This Week In The Garden, I Am…Saying Farewell To ‘Pink Passion’

At our front door, I have two large grey urns on the verandah and when we first moved back into our renovated home I planted them out with a very pretty pink Cordyline called ‘Pink Passion‘. They looked great in those grey urns and provided a pop of colour against the grey render of our home which has white trim. Trouble is, they grew and unevenly too so this week, my OCD about having symmetry at the front door was kicking in very badly. I bit the bullet and removed two perfect healthy plants, hopefully for a better outcome. My husband was not 100% for this decision, I have to say.

Mine never looked this good but they looked nearly as good as this when they first went in

So, a hard decision that literally took months of thought…I know, I know first world problems and all that but it’s important to make the right decision, Hey, those Cordylines have been there for 7 years! Don’t you think it’s insane the way we hang onto some plants and we’re not quite sure why? I mean those Cordylines only cost me $14.99 each and I hung onto them despite not bringing me joy for a very long time! We don’t think twice about chucking out a bunch of flowers that we pay $20 for at the supermarket that barely lasts a week!

Since I pulled them out a few days ago it has been super hot and they have lost their pink and gone an icky shade of purple-destined for the green waste bin
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This Week In The Garden…I Am Giving My Gardenias Some Love

Nothing quite says Summer for me than Gardenias. Have you always loved their heady fragrance? Feeling the urge to stick your nose against the screen right now??? I adore that divinely, and deliciously beautiful scent from the luscious white blooms and the emerald-colored glossy green leaves that can unmistakenly only be from the Gardenia.

Photo by Andrea Whitely

I adore this fragrance and so of course despite the naysayers telling me that these can’t be grown very well in Perth, I set about to prove them wrong. These lovely plants with their glossy, tough, deep green leaves, do well in tropical settings as well as more formal gardens and of course a cottagey collectors style garden like mine.

Pots work well for me

I have always grown Gardenias well in pots or large planter boxes where I can control the soil composition and water. I use Baileys premium Potting Mix which has a neutral PH of about 7 pretty much every time you test it. It also has a good moisture-holding capacity and slow-release fertilizer. The pots are hand-watered when they need it so, I check the moisture of the soil-by sticking my finger in the pot and if it still feels moist then they are not ready for a drink-even if it is a hot day. Overwatering Gardenias, as with many other plants, will cause the roots to rot, particularly if the plant is potted. I regularly add Nutrarich Mature Compost and slow-release rose fertilizer to the potting mix so that these plants are always enjoying a mix filled with soil microbes and nutrients.

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