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Weeds are starting to grow - late April to early May in Perth Western Australia

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If you have areas of bare earth in your garden, most likely there are countless tiny and small weeds starting off now, so now is the time to stop them. Scrape them away before they use up the nutrients in your soil, and get big and bulky to dispose of, and hard to pull out. There is no need go shopping for toxic expensive herbicide chemicals that poison the soil. There is no need to buy anything except a simple garden tool that should last you forever if you store it out of the weather. You could probably find a good second-hand one cheap at the tip shop. The tool for this task is a garden hoe. There are various designs and sizes, but what matters most is using it, now. The advantage of using the hoe to tackle weed seedlings is that it keeps you upright without having to kneel down or bend over, but for small weeds in fiddly spots you might need to put on your garden gloves, get down and scrape the weeds with a garden hand trowel. I am sure that when most people think of ...
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The famous Veilchenblau rose - because life is too short for ornamental grasses

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As you might guess, the rambler Rosa 'Veilchenblau' was bred in Germany. The name translates as "violet flower blue". In 1909 chief gardener Hermann Kiese bred this charismatic rose and it was sold by nurseryman Johann Christoph Schmidt. The parents are thought to be the mauve Souvenir de Brod AKA Erinnerung an Brod, and Turner's Crimson Rambler, a strong rose with Asian heritage. Veilchenblau is a parent of a number of other purple ramblers bred in the early 1900s. At one time in the history of horticulture a quest to breed a blue coloured rose was a craze, and why not? I can't think of a more delightful goal to focus one's life energies on, besides having kids, but a really successful rose cultivar will outlast any human life span, so I guess that is a more lasting and unique legacy than parenthood. The famous Veilchenblau rose is hybrid multiflora cultivar that has been variously described as mauve, violet or blue in colour, but the wonderful thing ab...
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Favourite plants in my Perth garden - Tuberose

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If you love scented gardens, night-scented gardens, white colour themed gardens or growing fragrant flowers specifically to impart your home with natural fragrances, you absolutely must add the Tuberose to your collection of garden plants. If you need to have plants in your garden that can survive and thrive in extreme summer heat, the Tuberose is also a great choice for you. The Tuberose is a fragrant flower of significance to the perfumery industry and many Asian cultures. Flowers that are night-scented or are more fragrant at night often seem to have white flowers, but there are cultivars of the Tuberose in pastel colours and also a single flower form, but it appears that none of these breeds have ever been put through to complex and expensive process of being imported into Australia through quarantine. If you have any coloured or single Tuberose bulbs or plants inside Australia I would love to know about it, so please leave a comment. Anyway, I will assume that for Australian gard...
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Now let's get you ready for action, in the garden!

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You will not be able to go hard with your gardening jobs if you are not physically equipped or prepared for the task. Your gardening session will be one big irritation if you are not suitably clothed and kitted for your work, and you will be sore and sorry for days after if you have not taken some simple steps to protect your body. This post is about clothing and personal protective equipment (PPE) for gardeners. A wide-brimmed hat that provides good protection from sunlight is an essential item for gardeners of the European race when the UV index is 3 or above, to avoid sunburn and the resulting increased risk of developing skin cancer and wrinkly, leathery skin. For Perth Western Australia this potentially harmful level of UV radiation covers most months of the year. When the level of ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is at the level of 2 or below sun protection is generally not needed unless you are going to be exposed for extended periods of time, and you could well benefit from ...
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Location: Perth WA, Australia
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