I think the painted concrete urn sums up Primula Lollipops. It is a classic of the 50's & 60's but sadly not as popular as it was. There are good reasons for the demise of the concrete urn, but not so for the Primula other than it is a plant that takes its time to achieve its potential. 'Aint that the way of things? So it is my contention that Primula malacoides is the flower for the "slow food movement". Treat them right, give them time and the reward is worth every minute. Pansies may be prettier up close but I believe nothing matches Primulas en masse.
Primula Lollipops is the mix of a series including Gillham's White, Ruby Queen, Carmine Glow and Lavender Lady. Classics of the seedling industry. Primulas like sunny positions and well drained soil, no different to all the other flowers we grow. They are also exceptionally resistant to pests and diseases...EASY to grow. But! They are quite particular about when they get planted. In Melbourne, I believe the ideal window is beginning of March to the end of April. Nothing stopping you planting before or after, but these two months are the pick. In fact I'll go as far as suggesting we institute a new tradition: plant your "Primulas on the Easter weekend".
Planted earlier, the plants will often struggle in hot February weather so they're unlikely to flower any sooner than plantings completed up to a month later. Planting after the end of April is a bit like not cooking the Osso Bucco long enough, all the ingredients are there but you miss the magic. The Primula plant will flower according to season, it waits for the days to lengthen and the nights to start warming so choosing a planting time is mostly about allowing just the right time for a strong rosette of leaves to form that will support the multiple umbels of 'candelabra' flowers. Once the weather cools in May and into June the plants just don't develop fully before the flowers start to develop.
All good things must come to an end. After just short of 19 years work at Scotsburn our Nonna Nancy has retired this week. We said good bye in traditional Scotsburn style with a Bar-B-Q in the shed (it was a miserable day) and a glass of Riccadonna. Nancy's sister Nina had joined our team in my first spring season at the nursery, 1988 and Nancy joined her in 1992. Nina and Nancy formed a formidable team, really quick, beautiful quality, neat work and hard working. They were dynamite on anyone that didn't meet their standards. They are also both fantastic cooks, Nancy introduced me to Tiramisu and to be quite honest her's is so good I just don't bother with any other. Nina retired in 2006 and Nancy has been Queen Bea ever since. And it has mostly been fun, often a loud voice would be heard from our potting shed: "BOOL SHEET" followed by raucous laughter.
In 19 years Nancy has mentored dozens of nursery folk of many different backgrounds. Her fiery Italian temper has flared on occasion but it's Nancy's support and friendship with her little Cambodian friend Sina that I think is one of the most beautiful relationships I have known. Nancy's friend in this pic is Michele who was only a girl when she started here a couple of years after Nancy and now supervises all our production. While we were lunching yesterday I said to Michele "You look thoughtful", she just replied "it's sad". Yes, there were some tears as well as laughs. So thank you Nancy Pants, you remind me of one of the great things about our industry... the people we work with.
Love you Nance.
The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is over for another year. I had to step back from our commitment to The Great Victorian Hanging Basket Competition (follow this link for a list of all the winners) this year, it is just getting too big. I have to say that letting go and getting a broader range of input was the best thing I could do. Congratulations to Don & Jennifer Rickerby and their hard working RHSV team, especially Rod & Kevin. Thanks also to James Wall, Gardenworld and Andrew Jones, Poynton's of Essendon for the work they put into a spectacular display.
Although we reduced our commitment, the Hanging Basket Competition was still the focus of our own representation at the show. We supplied 6 Magic Square Gardens to dress the display along with 3 other gardens for the Tree and Shrub Growers of Victoria's "Kitchen Garden". The response at the show and since has been enormous! Lots of enquiry and web hits. Plus a few questions that came up consistently, especially "What soil should I use in my raised garden bed?".
My immediate response is "this is a big pot so the ideal growing medium is potting mix". Quality potting mix is carefully formulated to manage water and air availability for your plants. We offer potting mix filled Magic Square Gardens but for many people working on a budget this is prohibitively expensive. I have seen top soil from garden supplies used quite regularly, but I have also been disappointed with the plant growth. Garden supplies spruik their favourite top soil but I worry that it is hungry and prone to holding too much water for vegie growing. So what is the best answer?
No Dig Gardening! Mix the top soil up with layers of straw and animal manure to create and ideal vegetable growing media in a box. So what do you need? One Magic Square Garden holds 1m3 of soil so here's a suggested recipe for filling your bed on a budget and still getting a great result.
Quality Top Soil. 2/3 - 3/4m3
Sugar Cane mulch 1 Bale
Horse Poo 1 Bag
Composted garden clippings and worm castings... if you have these available, use them liberally.
I have chosen Sugar Cane mulch because it is available everywhere in convenient bales, lucerne hay is apparently the pick of mulching materials. I chose horse poo because there is plenty of agistment arond here and bags of cheap poop available. Dynamic Lifter is very good and available everywhere.
We're going to produce a layer cake in a box. Start with the mulch, put about 1/3 of the bale in the bottom of your box and add 5-6 hand fulls of manure. Fill the box to about half way with top soil then add another layer of mulch (1/3 of the bale) & manure, it's a good idea to water the layers at this stage to help settle them in. Use the rest of the soil which should leave about 10cm to the top of the box from the soil surface. Plant your vegies in this soil and dress around them carefully with the remaining mulch. Don't use any more fertilizer in this last layer, too much manure too close to the plants can cause burning problems. Osmosis and root systems will draw the goodness up so the plants can use it. You can side dress with maure once the plants have matured and they are looking for additional food while they put energy into flowering and fruiting.
Let me know how your garden grows so I can update this information.
Thanks also to Rosie Appleton and the Berwick Viewfinders Camera Club for the great pics from the Flower & Garden Show.
