Advice. Ideas.
Inspiration
Anita’s Garden
Volume 3, Issue 40
Useful Links Editorial
Webpage
Blog Welcome to the fortieth issue of my
newsletter for Volume 3.
Newsletter back issues
I hope you are all well. With the long
Facebook weekend ahead of us, I thought it
would be useful to put together a little
Instagram
gardening task list.
Twitter
Tasks to do around the garden over
Linkedin ANZAC weekend:
Pinterest  Finish planting veggie seed-
lings before the cooler weather
sets in. You can plant the fol-
lowing: broad beans, broccoli,
Contact me
cabbage, cauliflower, kale,
 Feedback spring onions, lettuce, leeks,
spinach, silverbeet and peas.
 Newsletter input
(tips, recipes, gar-  You can sow peas direct to
den photos etc) where you want to grow them.
They climb so they’ll need some
 To be added to my support such as a trellis.
mailing list
 It’s not too late to sow broad
anitakundu.nz@gmail.com beans but don’t leave it any
longer
 Plant winter annuals in your
flower garden, including pan-
Inside this issue:
sies, viola and polyanthus.
They look pretty as a border
infront of taller plants or in
P ot te r ing aro u nd 2 containers
Anita’s Garden
 Plant herbs, including corian-
der, thyme, oregano, rosemary,
Top 5 gardening tasks 2 parsley (Italian and flat leaf),
for the week dill, chives and mint.
 Sow poppies direct to where
News 2 you want to grow them. An
idea is to sow some soldier pop-
pies in remembrance of those
who lost their lives in the war.
Tips for growing spring 3
bulbs  Plant spring bulbs. See page 3
for tips.
 Do some weeding. You’ll feel
23 April 2021
better, your plants will grow better and
your garden will look better, too.
 Store all dried seed saved from
your plants safely and label it
carefully before putting it away
for sowing next season
 Label all of your dahlias carefully
while they’re in flower. If they’re
no longer in bloom you will prob-
ably know what they are from
their position in your garden.
When you lift your tubers they
will all look the same and you
won’t be able to tell them apart.
 Make a list of which dahlias you
wish to purchase in 2021. Some
mail order companies will be re-
leasing their catalogues soon.
According to Kayne Gravatt of
New Zealand’s leading mail order
company Bulbs Direct, dahlias
have seen a real comeback in
recent years. Popular varieties
sell out very fast so it pays to get
in quick!
 Liquid feed your garden weekly
using either a seaweed tonic such
as Seasol or a water soluble plant
food.
 Mulch your plants to help keep
weeds down. I recommend pea
straw as it adds nitrogen to the
soil.
Useful links
 Italian Seeds Pronto
 Awapuni
 Bulbs Direct
Kind regards,
Anita Kundu
PAGE 2
Pottering around Anita’s Garden
My oregano seedlings
This week, I want to write a little
report about my oregano seed-
lings. This is the first time I have
ever tried growing oregano from
seed and I am very happy with the
results. After the new year, I
sowed two different varieties. One
came from Gillian of Italian Seeds
Pronto and was in the Franchi
Seeds range. The other was from
Top 5 gardening tasks for the week
1. Pot herbs into containers
or in the ground
By now any herbs you sowed back
in summer should be large enough
for planting in containers or in the
ground.
2. Sow poppies
Commemorate ANZAC Day by
sowing a drift of solider poppies in
News
Normally I include news from the
brands I collaborate with in this
column but as I have written about
their activities elsewhere, this
week I thought I would include a
bit of my own news. Some of you
may have noticed that I have been
silent on my blog, apart from post-
ing the link to my weekly garden-
ing newsletters. I don’t have as
much time for blogging as I used to
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
another NZ seed supplier. I am
very happy with the results. The
Franchi Seeds variety is growing
in the top left hand corner of the
punnet on the left hand side (I did-
n’t sow many of the seeds which is
why there is only one plant). The
other seedlings are from the other
variety (I sowed a whole packet of
seeds which is why there are so
many plants). If you sow seeds
after the new year, all you need to
do is scatter them in a punnet
filled with seed raising mix and
cover them lightly. Leave them
outside in a sunny place and re-
member to keep them moist (you
may have to water them twice a
day as it gets very dry in January
and February). When the seed-
lings are big enough, prick them
out carefully and pot them up into
six-cell punnets as I have done.
your garden.
3. Plant silverbeet
spinach
Ensure you have enough greens on
hand in winter by planting these
staples in your garden now. It’s a
bit late to start them from seed but
you can buy these seedlings from
Awapuni who conveniently deliver
to your door.
because we no longer host wwoof-
ers since Covid. As a consequence,
I have had to manage the garden
on my own and it takes up much
more time without an extra pair
(or two) of hands. I do hope that
this changes over the winter. An
idea that a wwoofer once gave me
that I haven’t forgotten even
though I couldn’t take the idea
forward at the time due to being so
V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 4 0
When they grow a bit more, you
can pot them into individual 10 cm
pots. I like growing most of our
herbs (with the exception of pars-
ley and mint, which does better in
the ground) in 9 litre plastic buck-
ets which you can get from some-
where like Bunnings. Not only is
this cost-effective but I’ve actually
found herbs seem to grow better
than in fancier containers! We
leave them in our patio in easy
reach of the kitchen as we love
using herbs in our cooking.
It’s a bit too late to sow oregano
from seed now, but Awapuni have
bundles of four oregano seedlings
for just $5.49. They are also run-
ning a special until 9am 26 April
2021 or while stocks last. You can
purchase 3 bundles of herbs for
just $12.
4. Order spring bulbs
If you haven’t already done so, get
and
your order for spring bulbs in to-
day! I highly recommend Bulbs
Direct for their high quality bulbs
and friendly and efficient service.
5. Get on top of weeding
Doing a bit every now and then
helps you keep your garden under
control.
busy is to do some video blogs (or
vlogs). I am very old-fashioned
and enjoy reading, but I am con-
scious that the younger generation
are not so keen on lengthy blogs or
newsletters and are into Youtube
and Tik Tok. In the winter when I
have a bit more time on my hands
I hope to look into the logistics of
setting up a Youtube channel.
 V O LU M E 3 , I S S U E 4 0
Tips for growing spring bulbs
With the long weekend ahead of
us, I thought it would be timely to
include some tips for planting
spring bulbs in my newsletter.
The extra day off is the perfect
opportunity to plant all your fa-
vourite spring bulbs, including
daffodils, dutch iris, freesias and
much more.
Here are my top tips for growing
spring bulbs successfully.
Buy high quality bulbs
It is better to have just a few high
quality bulbs than lots which are
poor quality and will invariably
fail to flower well. I prefer order-
ing mine from mail order compa-
nies rather than purchasing them
from garden centres. There are a
couple of reasons. Firstly, mail
order companies store them better,
leaving them in a better condition
than garden centres who keep
them in plastic bags on the shop
floor. Secondly, mail order compa-
nies offer a greater selection than
can be found at garden centres and
often at much better prices, espe-
cially if you’re buying in bulk. My
go-to bulb supplier is Bulbs Direct.
I can attest to the high quality of
their bulbs, their reasonable prices
and their friendly and efficient
customer service.
Plan your planting
Make sure you are planting your
bulbs at the right time. I wouldn’t
start planting earlier than April as
it is still too warm. By this time, it
has started to rain and the ground
is much cooler. If you live in a cli-
mate with mild winters, it is best
to defer planting tulips and hya-
cinths until May. Even then,
you’ll find they flower much better
if they have a cold spell in the
fridge beforehand. The same ap-
plies to anemones and ranunculus.
Don’t keep veggies and fruit in
with your bulbs as they emit a gas
which can cause your bulbs to fail
to flower. If you really can’t avoid
this, pop an ethylene sachet in the
bag with your bulbs.
A NI T A ’ S G A R D E N
My beautiful ranunculus in bloom
last spring. I purchased them from
Bulbs Direct
Choose the site carefully
In order to flower well, spring
bulbs need to be positioned in full
sun (6 hours or more). If they are
planted in a very shady site, they
may fail to flower.
Use a good bulb fertiliser
For best results, mix some bulb
fertiliser into the ground at the
time of planting
your bulbs
“”The extra day off is the
Use bulb baskets perfect opportunity to
plant all your favourite
I like to plant my spring bulbs, including
bulbs in bulb bas- daffodils, dutch iris,
kets to help keep freesias and much more.
them together and
make them easier
to locate when I lift them at the
end of the season. The only down-
side is the expense. As they are
underground and made of plastic,
they can deteriorate quite quickly.
Plant bulbs in containers
Bulbs can look stunning planted in
containers and some bulbs even do
better in pots than in the ground.
Bulbs that look nice in containers
are dwarf freesias, miniature daf-
fodils and dwarf irises (iris reticu-
lata). Hyacinths also look stun-
ning planted in containers.
Make sure you use a quality con-
tainer mix (not garden soil).
PAGE 3
Lifting your bulbs
You don’t have to lift your bulbs at
the end of every season but it’s a
good idea to do so every few years
as they multiply and can become
quite cramped. Make sure you
wait until all the foliage has died
down before lifting your bulbs oth-
erwise the bulb won’t have a
source of nourishment and it will
flower poorly the following season.
If you live in a warmer climate,
you’ll need to lift your tulips and
hyacinth at the end of the season
so you can refrigerate them prior
to planting them next autumn.
When chilling bulbs, make sure
you don’t put them in the fridge
too early or it can destroy the bud
development. April is perfect.
Storing your bulbs
After you lift your bulbs, leave
them to dry in trays with holes at
the bottom for ventilation. I don’t
wash my bulbs as I find that when
they’re dry, the dirt easily shakes
off. I like keeping my bulbs in
mesh or netted bags which allow
free air flow until
it is time for
planting them
the following au-
tumn. Store in a
cool, dry place.
Cut flowers
Most bulbs make excellent cut
flowers and are widely used in ar-
rangements by florists. My per-
sonal favourite are dutch iris.
They are tall, adding height to big-
ger bouquets or look stunning as a
bunch of flowers on their own.
They also last well in a vase. An-
other favourite is the tulip variety
Renown Unique, which Bulbs Di-
rect stock. This is a late flowering
variety with strong long stems
that looks stunning in a vase.
Have a good weekend
Happy gardening!