DFB's Greenthumb Project

[DFB FGXR6]

Gardening for one of my clients today, I noticed a new bee swarm collecting in the veg garden.



In the above state, bees are very docile.

In no time, the owners were suited up and ready to tap the swarm into a fresh bee hive.



Bees in this state of disturbance are not docile.





Observing them, the bees seemed to know what to do from here, slowly entering the hive one by one. We were pretty sure that the Queen managed to end up in the hive because of that.

It was pretty exciting and interesting to watch and if successful, that will be three hives at this suburban property.

[FTE217]

mad these bee people lol but that god for them as well.
Crazy stuff to me but awesum to see in pics, I feel much safer from behind the keyboard than being in their space suits all around me

[Citroënbender]

You’re brave. The scouts are terrorists when a swarm is on the move - once was stung on a nerve junction above my eyebrow - that hurt! Good they are under control and in a new hive.

[DFB FGXR6]

These Hollyhocks sprouted up randomly from seed and are now blooming and attracting the attention of the resident bee population.







Both the garden owner and I don't really know where they came from but they are certainly a valuable addition to the garden at the moment.

[DFB FGXR6]

Brunfelsia latifolia, commonly known as Yesterday, today, tomorrow.



A Spring flowering evergreen shrub with flowers starting deep purple, then fade to lilac and white as they mature. When in flower, the shrub will have blooms from yesterday, today and tomorrow in colour, hence the name.

There are a few varieties of Brunfelsia, this example growing to about 1.5mt. These can be mildly frost tender so choose a position wisely if living in a frost region.

[DFB FGXR6]

I had to smile when these arrived in stock today................



Blueprint was one of Fords best blues, I was lucky enough to be a caretaker of TS50 painted in this colour.

The plant? Well, its pretty good too. Scaevola or Fan Flowers are Australian Native ground-covers that are dry tolerant and come in a range of colours, most being blue-mauve but there are also pink and white varieties too.

[DFB FGXR6]

Heatwave conditions mean plenty of this................



On hot days, potted plants dry out very quickly and if it is windy too, it can be a pretty big challenge to keep all of our plants hydrated. This nursery is overhead watered automatically overnight. If an extreme day is forecast, we will program an extra water cycle before we open for the day. By 12pm, we will start hand watering thousands of potted plants, seedlings and advanced trees to get them through till the next programmed watering at 6pm.

It takes a lot of time and effort to get and keep a plant in a salable condition, let alone thousands of them all at once.

[DFB FGXR6]

Jacaranda mimosifolia.





These iconic trees are now flowering and looking beautiful. Where I live, these trees are a labor of love due to the cold winter conditions not being kind to them when young. But once big enough, Jacaranda's are really signal that summer is here. I also love the faint but distinctive fragrance these trees emit, reminding me of my Grandmothers garden.

[FTE217]

Yes they are a brilliant mid size tree - the colour is epic but I hate the mess the leave especially if your car is nearby lol

[Citroënbender]

Heaps of jacarandas near me in Sydney, I wouldn’t describe their fragrance as faint - it’s full and sweet.

My impression is they’re a tree that fosters white ants well, due to their fairly porous timber and a proclivity to rot from the inside while otherwise still quite healthy.

[Rallye Sport]

They remind me of catching the train to tafe as an apprentice, we planted a few white ones in Queens gardens many years back as specimens, they never did have the same effect as the purple ones though.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Heaps of jacarandas near me in Sydney, I wouldn’t describe their fragrance as faint - it’s full and sweet.

My impression is they’re a tree that fosters white ants well, due to their fairly porous timber and a proclivity to rot from the inside while otherwise still quite healthy.

Thinking back to your post today, it dawned on me that I have not met anyone who can detect the smell of Jacaranda's other than me. Although I do have a strong sense of smell, I can never figure out why people can't smell them.

[DFB FGXR6]

Alstroemeria looking good today.





These low growing flowering plants have a variety of common names including Peruvian lily, Lily of the Incas and Princess Lily, making it somewhat confusing at times to know what the customer is asking for.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Thinking back to your post today, it dawned on me that I have not met anyone who can detect the smell of Jacaranda's other than me. Although I do have a strong sense of smell, I can never figure out why people can't smell them.

Jacaranda's do have a very distinct smell, something I can smell straight away when I'm further north, not that common around the NE of Victoria.

One of the lovely smelling tree's on my list is the Lemon Scented Gum and a beautiful smooth trunk which doesn't harbor bl**dy Huntman's spiders something Redgums are known for.

[Citroënbender]

I’ve got a yard full of Citriodora. Sure I can find some natural seedlings if you want to try planting them.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

I’ve got a yard full of Citriodora. Sure I can find some natural seedlings if you want to try planting them.

Thanks. Finding them, isn't a problem so much as growing them with its semi arrid conditions here and me not giving them enough attention to help them along.

Always wanted to grow 1/2 acre of Jatropha bush at home, 2 times the yeild of Sunflower oil (for biofuel) uses very little water and can be used as a screen.
Being a spiky bush it was used in India to dissuade cows from wandering out from fields.

Probably declared a weed here.

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Jacaranda's do have a very distinct smell, something I can smell straight away when I'm further north, not that common around the NE of Victoria.

One of the lovely smelling tree's on my list is the Lemon Scented Gum and a beautiful smooth trunk which doesn't harbor bl**dy Huntman's spiders something Redgums are known for.

Another tree that has some nostalgia for me.

My Grandmother on my Fathers side had a huge lemon scented gum (Corymbia citriodora) in the backyard. The smell of these trees, especially after rain, reminds me of her and just brings up positive thoughts.

Orange blossom is also another nostalgic favorite of mine.

Gardening is one of those activities that involves all of the senses. Sight would the most obvious ones, however for me, smell is almost if not more important. I even use smell to help diagnose certain plant ailments. For example, a plant that has mildew gives off a certain aroma that helps me direct someone to the correct product to solve the issue. Soil that is depleted and lifeless smells different to rich and healthy soil. And of course so many plants have signature fragrances, be it flowers or foliage or even their root system.

[DFB FGXR6]

This little bugger caught my attention while moving some trees this afternoon.

[Tonz]

Mortein all the spray then the can, right between his/hers/its eyeballs

[FTE217]

Little Bugga alright!

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Tonz

Mortein all the spray then the can, right between his/hers/its eyeballs

Im pretty sure its a her. The males are weedy little things that end up eaten. I had once found a redback on an eggsack on a web in my boat. I left it till the morning to spray the life out of it as i had a few beverages that i deemed that actions were unsuitable at the time. Well, come next morning the egg sack had hatched and there was barely enough mortein to nuke the seemingly endless amounts of baby redbacks.

[Citroënbender]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

…And of course so many plants have signature fragrances, be it flowers or foliage or even their root system.

Persimmon trees, these seem to hatch a rather rotten/farty smell in full leaf at summertime. Have you noticed this also?

[DFB FGXR6]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Persimmon trees, these seem to hatch a rather rotten/farty smell in full leaf at summertime. Have you noticed this also?

Can't say I have, although it sounds like I'm not missing much.

[Rallye Sport]

Thought I'd share this one. They opened on New Years Day and wilted only a couple of hours later after all of that effort...

[Citroënbender]

Any perfume to them?

[Rallye Sport]

Faint but sweet, the bees love them.

[DFB FGXR6]

Lagerstroemia 'Zuni' in my front garden has just started to flower.



Crepe Myrtle's are a go to tree for many. They don't grow very tall but inject long lasting flower colour into the summer garden and a rich foliage display in Autumn.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Lagerstroemia 'Zuni' in my front garden has just started to flower.

image

Crepe Myrtle's are a go to tree for many. They don't grow very tall but inject long lasting flower colour into the summer garden and a rich foliage display in Autumn.

And the bees love them.

[DFB FGXR6]

Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Zanzibar Gem or ZZ Plant.



Apart from "why is my lemon tree sick", I'm often asked "why is my indoor plant struggling?".

Nine times out of ten the problem will be with either too much or too little water. Well, a Zanzibar Gem will thrive on neglect, only needing water every 2-3 weeks, perfect someone new to indoor plants.

The one above in my bathroom went 4-weeks between watering. Can't ask for more than that!

[danzvtil]

Originally Posted by DFB FGXR6

Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Zanzibar Gem or ZZ Plant.

image

Apart from "why is my lemon tree sick", I'm often asked "why is my indoor plant struggling?".

Nine times out of ten the problem will be with either too much or too little water. Well, a Zanzibar Gem will thrive on neglect, only needing water every 2-3 weeks, perfect someone new to indoor plants.

The one above in my bathroom went 4-weeks between watering. Can't ask for more than that!

I rescued a ZZ from my client, it had been delivered by a florist, but was planted in a vase, so had no drain holes, after a couple of months of sitting in a swamp it was pretty sick looking. I took it home, drilled holes in the bottom of it, now it’s hunky dory.
Some people aren’t very smart when it comes to indoors, once I arrived at the same client and a $400 indoor raphis palm is sitting outside in a 35 deg day, “just to get some sun” 😱