Dockrillia linguiformis, a.k.a. the tongue orchid, from the shape of the leaves. A local orchid with these lovely flowers at the break of spring. Happy with very little, it grows on a section of wood, just hanging on an East facing wall. Finding the right spot for it took a while, and it slowly declined in various sheltered spots until I found the current one. It probably needs rain exposure and a little shade to do best.
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Yellow dancing ladies
Apparently the Latin name is in dispute, but yellow dancing ladies probably describes this one better than Oncidium anyway. The main flowering for this is late October but this year it’s flowered well in August. It’s an odd cultivar, with a twisted mass of pseudo bulbs and twisted leaves, and like its purple relative it clambers away from its origin and needs frequent re-setting. Bright indirect light, plenty of water, go light on fertilizer, and cold tolerant to 5C.
Read MoreDendrobium kingianum
One of the last flowers of Winter, this Dendrobium is sweet like snowdrops. It’s a rock orchid native to the Sydney area, but grows in sand or bark or whatever. Dropping shoots is its specialty, so you could multiply a plant to completely cover a balcony in a few years. Comes in whites and pinks. Give it plenty of morning or dappled sun.
Read MoreCoriander
Leaves, seeds, roots, even pretty flowers. It’s not such a pity when your coriander bolts to flower, just time to sow some more.
Read MoreEpidendrum
The toughest of orchids, these don’t care about watering, feeding or potting mixture, and grow in full sun and heat against a North wall. They’re also good for sharing pots with deep rooted plants (I’ve got them with Strelitzias and Cordylines). What’s more they seem to flower continuously, especially noticeable in Winter. I picked these up as cuttings that had been left out to share in Paddington. They are a richer red than the photo possibly shows, and a few people have commented on the intense colour lately. The canes…
Read MoreCymbidium
The cymbidium flowering again with plenty of winter colour, all ready for display inside the apartment. Cymbidiums are a tough and reliable pot plant for most Australian conditions. Possibly the commonest mistake in growing them is giving them too sheltered conditions. In Summer rainfall areas they do fine in their pots outside in bright light (morning sunlight is ideal). Dry conditions in Winter are best. You can bring them inside while they flower, and they make a bold show with their good size and strappy leaves.
Read MoreGolden Rice
A recent Swiss radio (DRS) podcast had an interesting report, about Golden Rice and the introduction of genetic engineering. Golden Rice was engineered to produce beta-carotene in the endosperm. The background is that Vitamin A deficiency is widespread in tropical developing countries, and that the beta-carotene (precursor of Vitamin A), although naturally produced by rice, is mainly present in the bran and so polished away in the culturally preferred preparation by refining. By engineering the staple crop to produce available vitamin, the researchers potentially neatly solved a major malnutrition problem.…
Read MoreGreenhouse
We picked this greenhouse up at Aldi for $30. It seemed so cheap that it didn’t matter if it was useless, but it’s turned out to be surprisingly good. Assembly was complicated, and it’s not at all rigid. The panels are polycarbonate formed like corrugated cardboard, which seems to give it good insulation. We had a 6 degree C night this week, and the temperature stayed above 10 C in the greenhouse, so I’ve put my Phalaenopsis orchids in (under shade cloth). It’s against the North facing wall (which also…
Read MoreRosemary
Having rosemary to pick is kind of a kitchen essential, and a bonus is that it’s a beautiful and perfectly behaved plant. Mine is flowering now, in mid winter, and attracting a few bees. Rosemary is very hardy, grown in a large pot, and long lived. About the only attention it needs is deciding which sprigs to pick in order to keep the shape right.
Read MoreDandelion salad herb
Apparently we have the French to thank for breeding a dandelion salad herb cultivar. I got mine as seeds from a local merchant. We like the occasional dandelion leaf addition to green salads, and friends have commented favourably on it, but it’s definitely for those who don’t mind a bit of bitterness. You can blanch the leaves under a pot to reduce the flavour, but who’s organised enough for that? Growing dandelion I would have said this hardly needs instruction. It stretches the boundary between weed and herb if you’ve got…
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