Spinach, lettuce, silverbeet, cabbages, cauliflowers, broccoli and Brussels sprouts need a regular feed of a liquid fertiliser to speed up their growth through the colder months.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Plant tuberose, gerbera, lily-of-the-valley, crinum lily, daylily, lilium and water lily.
Apples
Cox’s Orange Pippin is a heritage apple with an amazing flavour and well worth planting in the home garden.
It has attractive orange skin with red stripes and a very distinctive crisp, spicy flesh.
Bred by Richard Cox of Buckinghamshire, England around 1830 it is still regarded as one of the great apples.
It is still regarded as one of the great apples
This variety needs a pollinator such as Jonathan, Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji or any white blossomed crab apple to produce medium sized fruits that ripen from March through April.
You may need to place an order through a nursery to secure it. There is a dwarf variety.
Pieris
Pieris, lily of the valley shrubs, are grown for their lovely young coloured foliage and clusters of white or pink, pearl-shaped flowers in spring.
Members of the Ericaceae family they require similar conditions to those of rhododendrons that is, a sheltered position from the hot sun, well drained, lime free soil and plenty of water in dry weather.
Pieris usually grow into neat compact shrubs requiring minimum pruning.
Pieris japonica ‘Bert Chandler’ is an Australian raised seedling with young growths of brilliant pink which changes to pale pink, cream and then, green.
This plant requires more shelter from the sun than the other varieties.
Pieris japonica produces fragrant white flowers in spring followed by pink new growth.
Pieris japonica ‘Valley Valentine’ has the darkest pink flowers and Pieris japonica ‘Variegata’ has attractive variegated foliage and pretty white flowers.
There are some beautiful varieties, not all are available in local nurseries so you may have to contact a specialist nursery such as Yamina Rare Plants.
The much loved stocks are at their best when planted in groups so their sweet fragrance, reminiscence of carnations, can waft throughout the garden.
The showy flowers range in many shades of red, pink, cream, blue and mauve in single or double forms.
These natives of Greece and Southern Europe prefer to grow during the cool seasons in rich, well drained soil in a sunny position and be careful not to overwater.
