Advice. Ideas.

Inspiration

Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 27 22 January 2021

Useful Links Editorial

Webpage

Blog Welcome to the twenty seventh is- got my tulips from Bulbs Direct for the
sue of my newsletter for Volume 3. first time. In the past, I treated tulips
Newsletter back issues as an (expensive) annual. By the end of
I hope you have all had a good week. the season, I found that they had disin-
Facebook tegrated and were not really suitable
I don’t know about you, but I’m find- for replanting. But as I lift my tulips
Instagram ing that I am still busy in the garden! from last year (and there are still many
Twitter Not as crazy busy as spring, but there more bulb baskets to tackle as I had
is still plenty to do. I am in the pro- over 200 tulips last season), I’m finding
Linkedin cess of harvesting my spring bulbs that most of the bulbs are as good as
at the moment. As some of you will new! This speaks to the quality of
Pinterest know, I plant my spring bulbs in bulb Bulbs Direct’s tulip bulbs and I have
baskets, so it makes them easy to lift definitely ordered more from them this
at the end of the season. Now I year.
Contact me should make the point that your bulbs
do not need to be lifted at the end of
 Feedback every season. But it’s a good idea to
do this every couple of years as they
 Newsletter input can become crowded and start to not
(tips, recipes, gar- flower so well. It also means that you
den photos etc) can divide your bulbs to get...well,
more bulbs. And if you grow tulips
 To be added to my and hyacinths and live in a climate
mailing list with mild winters, you’ll need to pop
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com them in the fridge for a chilling period
in order for them to flower well in
spring. In late spring, I already lifted
my bulb baskets to make room for my An example of last year’s tulip bulbs
summer plants. The foliage on the after being lifted from their bulb baskets
Inside this issue: bulbs was still green, so I left the bulb
baskets underneath the eaves of our As mentioned before, if you live in a
house to let it die down. I shake the region with mild winters, be sure to
excess soil from the bulb baskets and chill your tulips for six weeks prior to
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2 planting them, otherwise they won’t
Anita’s Garden remove the bulbs. I don’t find it nec-
essary to wash the bulbs as the soil flower well. Also, don’t plant them too
and bulbs are usually pretty dry. I early as it’s still too warm. I always
Top 5 gardening tasks 2 lay the bulbs on seed raising trays wait until May.
for the week and layer them on the table in our Useful links
greenhouse to dry completely. Once
they have done so, I will dust them  Italian Seeds Pronto
News 2 with the fungicide flowers of sulphur
to help prevent pests and diseases  Awapuni
from destroying the bulbs. They will
then be ready for replanting in au-  Bulbs Direct
Tips for creating a low 3 tumn.
maintenance garden Kind regards,
I was pleasantly surprised by the con- Anita Kundu
dition of my tulip bulbs. Last year, I
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
We have had the most beautiful
display of Hippeastrum this
summer. In the past, I have never
had much luck with them. I have
learnt that it helps if you start
with big, healthy bulbs. They also
like being kept in a sheltered area
such as a patio. Here are some
photos.
Neon
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Harvest spring bulbs
By now the foliage has died down
and your bulbs can be lifted from
the ground or their bulb baskets.
Shake off the dirt and store in a
dry place for replanting in au-
tumn. To prevent pests and dis-
eases, I like to dust them with a
fungicide such as flowers of Sul-
phur.
2. Divide naked ladies
News
I have just placed my order for
spring bulbs from the mail order
company Bulbs Direct. I am very
excited about their incredible
range this season and I know you
will be, too. They have over 60
varieties of tulips, plus all spring
time favourites—daffodils, gladioli
nanus, dutch iris, freesias, anemo-
nes, ranunculus, crocus, hyacinths
and much more.
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
Bogota
Another tip, this time from my
friend Christine, is that hippeas-
trum like hot and dry conditions.
They should be dormant at the
moment, making it a good time to
divide and/or shift your naked lady
bulbs. If you have spare bulbs, you
might like to share them with fam-
ily or friends.
3. Get a house plant!
Not all plants are for outdoors.
Brighten up your home with an
indoor plant.
Now is a good time to work out
what seeds you need to buy for
autumn and winter. Italian Seeds
Pronto stock an interesting range
of heirloom seeds, most of which
are in the Franchi range. Favour-
ites for the cooler months include
Black Tuscan Kale, Broccoli Cala-
brese, Cauliflower Romanesco,
Cauliflower Macerata, Spinach
Matador and Spinach Merlo Nero.
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 2 7
Red Lion
A sign of a healthy bulb is one
which throws up multiple stalks!
4. Pot up seedlings
Pot up any seedlings in your
nursery which have outgrown
their punnets. At the moment I’m
repotting asparagus and rhubarb.
5. Order seeds for autumn
and winter
Go through your seed collection
and work out what seeds you need
to order for autumn and winter.
If you have gaps in your gar-
den, you may want to fill them
with plants. Awapuni have a
great promotion on at the mo-
ment. Purchase any 4 regular
bundles of veggie seedlings for
just $18! Favourites from the
Awapuni range include brocco-
li, cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce,
leeks, celery, rhubarb, spinach
and silverbeet.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 2 7
Tips for creating a low maintenance garden
Our garden is very high mainte-
nance. I am forever locked in a
cycle of sowing seeds, raising seed-
lings, planting seedlings, caring for
my plants, pulling them out and
repeating the process. It’s a lot of
hard work, but I find it gratifying
and enjoyable. Some people may
like a garden but may not neces-
sarily be able or want to devote a
lot of their time to tending to it.
The good news that it is still possi-
ble to have a lovely garden, with-
out putting as much effort into it
as I do.
General tips
 Stick to ornamentals ra-
ther than dabbling in veggie
gardening, otherwise you’ll
find yourself locked in the
cycle that I have found my-
self in, which I outlined
above
 Plant perennial rather
than annual flowers. Annu-
als grow and set seed all in
one season. Examples in-
clude marigolds, sunflowers
and zinnias. Perennials
come back year after year.
 Consider growing bulbs.
Most don’t need to be lifted
every season, although it’s a
good idea to divide them
every few years otherwise
they can become a bit
crowded. Some bulbs such
as daffodils can be natural-
ized underneath trees and
look lovely. Bulbs Direct
have a fantastic range of
bulbs at very affordable
prices.
 Grow plants which don’t
require a lot of water, other-
wise you’ll end up spending
a lot of time watering your
garden. Succulents are a
good choice.
 If you do want to grow fruit
trees, consider planting
dwarf varieties which are
easier to care for and don’t
PAGE 3
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
require pruning. They can be  Hibiscus
grown in containers, which is per-
fect for smaller spaces.  Protea
 Keep your lawn looking  Gardenia
lush and tidy. This is a big
 Vireya
part of a garden, yet is often
overshadowed by plants. It  Rhododendron
doesn’t require as much ef-
fort as caring for plants,  Azalea
either.
 Jasmine
 Native plants are general-
 Bougainvillea
ly easy to look after. Exam-
ples include flax and pohu-
 Magnolia
tukawa
 Cannas
 Although it may be tempt-
ing to lay down weed mat in  Fuschia
a bid to supress weeds, it’s
not a good idea as it’s terri-  Alstromeria
ble for the soil. I speak from
experience. I also found  Hedges
that the weeds will still
grow on top of it. You may  Geraniums
however wish to use bark  Impatiens
for a low care landscaping
option. It is especially ap-  Daffodils
propriate for shrubs and
trees. It also looks attrac-  Lachenalias
tive.
 Dahlias
 Consider set- “Some people may like a
ting up an  Naked la-
garden but may not
irrigation dies (amaryllis
necessarily be able or want
system. It belladonna)
to devote a lot of their time
will save you to tending to it”  Bearded
valuable time
iris
rather than watering your
garden manually  Asparagus (unlike most oth-
er veggies, asparagus is a
 Look for liquid fertilisers
perennial. Once set up an
that you can connect to your
asparagus bed will crop for
hose rather than diluting
20+ years)
the solution in a watering
can. They’re more expen-  Rhubarb
sive but it’s a lot less work
 Feijoa
Ideal plants for a low mainte-
nance garden  Lemons
 Succulents Please note that not all of these
may be suitable for your climate,
 Natives so check before planting!
 Hydrangea Have a good weekend
 Clivia Happy gardening!
 Camellia