 | | Welcome to the Gardening Australia Newsletter: 16/10/2015 | Coming Up This Week | | | Tomato Time - FAQs - A Bird's Life - My Garden Path - Playful Planting - Wild About Colour
Read more ABC TV: Saturday 17 October 2015, 6:30pm and Sunday 18 October 2015, 1:00pm | Watch a Story | | | A Bird's Life
17/10/2015
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Watch video | Find a Fact Sheet | | Tomato Time
Presenter: Josh Byrne, 17/10/2015
Whether growing tomatoes in the ground or in pots, Josh has some great tips on how to ensure a bumper crop
Read more | Browse the Video Archive | | | There are three ways you can access Gardening Australia video: Streaming: Watch short clips of various segments online. Download: Manually download the complete episodes to your computer. Vodcast: Subscribe and have the complete episodes automatically downloaded to your computer. | Catch Up on iView | | GARDENING AUSTRALIA ON IVIEW Never miss a gardening moment!
Gardening Australia on iView | Weekly Gardening Action Plan | | Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat ... well, you know the rest. If you're after a crop that's not only edible but doubles as a mulch and soil improver, beans are for you! Snake beans, climbing beans, bush beans, fava beans, soy beans, winged beans - there's an option for every climate.
Tropical Zone
Snake Bean (Vigna unguiculata var. Sesquipedalis) - aka Asparagus Bean, Chinese Long Bean, Yard-long Bean - is a classic for the tropics, as they have better disease resistance than common beans. They also make great companions for corn grown with melons, pumpkins or zucchini: How to Grow the Three Sisters - Corn, Beans and Melon Subtropical Zone
Why are Epsom Salts good for beans, as well as gardeners' aching legs? Jerry explains: Peas, Beans and Leafy Greens Fact Sheet Temperate Zone
Whether you want bush or climbing beans, there are many, many cultivars to choose from - here are a few ideas: Meet the Three Veg Arid Zone
OK, this is cheating - as the New Guinea Bean (Lagenaria siceraria) is not actually a bean! However, it does grow remarkably well in arid areas and tastes like a bean: New Guinea Bean Keeps Its Cool Cool Zone
The Scarlet Runner or Seven Year Bean, Phaseolus coccineus, is a dual-purpose bean that can be grown as a perennial. Both productive and pretty, it does well in cool climates: Capsicum, Chillies and Beans Fact Sheet
And if you want some ideas of what to plant in the vegie patch, don't forget to visit The Vegie Guide or Download the App | Plant Picks | | BIRD ATTRACTING PLANTS
This week, Costa visits a garden designed to entice native bird life and talks to Dr Holly Parsons from the Birds in Backyards project about being involved in this years' Aussie Backyard Bird Count. If you're interested in attractive native birds into your garden, it's hard to go past the iconic Callistemon!
CALLISTEMON This Australian genus, belonging the myrtle (Myrtaceae) family, has around 30 species of highly ornamental evergreen shrubs and small trees valued for their brightly colored and abundant spikes of thread-like flowers. Bottlebrushes offer a colorful display over long periods and will fit into most landscape situations, and, in milder climates, many of the larger species are ideal for street planting. Longlasting woody seed capsules follow, encircling the stems. Nectar-feeding birds are attracted to the flowers. The genus name is derived from the Greek kallos stemon, and means, appropriately, beautiful stamens, while the common name refers to the shape of the flowers. Several species yield dyes that change color when chemically treated.
Hardiness varies though none will tolerate prolonged frosty winters, and late frosts can devastate the new growth. Most bottlebrushes prefer moist, well-drained, slightly acid soil in a sunny position and are only marginally frost tolerant. Regular trimming will keep the plants tidy, and encourage bushier growth and greater flower production in the next season. Propagate from seed or half-hardened tip cuttings.
GET INVOLVED! If you're interested in participating in this years' Bird Count, visit the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website for all the details! | Gardening Australia Magazine | | NOVEMBER ISSUE AVAILABLE NOW
Celebrating flowers and fragrance! GORGEOUS GARDENIA
This superb flowering shrub is our plant of the month. Valued for its highly scented, creamy white flowers and attractive foliage, it works well in beds or pots and makes a fine hedge or standard. Jennifer Stackhouse covers all the growing basics and how to solve any problems.
BRINGING BACK THE FLOWERS
Do you remember a garden from your childhood - one with lots of flowers and year-round interest? We dig up some of the floral heroes of the past - the type our grandmothers grew - and see how we can use some of these beauties in modern gardens.
10 FABULOUS FLOWERS FOR FRAGRANCE
John Patrick offers up his favourites and they're an eclectic bunch! There's sure to be something in there you haven't thought of!
HOW TO KEEP A ROSE FOREVER
Yes, says Jackie French, you really can keep a rose 'forever'. Follow her steps for maintaining the magic of a special bloom for two weeks in a vase and decades in a dish on the dresser.
WHICH MULCH?
Angus Stewart profiles 10 different mulches, explaining how long they take to break down, what they nourish the soil with, suitable plants to use them on and what they're likely to cost.
BIRD CALL
Take part in the nationwide Aussie Backyard Bird Count in late October and grab some tips for creating a garden that Australian birds will love.
RAISING THE ROOF
Designer and guest writer Nathan Burkett describes the art of pleaching - an old pruning technique with huge modern appeal that is making a comeback in some thoroughly hip settings.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
- How to grow capsicum
- Revel in the peach harvest and cook up some delicious recipes
- Gardening on rock - ways to deal with the hardest soil
- Meet the blue-tongued lizard and take steps to control fruit fly
- 10 pages of gardening tasks to sink your trowel into
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