Ginger is a warm climate plant, a perennial herb native to the tropics, but you can grow it here in a warm, sunny spot, using a piece of ordinary ginger from the supermarket.
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The rhizome (the underground stem often referred to as the roots) is the part that is used.
Ginger takes a lot out of the soil so it needs plenty of food and good drainage.
If the soil is poorly drained the rhizomes are likely to rot. It won’t do well in in gravel or sandy soil.
It needs plenty of moisture during the growing season.
The rhizomes are harvested early in winter, and a new crop should not be planted until early in spring.
It grows readily from small divisions of the rhizomes, each one containing an eye.
The plants come up slowly and, in the early stages of growth, benefit from some protection from the sun.
As the season advances and the rhizomes enlarge, the plant develops numerous leaf-stalks, followed in autumn by flower-stalks.
To harvest, dig up with a garden fork.
Shake the soil off and cut the top off close to the rhizomes and remove the fibrous roots.
Ginger will grow well in a greenhouse with a temperature of about 23 degrees Celsius.
It needs a large pot and responds well to applications of liquid compost or manure.
Perfect peonies
Peonies are slow developers. It is usually three or four years before the first flowers appear, but they are well worth waiting for.
The secret is to give them a deep, rich soil with good drainage and then leave them alone.
Peonies need semi-shade. Morning sun is better for them than afternoon sun, which can burn their leaves.
The peony is a deciduous, cool climate plant, and a top dressing each autumn with well-rotted manure or leaf mould is all the attention they need.
The only pruning needed is the removal of dead or weak wood, and this is best done in spring as soon as growth has started.
They grow from a metre to a metre-and-a-half high, with tall stems at the end of which the flowers grow.
Peonies can be propagated in autumn but as peonies don’t like being disturbed, chances are you won’t have any flowers the first year. Be patient. Peonies are forever. They will probably see your lifetime out.
Getting ahedge
Once upon a time it was fashionable to plant hedges that needed perpetual clipping.
Nowadays we know that we can grow a very attractive screen that doesn’t have to be clipped.
Many Australian native plants are ideal for this, and mixing shrubs can produce some pleasing effects.
Melaleuca armillaris is often used very successfully for hedging.
For heavy soils which are subject to waterlogging, melaleuca huegelli is another cream-flowered honey-myrtle is suitable for hedges, but this likes good drainage.
Most natives are better for a bit of pruning each year from the time they are young.
It makes them bushier and you can shape them as you want.
If you want a tall hedge try hakea suaveolens, which does well in coastal areas.
Its prickles keep out unwanted visitors. In autumn it has sweetly-scented creamy white flowers.
A hedge of mixed bottlebrushes produces a lovely effect.
Acacia iteaphylla, the Flinders Range wattle, has fine, silver-grey foliage.
It provides good cover down to ground level if left to develop naturally, but responds well to clipping.
Kunzea baxteri responds well to pruning and produces a wonderful display of red bottlebrushes tipped with gold, lasting a long time.
As a general rule, clipping natives should start early in their lives and be done fairly lightly each year.
Many don’t like severe cutting back into solid wood.
