Screen Queens

 

I was asked recently what a suitable screening plant was for a sunny position?
Here are my top 3 ...


1. Best "Grey Foliage screen" Westringia 'Wynyabbie Gem'
"Wynyabbie Gem" is a 1.5m tall x 1.5 m wide bushy shrub native to Australia. It is also know as native rosemary. This hardy shrub features grey/ green fine foliage. Pretty little mauve flowers appear in spring and throughout the year. I think it's a little under-used in today's gardens. There are so many great reasons to grow this screen. Team it with grey, silver and black foliage for a muted modern palette or use it as a back drop in formal gardens.

2. Best "Tough as Boots Screen"- Viburnum tinus.
I rave about this plant allot. It's an old fashioned shrub that can grow over 3m if left unpruned, but easy to maintain at a medium height. Plant viburnum in a row about 1m apart for a brilliant evergreen hedge or screen. The screen can be kept as low or tall as you like. The lush foliage is covered in clusters of white flowers with a flush of pink in spring. People will knock on my door asking "what is that screen?". It always looks lush, even in the hottest of weather.

3.Best "Red Hedge"- Lilly Pillys.
Pop into Serenity Nursery and you will see several varieties of Australian native lilly pilly. The lilly pilly come under three botanical names- Syzygium, Acmena and waterhousea.  If you are wanting a taller growing screen plant Lilly Pilly Backyard Bliss. It will grow 2-3m tall with magnificent red new growth. This particular lilly pilly is popular as it is psyllid free- so there will be no dimpled foliage in sight.  "Backyard bliss" responds well to pruning and can be pruned to any height.

Hope this will help solves your screening needs...Krystal

Out of the Square

 What a quirky idea for a garden gate. It is sometimes these hand-made off beat elements that can make a garden and give it a sense of personality. An"out of the square" detail can break up common garden elements such as lawn, retainer walls and hedging and give your garden life!

Image via Dying of Cute.

Yellow Cucumbers..to be or not to be...

Someone recently asked us...

Q. "How do I prevent my cucumbers turning yellow".

A. First we would suggest checking the variety of cucumber planted Check the seed packet or seedling label as there a many varieties of cucumber that are intended to be yellow, such as the armanian cucumber. Once you are certain the cucumber is a green variety check your harvest time. Cucumbers are generally ripe between 50-70 days. Cucumbers love a sunny spot and with the right care should thrive during the warmer months. They are fast growers with a shallow root system so frequent harvesting is important. Yellow cucumbers are often the result of over ripeness. Cucumbers should be picked when they are firm and bright green to dark green. If they are left to yellow on the bush they can become bitter and inedible.

Yellow By Design:
A cucumber that is yellow to cream in colour.

Armenia Cucumber (picture above). A yellow cucumber with a wonderful refreshing taste. We grow it in the organic nursery grow house. Sow the seeds in spring or summer. It can be trained up a trellis or left to sprawl.
Our Tip for Growing cucumbers: Use Plants Plus Organic Groganic soil improver to help prepare the soil structure. Fertilise with Neutrog Rocket Fuel, it's a fantastic organic pellitised fertiliser to use from 2 weeks right through the growing season. Keep cucumbers moist and choose a sunny spot in the garden.
Also try Crystal cucumbers a pale apple-sized cucumber that is juicy and lovely to eat on it's own.

Plant or chocolate? Have both!

Let's face it chocolate and Christmas go so well together and what an inovative way to get your chocolate fix with a Chocolate Cosmos plant. The chocolate flowers are heavenly perfumed of sweet chocolate and this plant will grow in a pot or out in the garden.

Chocolate Cosmos are in the garden centre now so be quick.

To Oz....

We love all things quirky here at Serenity Nursery and these galv boot planters are one of our favourite quirky items in at the moment.

 

Perfect for planting flowering bulbs or little dandy geraniums.

They also remind me of the Tin Mans Boots...Oil Me!!

 



Today's Wimsy...

 

Hope your all enjoing the festive season.

What's in store?

 

New in for Christmas:

 

Don't worry be happy metal signs.

 

Our teak deer head wall mounts are back ( as featured in Real Living Magazine)

 

Lots of wall art including a variety of tree designs from $30.

 

Teak furniture for outdoors.

 

Hyathins patio settings.

 

Too much to mention, pop in for a visit and see for yourself.

 

Krystal

xx

 



 

Today's Dirt:

Image here

Gardens for Horses...

First of all we designed the garden in the nursery by teaming different plants around the ball sculptures. Some of the plants we used included dark purple cannas, silver foliage succulents, yellow banana split yuccas, dark foliage blazed dianellas and flap jack succulents. We then watered them well, spayed the foliage with a heat protectant and loaded them onto the truck for the journey to Adelaide.

 

Man Power. Lucky my Hubby and Dad were here to do all of the heavy lifting. Here you can see the horse jumps in the background.

We discussed with the officials where the display could be positioned. With water pipes below, a camera crew and leaping horses, we couldn't be complacent about the positioning.

 

I position the plants...the fun part. I just love designing gardens and love the contrast between different foliage's. The soft grey foliage of the frosty top lomandra combines

 well with the structured succulents.

 A couple of cranes in the centre makes the display near complete.

 

 



 

I really liked this part of the display. We used English box at varying heights around the obelisk and placed a topiary cone box in the centre.

 



Finally all of the plants were covered in mulch. Over the 3 days the canna lillies flowered and it was great to see the beautiful horses galloping around our display.

What an incredible opportunity we were given to supply plants for the International 3 day horse event held on the edge of Adelaide city at Rymill park. We were also offered an area of the track to design and install a garden. We used our unique teak garden balls and teak obelisk and installed plants around them for an eye catching display. Our display was set right amongst the horse jumps and was was greatly appreciated by visitors to the park.

Boot Scootin

Look what I did with Dad's old boots...

How to: Drill a few holes in the bottom of the boots for drainage.
Filled them up with Succulent Potting mix.
Plant a selection of upright and cascading succulents for effect.

Scarecrows and raised garden beds...

Darcy with his newly planted Raised Garden Bed from Serenity Nursery.


1st Prize: Congratulations to Darcy Walding of Murray Bridge High School who won Serenity Nursery's Annual Scarecrow making competition. Darcy hand stitched his scarecrow and stuffed it with hay, they old fashioned way, making a very authentic looking scarecrow. Dacy took out the most community votes and won himself this Raised colour bond garden bed including Amgro Soil and a lovely mix of vegetables and herbs worth $700.

2nd Prize: went to Holly Dimasi, also of Murray Bridge High school. Holly's arty skills found her using a dolls face and hand painted Rossy boots. Holly Took home a compost tumbler valued at $210.

3rd Prize: Coonalpyn Primary School took the recycled approach making a large chicken wire body filled with a variety of recycled materials such as a used key board, plastic bottles and scratched cds. Coonalpyn School took home a Tumbleweed worm cafe and accessories valued at $120.

Serenity Nursery would like to thank everyone who entered the scarecrow competition and everyone from the community who took the time to vote for their favourite scarecrow. A big Thank you to our sponsor Amgro, a local supplier of ours who provide us with top quality potting Mixes for best results in the garden.

Heart to Heart

I was flipping through this months Home Beautiful and I found this pretty bedroom with a heart hanging above the bed. It is very similar to the hearts we stock at Serenity Nursery. Head to the
 Wall art page on the Serenity Nursery website to see our natural handmade wall hearts in an antique grey finish. Three sizes available starting from $19.99.

Image: Home Beautiful

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.

A day with family in a topiary courtyard...

This is my aunty and uncle's courtyard topiary garden in the eastern suburbs. I wanted to show what you can do with a small space and achieve a practical low maintenance garden. I must say we had a great bbq lunch here and sat by the Mexican chiminea (note: this same authentic chiminea is available @ serenity nursery).
The courtyard is basically a potted garden, the only thing planted in the ground is a massive old fig tree that shades and envelopes the courtyard. Buxus box and lilly pillys form conical shapes in the assortment of terracotta pots for a Tuscan touch.

A terracotta bowl filled with cascading lobelia casually sits on a teak folding chair. A couple of  hand spun tall round pots by South Australian company Bennett's Pottery are a long lasting terracotta product that won't fret and are perfectly teamed with  lilly pilly cone topiary. Parsley is potted for use in the kitchen near by.

My Aunty snapped up this old iron table and chair set from a chuck-out near by. It was white and rusted but once given a sand back and a lick of black paint it came up as good as new. It really adds character to the garden.

 

A perfect place to relax: Teak furniture and a sandstone outdoor dining table make this a great spot to chill out with family. Check out the cream provincial urns on the dining table- A gift from us at Serenity!

 



 

The English box topiaries have flourished with new spring growth bringing splashes of

 green to the courtyard. 



Today's quirky saying...

Artwork by Blue Fruit

Arty Stuff..

 



 

A few images to inspire your creative side this spring...Krystal.

A dog in sheeps clothing...

 

 

If you are a regular customer at Serenity Nursery you would know Frank Aka Pierre and TokyLiu (picture above) ,the  resident toy poodles who roam the garden centre and follow their owners like little sheep.

 

I did see a slight resemblance between our cream and red poodles and these cute and woolly sheep when I found this picture today.

 



Garden Sculpture Balls...

Have you seen our garden sculpture balls made from teak wood chips?

Teak is a marvelous hardwood suitable for outdoors. If left untreated teak can take on a silver grey appearance and look great in any environment. I love them as a cluster of three but they can look equally as good scattered throughout a garden. Native grasses such as lomandras and dianellas can look great casually planted around them. Mimic the shape with your plantings, try  native rosemary clipped into low balls for a designer look.

For price and enquiry's contact Krystal:      admin@serenitygarden.com.au

YUMMY NEW- Blueberry Lime Jam Petunia

Winning Combination Blueberry & Lime...

Pop into Serenity Nursery and find a fantastic range of flowering seedlings....

You will find  Petunia " Blueberry Lime Jam"in our new expanded seedling hut , an exciting new annual petunia for a sunny spot in the garden. This petunia will add vibrancy to your garden or entertainment area and flower from spring until winter Petunia " Blueberry Lime Jam" is also Perfect in pots and hanging baskets. Availble in punnets this spring.

Patio Plant of the Year.

Look out for Iberis Turbo at Serenity Nursery this Spring....

This new and exciting plant was awarded Patio Plant for 2012. It's a great little perennial that has large showy white flowers and grows around 30cm high x 30cm wide. Irberis Turbo will bring long lasting freshness and vigour to the garden and patio and is repeat flowering ( flowers late winter, Spring and Summer). Iberis Turbo is perfect for pots and even attracts buterflies into your garden.

Look out for Iberis Turbo near our lavender display today...

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.

Not so mellow yellow...

Need to cover an area in the garden fast? Grow one of these! It's an osteospermum called "Voltage".

It features large daisy-like flowers in vivid yellow. "Voltage" has a spreading/ mounding habit so it can act like a ground cover in your garden. Check them out available in "Copper Apricot" and purple.

Bring on Spring Gardening!

Grow an assortment of  vegies and herbs in a rustic wheel barrow.

From Garden to Kitchen, it;s easy to grow your own.

Here are some ideas as to what to grow this Spring:

Capsicum

Tomatoes

Corn

Crystal Apple Cucumbers

Tuscan Kale

Leek

Cos lettuce

Eggplant

Cabbage

Climbing beans

Beetroot

Basil (herb)

Corriander (herb)

 

New Release Plant...

Look out in the garden centre for the new range of  Hellebore's. This one pictured here is " Penny's Pink" also look out for "Winter Sunshine" and " Ivory Prince" all @ Serenity Nursery now!

With their domed shaped flowers and soft muted colours, these hellebore's are they perfect way to add elegance to your winter garden. Plant these low growing plants in a shady nook or under tree canopies. Create a magnificent effect by planting them in glazed or earthy pots.

Check out our new pots for inspiration here.

Image via Plants Management Australia

Glam Gardening...

Bring out your feminine side with PGA's new plant release "The Princess Lavender".

It is so pretty you have to visit us a Serenity Nursery to see it!!

The Princess lavender features large, vibrant pink flowers and a long flowering time. The main flower flourish will be in Spring and will continue to flower through out the year. This is a compact lavender growing approx 70cm x 70cm. The foliage is aromatic and the cut flowers are ideal to use in arrangements.

Princess Lavender is easy to grow and requires little water once established.

Try Growing your Princess Lavender:

In your favourite container

As a small growing border

En Masse for great effect

Image via Plant Growers Australia