Gardening.Australia.S36E03
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00:00Woo-hoo!
00:06Hey!
00:20Hey, buddy.
00:23Hey!
00:30Hello and welcome to Gardening Australia.
00:37I'm here in Perth on Noongar Whadjuk country
00:41at one of my favourite horticultural destinations
00:44on the planet, Kings Park.
00:47While I run wild here,
00:49let's take a look at what else we've got for you this week.
00:54I'm finding out what it takes
00:56to produce this delicious and bitter crop
00:59that needs to grow not only once but twice.
01:03It might be easy to stick with what you already know
01:05grows in your garden,
01:06but there's a barrel load of native plants
01:08worth going out on all them for,
01:10with just as much colour, form and function.
01:14I'm visiting the home collection
01:16of the President of the Cactus and Succulents Society
01:19of Queensland,
01:20and I'm very excited.
01:23And we meet someone living the country gardening dream.
01:29The word helianthos mightn't mean much,
01:32unless, of course, you speak a bit of the Greek, like I do.
01:36And then you'll know that I'm talking about these magnificent flowering giants.
01:45Helianthos is the Greek word for sunflower.
01:48Helios is the sun,
01:50anthos means flower.
01:51And this vast sea of sunflowers
01:53is the work of flower farmers,
01:55Marika and John Saliba.
01:56So, Marika, why sunflowers?
01:59Well, you can see the yellow is just so beautiful and bright,
02:02they're the happiest flower in the world.
02:04And I've always loved them.
02:05I
02:24love them.
02:26happiest flower in the world and i've always loved them i drew them as a child and yeah they've never
02:31left me they're my passion and john where did the farm itself begin yeah so it was a landscape of
02:39pride of this my body was telling me to give it up marika loved flowers we knew our ground was
02:45fertile so let's give sunflowers a go and see how we go take them to the market and then yeah that's
02:50how it started they've turned over a big chunk of the family farm in kermond at the foot of the new
02:58south wales blue mountains to growing these monster blooms sunflowers come in about 70 different
03:06varieties john and marika have focused on two popular classics the helianthus anus chocolate gold
03:14a stunning multi-head variety and the helianthus anus aricara the common sunflower
03:24marika people tend to have a fairly limited perspective on sunflowers of just the stock
03:29standard single yeah but surprisingly they're not so we can yeah source some different seeds and they
03:37come in multi colors and branching forms as well so john as a farmer you've grown a lot of different
03:44varieties do you have a favorite sunflower child yeah there's always a standout and standard's
03:49always a yellow we're always trialing different varieties and seeing what may work better than
03:54the other but we always come back to the yellow and what is it about the yellow that it just it
03:59seems to stand up to all the weather and it's just a bit more vigorous it sort of just stands its
04:06ground and these these other varieties um they're really nice but they probably wouldn't stand up as
04:11well as what the yellow would so they they're probably more suited to a garden situation that's
04:16correct but whether you're growing them on your farm or in your garden be prepared for them to get big
04:24this specimen is less than three months old i love to associate with the rebels that stand out in the
04:32pack this one here look at it it's you know probably around the 2.2 meters tall
04:40now your average sunflower is a bit like me 1.6 maybe 1.7 on a big hair day but some of them can reach
04:48up to four or even five meters and when you get into that league i think you need to call local air
04:54traffic control and just let them know that you're impinging on the airspace from
04:59the depths of your garden i love it what a feature
05:02even the flower heads can be huge they're up to 30 centimeters across on the single-headed varieties
05:16and you don't need to look very far to see that they are an absolute banquet for all types of
05:22pollinators these outer petals here are called ray florets and they surround this extraordinary central
05:31disc which is made up of hundreds of tiny flowers that are designed in a beautiful interconnected spiral
05:43and there can be a couple of thousand little flowers on the head of a big sunflower
05:49and each one that's pollinated can grow a seed
05:52when you start to see these ray florets falling off that means that the entire sunflower head is
06:01getting close to maturity and what that means is if you give it just a gentle rub
06:07you'll start to see all the seeds here and you can understand then why the head starts to bend forward
06:16because this gets incredibly heavy with that many seeds there
06:25and when it comes to growing your own sunflower garden it couldn't be easier
06:36sunflowers are a handy addition to any garden bed no matter how big or small or even a pot
06:41depth wise you want to plant them about double the the depth of the seed so you know i wanted to go in
06:47about that much the closer they are the more they're competing for the resources there so they won't get
06:54as tall so if you want them tall separate them you know 20 30 centimeters and they'll get a little bit
07:01taller like about as my height but if you put them a bit closer they'll be like a little cluster like a
07:07little pack of happiness so yeah give it a go if some come up and some don't don't worry try again
07:16another way that i like to use sunflowers is to plant them out like a bit of a forest
07:22and much like marika and john here you want to get that big dense open field like feel and i do that on my
07:31street garden and the way i do it i plant it usually about october and i fill the whole space with
07:39sunflowers it's a really simple thing to do and sunflowers are pretty bulletproof they'll achieve
07:45it for you you'll enjoy sunny sunflower magic all summer and into autumn if you plant a handful of
07:53seeds every month or so from the end of winter but be warned birds love sunflower seeds and they'll dig
08:01them up out of the ground when your seedlings are young though there's another pest to worry about
08:08now sunflowers generally speaking look pretty resilient when you see them standing up there strong
08:13and tall but when they're small they're susceptible to insect attack like any other plant particularly
08:20as seedlings caterpillars love to get on them and have a good feed so make sure you have a good
08:27look underneath and see if there are any caterpillars there there's only one or two of course you can
08:33remove them if there's a lot more you can spray them with neem oil or some dipel another interesting
08:42little tip that john suggested is put a couple of sacrificial corn plants in amongst your sunflower
08:50flowers because the grubs love those as well and will tend to congregate there first
08:58marika and john plant a new crop every four weeks because these days the farm has become a popular
09:06destination in its own right john had suggested that we would share the flowers with the community
09:13and yeah shared a joy and love of flowers john and marika's farm has become a magical backdrop
09:21for the perfect selfie you know there's people walking around everywhere kids running from the left to
09:26the right and uh we love that just seeing people happy we're happy people are so appreciative that they
09:32can actually get out here on the farm picked around sunflowers be with mother nature and it's just
09:39um it's just growing and growing and growing all right john come around a bit lift that sunflower up
09:45so yeah yeah yeah put it up near your face oh yeah look at you you are beautiful ah marika the blue sky
09:52and your blue shirt and the gold sun oh that's a beauty and we're not done with sunflowers just yet
10:01i'll be back a little later to show you how you can make the most out of your cut sunflowers
10:06you are beautiful you're coming with me
10:16why are my caladiums dying well no guarantees but there's a good chance it's not dead just sleeping
10:24caladiums are perennials and if it's autumn or winter they've just gone into dormancy
10:28they grow from corms which are similar to bulbs so if you're in a wet area it's a good idea to dig them
10:33up and store them in a cool dry place if they're in a pot keep them tucked away somewhere safe so
10:38they don't get too much water next spring bury your corms in fresh potting mix about five centimeters
10:44deep with the eyes pointing up they'll bounce back with gorgeous colorful leaves what flowers in autumn
10:51there are plenty of things that can keep you going when the peak of spring and summer has passed
10:57agastache flower prolifically and some add the quintessential autumn orange and pink tones
11:04salvia leucantha is a mexican sage and its velvety purple flowers are a treat in the garden
11:12and helianthus angustifolius is a perennial sunflower which produces bright golden yellow daisy-like flowers
11:19on tall stems don't give up summer might be over but color isn't why the soils need to be well drained
11:29well for plants to be healthy they need access to both water of course and oxygen and the oxygen is
11:36not just in the air but it's down under the ground at root level and if you find that the water is just
11:42pooling on the top of the soil it's not draining well down to the roots that means very obviously that
11:48the oxygen is going to be all clogged up and it's not available to the plants so what can you do
11:54well obviously put them on a mound so that the water does drain through and you find that these plants
12:00are doing very well and the best way is to put a lot of organic matter into the soil to open it up
12:06it's great for healthy soil
12:18getting the most out of your veggie patch is all about planning putting thought into crop selection
12:24set out and timing will help to maximize productivity to give you a steady return
12:29but timing and weather conditions don't always go to plan which can lead to a lull in output
12:37and that's when you may want to consider fast food
12:41now before you start writing letters by fast food i mean fast growing edibles to fill the gaps
12:49lettuce and rainbow chard are quick growers that will give you something to pick during those slow
12:55weeks in the veggie patch fresh potting mix in a wide pot like this will accommodate a few charred
13:01seedlings in the middle and some mixed letter seedlings around the outside regular picking will
13:07prevent crowding and keep leaves tender a thin layer of mulch will help keep the roots cool and the soil moist
13:15good quality potting mix is a solid foundation for these seedlings but leafy greens are hungry plants
13:26so give them a weekly dose of diluted liquid fertilizer to keep them powering along
13:31and keep them well watered happy harvesting
13:34now let's take it down a notch from something that grows very fast to something that grows very slowly
13:47millie's checking out a veggie that takes time a steady gentle hand and a touch of darkness
13:55today i'm visiting a farm about an hour southeast of melbourne to learn about the time-consuming
14:07horticultural journey this crop goes on before it reaches our plates starting in the summer paddock
14:15tricked into deep winter then forced to grow again in pitch black
14:20this unique bitter plant is whitloff and it's niche enough that there's only one farm in australia
14:29where it's commercially grown we are the only ones left doing whitloff because we're mad
14:37david and his brother greg manage the farm and are going to show me the crop's unique multi-stage
14:42growing cycle whitloff comes from the chicory plant and the first leaves are tough and beyond bitter
14:51because at the time when other crops would be ready to harvest
14:55whitloff is just getting started this is a very impressive garden for someone meticulous
15:03what are we looking at here you're looking at a 10 acre parcel of whitloff why this crop well i think
15:08it's it's mainstream in europe whether it's belgium the netherlands spain that's one of their staple
15:15lettuce just like we consume iceberg lettuce or cos lettuce whitloff is one of their main staples
15:22especially in the winter months as vibrant green as this field is soon all these leaves will be
15:28composted back into the soil it's a root stock it's deceiving the leaf the leaf is there solely for the
15:34purpose of growing the root can we see one well go on pick one go for it so we'll have a look
15:43wow so you call that is it the carrot it's technically called a carrot or a whitloff root
15:48that's probably easiest way to explain it and this is the green foliage that's drawing all the energy
15:54from the sun that's all these leaves are for to actually create this whitloff root underneath to
16:00be able to after once it goes into coal storage to force a whitloff on top of this carrot and how
16:07did that evolve i mean it's quite you know it's different to growing an iceberg or a cos lettuce
16:11you know you put the seed in the ground you grow it harvest it the story is back in the 1850s
16:16in the war times in belgium someone grew some chicory roots and they harvest them mainly because
16:22they use them for chicory coffee it was always ground for coffee so it's the same thing chicory
16:27whitloff yes it is the same thing and they threw them in this cave apparently and a hessian bag on
16:32top and went back i think it was five weeks later and the actual rooted produced an endive or a
16:38whitloff on top of the the carrot and they thought wow so the rooted shot and suddenly they had a
16:44totally big side hustle of a delicious crop that's exactly right and that's the way the story goes
16:50greg is showing me the next stage of the process i feel like i'm preparing to go into some sort of
16:56battle you are we've got a battle against the cold yeah all right i'm excited we're heading to
17:02a very cold corner of the farm where the whitloff roots fresh from the summer field are in for a
17:07big shock oh wow it's freezing in here yes it should be it's minus two degrees oh really
17:16i think i expected this to feel a bit more like a greenhouse with lots more plants no it's an enclosed
17:21cycle the whole process is about covering the product and preserving it as best we can to
17:27ensure it basically goes to sleep the way we want in a slow controlled manner right so in the field if
17:33you're doing it in your garden it would kind of have that natural cycle in winter where it would die
17:37back it would yes but here you put them to bed like deep winter so we can keep them a long time in cold
17:42storage and have the ability to regrow them so this is our reveal oh my gosh it's icy yes this is a solid
17:48block of ice so peel away wow and that's that that is a bin of whitloff roots frozen oh my god it's
17:59quite beautiful in a grotesque way it's it's it's amazing what we're dealing with here you can see
18:04physically how hard it is so it's minus two so it's technically frozen but it doesn't destroy the
18:10cells it doesn't ruin it it's frozen to the point where it doesn't destroy the cells of the plant right
18:15so the the actual temperature of the whitloff would be about minus point eight there's no margin for
18:21error if this isn't done correctly in this cool room everything is compromised could you imagine
18:26keeping a carrot in the fridge for a year and expecting it not to be soft and dehydrated yeah
18:31what's what we're trying to do here with this process with the plastic and the high humidity
18:35and the freezing it needs to not only store that it looks like new it needs to be able to grow
18:40with the right energy source yeah and produce a whitloff head it's absolutely gorgeous onwards
18:47on the whitloff journey david is taking me to another room this one is a comparatively balmy 15 degrees
18:55back to bed little ones in you go millie oh oh my lord wow i can't work out if i'm completely
19:05excited or really scared it's so amazing in here stacked all the way to the ceiling in complete
19:12darkness are thousands of whitloff roots growing in hydroponic trays with about 250 in each you can
19:20see all the whitloff roots growing in the water these have come out of the freezer and these have been
19:26in the water for 10 days 15 degrees and they're off right so that carrot's just shooting roots it's off
19:31that's right and look at the baby whitloff on top look at the leaves and why are you growing in the
19:36dark so we get this beautiful yellow white creamy leaf and soft texture so it's palatable you just
19:43once you eat it it's crunchy it's juicy because there is just no sunlight right so that sunlight is
19:50creating coarse thick cell green growth this is like is it etiolation when the the plant is actually
19:57stretching those cells out absolutely and that's correct and that's what it is just like a white
20:02asparagus from here the whitloff is trimmed and packed to send to restaurants and markets all around
20:13the country this whole setup is a family affair the timber shelves and crates were built by their father
20:24lino their mother mary has also been integral to the operation including helping out customers with
20:31recipe tips no farm visit is complete without afternoon tea so i finally get to try this time
20:41consuming crop this is brie blackberry and a thin slice of mango bacon sultanas and it's a granny smith
20:52and a jazz apple that should be nice it's so perfect because you've got that lovely bitter
21:01undertone of the whitloff but then the sweet of the apple the salty of the meat yum mary also suggests
21:09using whitloff in salads stir fries and even braised and served with bolognese
21:17greg and me like we look back and we think we must have been mad to try and grow
21:21whitloff a two-stage crop you think from out in the field when you see the carrots put them in
21:27the forcing room to get the end result 16 months later sometimes it's a great feeling because you
21:33think yes i've climbed that mountain to to produce a beautiful whitloff
21:37it's tempting to stick with what you know works in the garden and not take risks with the unknown or
21:51untested well clarence is here with some underrated natives that are going to want to make you step
21:57outside your comfort zone it might be tempting to go with what you already know grows in your garden
22:06maybe your bottle brushes and your banksies are killing it but there's a barrel load of native
22:11plants worth going out on a limb for with just as much color form and function growing really well here
22:18under this banksia rover is lazipetalum varii or the slender velvet bush now it will grow in full sun
22:26but as you can see it does like part shade as well it likes to grow in well-drained soils and it's a
22:32hardy plant for dry areas it'll grow into a shrub about 1.5 meters high and about the same across
22:39give it a regular tip pruning after flowering to maintain this dense habit now it has a massive pink
22:46flowers in spring and all year round just look at the gray green foliage contrasting against the
22:52copper stems now there's a ground cover form of this you can also seek out
23:00when it comes to options for hedging and topiary sea box elixir buxifolia is a fantastic alternative
23:06to the common buxus now this one gets a white star-shaped flower and a bright orange berry over the summer
23:14now don't try eating those berries because they're toxic for humans but the birds will love them now
23:19it can get harder to get hold of outside of its natural range the majority of which is southern
23:24coastal regions now specialty native nurseries and indigenous owned and run nurseries are your best
23:30bet now being adapted to coastal areas it will handle whatever you throw at it wind salt spray drying
23:37out and most soil types as long as it's well draining this is a ripper of a plant there are so
23:47many others i reckon are worth a grow like micromyrtis an easy care shrub with a low growing spreading habit
23:56pomadaris a tough underrated shrub for all sorts of conditions
24:00apacris cultivars like this one pan pipes perfect for rockeries or as a container plant just trim to
24:09shape after spring flowering and crowia beautiful blooms in winter and autumn when there's not much
24:15else in flower so if you're after something to try alongside your old favorites there are plenty of
24:21native plants for a fresh new look in your garden my favorite plant would have to be actually a flower
24:35which is a tulip i have a nice rhododon which gives me pleasure when it blooms so that's a beautiful sight
24:42to watch i would say zero chrysan paper daisies beautiful fun very vibrant and of course a native
24:50it's a family of plants it's my favorite it's the arachiriaceae family and it's the norfolk
24:55island pines the wallami pine which is the dinosaur plant i love how big they are and epic and they've
25:01got massive seed pods and they're just really structurally incredible trees some plants that
25:08remind me from home like i love like olive trees and lavender the combination of it just reminds me a
25:13bit of where i come from i think trees are probably the most important things i live opposite a little
25:19park and the old oak trees are magnificent they're the best i think oh the grass tree i love the
25:24grass tree i grew up on a property um out in tamworth and there's like parts in the bush there
25:29where there's just like paddocks on them there's heaps of them i know it's like very rare and they're
25:33just like such an old kind of established tree uh yeah they're my favorite
25:45what if i told you right now there's some plants in your garden that you're not getting the most out
25:50of hannah's here with some revelations about our favorite edible plants that will change the way you
25:57look at your veggie patch quite often we grow plants for the edible part and forget about the rest but
26:08sometimes there's so much more of that plant that you can actually eat i'm going to show you how
26:15while we grow fig trees for their sweet delectable fruits a healthy fig tree will also produce lots of
26:21leaf across the season and these are edible too they give a nutty coconut flavor to your food which
26:28in cool temperate tasmania is pretty handy as there's not many coconuts around
26:35fig leaves contain lots of latex so it's not suitable for those with allergies
26:39but also it's best to avoid getting lots of that sap on your skin because it can be irritating
26:45younger leaves are heaps better for flavor just give them a good wash and don't bother trying to
26:49eat them raw as cooking or drying the leaves brings out the best texture you can dry the leaves and
26:56sprinkle them onto savory or sweet dishes like ice cream you can also wrap up your cheese or fish
27:02with the leaves or add them to a pot of rice cook it up and give it a nice coconut taste
27:14pumpkin and cucumber leaves may seem a bit hairy and unpalatable
27:18but the really young shoots can be a quick addition to any salads and the older leaves can be added to
27:23stews or stir fries and the hairiness is not a problem there and as the pumpkins grow and sprawl
27:29everywhere harvesting and eating some leaves is actually a great way to prevent them from taking
27:34over all the space kohlrabi and broccoli leaves are great too you can eat them at any age but they're
27:41sweetest when they're young if your broccoli plant's going to seed you can still keep the whole thing going
27:46and harvest all the little heads coming up and the leaf crops dahlias produce stunning colorful very
27:54ornamental flowers but did you know you can also eat them plus the plant produces several tubers below
28:01the soil a bit like potatoes you can eat those too the flavor can vary depending on soil conditions
28:08and the cultivar some are bitter while others taste like celery or carrot so select large juicy looking
28:15tubers for the best chance of finding a winner when it comes to parsley the whole plant is edible
28:23allow it to go to seed harvest some for the next crop and for your spice rack
28:29you can use the seeds whole in cups of tea and in slow cooked dishes
28:33or you can dry and grind them up for a super quick flavor hit
28:43being biennial parsley will start to fade once it flowers making the leaves go pretty tough
28:48this can be a good time to dig up the whole plant and harvest the root which is actually quite strong
28:54much stronger than the taste of the leaf you can do this whole process with coriander as well
28:59so i hope by revealing some new ways you can use your plants you can experiment too
29:07and open up a whole new world of food and flavor
29:17still to come on gardening australia jane suggests a nut that you mightn't have considered growing
29:23i'm having a go at making those sunflowers sing and we meet someone living our country escape dreams
29:40i seriously love it when people find their personal passion in the plant world put the pedal to the
29:46metal and just go for it jerry's here with an incredible cacti and succulent collector
29:53who knows exactly what they're doing and we're all going along for the ride buckle up
30:09we're in ipswich and it's where beck archer the president of the cactus and succulent society of
30:15queensland calls home so it's no surprise that it's also home to a huge stash of rare and collectible wonders
30:26i'm back hey oh my goodness me that's the word enough entered your vocabulary you can never have
30:33too many plants i love you already how many do you have i would say i'm probably pushing a thousand plants
30:42in here i think give or take and how long has it taken you to get them together i'd say a good
30:47part of 20 years patience is a virtue when growing these plants have you always been a gardener have
30:53been i uh started horticulture i watched my mum as a four-year-old collect these plants live around them
31:00breathe them and then work plants myself professionally and then i come home to this
31:05so it's all your mother's fault oh absolutely
31:10beck's day job is managing the scientific research glass houses for the university of queensland which
31:16dovetails nicely with our horticultural hobby how has that professional work spilled into your
31:25professional work at home designing this greenhouse this is custom built in terms of orientation so that
31:33i'm harnessing the sun and i'm able to compartmentalize the area so one side is all about
31:38succulents this side's all about cacti and i'm able to get as much winter sun in here as possible yes but
31:44also protect the other side from the summer sun what was it that attracted you to succulents the
31:51symmetry the colors the variety at first you can't help but being enchanted with the color of the spines
31:58or the shapes then they flower like little jewels but then as you get older and as you collect more
32:04it's about the challenge of actually growing them there are over 1800 species in the cactaceae family
32:12and many more that fall under the more ambiguous term succulents all cacti succulents however not all
32:20succulents are cacti cacti require a lot more bright intense light succulents can take slightly
32:27less in particular the succulents um don't need a lot of super bright light they still need good light
32:33but not as much could you show me some of your favorites absolutely absolutely beck has chosen to
32:40narrow her focus her collection mostly contains plants from the following five genera firstly there's
32:48gymno calisium and i recommend these to beginners to grow because they are so beautiful when they're
32:55in flower yes quite fast growers and very forgiving you can grow these in a lot of different locations
33:02super bright light or slightly less they don't mind being in a little bit of shade in the middle of
33:07summer and they'll take watering really well so why are we looking at these five here the variety
33:13the genus itself is so varied from long spines like this mahanovichii hybrid all the way down to
33:20one that has very small spines but incredibly symmetrical this is just to die for i mean the
33:27texture and the form of that is exquisite absolutely and that particular mahanovichii is coveted for its
33:35shape and for its symmetry and then into i guess you can see as a candy in the variegated gymno calisium
33:44this looks like it's jade it doesn't look like it's a plant at all no very very very easy to grow
33:50and they flower beautifully i think gymno calisium are an incredibly underrated genus and you get such
33:57a variety that you can't really settle on one you've just got to collect them all now bec this group is
34:05sometimes known as chin cactus yeah absolutely they've got a very distinct little chin off that
34:11aerial so it steps down and creates a little chin on a lot of them the second genus features copiapoa
34:19these copiapoa you would see them in a habitat like the atacama desert they live in a fairly
34:28high elevation and they live in like a fog oasis they don't get a lot of direct
34:34rain per se but they do like a little bit extra moisture around them so what makes these special
34:40plants very very slow almost glacially slow to grow you do need to be very patient with copiapoa
34:48this plant cineraria is probably eight or nine years old already and still yet to flower they
34:54have black spines they do absolutely amazing almost pitch black very deep colored spines and then you
35:02go over to this species which is hypogia and a particular hypogia called lizard skin
35:09because when you get in close it looks like a lizard skin and it is very soft to the touch yeah
35:16our third genus is the unusual area cyce so these are your other favorites they are where do they
35:23come from chilly around those sort of areas atacama desert they're incredibly resilient plants they don't
35:31tend to get a lot of rain they get a lot of sun but for me they live their best life in the greenhouse
35:36do they flower oh absolutely they do flowers are stunning from a very pale almost white pink
35:44color to a vibrant cerise pink they can be an orange or like a sunset type range of colors they can
35:51be yellow they can be straight white um but incredibly beautiful because the whole top of
35:56the plant will be covered in flower and they would flower during the daytime flower in the day close at
36:01night yeah right because of the variation you can get ones that have got next to no
36:06spination all the way up to this one which is geocephala the spines are completely covering it
36:13you can't see the plant itself at all they are gorgeous and it's another genus i've never heard of
36:20fourth in line is inspiring ubal mania and they're from brazil they're very difficult to grow in a
36:28queensland environment where it's hot and humid because of the challenge absolutely covered them
36:33because i get them up to this point and it's quite special to have them and what is it that makes
36:38them special what attracted me the most is their spination their form is absolutely stunning and
36:44they're completely symmetrical when you look at them why is that one growing as a grafted specimen
36:49initially it dropped its roots and decided to try and die on me so i've grafted it in order to save
36:54it and to get it to grow so she's actually done very very well you'd think this part of the world
37:00would be perfect for growing a huge range of cacti and succulents but that one struggles on its own
37:06roots it can do and i think i've probably chosen the hardest genus to grow in a very hot humid environment
37:13i absolutely love these plants but they can be absolute heartbreakers because they can turn to
37:18a mushy mess in a blink of an eye so the weakness that makes them heartbreakers is fungi a fungi and a
37:26very shallow and quite small root system okay so not for a beginner probably not but if you like a
37:33challenge sure and finally beck's fifth and favorite genus haworthia so now we've made the change from
37:41cacti to succulents yep and what a range saved the best for last i think my personal view this is a
37:48genus called haworthia coveted for its very succulent windows these are incredibly tactile yeah do you mind
37:56if i touch go for it it's just amazing these are some of my own hybrids from some of my own plants
38:03where i produce my own seed pods you get these beautiful forms in haworthia different flavors of
38:10color texture patterns the patterns are almost yes geometric in themselves and then you've got these
38:17beautiful big clear windows however beck is unleashing some monster japanese hybrid haworthias
38:24that completely flip the script on what you might think a haworthia typically is the heavyweights in
38:31beck's collection are supersized and closer in diameter to a dinner plate than the usual golf ball
38:37dimensions now beck i have never seen anything on the scale of this we're very spoiled in this
38:44country to see some of these big japanese and chinese hybrids starting to come into the country
38:49they are much bigger growers they are much wider windows and so varied my eyes drawn to this which
38:57looks like none of the others no this is a herworthiopsis or hard leaf herworthia called limnifolia and
39:05it's actually variegated every single leaf has a different variegation and that's what we covet in
39:10variegated plants very rare to get a variegated plant you might just sow a thousand seed and get one plant
39:16that might be variegated it might be ten thousand seed that you might get a variegated from how old
39:20are these these are actually maybe four or five years old they're not very old my goodness me so
39:27these are your thoroughbreds they could be yeah yeah absolutely
39:32cacti and succulents grow best in speciality potting mixes that have high drainage collectors will often
39:40blend their own mix tweaking to a formula that suits their irrigation schedule climate and plants
39:47needs and beck is no different so jerry this is some of the stuff i use in my media reason i customize
39:54it is to make sure i've got great drainage and i've got lots of air around my root system okay one
40:00of the best things you can use for cacti pumice absolutely amazing product scoria and then something
40:07like this which is a maith and stone and you put that on as a top dressing yes one to wick the water
40:12away from the bottom of the plant and to stop that splash back as i'm watering and splashing media up on
40:17the plant which is really important it is keeping pest and disease down the success of beck's stunning
40:24collection is partly due to the fact that she's been a member of the queensland cactus and succulent
40:29society for several years and the president for the past two been around like-minded people
40:36a learning opportunity for me it's taught me a lot about these plants there's a lot of rare and
40:42expensive and also very hard to find plants that society members have access to i've been growing
40:48for years and you get to see plants you wouldn't normally get to see these are glorious examples of
40:56what decades of dedicated cultivation can achieve and the world of horticultural treasures that awaits you
41:04what would you advise an absolute beginner join a society tap into that knowledge well that's there
41:11everyone is more than willing to help it's also important that you're willing to make mistakes as
41:16well because mistakes will happen with these plants learn from it and grow from it
41:36we're back at the sunflower farm
41:38and it's time for the serious business of flower arranging marika and john put so much love into
41:48the growing of their flowers so they don't want them just to get back to your place within a day or two
41:53and go sort of ah i missed the farm from the moment you snip them you need to put them straight into
41:59a bucket of water that way the flower is constantly taking up moisture the other key thing
42:06is you want a really sharp pair of secateurs or scissors or a blade the next step is your vase
42:14it's really important that you make sure that the vase is clean because if there's any bacteria in
42:20there that bacteria will transfer into your plants and knock them around they won't survive as well
42:27now the liquid that goes in here is critical you'll probably know these little sachets when you go to
42:34the florist this is what's known as flower preservative but you can actually make it yourself it's really
42:40simple first of all half a teaspoon of bleach to go into the water that helps deal with any bacteria
42:48that may be in the water you need some sugar some some carb for the plant to to keep strong and then
42:56you can use either some vinegar or a little bit of lemon and that'll stop your plants from rotting
43:03away too quickly next step is the arranging and that's the creative part and you can start to play
43:11with levels the other thing to bear in mind when you're at the farm don't pick them all open have
43:18different ages because if they're all open they're all then going to fall apart and die at the same time
43:24when you come to that next cut once you've decided your height make sure you put it on a nice 45 degrees
43:33because what that does is prevent that cross-cut crush which will make it more difficult for those
43:41cells to transfer the water up to the plant and then i chose this one because it's a multi-header
43:50and so as these ones finish up the top these little brothers and sisters are going to flower down the
43:56bottom that's starting to look okay i'm getting impressed with my work
44:13yeah i'm pretty happy with that i've added our preservative mix to this container and then put some
44:18lukewarm water into that and that just makes for a nice warmer subtle environment for the plants to
44:26settle into in the container so i'll put that in there and the final step
44:34is to place the vase in a nice bright space but not direct sun and they get the most out of your
44:42sunflower tower here make sure that you keep an eye on them and change the water roughly every two
44:48to three days with all those little details you should get at least maybe two to three weeks out
44:55of your beautiful sunflower tower
45:06can you grow macadamias in your own home garden well yes you can they do originate from subtropical
45:14parts of australia northern new south wales and queensland but they will grow in most other parts
45:20of australia as well especially the cooler climates they're really good i've seen so many growing
45:25in melbourne and they do produce fruit nowadays they're really good because they're bred to be
45:31smaller these ones will grow to be about four to five meters high and this one is in a pot so that will
45:37contain its size they'll produce fruit after about four or five years the big thing is that they need to
45:44be frost protected when they're young and then they'll be okay after about four or five years
45:48and the other thing is don't have them in waterlogged soil well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter
45:54and that'll do them just fine and you'll end up with a hard coated nut and inside look at that
46:02that's the beautiful nut that you're eating macadamias lots of fruit lots of nuts enjoy
46:07i feel like a squirrel
46:19i think i can safely say that i'm not the only one who's had the daydream of packing it all up moving
46:25to the country and living out your gardening aspirations well our next story is with someone who's done just
46:33that
46:49my name is natasha morgan i live here in dalesford about an hour and a half north of melbourne
46:54we moved here in april of 2022 we're on a 515 meter square block that i call little cottage
47:04on a hill it's a tiny block of land but what it has is two beautiful wide verges and we are so blessed
47:11here to have those deep volcanic soils so it was kind of a bit of a no-brainer when i saw this house
47:15we're very lucky here that hepburn shire has local laws that allow for nature strip planting so using
47:22their guidelines i've created both an outer garden and an inner garden the outer garden being my
47:29productive space of flowers and vegetable gardens and then the inner world is i suppose a bit more private
47:37you can lift it up i've always loved gardening and i've always loved making gardens so i started
47:48my journey with architecture and i'm trained as a landscape architect i've been really fortunate that
47:55i've got to work on some incredible projects i spent six years working on the australian garden stage
47:58two at cranburn botanic gardens so my role included everything from the redesign of the initial master
48:08plan all the way down to the details of construction the dream of living in the country had probably been
48:15something sort of bubbling in the back of my head since my early 20s
48:21so in 2013 came across this five acre property in spargo creek 20 minutes out of dalesford it was
48:28a lifestyle that's governed by the cycles and the rhythms of the land of with living with nature
48:39the whole premise of this garden is to synthesize the best of those nine years that we had at spargo
48:44creek and it's very different to any garden that i've done before usually i have quite a restrained
48:50pellet where i might have five or six different or up to ten plants but i think that moving from a
48:57property of five acres to a plot of 515 square meters there was sort of a sense of liberation and
49:03just freedom so i kind of threw caution to the wind and i've just included a ride of colors but i've
49:10planted them in swathes so that the color kind of moves through and so i've got dusty tones and reds
49:17that move through in purples and lots of gray foliage that also come through and then sort of pops of
49:23pink and yellows as well to offset so it really for me is a beautiful celebration of color and form and
49:33texture but it's also planted in a way that it has interest right throughout the seasons and for me
49:40a small garden has got to work hard so you might find these funny things strewn around the garden and
49:47actually it's a bottle wrapped in a plastic bag that's supposed to depict a dead cockatoo so an
49:53old farmer told me once that if you put this in the garden at the arms or handles of the bag pointing
49:58outwards like that that a cockatoo will think it's a dead cockatoo in the garden and they will leave
50:02my plants alone and not eat them down to the ground every time that i put these bottles down i have no
50:08problems with cockatoos but the one time that i took it away i just thought it was way too ugly is when
50:15the cockatoos came in and they ate all that beautiful tender spring foliage right down to the
50:21ground this is the north side of my verge garden this long space through here is where i've got all
50:30of my fruit and vegetables grasses here this big embankment planting that separates this space from
50:38the road beyond i've got these footpaths or grass paths through here that allow access and a series of
50:44smaller garden beds in which i can grow my seasonal crops it's got a whole range of different structures
50:52in it using some old fencing that i've just propped up together and it's a great way to create some
50:58three-dimensionality but also have something that's super functional for growing
51:04having a small space means that i have to really reimagine the way i do things in this space here i can't
51:09have an orchard so i have instead created an espelier orchard what i like about this huonville crab
51:17apple is that it's dwarfed onto what they call a step over dwarfing stock which means that it will never
51:23be taller than this so in other words that you could step over it and it also has crab apples which are
51:29about so big the pink flesh crab apple a beautiful roasted and also my kids love them dehydrated as an apple
51:38chip i've used this reinforcing wire to provide some structure i like to use a velcro strap i used to
51:48use some white plastic budding tape but i really don't want to be using plastic anymore and i'm just
51:55going to train it along the reinforcing wire at this level i've also got pairs which will form a second
52:04here so they will actually grow above and they will be a spellhead across these two runs of the fence as
52:11well so in effect i've got a vertical orchard which is also a beautiful feature along the fence line
52:18and i've got a double stack of fruit trees
52:25for me i love reimagining things so how can a composting tower or just a composite look beautiful
52:32this is my composting potato tower this is so incredibly simple to make it's just a waddle and
52:38wire woven timber and wire fencing and all i've done is just put a section of it in a circle i've
52:44just lined it with this mesh here just to stop those fines from falling out underneath lay it up then
52:49potatoes and then i just keep adding to it all my compost material what i love about it is that it is super
52:56simple on this small property i look at it right through the lens of productive landscape so i have
53:09got rhubarb here that i grow for my rhubarb rose and vanilla bean syrup i have flowers that i cut for
53:15floristry i have vegetable beds that supplies me and my kids i also make sure that i always have more
53:22than enough for me to make pickles and preserves that's the beauty of growing your own food is
53:28that there's something to share or trade or enjoy with other people hello chookies
53:37this is my studio and like everything else on this property it has to be multifunctional
53:42so it's the space where i make my syrups and preserves it's where i run my garden design workshops
53:47it's where i tinker it's where i have some quiet time escaping from my kids and it's basically
53:53where all the creative stuff happens the beauty of living here is that this garden enables me to be
54:01a full-time mom to my two young kids who are 11 and nearly 13 and it enables me also to have a
54:07home-based business this garden really for me is a laboratory to try things out as a gardener
54:13it's a great opportunity to see what works and what doesn't you've got the motivation we've got
54:28the inspiration here's your jobs for the weekend in cool temperate areas now's a good time to save seed
54:40of your top performing summer crops remember to separate from flesh dry well and store in something
54:48airtight time for your tomatoes to go so a quick crop of rocket it's a proven bio fumigant so will
54:56work to help keep nematodes at bay if you've got vanilla lilies in your garden they may be setting
55:02seed look for capsules changing from green to papery brown and splitting and harvest the
55:09entire thing to dry further inside in warm temperate areas if you want to keep your tomatoes going into
55:16the twilight of the season make sure to remove any stems or leaves touching the ground to prevent fungal
55:24infection ollyhocks can be sown directly into the garden so that these cottage showstoppers get a
55:31head start before the cold weather sets in as the days begin to shorten your carnivorous plants may start
55:38to enter dormancy so begin to reduce watering subtropical gardeners it's go time for tomatoes
55:47sow seed now to plant out in april may and look for cherry type varieties like sweet bite stupid say
55:54and green zebra while you're at it get some chili going from seed try the african heirloom fatale with
56:03lightning heat and rich fruity citrus undertones living in the subtropics means you don't have
56:10to live without roses try the polyanther rose excellence von schubert for long arching canes of pink
56:18flowers in the tropics march marks the start of the season of la bay for the yanua in the gulf of
56:26carpentaria it's a wet season time of continued heavy rainfall high winds and cyclones corn can be
56:35grown from seed or seedlings now plant in rows of even length to form a block this helps with wind
56:42pollination and guarantees more kernels to crunch give your hibiscus a light tip prune now to set off a
56:50new flush of growth in arid areas planting strawberries now will give them time to develop
56:57properly by next year find a spot with full sun and add plenty of compost fertilize citrus as they
57:05keep ripening apply one handful of poultry manure per square meter there's still time to plant thai basil
57:13and the fragrant leaves are more resistant to grasshopper attack than other basils enjoy getting
57:20stuck into it gardeners and don't forget you can head over to our youtube channel for a dose of
57:26gardening goodness anytime
57:34well that's all we have in the bag for this week but we've got plenty more planned for next time
57:40here's what's in store i'm creating the perfect habitat for those weird but wonderful carnivorous
57:47plants that can be so hard to keep alive i'm going to show you how to grow delicious starchy staples
57:55that are low gi and gluten-free this in a warm climate is far superior to potato and i'm visiting a
58:04home garden that is packed with palms that are as at home in melbourne as they are in madagascar or mexico