RE: Wondering about the members...

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Hi Nan,

 

Saw your posting and felt compelled to let you know what I am up to.

 

‘Still Med gardening?’ Yes. Here in Adelaide we are only allowed to water one day a week for 3 hrs with a hand held hose + trigger nozzle OR using a sub-surface irrigation system so I can’t go back to the bad-old-days of freely watering even if I wanted to, which I don’t.

 

We got rid of our swimming pool, covered it with a slatted deck and it now fills with rain water which I can pump out onto the garden now and then. We also put in two massive rain-water tanks (60,000 litres) that collect the rain from the roof of our house. This is solely for garden use, and much better than tap-water anyway – no salt content, no chlorine, the plants love it. I am also planning two more narrow profile tanks to collect water from the garage roof (about 12,00 litres) – this will just be for my summer vegie patch.

 

I am having a ball trying dozens of new hardy plants – all kinds of Aloes, amazing forms and brilliant flowers. Salvias too, colour forms of the tough SW and California species. Spring bulbs on the theory of do more of what does well – species tulips, all manner of Muscari and Scilla, Crocus sp. Wild cyclamen sp. And more shade making small trees and screening shrubs plus really tough things like Ruscus, Colletia and Melianthus – don’t overlook M. minor and M. villosa. Then there’s Manfreda maculate and Tall Bearded irises – such colours, and such toughness.

 

My greenhouse is under-going a revolution as I begin to collect dry climate plants such as Euphorbias and Adeniums from Madagascar, Yemen, Qatar and the Horn of Africa, plus Haworthias, mini-Aloes, Gasterias, Lithops and all manner of caudiciform and pachycaul plants – bulging fat water-storing stems or roots. And I’ve discovered to my intense pleasure the joys of Tillandsias and bromeliads – pretty tough in our conditions so long as they are not exposed all day to the blazing sun. I’ve put shade cloth over my greenhouse to break down the intense light and heat. And I am experimenting with Cattleya orchids too; so far they seem to be managing with the broms and tills and I have flowered them well enough the last two Autumns to keep experimenting.

 

And to top it off I am in the write-up phase of my PhD (Bio Sci) THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HOME GARDENS ON THE ADELAIDE PLAINS. I should be finished in a few months time. As you can see it’s still on a Med gardens theme.

 

Looking forward to reading what others are doing now.

 

Regards

 

Trevor Nottle

 

PS Today the temp is expected to get above 41 degrees Celsius.

 

 

Yesterday, I was transplanting leeks in the garden and thinking about how much I value the members of this discussion group.  I've made so many very good friends and colleagues.  I always tell people how wonderful this group is and how important this forum has been to me over the years.

 

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Nan Sterman  Plant Soup, Inc. TM    

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