in particular this seed came from Eyre Peninsular, SA. It has germinated within 2 weeks of sowing and I used Regen smoked vermiculite sprinkled over the seed.

There is some evidence that natural rainfall will stimulate germination in native daisies, particularly Brachyscomes. Our recent rains may have helped in this case, but whatever, I am pleased to see it.

Woolly Bush

2 Comments »28th March, 2006; Category: Plant species, Propagating

We had 36mm altogether (144 points). That is a rather useful amount of rainfall and everything is looking great. It doesn’t take long for native plants to respond to this amount of rain getting to the root system.

This morning I collected cutting material from a friend’s garden. She has been on my back about it because two Correas had taken over. The Grevillea thelemanniana (Spider flower) was clambering through the nearest Correa. It is supposed to be a ground cover plant. The Adenanthos sericeus (Woolly Bush) was taking over the path to the chook shed.

I particularly like the Adenanthos. I see people at the Plant Sale doing what I do, that is stroking the foliage because of its woolly feel. It has insignificant flowers, the foliage is the feature of this bush. It grows to about 3-4m here and 2-3m wide if you let it. Tip pruning gives the bush a great shape. It is not the easiest plant to strike as the foliage doesn’t like to be too wet. It has a habit of rotting at the level of the mix. They don’t seem to mind a dry location like this one is growing in and I have also seen them in the middle of the lawn at a local school. What the landscapers would call an architechtural plant.

Have zillions of cuttings to deal with now when I have finished my cuppa. Having a cup of tea and container of plant rooting hormone on the same table can be hazardous to one’s health.

Work, Work and More Work

No Comments »27th March, 2006; Category: General

We had about an inch (25mm) of rain overnight and more today. That’s a thirteenth of the year’s average. Having it fall in such a short period of time is wonderful as it soaks down deep. With mild weather this week I’m torn between potting on cuttings and seedlings, putting in more cuttings and seed and getting out with the mattock and digging holes for plants while the soil is soft and there is moisture to kick them along. I hate having to choose when all are so important in the life of the nursery.

I have taken the opportunity today to be inside putting in more cuttings. The packets of seed have their hands up too! So we just plod along getting as much done as possible and hopefully getting to the end of the main activity soon.

Then I might get on with the rest of the gardening, pruning, maintenance, repairs to the nursery, setting up new growing on areas, getting rid of weeds, making some paths, cleaning pots, setting up irrigation, finish tiling inside, make new curtains, painting inside and out, and with a bit of luck sewing and craft!!

I don’t want much.

Bush Foods

1 Comment »25th March, 2006; Category: Bush Tucker

When I log onto Firefox I have the ABC page open up. I noticed in the science programme on ABC Radio National an ad about bush potatoes that was on at lunchtime today. Someone discovered them growing in one of the poorest soil areas of the country and they would be a good food crop for countries where soil is nutritionally depleted.

What made me look it up was the fact that my Solanum centrale (bush tomato) seed is germinating. These are becoming the in thing in restaurants that use indigenous foods in their cooking. I had plans for a separate garden area where I wanted to grow bush tomato, Wild Peaches, Muntries and Acacia victoria, and anything else that would cope with the conditions here. One day I bought some dried lemon myrtle last year to try in fish dishes and in biscuits. This plant would probably have to be a tub plant here. The smell of the leaves is wonderful. Wattle seed is supposed to be good in biscuits also. Haven’t tried cooking with them yet.

I put a number of wild peach seed in individual pots last week. There seems to be no ‘real’ method to propagating these. A friend used a tennis racquet to send them around his block, hoping that they would germinate where they landed. Some germinated at the base of shrubs that he planted, and being parasitic plants, they were well placed to latch on to the roots of the host plant.

I’ve read also that cracking the stone and/or peeling the skin from the kernal, putting the stones in a hession bag and putting behind the garden shed and forgetting them, putting seed in moist peat etc are all supposed to work.

Native Hibiscus

3 Comments »24th March, 2006; Category: Plant species

Knowing that the temperature was going to be in the thirties today, I collected a pile of cutting material to deal with this afternoon. An inside job, where I take over the kitchen table and make a huge mess.

There was some nice material on two varieties of Alyogyne huegelii (native hibiscus), a pretty white flowered form and a ruffled purple form known as ‘West Coast Gem’. Somewhere in the nursery is a pink form also, and my neighbour has a lovely mauve form which flowers prolifically. It also overhangs our fence, which is very convenient for me.

Another native hibiscus is Alyogyne hakeifolia. The flowers do not open fully out, and have a prominent stamen inside, and often a contrasting colour. There are a number of colour forms. ‘Mellissa Ann’ is a bright purply pink, there are also cream, yellow and various mauve/blue colours.

The thing that they all have in common is their hardiness, apart from having pretty flowers. They tolerate lime, drought and neglect. They need to be pruned to keep them bushy. Cuttings are sometimes touchy as they don’t like to be too wet. Once potted on though, they grow like rockets!