The K-Paw project.

For ages and ages I've been blathering on about wanting to plant a sea of kangaroo paws in my front garden. They really do look fabulous when they're planted en masse and are in flower. I did a bit of a search in this blog and found that I'd been talking about seas of kangaroo paws as early as January 2011, and moaning about the cost as the cheapest I'd found them at that point was $8 each. Since them I've found them for less (about $3 each in tubes), but even better -for me, not the general public- is that I could get them from work for even less than that. (I started work at the nursery in July.) Bonus!

I have to make a confession here: I had put myself on a plant-buying ban for February. I didn't succeed on buying no plants at all; what plant addict would? But until the other day all I'd caved in on was an Agonis 'After Dark,' three Nepeta 'Walker's Low' and two irresistibly cheap Philadelphus mexicanus (mock orange). Then, last Monday, I brought home two boxes of babies and three bigger pots.

I had bought 11 yellow- green kangaroo paws in tubes, 13 red kangaroo paws, five Patersonia occidentalis (purple flag iris), and my three larger plants were Anigozanthus 'yellow gem' (an old and proven cultivar and I chose bright yellow in the hope that they'll make my 'yellow-green' flowered plants look yellower than they'll really be). The Patersonia and the K-paws have similar requirements - full sun and fantastic drainage - so I'm hoping they'll grow well together. Basically, I didn't just break my plant ban, I blew it right out of the water.

(Patersonias)

Months ago, I planted half a dozen K paws in the western corner of the front garden, and they've done so well it gives me high hopes for the next batch (they've done so well, in fact, that I think I've planted them too close together!)

(Paws left, Lomadras right, persimmon in background and mad roses behind that)

On Tuesday I was able to plant them all. It was quite a job and took me all afternoon: laying them all out; digging the holes; adding the compost, manure, blood and bone, mycorrhizae tablets, dynamic lifter (k paws are quite heavy feeders so it's best to get them off to a good start).

By the time I'd finished my front garden looked like this:



And best of all? The next day it rained and rained and rained all day, which hasn't happened for months, so I couldn't have asked for better 'settling in' weather for my new babies.

(our state awash... unlike in other states, rain is rarely a problem in SA.)

The photo below is taken from our bedroom window (splattered with raindrops), the design idea was to be able to look down over my see of kangaroo paws which will sweep off out into the garden to the left, framed by the persimmon tree (the stick at the bottom towards the left) and my new crabapple (ltop left in photo, almost invisible) and the Lomandra border on the right.

In a couple of years I hope to have not just a garden with a glorious swathe of kangaroo paws, but to play host to dozens of native birds as well.

xx

It wasn't me... (Winter wednesday #13)

...who used the bread knife to cut up a block of peat and then used a Tupperware jug to prepare the peat. Ahem.
OK, I lie. I'm not sure it's what kitchenware companies have in mind when they design their goods, but it works quite well on a block of compacted peat, the old bread knife.

You may have noticed that I have been propagating seeds like a madwoman lately. They're doing quite well overall, aside from a few toddler related 'incidents' (SP has long arms!) I've moved them outside to the picnic table which gets more sunlight.


I like the way the lids are secretive about what's inside underneath the condensation.


This is why I moved them: That's bok choy on the left, which shot up like crazy and I'm sure it's not supposed to be that tall and leggy! Even though it was bright inside its' not the same as sunlight, so I think this is why that happened and I have planted more since. On the right is roselle, which looks good, if a little bit anemic.


The hollyhocks sprouted very quickly too, and overall are looking pretty good... except for that random too-tall one on the left.


I'm also trying these out in my quest to grow kangaroo paws (Anigozanthus sp) from seed (so far, entirely unsuccessful, they sprout and die, without fail!). They're called 'Seedsticks' and are a promotional product which was passed on to me from my mother, I think, several years ago. I found them the other day and am giving them a shot, but because they're quite old now I don't know how well they'll work.


I've also filled up a few Styrofoam boxes with a mix of peat, compost, and manure, and have sown carrots and daikon in them. D snaffled the boxes for me from his work. Who's Ben, you ask? He's their fruit and veg wholesaler. I could fill my entire yard with these boxes if I wanted to; they only get thrown out otherwise.


Hum, hum, hum, what else? Oh yes, potato bags are filled with a peat/compost/manure mix too, and some old pea straw. And potatoes of course: two per bag. Keeping them company are my little figs and the pomegranate, which are all putting out their very first Spring leaves. Nawww!


And finally, the shape of things to come, drawn very shabbily with fluro pink marking paint. I'm not entirely sure what I was trying to focus on when I took the photo. Apparently nothing! But, poor photography skills aside, I am starting to see how things might look one day: a big, rounded garden bed with wide stairs up to it, and leading back to where I am standing is a low tier, the future home of my plum trees. No idea what I'm talking about? Have a look here: The Grand Plan (already altered, mind you, I need to update it!)


So that's Winter Wednesday for this week, and the second to last of the series: fun with paint, peat, poo, paws, and propagating. Spring is in the air and I am loving it! Pop over to Hazel's to see what else is going on.

Paws and Peas

I have become enamoured of Kangaroo Paws (Anigozanthus sp). Close up, they splay out half a dozen flowers like an extended hand, closer still, each flower opens like a furred six-pointed starburst.

(Image from the Australian Native Plant Society)

But from a distance, a single plant is not especially striking, with it's low strappy leaves close to the ground. It's a bit of a shy and retiring kind of plant, and to be honest I hadn't thought too much about it, my Native Love being almost entirely focused on Correas (Ahhh, Correas!)

And then I saw them planted along the new, rather extravagant and overblown overpass between South Road and Anzac Highway in Adelaide (for those playing at home), of all places. And then I understood. To appreciate the Kangaroo Paw, that retiring native from Western Australia, you must see them en masse. The flowers, which can be up to 2m tall, rise above those green strappy leaves in a froth of upraised hands. Beautiful.

(Image from here)

So, naturally, I must have some kangaroo paws in my garden. Lots and lots of them. I google, I look them up, I work out how many I would need (perhaps 100+), I am aghast; even little plants are $8 each. $800 in Kangaroo Paws? I am, for all intents and purposes, a stay-at-home-mum. I have no money, but I do have lots of time. Off to Ebay, where I dither for an hour: do I want yellow ones, or red ones? And then in the post arrive 150 Red Kangaroo Paw Seeds (Anigozanthus flavidus: $3). Read the instructions, seems fairly straight forward - plant in seed-raising mix, keep damp etc - wish me luck!


With my Paws, I also ordered 40 Sturt's Desert Pea seeds (Swainsona formosa: $3), the SA floral emblem, dontcha know?

(Image from Fir0002/Flagstaffotos).

They're pretty cool, and seeing the seeds for sale I couldn't resist. The propagation instructions for the Peas is, unlike the Paws, not very straight forward. One must soak the seeds overnight in hot water (which is happening as I write).


Then 'nick the seed coat of the seed lightly with a sharp knife opposite the eye'. Hmmm. They're only about 2mm long. And flat. Then they need to be soaked again. Mind you, some more googling tells me I might be able to get away with just very hot water, lest I slice off a finger in my nicking attempts. Or I can use sandpaper to break the coat open. I am hedging my bets by just trying half of the seeds to begin with. Such a hard coat is necessary in the wild to protect the seed until ideal germination conditions arrive (we have a hard climate, here in SA). And then I read that they can be hard plant to maintain in a home garden. $3 well spent, or more trouble than they're worth? We will see!