#gardening Archives - Page 2 of 4 - Andrea Whitely Garden Consultant

Perth Garden Festival has just finished up and it was a great success this year. So many willing-to-learn-more-gardeners and lots of interest in what’s new and exciting in the gardening world.

The ladies in the background could see the funny side in me wanting a crown of Leschenaultia

I entered the Professional section of The Hanging Basket competition-Here’s my entry overlooking the beautiful Swan River

Hanging Basket 2018
I used purple Lantana, Ajuga, Anigozanthus in the centre, Gardenia, Scaevola ‘Purple Fanfare’, Eremophila Nivea and Echivera succulents all around the centre section.

I’m a member of the Horticulture Media Association and I spoke on the BUPA main stage last Friday. I love sharing my knowledge with such engaged audiences.

This year, I decided to do something a little different and I called it “Speed Dating with Plants”.my talk was scheduled for 20 minutes and so my aim was to create four container plantings in under twenty minutes and amazingly I completed them all and still had time for lots of questions.

I wanted to demonstrate that gardening need not take up very much time, should be fun and also that anyone can create a garden in a container, regardless of age or physical ability.

Another tip that I was keen to share with West Australian gardeners is the current trend in the US and elsewhere in the world to plant many things in the one basket rather than just one single plant as tends to be the case here. The opportunity to create a mini garden in a container and tell a whole story is something quite new to people here. This is great for folk who might be living in a small space, people renting or those not inclined to garden other than by using containers. It is appealing to so many gardeners. During my talk, I stressed that plants selected should have the same watering requirements and all require the same amount of sun or shade.

Each year, I travel to the USA in my quest for great gardening ideas and this year I wanted to share some of the things I learned about container gardener in particular during my time in Pennsylvania and especially at an amazing garden called Chanticleer in the Delaware Valley. If you ever get the chance you MUST put this garden on your bucket list of gardens to visit. It will blow your mind!

Here are the containers I created at this years’ Perth Garden Festival. I tried to create something for everyone and just like a real date, I gave them all an amusing name-just for a bit of fun.

Container 1 Aphrodisiac

Colours-Yellow/Grey/Green

Calendula

Helichrysum italicum serotinum Curry plant

Slow Bolt Coriander

Chives

Capsicum annuum F1 ‘ChaCha ChilliBite’

Container 2 The Indoor Guy

The Indoor Guy-there’s a red flowering bromeliad hiding around the back. I was keen to share the tip that all angles of the container should have a pretty view, not just the front.

Colours-Green/Burgundy/Red

Calathea rubfibarba

Filicales retrosa x2

Bromeliad-bright red flowering

Syngonium

Container 3 Shady Lover

The Shady Lover-featuring my new favourite salvia-‘Black and Bloom’

Colours Blue/ White/ Green

Salvia guaranitica Salvia ‘Black and Bloom’

Ipomoea batatas ‘Inferno’

Pentsemon ‘Snowstorm’

Lantana montevidensis ‘alba’ Trailing white lantana

Salvia greggii alba x2

Container 4 Sun Swain

Sun Swain-the sweet 60cm Kangaroo Paw-‘Bush Pearl’ as a big hit

Colours Pink/Grey/Green/Burgundy

Anigozanthus humilis x flavidus ‘Bush Pearl’

Brachteantha bracteata ‘Sunbrella’

Alteranthera dentata ‘Little Ruby’

Leucophyta brownii ‘Cushion Bush’

You too can create these containers. Why not give it a try?

and….

with just a little preparation and good plant selection, just one of these treasures will probably only take you 5 minutes…can you beat my record???

I used Baileys Premium potting mix and regularly feed my plants with Seasol Powerfeed

and here’s a treat….

The beautiful display demonstrating the best use of indoor plants, created by the team I work with at Guildford Town Garden Centre

Finally, it feels like summer here in Perth and we are getting some hot, sunny days, easterly winds and dry heat. The children arrive home from school all red-faced from their bike ride or walk and ready for a dunk in the pool and a long, cold drink. I love the heat that summer brings and adore all the gorgeous summer blooms that I have in my garden. They make me happy.

Magnolia ‘Teddy Bear’

My garden is only 4 years old and as much as I could, I salvaged favourite plants from the old garden. I have planted tough plants in our garden, which will bloom for us, mostly all year round but especially in the summer when we are spending lots of time outdoors enjoying the long days and warm evenings. I have a good collection of Salvias, Roses and Succulents and I guess our space has a “formal cottage” feel due to the diversity of plants.

Want White?

It’s hard to beat this hardy Iceberg rose which seems to bloom most of the year. We planted it on my first Mothers Day in 2000.

I planted this pretty hibiscus along the pool fence last year, sweet delicate blooms

These bees are going crazy in this magnolia-the fragrance is overwhelming

Our garden survives on the two allowable reticulation waterings per week. We do not have a bore on our property, if we did we would be able to water three times a week. I hand water my pots, they are not on drip irrigation.

I group plants together depending upon their water requirements.

Frangipani grown from a cutting from a friend-you don’t always need to buy all your plants, donations are fun to nurture along.

This frangipani smells like roses and was taken from a cutting from my friend Helens’ cattle station near Broome

Apricot Brugmansia-the fragrance is divine when you’re taking a dip in our pool

This year, my veggie garden is having a bit of a rest and I have planted lots of Salvias and a couple of roses in that bed behind a hedge of Rosemary Tuscan Blue. I, of course, still have herbs and veggies growing in pots! I just can’t resist having fresh herbs for my cooking.

Potted Chilli-so pretty in a shady corner

Burgundy Iceberg-because every good host serves up white and red

The garden is fertilised with mature compost and liquid fertilisers like Seasol Powerfeed and Compost Tea, a great product I picked up in the USA. I try and keep it all as organic as possible. I use anything organic that will bind together our ancient but gutless sand that lies beneath my feet.

Pretty in Pink…..

so many of us forget about this great plant-Oleander-it blooms all year round-this is a “borrowed” plant as it’s feet live in our neighbours yard.

David Austin ‘Jubilee Celebration’ planted for my 50th birthday

This is a climbing pelargonium that I have growing in terracotta pots

I love this geranium..another slip cutting form a friend, happily dwelling here now

Rosa Pierre de Ronsard, slowly making his way up and over my arbour

I just love the lime green colour on the new Pierre de Ronsard buds

This is Hibiscus ‘Apple Blossom’ and it’s an awesome screening plant…and you get flowers!

I mulch my garden every two years with wood chips that I get from my friendly Arborist and I top it up with lupin mulch for pots. We re-use a lot of the leaves and nuts that drop from our Eucalypts for mulch too, they get raked up by Dr Garden Consultant and put into the garden beds.

Geranium ‘Rozanne’ was a favourite of my friend Margy who we sadly lost to cancer a few years ago-I always think of her when I look at this plant

This rare tradescantia was give to me many years ago by as nurseryman from down south.

I’m not really one that likes being told that I can’t do something- and so, I break all the rules for our climate. You can have a pretty garden in the summer. You can have an organised, abundance of flowers. You can have lovely garden on just two waterings a week. You can have a healthy patch of lawn. You can create a habitat garden in an urban setting.

I am always observing my garden to see the huge variety of bugs and birds that come to visit, I have provided lots of height variation so that we get a variety of birds and insects and somehow in this relatively small patch of dirt, we have created a habitat where they all seem to live in happy harmony and no-one eats too much of what they shouldn’t, everyone is kept in check by the other. Even Jazz, the Labradoodle chases away the doves when they eat too much of her kibble!

What’s flowering at your place this summer?

Tag: #gardening

Speed Dating With Plants!

Some like it hot…some more than others!