Author: Shahnee Stockigt

Walker Bay Orchid Society

WBOS was established in 1994 in Sandbaai and Hermanus area in the Western Cape by a group of Orchid enthusiasts. The goal of this Society is to share the knowledge about orchids, to curb the stereotype that “Orchids are difficult to grow”, to increase the membership to WBOS and to share the beauty of orchids with the public.

President: Leon Bredenkamp
President Email Address: orchids@hermanus.co.za
Secretary: Debra Martheze
Location: Hermanus
Website: https://hermanusorchid.wixsite.com/orchid

Meeting dates:

  • 21 April 2018
  • 28 April 2018 – Display at Whale Coast Mall
  • 19 May 2018
  • 23 Jun 2018
  • 21 July 2018
  • 18 Aug 2018
  • 22 Sep 2018
  • 28-29 Sep 2018 – Big Show
  • 20 Oct 2018
  • 17 Nov 2018

Costs, i.e. rates per month/membership/subscription: R105.00 per Year

Top Plants for June

A list of the top plants per region, for June, to order for your garden centre

Preview

Download here!

 

Water Wise Watch: May

 

In this issue:

  • Local and international water news
  • Updates on water restrictions in your province
  • Weather
  • Dam capacities
  • Drought information and FAQs

Water Wise Tip of the Month from Leslie Hoy

“Automatic irrigation systems must be turned down to reduce watering times and quantities by at least 50%. This will cater for the change in season. All manual watering should be reduced by half.”

 

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This month with Water Wise - Brought to you by Rand Water and Water Wise

Start preparing for winter...
 
The Nursery at Rand Water has already experienced its first frost! It may be an early winter, but forecasts suggest it will be mild until mid-season. Even though we can expect above-normal temperatures until June, don’t forget to make preparations in your garden for the coming cold. Mulch will keep the underlying soil warm, and frost netting will prevent shrubs and bushes from being frosted. And remember, always be Water Wise!

 

Water supply to the Vaal Dam described in images (diagram to the left)

There are three main dams that supply water to the Vaal Dam, namely the Woodstock Dam in KwaZulu-Natal, Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State, and Grootdraai Dam in Mpumalanga. This diagram shows portions of the transfer schemes that supply water to the Vaal Dam, specifically the Lesotho Highlands Water Transfer Scheme and the Tugela-Vaal Transfer Scheme. Included are the total dam storage capacities and surface areas for the major dams in the Upper Vaal Catchment.
 
Look for current dam statuses below.

International Day for Biological Diversity - 22 May 2017

This year’s theme is ‘Biodiversity and Sustainable Tourism’. South Africa is well known for its diversity in wildlife, climate, geology, and people, and is noted as one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. Celebrate IDBD by encouraging wildlife into your Water Wise garden.

Gilt Edge (Elaeagnus X ebbingei)

An attractive, evergreen shrub. Produces clusters of small, white flowers in summer, red berries in autumn. Grows well in a sunny position in areas with cold winters. Compact 4-5 meters can be used as low windbrake or a colourful hedge.

Free State Stockists

Alma Kwekery – Welkom
Bruwer Kwekery – Bloemfontein
Greenside Kwekery – Bloemfontein
Platberg Nursery – Harrismith
Urth Garden Centre – Bloemfontein

Gauteng Stockists

Colourful Splendour – Craighall Park
Garden Pavilion – Eckards
Garden Pavilion – Sunkist
Hecker Nursery – Boksburg
Lifestyle Home Garden – Randburg
Nicolas Plants – Northriding
Plant Paradise Garden Centre – Pretoria
Safari Tuinsentrum – Pretoria
Schaffler’s Nursery – Johannesburg

Mpumalanga Stockists

Ninfa Tuinsentrum – Middelburg

North West Stockists

Geelhout Gardens – Geelhout
Sittig’s Nursery – Hartebeespoort

**Please note that not all stockists will have every plant featured**

Camellia

Botanical Name: Camellia japonica (The Japanese Camellia)

Common Name: Camellia / The Rose of winter Camellia, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae (tea).

Available in large single or double flowers in pink, white and red.

Winter bloomer, exotic, evergreen and hardy

Perennial Green foliage

Grows in shade – semi shade and sun in mild climates.

Height: 4m+

Gauteng Stockists

Lifestyle Home Garden – Randburg

Limpopo Stockists

Mpumalanga Stockists

Western Cape Stockists

Tulbagh Kwekery – Tulbagh

**Please note that not all stockists will have every plant featured**

Indian Hawthorne

Botanical Name: Rhaphiolepis indica

A striking show of small flowers – ranging from white, to light pink and dark pink with a gorgeous dark purple/blue berry. The thick, leathery leaves are green making the plant wonderful for en masse planting in a garden bed or as a stand-alone. The flowers and berries work well in a vase. In spring time the leaves become a bronze colour. Plant in full sun

Exotic – native to Asia

Evergreen

Hardy

Height:1 -2 m

Gauteng Stockists

Lifestyle Home Garden – Randburg

Limpopo Stockists

Mpumalanga Stockists

Western Cape Stockists

Tulbagh Kwekery – Tulbagh

**Please note that not all stockists will have every plant featured**

Ideal for Indoors: May (Moth Orchid)

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, it’s a great time to start thinking about what to get your mom this year.  

One can NEVER go wrong with flowers and chocolate – but for garden lovers, it makes ‘good green sense’ to opt for living indoor flowering plants! Early autumn offers a wide array of stunning indoor pot plants – cyclamen are a firm favourite, as are gerbera, begonia and calla lilies.  

Our focus this month is on the Phalaenopsis, or Moth Orchid. A classy, stylish pot plant with simply exquisite blooms. If you are looking for something ‘special & different’ for an over-worked and and often unappreciated mom, then choose a moth orchid as unique, stunning and as deserving as your mom!

Orchids were once regarded as rare, exotic plants but are now a common and popular houseplant, prized for their wide selection of stunning blooms and ease-of-growth.

Phalaenopsis amabilis (Indonesian meaning ‘moon orchid’) can be found growing naturally on tree branches and between rocks. In tropical climates, Phalaenopsis orchids tend to grow on tree branches and between rocks, usually near a source of water for moisture. It is one of three national flowers in Indonesia and is often called the ‘beginner’s orchid’ because of its tolerance to average room conditions. In China, the moth orchid represents refinement, friendship, perfection, numerous progeny, all things feminine, noble and elegant.

Phalaenopsis are one of the easiest varieties to care for. The exquisite blooms range in colour from the clean classic white, to intense dark pink, with the latest ‘orchid trends’ tending towards mottled and speckled petals.

These super ‘easy to care for’ orchids have the added bonus of long-lasting blooms. When purchasing orchids, select plants with sprays of flowers that contain flower buds as well as open flowers. This staggers the flowering time, ensuring longevity and extended colour.

How to treat black spot in your garden

Symptoms

Our “gogga” for May causes purple or black patches appear on the upper leaf surface, with fungus sometimes visible. Leaves may turn yellow around the spots and then they often fall off.

What does this mean for me/my plants?

Plants are weakened and if not treated, will form less blooms, will be more susceptible to damage during winter, and other diseases.

Suggested Action

Treat preventatively with a contact fungicide or correctively with a systemic fungicide. Visit your local GCA garden centre for advice on the best fungicide for you!

A “Calm, Cool and Collected” Mother’s Day Gift

A mother has so many roles. She can be a best friend, a shoulder to cry on and a problem solver. “Mom” is basically a job description.

Always on her feet, mom deserves to be spoiled  - so why not treat her with a gift that can relieve some of that stress. This homemade zen garden is the perfect Mother’s Day gift to keep mom feeling calm, cool and collected when she is under pressure.

This is what you will need:

  • Some wood, cut into pieces (4 x 24.3cm and 3 x 21cm)
  • Wood glue/nails and a hammer
  • Zen garden sand/fine white sea sand
  • Some black decorative stones
  • Different succulents and/or air plants
  • Small stones
  • Potting mix
  • Weed barrier cloth, cut to the size of the inside of the box
  • A pencil or pen

Here’s what to do:

  • Before starting, you are going to have varnished four longer pieces of wood to create the four sides of the box.
  • Once the varnish is dry, you can help your kiddies to assemble the box. Glue the four pieces of wood together to create a square, with the ends sticking out, approximately 1cm from each edge. As you go along, make sure that the smaller pieces of wood can be glued snugly to the inside pieces, with drainage spaces in-between them, and which form the base of the box.
  • Once the glue is dry, and the pieces of wood are firmly stuck together, place the weed barrier cloth into the box. Make sure you tuck the cloth into the corners for a neater finish.
  • Let your kids fill the basket with potting mix, stopping a few centimetres before the rim of the basket.
  • Then let them plant the Gaura in the middle, making sure the roots are nicely covered.
  • Place the rest of the plants around the centre plant, to make a pretty display.

Autumn Delights

If it’s the “wow” from flowers you are looking for, then Iceland Poppies (Papaver naudicaule) are just the thing for you. Planted in autumn temperatures, they will help transform your garden into a winter wonderland. While some gardeners are loath to buy seedlings when they can’t see any blooms on the little plants, this shouldn’t be a concern. Poppies offer their best when planted early in the season, soon providing blooms that will keep on appearing right through to late spring.

Sweetly scented sweet peas are a must for the autumn garden, not only for their gorgeous smelling and looking blooms in the garden, but also to bring a little of the garden into your home when it’s a bit chilly to spend time outside because sweet peas make excellent cut flowers.

Poppies
Cheerful additions to any landscape, there is a wide variety of poppies on the market. Striking new hybrids are available in mixed colours as well as in single colours for those with specific colour schemes and for pastel lovers there are lovely pastel shades. Poppies work very well with spring bulbs, as well as inter planted with low growing annuals like pansies.

Poppies love gardeners that like to pick for the vase – the more you pick them the more they flower for you. If you don’t pick the blooms it’s essential that you deadhead the spent blooms to keep them flowering.

 

 

Sweet pea
Sweet peas, most often grown from seed, can also be found as ready to plant seedlings in many leading garden centres, which is wonderful if you’re impatient or don’t have time to nurture them from seed. Transplanting can be slightly tricky so take care to pick pots that can be planted straight into their new home, like peat pots, or individual earth friendly trays so seedling roots don’t need to be separated before planting.

SANA Marketing News: April 2017

Your one-stop link for news in April 2017!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to read the First Marketing Newsletter for April

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to read the Analytics and Publicity Report for April

May in the Garden

First of all, tie a knot somewhere to remind you that it is Mother's Day on Sunday, 14 May, and remember that your local GCA garden centre will be stocked to the rafters with the prettiest gift ideas to make all moms smile! While you're there, spoil yourself (and your garden) with seasonal colour and smart plants.  

Smart planting

When adding new plants to your garden this month, think about plants which have become icons for a reason, so that you are in the 'royal circle' of gardening too!

  • Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) is the heavenliest, ‘fake bamboo’ available! In large pots, they mean ‘good luck’ at your front door. They are the ‘zen’ in Zen gardens. You can plant them in a row in a narrow space, with its changing sun and shade patterns between the house and a boundary wall. They will soon supply a lacy look with their rust-tinted leaves, and supply height with their tall-growing branches, giving you much-needed privacy. The bright red berries they produce, will delight you during winter. Also plant a few of its dwarf cousin (Nandina pygmaea), to create fiery foliage balls with bright autumn colours all over - good for sun or light shade. Both are cold-hardy and waterwise.
  • Ravishing roses: GCA nurseries across the country list the following rose hybrids as their top sellers: 'Iceberg', 'Double Delight', 'Candy Stripe', 'Blue Moon', 'Satchmo' and 'Bride's Dream'. As their current stock of these varieties will have had a full summer season of growth behind them, it makes sense to plant them now. This will give them time to settle in over winter and by October, you should be showered in blooms!
  • Colourful from morning until dusk in all seasons: Two compact mirror bushes called Coprosma Pacific 'Sunset' and Coprosma Pacific 'Sunrise' can set your garden alight with colour.