Gardening Reports

Just about gardening info

Latest Posts

Hunter Valley Gardening – Roses

Winter is over and Spring is in the air. The sights, scents and sounds are all around with the garden coming back to life. Trees are coming into leaf, the blossoms are out and the roses are budding up ready to commence their 9-month flowering spree.
The rose is one of the most widely grown of all plants and dates back to ancient times, there are even fossil evidence discovered in Colorado dating back 35 million years.
The domestic rose most likely originated in Asia around 5 thousand years ago and has made its mark throughout history as symbols of love, beauty, war and politics. In ancient Egypt the rose was considered the most sacred of all flowers and was used as offerings to Gods as well as being used as wreaths in tombs. In 1492 a crew member on Columbuss ship picked a rose branch out of the ocean which was a sign of the presence of land and the next day Columbus discovered America, while in England in during the 15th century the rose was used as a symbol for factional fighting. Known as the War of the Roses- the white rose symbolised York and the red rose symbolised Lancaster. In the 17th century roses were in such demand that royalty considered roses and rose water as legal tender and Shakespeare refers to roses over 50 times in his works.
In modern times the rose continues to make its mark with the Netherlands being the world leader in the export of roses with over 19,000 acres under rose cultivation while Zambia being a small nation has 80 per cent of its cultivated land dedicated to the production of roses. The rose is also the national floral emblem of the US and was signed in by law in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan.

So what does all this mean? Not much really except that the rose has stood the test of time, not only due to its beauty and elegance but also because it is one of the toughest plants around. Full sun, a little fertiliser and some water and the modern rose will reward the even the most novice of gardeners. The biggest problem people face these days is which rose to grow. Roses come in all shapes, sizes and colours (except blue!) and the range can be a bit confusing – Bush, Climbers, Standards, Ramblers, Pillars, Hybrid Teas, Floribundas and landscape are few types but all will do well in our climate.
If you have never tried to grow roses before and not sure what to grow, here is a list of the top 10 we grow at Hunter Valley Gardens. All these varieties are tough, disease resistant and very free flowering and will reward with months of colour.

Apricot Nectar – A floribunda rose with large, very fragrant apricot blooms with pink tints. A compact bush with strong stems. An excellent cut flower.

Chameleon – A floribunda miniature rose with flowers that change colour as they mature on the plant. Starting at a mid yellow with the outer petals changing to pink while the centre changes to white.

Double Delight – A large flowering hybrid tea rose. A very fragrant rose with high centred double flowers. Creamy white with red streaks around the edges of the petals.

Fiona’s Wish – A vigorous hybrid tea. Large vivid pink petals flushed with a white underside. A full classic rose with fragrance. Bush. Excellent for cut flowers.

Iceberg – The best rose available. A white flowering cluster floribunda with slightly scented flowers. A very free flowering rose that will show colour all year round.

Just Joey – A large flowering hybrid tea. Full petalled flower in tones of fawn, copper and buff. Very fragrant in warmer climates with extremely large flowers that fold out.

Peace – A vigorous large flowered hybrid tea. Very large flowers are a bright yellow flushed with pinkish-red at the edges and are lightly scented.

Pierre De Ronsard – A pillar/climbing rose with very full double cupped blooms with a slight fragrance. Flowers are centred with mid pink and fade to white on the outer petals.

Seduction – An open flowered floribunda rose. Buds start at mid pink and fade to a white. Flowers open completely to expose stamens. A delicate, elegant flower.

Simply Magic – A spreading floribunda rose. Very heavy flowering variety with carmine-pink clusters of open petal flowers. A low and spreading variety with a very long flowering period.

For those who enjoy their roses or want to try something new, there are some exceptional new releases available for 2008 that are sure to inspire.

Tequila La Savillana A floribunda with bright yellow-orange flowers blending to pink. Loose medium flowers that offer a continuous display.

Blooming Miracle Highly perfumed repeat flowerer with apricot, cream blooms. Very hardy.

Fire & Ice A hybrid tea with a white petalled flower with cherry red tips. Excellent disease tolerance and dark glossy green foliage.

My Hero A Classic shiny pink flower that will not fade and is self-cleaning. Massive flowers borne above dark glossy foliage.

Love-In A psychedelic rose with swirling lemon, pink flower that ages to a rose colour. Voted the most disease resistant rose at the 2006 rose trials.

Make sure you visit your local garden centre to see all the latest releases and enjoy the spring weather and Happy Gardening.

Ideas To Make The 75th Birthday Personal And Unforgettable

It’s always a tough job of figuring out what to give to someone you love who will celebrate his or her birthday. The gifts that you will give to a person on his or her 75th birthday should be extremely special. Here are some gift ideas that will help you with your search for the perfect gift especially for someone celebrating such a milestone:

Go platinum

A person’s 75th birthday is a platinum birthday, and platinum 75th birthday gifts are simply fitting for the occasion. Items like platinum jewelry, frames, and decor are ideal and great gift ideas. If you find platinum items too expensive, you may also choose to give gifts that are platinum coated. Engrave the name of the birthday person, along with the date of the celebration, on the gift item to make it even more special and memorable.

You could present the celebrant with greetings recorded by family and friends

Exert a little extra effort and visit the celebrant’s family, relatives and friends. Record audio or video greetings they have for the celebrant and save it to a disk. It will surely be a surprise to the birthday celebrant if you can play the music which he used to love or sing while he was younger. The celebrant will appreciate your gift and also cherish it all through his or her life. You can also look for some services on the Net that will gather the greetings for you to help you save time and effort.

You can gift a basket which has been beautifully decorated by your own

Gift baskets make a wonderful and fun birthday gift no matter what the age of the recipient. One gift could contain lots of exciting stuff. Look for things that are also 75 years old that the celebrant will remember from their youth.

Make a collage or scrapbook

Generally, as people age, they tend to get more sentimental. Make a collage of pictures or a scrapbook to touch someone’s heart. Do not forget to include pictures taken during the different milestones of the celebrant’s life. Look for memorable moments in the person’s life such as pictures from a baptism, school days, graduation, first job, wedding, first family picture and other moments. Include photos of the celebrant’s favorite stars sports team, movies, and even favorite food if you decide to make a scrapbook. You could touch the heart of the celebrant by posting lines from his or her favorite song, poem, quotations in the scrapbook. In order to make the surprise even more sentimental, you should have visits from grandchildren, children, in-laws, and any other close friends who are available.

You must take into account the hobbies and the preferences of the celebrant

A gift that is bound to delight someone who is celebrating his or her 75th birthday would be to give him or her something that relates to his or her hobby or interest. Adding to a collection or finding items that bring back fond memories of the past are both wonderful git ideas. Coins, stamps, and other collectibles, which are meaningful to the celebrant, might also be considerations. If the birthday celebrant like to cook the dinner, let him do it and give him an apron and book containing recipes. If the celebrant loves gardening, you can give a new set of tools in a favorite color to make the gift more interesting.

Give the celebrant a pleasant shock with a ticket for a couple to an exquisite holiday resort

If you can afford it, surprise the honoree with an amazing gift of two plane tickets for two to an extraordinary vacation spot. Take into consideration the recipients age and whether or not they are able to travel. In order to make your gift everlasting memorable, opt for a spot for the birthday celebrations which is almost near to the residence of the celebrant and the celebrant would really love that idea.

Remember memories fondly by encasing a portrait in a frame, painting, or by writing poetry about the event

You must maintain emotional relationship with your gift and get a portrait, painting or a poem framed keeping that consideration in mind. If you want to frame items make sure to include one of the celebrant’s favorite. The children can be asked about their favorite photos or recite a poem or scene if you are a friend or relative. Choose a platinum-coated frame to go with the platinum birthday theme or a vintage-inspired frame that older people often love.

To finalize your gift to a person’s 75th birthday, make sure to creatively wrap it and with a heartfelt dedication inserted to make the gift complete. A gift from the heart is always most appreciated and remembered, as it illustrates the giver’s thoughtfulness.

Petrol Hedge Cutters Are The Right Choice

Petrol hedge cutters are quite popular and they come in different power variants to suit individual needs. What makes fuel equipments more useful is that they simply outperform their electric counterparts. An electric trimmer can never work so smoothly and neatly as a fuel trimmer can.

Problem with an electric trimmer is that you have to manage tailing wire that connects the trimmer to the mains switch. It is really a problem especially when you want to take the trimmer to inconvenient places like you want to operate above your height and in interior places where you fear that the tailing wire might get trapped in the bush. But you should buy an electric trimmer, if you dont have much work to do in your garden.

Electric trimmer is cost effective but you have to take care of it. First of all you have to prevent the trimmer from moisture. You cant operate it on moist ground as moisture can burn the electric wiring of the trimmer. Second precaution to be taken with an electric trimmer is that you cant use it for long hours. The electric motor in the trimmer has to be cooled and it is air cooled. You cant keep it running for hours. But it is just perfect for small job.

Greatest advantage of an electric trimmer is its light weight. It is so light that you dont need an accessory to hold the trimmer. You can carry it anywhere but you can use it only where there is electricity. It cant be used during power outages. On the contrary, petrol hedge cutters are simply superb gardening equipments. And since they come in a wide range of power variants, you can choose a fitting device in a hassle free manner.

Petrol hedge cutters are expensive than their electric variants but you can buy a fuel driven trimmer at affordable price. Visit an online store of a manufacturer and not of a supplier of gardening tools. You should know that suppliers sell products at high price because they add their profit to the cost of the product.

Manufacturers of petrol hedge cutters can provide these useful gardening equipments at surprisingly low price. Also you can get a replacement warranty on the product. If you are looking for a trimmer then you should buy a petrol cutter from a manufacturer. Also get accessories necessary for safe operation of the trimmer.

How To Practice Gardening

Can you adore horticulture? By the run after regarding information on garden sprayers no doubts that you will be enthusiastic about garden. But It just isn’t really a great easy training study training. On the other hand it is not in which complicated too. Making use of correct attention as well as commitment is enough associated with to consider up a sensational garden. People frequently consider added on the revival and accessory associated with interiors of the home. Hitherto, the genuine the fact is in which, it’s the garden that any visitors would view very initial just before they’re going in to your house. Alternatively, the public short lived by would tag you on the bottom of the particular outdoor of your residence. Thus, preserving garden properly is essential.

Throughout in early hrs, there was not a number of equipment offered to work in the garden. As a result they had in order to be able for you to help labor challenging in the direction of its accessory. Now, it is possible to find different sort of equipment, which usually make your garden method really quite simple. Between varied sort 0of loppers and also laborers would be the greatest mixing ones If you would like the garden to check stunning, you have to eliminate the unnecessary shrubs growing close to. As an alternative, yet your own lawn would be would seem great basically when they go up persistently. Loppers occupy a enormous part in reaching every one of these errands. At the same time, as these can be easily utilized, there will be no a lot harm so that you can eliminate the needless bacteria developing within side the garden.

Individually from depriving them of the particular needless shrubs, you will also need to pay observe in the direction of good growth of each grow. Vermin and pests strike up about plants with your yard and also result in problem of their growth. Therefore, a person necessitates forfeiting near thought so that you can quit this kind of strife with inside their development lest an individual strategy throughout these assault of pests, you would like to squirt complementing way to kill pests in the initial. You will include so that you can apply the particular insect killer across the yellow gold region more willingly as compared to squirting about. Because of this, laborers tend to be regarding tremendous utilize.

Not really immediately for spraying bug fantastic, you may make utilization of this kind of so that you can normal mineral waters little plants also. There are a small number of crops which usually don’t require excess regarding normal mineral waters for development. You will simply need to squirt water above them. In such cases sprayers may be the appropriate device to become used. Thus, as you purchase garden resources, by no means forget experience these between these people. buy garden resources out of your surrounding retailers. In the event you anticipate buy only the key ones, then you can receive them from the around stores.

Design Your Greenhouse Gardening Carefully.

If your gaden design includes a greenhouse, read on. Any garden, however small, can house a glass structure of some type. Any greenhouse, however small, will add a new dimension to your garden.

All kinds of shapes and a wide range of sizes can be found, but the basic difference between one type and another will be the minimum temperature at which its kept. The cold house is certainly the easiest – no artificial means of heat are provided and so in the depths of winter the temperature can fall below freezing (33 deg. F). In spite of this vulnerability to frost, the cold house extends the growing season by trapping the sun’s heat during the day. This allows you to work protected from the elements with plants that are sheltered from the wind and rain. You and your plants can enjoy day temperatures that are appreciably higher than the warmth outdoors.

Tomatoes are the favourite crop, during the rest of the year there is cuttings to consider, seeds to raise and vegetables to force on. The range of the unheated greenhouse is limited. You cannot grow frost-sensitive plants between late autumn and mid spring unless you supply heat. The standard practice is to transform it into a cool house (minimum temperature of 45 deg. F) and so open a whole new world. Now ‘greenhouse plants’ may be grown – Palms, Orchids, Fucsias and so on. Half-hardy bedding plants can be raised for the garden and a year round display of blooms can be created for either greenhouse or living room.The installation of a heater transforms growing under glass into a year-round hobby.

The average sized greenhouse (8 ft long x 6 ft wide) would cost somewhere in the region of 200 – 300 if staging etc. is to be fitted. Before making this investment, carefully consider the points not made in many textbooks. Constant attention is needed, and that means every single day during the summer months. There will be watering, feeding, ventilating, misting and so on to do. There’s also the fuel – keeping an 8 x 6 ft. house at a minimum of 45 deg. F will cost over 100 during an average winter.

The aim of the previous paragraph isn’t to discourage you, it is to avoid adding to the amount of greenhouses owned by individuals with limited time to spare who after a year or two allow the structure to become a home for pots, boxes and various pieces of household equipment.

On a much more encouraging note, most people who buy a greenhouse tend to run out of space for all the exciting things they want to grow. For them there is a different warning. If you have the time, money and are keen on growing things – buy the next size bigger than you have planned! Keep it as a cool house – the attraction of having a warm house (minimum temperature 55 – 60 deg. F) for exotics is obvious, but your fuel bill may very well be as high as 300 per year. Unfortunately stove houses (minimum temperature 65 deg. F) have almost disappeared.

greenhouse, garden, garden design, tomatoes, serviceteam, palm trees, orchids, fucsias