Spring Green your home...

 

 

 

Morrocan Pouffe available at Serenity Nursery

Some interior style ideas using light green, cream and white to help bring "Spring" into your home. Using green this way lightens and brightens the home for Spring/Summer. Use Indoor plants or bring your outdoor plants inside for a short period. Try cut flowers like green hydrangeas or opt for all green foliage in a vase for an element of freshness.

It's in the Stars..

                                   1. Daphne Odora, Fragrant star shaped flowers.

Tulbaghia (Society Garlic)- Grass-like foliage with purple or pink star-shaped flowers.

Chinese Star Jasmin (trachelospermum jasminoides). Climbing plant with fragrant white star flowers.


On this beautiful Spring Day here in Murray Bridge I thought I would share with you my favourite Spring flowering star shaped flowers.

Daphne Odora is one of the most fragrant flowers around and will fragrance the air profusely. It features clusters of star-shaped flowers in white/pink.  Daphne  odora will grow well in a pot or in the garden. Choose a spot out of the afternoon sun and plant in a well draining soil. Daphne odora will  grow to approx 1 m tall and it is ideal planted near an entertaining area to appreciate its delightful perfume.

Tulbaghia (Society Garlic)- This low growing plant has many uses in the garden. It looks fantastic as a garden border plant and can look equally as good in a pot. Society garlic will flower in the shade making it the perfect companion plant for daphne odora. It will also grow well in a sunny position.

Chinese Star Jasmin (trachelospermum jasminoides). One of the prettiest climbers around. This climber will grow over archways or cover a fence. It's great if you want to soften the look of hard architectural lines in your garden. The star-shaped flowers  are a pretty take on the common jasmin climber.

All available in the nursery now.

Deluxe Nectar

 ...Our new terracotta birds and pink lanterns are the perfect garden accessory.

Mother's Day is the prettiest time of year in our garden centre. Pink lilliums, orchids, hyacinth, gerberas, cyclamens and camellias are in bloom. We go mad with our deluxe plant gift wrapping using the prettiest printed papers.

Green scene

GO GREEN

When I designed my front garden  three years ago I was determined to have

an all green garden. Green foliage with a hint of white flowers was the plan. This theme would go with my mist green roof and cream timber posts on my little cottage.

Green plants that I used in my garden pictured above:

Frangapani- Cream flowers, large broad green leaves.

Buxus Faulkner- Green foliage, excellent evergreen border.

Cycad- Palm ideal planted in urns or pots.

Escallonia Iveyi- White flowers, dark green foliage.

Viburnum- Excellent screen, White flowers

Hellebore " Ivory Prince"- Cream to green flowers

Viburnum Laurustinis- One of the hardiest hedging plants around. Will grow 3m + and can be pruned to suit your location. Here I have used the viburnum to screen the fence line. I planted them 1m apart and prune the tops regularly to promote bushy plants. Doing so has paid off as they formed a hedge quickly. I like to use Neutrog SeaMungus throughout the year to keep the hedge healthy. Neutrog sudden impact for lawns is also great for leafy plants.

Hellebore "Ivory Prince"- A gem in the garden. I have planted my "Ivory Prince" under my advanced frangapani trees, they provide part shade for this amazing plant. The flower starts off cream and changes to green ( pictured above).

I have blogged this picture before, Its a favourite of mine. I think it must remind me of our garden centre, with all of the life size elephants roaming around.

Green Ivy walls. I would never get sick of this sight.

Grow Green. Grow your own edibles not only for eating but for visual effect. Try a border of green kale, creeping thyme as a ground cover or feijoa as a hedge.

It's a green life. I found this image on Martha Stuart.com. and thought I might share it with you.

I absolutely love this. Try it yourself, by placing a few pavers in the garden and envelope them with a sea of green.

Green Ideas for planting in between pavers:

Dichondra- A small kidney shaped leaf that grows close to the ground ( available in seed or seedlings). Dwarf Mondo Grass, low growing dark green foliage. Creeping thyme, will take light foot traffic and will be fragrant too.

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New Product

Yates Confidor Tablets Garden Insecticide protects roses, azaleas, lillypillies, palms, magnolias and eucalypt trees against significant damage caused by aphids, azalea lace bug, psyllids, mealybugs and scale.
Confidor is systemically taken up from the tablet via the plant roots to control insect pests. The nutrients in the tablet assist uptake of Confidor by the roots and enhance plant growth.

Features

• Systemic insecticide
• Provides extended protection against insect pests in ornamental plants
• Easy to use – No spraying or mixing
• Provides months of protection
• Contains added fertiliser to help plant growth

Text & Images- Yates.com.au

Pictured here is an Australian Lilly Pilly showing signs of Psyllids, a tiny sap sucking insect. These insects can cause a dimpled effect on foliage. It is sometimes difficult to control psyllids and we suggest using Yates Confidor Insecticide Tablets.

Better still select a lilly pilly form that is Psyllid Free.

Pictured here is an indoor plant covered in Mealybug. Mealybug appear like white cotton wool tucked in plant crevesis or along the stems and leaves. This can be a common occurance on indoor potted plants and palms. The Yates confidor tablets would be ideal to pushed into the pot plant or used at planting time. The tablet would last upto 6 months. What a great idea- no spraying required.

Tip: Give your potted indoor plants a break from the indoors, place them outdoors for a couple of days every month or so to give them fresh air. Indoor plants in a well ventilated area will be less prone to pests such as meallybug.

Available instore Now.

Waste Not Want Not- Natural ways to garden.

1. Pencil Pines in a row or up a driveway can look impressive and are extremely water wise.
2. Lavender and salvias will grow well in an old bath tub.
3. Seedlings are available in biodegradable pots and can be planted straight into the ground.
4. Do you have a large glass jar or old fish bowl laying around? Plant in it and keep it indoors.
5. Gorgeous berry pie...from home grown berries we hope!
6. Succulents can look fab planted in an urn and are easily propagated from cuttings.

Lucky Bamboo

Add some Zen to your living area with Lucky Bamboo. Lucky bamboo is not actually a bamboo, it's from the dracaena family( a plant found in the tropics). Lucky bamboo is s easy to care for making in a popular indoor plant. They are available potted in soil or bare rooted in water. Lucky Bamboo will grow in a vase of water too.
The curly ones are created by putting straight bamboo into low light tunnels, rotating them, and letting the in light.

Choose a spot out of direct sunlight. A well lit bathroom or kitchen is ideal.

Find more ideas at our Plant Nursery and Garden Center website:  www.serenitynursery.com.au

In the Nursery Today

The staff at Serenity Nursery have been busy beatifying the show room. We love our natural green and white display highlighting our unique woven patio furniture.

Image via Serenity Nursery

Pretty in Pink.

Hydrangeas are easy to grow in a shady spot in the garden or in a well lit patio or veranda.

They flower mainly through Spring and Summer and are a popular cut flower.

Image via Strikes Our fancy

Green Bathroom

I found these rustic pots at Serenity ( of course) and have placed some succulents in them to add a lttle greenery to my bathroom.

Image Serenity Nursery

Bring the outdoors in

 There are many benefits of having plants indoors. They help oxygenate the air, they look much better than fake plants and they make you feel good.

Interesting Foliage Plants

For a tropical style garden add plants with variegated or interesting foliage such as this stunning ficus. 

Ficus are ideal in pots in a patio or under a pergola area.

Available in store now.