Plant of the Month – Pimelea 2
Last week I talked about the Pimelea variety called the ‘Pink Rice Flower’, the Pimelea ferruginea. This week I am reviewing the Pimelea physodes.
Genus: Pimelea
Species: physodes
Common Name: Qualup Bell
Flower Colour: Yellow
Foliage Colour: Green
Growth Habit: Shrub to 1m
Flowering: Winter
Often within plant varieties there are only subtle differences between two different kinds. That is not really the case in this instance, especially when comparing flowers. Last week we discussed how the beauty of the ferruginea is in the fact its flowers cluster together to make a striking difference between the flower and the dark green foliage. The physodes flowers do not cluster but it is definitely the flowers which define this variety. Instead of small, clustering flowers the physodes forms large, bell-like flowers which make it an absolutely beautiful Australian Native flower for flower arrangements.
The physodes variety is a little more susceptible to sun than the ferruginea and so it prefers a partly shady position. It also likes a well drained soil and grows best along the West Australian southern coast however many hybrids are being released which is helping this beautiful variety to be more readily available Australia wide.
Gardening Monthly – February
There is basically one word which sums up the key focus for gardening in February – Water. Water is particularly important in cold and temperate climates in February. After a long, dry summer in these regions plants that have lacked a good water supply are more susceptible to disease and worse, death. In tropical climates it is possible that water is not the issue but water getting down into the soil. February can be a good time for the application of a good soil wetting agent. If you are not a fan of soil wetting agents, use a pitchfork to aerate the soil. This is something that would be useful across the board and definitely will be needed for large, grassed areas. The hot summer sun bakes the soil, causing it to form a crust which reduces the ability for water to sink in. If you are watering your plants and just watching the water run away and not penetrate, you need to either aerate the soil or apply a soil wetting agent. ‘Wetta soil’ is one I have used and used with great effect.
Buying Garden Tools – Garden Rake
When it comes to gardening tools, many decisions have to be made. Often there are various ‘types’ of each garden tool, some of which I have covered throughout this series. However, in my opinion there is no garden tool whereby the different ‘types’ are so different than the humble garden rake. As is often the case the ‘names’ for the various types of garden rakes differs depending on where you are but for the sake of this article I’ll be talking about 3 different types, leaf rakes, lawn rakes and garden rakes. This last type is a little confusing, given it shares its name with the overarching type but I think you’ll understand the difference by the end of the article.
My Gardening Story – Grandma Middleton
If there is one person in my life that has had a the most significant influence on my passion for gardening, it is the Grandma on my Father’s side. For the 14 years of my life that she was alive for, she embodied everything that I imagine when I think of a passionate gardener. I was very close with Grandma Middleton, spending a lot of time over at her house and therefore a lot of time in her garden.
I learned how to trim plants by trimming her hibiscus hedge. I learned to deadhead flowers on her roses. I learned what plants were weeds and what were seedlings she had planted in her garden. In fact whenever I would stay over at her house, when I woke up at about 7am I would always find her outside pottering around in the garden. 10 minutes deadheading, 25 minutes watering, 10 minutes weeding. Just a rough approximation of how she started her day.
Plant of the Month – Pimelea 1
For the month of February I will be taking a look at 4 different varieties of the Australian Native Plant called the Pimelea. Pimelea’s are extremely beautiful plants that can mostly be grown in cool and temperate climate zones. Sadly Pimelea’s struggle in tropical and sub-tropical climates but they are so amazingly beautiful that I am featuring them during this month of February.
Here is the first variety for January
Genus: Pimelea
Species: ferruginea
Common Name: Pink rice flower
Flower Colour: Pink
Foliage Colour: Dark Green
Growth Habit: Shrub to 1m
Flowering: Spring
Pimelea ferruginea prefers a coastal climate but they have been known to succeed inland. What gives the Pimelea its beauty is the way the flowers cluster together at the end of the stem. The individual flowers themselves are quite small but because they cluster together (like the Hydrangea) they make a much larger statement and really stand out against the dark green foliage. Pimelea ferruginea is only a small shrub growing about 1m high and between 1 and 2 metre’s wide. Pimelea ferruginea prefers a well draining soil and a sunny to part shade position. The best way to reproduce Pimelea ferruginea is from cuttings with the best cuttings being current season growth. People have successfully propagated Pimelea ferriuginea from seas but this is a highly unreliable process for this variety. Why not consider adding a Pimelea ferruginea to your garden.
February in a Nutshell
February in a nutshell
January has flown us by and now February is upon us. Here is some of what you can expect to read at AussieGreenThumb.com this month!
The plant of the month for February is the Pimelea, a small shrub native to Western Australia but which is growing in popularity across the southern states. I will also continue to share my gardening story, this month talking about probably the most important person as far as developing my green thumb goes, my Grandma Middleton. Early in the month you will read just what you need to be doing in your garden during this month and my product review for February is Line Trimmers & Brushcutters. This month I will also be releasing my first e-book, a combined version of my ‘Buying Gardening Tools’ series. This will be available for FREE when you sign up to my *NEW* weekly newsletter. Stay tuned for more information about this.
This is just a small sampling of the great content you will read this month. I hope you find it useful. The best thing you can do to ensure you receive every little bit of help throughout February and the rest of the year is to subscribe to my feed. Simply click on the link towards the top right of my website and follow the instructions. If you are unsure as to why you should subscribe, click on the link at the top titled ‘Why Subscribe’ to find out more.
All the best for your gardening adventures throughout February.
January in review
AussieGreenThumb.com is just about one month old as January draws to a close.
In the first month I have had 467 unique visitors and well over 1000 page views. These figures are not ‘astounding’ but are certainly not bad for a first month. Nearly 50% of my readers are reading at least 2 pages or more which is encouraging.
Top 5 pages viewed in January;
1. Why do you like Australian Native Plants?
2. How to prune Kangaroo Paws
3. Victa Lawnmower Review
4. My Gardening Story – Part 1
5. Gardening Tips for January
If you missed any of the above articles then you might like to go back and see what made them so interesting to so many people. You might also like to subscribe to my site so that you don’t miss any more content. If you don’t know what it means to subscribe or you are not quite convinced you should then why not check out my why subscribe page.
February is coming very quickly with a lot more great content. I look forward to discussing more gardening hints, tips and idea’s and talking about more Australian Native plants then!
Buying Garden Tools – Garden Fork
One tool that has become less and less common in the gardeners shed in recent years if the garden fork. However I strongly believe that it is an absolutely pivotal tool for any gardener to own. Garden forks are used for many different tasks. They can be used for shifting mulch and leaves, they can be used to help uproot difficult plants and they can be used to aerate or turn over soil. This is but a small number of the tasks that garden forks can be useful for.
What to look for
A lot of the tasks that you would use a garden fork for require a lot of force to be exerted on the tool and so it is imperative that buy a good quality garden fork. As garden forks have become less and less popular the market has been flooded with cheap and nasty alternatives. Just last week I was helping a friend out and so using their tools. The fork was brand new. I placed it into the ground in a common manner, placed a mild amount of force on the tool and the plastic handle snapped right off.
Gardening attire
What do you like to wear when you are out and about in the garden? What feels comfortable? Do you have designated attire or do you just wear whatever you were in? I myself think that what you wear in the garden is as important as the tools you choose to use. Choosing the right attire can make the difference between an efficient job and a prolonged effort.
This was again proven to me today. I only do gardening as a part time job and I work it around another position. When I started today I had no gardening work to do so I didn’t take my tools with me and didn’t take my usual gardening attire. During the day a friend called with a bit of a predicament that required immediate attention and as I had some time I offered to get right on it. Now I can say that I well and truly got the job done but had I been prepared it would have been much easier. Instead of wearing work boots I had a on a pair of casual shoes. Instead of wearing gloves I had to go bare handed and instead of good, solid garden clothing I had on relatively good shorts and shirt.
Buying Gardening Tools – Pruning Saw
Another must have tool for any gardener is a pruning saw. Sometimes plant or tree limbs are even too thick for loppers and you need to break out the saw. Now in theory any old saw would do, they all cut ‘wood’, but gardening pruning saws are designed to work best on living plants. When living plants are cut, they secrete a sticky residue, or ’sap’ and this can cause difficulty for an ordinary saw. Pruning saws are designed with this in mind, made with either non-stick or low-stick teeth that will keep on cutting even when covered by tree sap.Pruning saws also generally come with a curved handle. This makes getting in and around tree limbs easier which is important because unless you have shaped your tree it is often the most difficult to get to or most awkward limbs that you are trying to remove.
Another big bonus of a proper pruning saw over an ordinary saw is size and portability. Pruning saws often fold (though not always) and this is beneficial for 3 reasons;
1. Takes up less space;
2. Is safer, you won’t risk cutting yourself reaching into your gardening tools.
3. Helps better protect the teeth, helping the tool to last longer.
As such the first tip for anyone looking to buy a pruning saw is to spend that little bit extra and get one that folds up. Another very important aspect to shopping for pruning saws is buying one which has a replaceable blade. Though pruning saw blades can generally be sharpened, eventually a new blade will be needed. If the blade cannot be replaced then you will have to spend up big again on a new tool. However if the blade is replaceable this will significantly cut down the long term cost of maintaining your pruning saw.
A relatively recent improvement to the pruning saw range are blades called ‘tri-cut’ or something similar. Basically these are sharpened on 3 edges, like a triangle, and reportedly cut twice as fast. I myself have never owned a pruning saw with this kind of blade yet but every review I have read has strongly recommended them, so I’ll recommend you look for a pruning saw with a tri-cut blade also.
I am probably beginning to sound like a broken record but try and stay away from pruning saws with lots of plastic pieces. Plastic makes the tool cheaper but it is also rare for tools with plastic to go the distance and last many years. In fact in many cases, manufacturers make tools out of plastic BECAUSE they won’t last for years, forcing you to once again buy another tool in a couple of years. It makes sense for manufacturers, they need the business, but it is a shame that there are fewer and fewer top quality tools.
Cost
Pruning saw range in cost from about $20 right up to $200. To get a folding pruning saw with a tri-cut blade you are probably looking around the $50 mark. Spending $60-70 will get you a top notch tool, spending $30-40 will get you a servicable tool. Spending less than $30 and you are probably getting a tool that will last a season or two before you have to spend another $20-$30 on a new tool.
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