GARDENING

January 2002 Table of Contents

GARDENING
by Jack Hardy

This is the glorious time of year for home gardeners when we can - if we did the ground work - go out to the garden and cut succulent salads and cull vegetables at will. This is the time of reward for all of our patience and care. Tomatoes, lettuce, eggplants, cabbages, peppers and peas - the list could go on. Don't forget to keep the crops coming by successive sowing, starting new plants every month.

No need to fertilise fruit and citrus trees until Easter. Most of them are in a dormant stage. Mango trees will be flowering soon and if you have a long-throw sprayer you can spray them with copper to defeat anthracnose, the black blemish which occurs on the skin of ripening fruit. A spray at the bud stage, flower stage and early fruit stage will hold anthracnose at bay. Remember that copper is a deadly enemy of Bromeliads, including pineapples. Don't spray them by accident.

It's already time to think about summer. Bulbs and tubers such as Amaryllis , Zephyranthes, Calladiums, Calla Lilies and a wide variety of Gingers and Heliconias can transform your garden in very short order. The good news is that they either keep coming back every year or establish themselves as tropical foliage stands with extraordinary flowering stages. Too many of us depend too much on Crotons and Hibiscus and other readily-available stock. When I go to gardens where the owners are willing to be different, the results are rewarding.

Always check a good gardening book before setting out unusual plants. Many tropical beauties need shade to survive, particularly Bromeliads and Gingers. Even some palms are shade lovers. We should not assume that all tropical plants love full sunshine. And some need acid soil, which means they will be very awkward to maintain unless you are prepared to bed them in neutral soil and feed them with acid fertilizers. Include Ixoras in this category.

January 2002 Table of Contents