THE LOVE STORY
What started your interest in plants? I have always been fascinated by plants from a very young age. I started teaching myself about plants from around the age of 8, at the age of 10 I would watch TV shows and read gardening literature. I remember looking up at the trees and thinking to myself “Why have they grown like that and how”.
What started your interest in gardening? I believe it started when I was just a toddler as our family were always spending time away camping and surrounded by nature. My parents were always outside in the garden, us children would follow suit and play in the garden. It wasn’t until I was around the age of 8 that I started ‘gardening’. I would go to the local garden nursery with my dad and buy their sick/sad plants for a few dollars.
What started your interest in gardening? I have always been interested in gardening. I would sit down each week and watch Gardening Australia with Peter Cundall, he was always entertaining to watch. My parents would also buy the Gardening Australia magazine each month and find their ‘Plant of the month’ and beg my parents to let me buy one for the garden. We grew up on a decent size block in Melbourne, there was an empty patch along our fence line which I asked my parents if I could turn it into a garden. Luckily, they said yes. I turned that slice of lawn into my very own garden oasis.
What is your first plant memory? I remember a few… One of the best ones is when my parents and I found some beautiful 4ft standard roses at a nursery. We got the roses for extremely cheap and we planted them in the garden I created. I still remember the sweet fragrance from the first flower that ever emerge, the variety was called Hot Chocolate.
How big is your garden? I have two properties I tend to share on my blog. One is the farm which is 27 acres (10.9 Hectares) and my private property which is half an acre (0.2 hectare).
Is your garden mainly plants or lawn? The farm is 40% garden, the rest of the property is used for cattle. Private property – I recently purchased this place and it is mainly lawn at the moment, however, I have big plans for the gardens there.
What takes the most maintenance in your garden? At the moment, weeding. Spring is just starting here and everything is beginning to grow, weeds included…. So, I am making sure to keep on top of them at the moment.
What was the very first plant you ever had? Celosia plumosa
How many indoor plants do you own? Not as many as I would like, I would say about 15 plants. I have a bigger collection of cacti and succulents.
Which is your favourite indoor plant that you own? Hmm…. I think at the current moment it would have to be Shefflera actinophylla.
Do you like to grow produce? If so, what is your favourite fruit or vegetable to grow? A big YES. I love growing giant pumpkins each year.
What is your ‘must have vegetable’ to grow each year? Tomatoes is always a must but there are so many others!! Corn, carrots, capsciums, eggplants, cuccumber….
Is there a vegetable or fruit that you struggle to grow? I have struggled to get my banana tree to produce fruit. I haven’t struggle to grow anything as of yet…
Of the plants that you own, which is your favourite and why? This is a really difficult one… As a Horticulturist I love every plant because they all have their unique traits. I really can’t choose.
What is a plant care tip you wish you knew when you were first started gardening? Do you have any other tips you’d like to share? If your wanting to encourage bees into your garden plant Borage. It is a great plant as it produces the most beautiful blue blooms and once the bees take the pollen the flower turns to a pink/purple colour. So, it is a great plant to have in the garden to see if there is any pollination happening.
What was the last plant you purchased and why? Yesterday actually, I purchased an Elk Fern from a friend. As for why, it was a great price and I can never say no to a plant… haha.
What has been your favourite plant-find? Amorphophallus titanum.
What would you say to someone who’s buying their very first plant? Give it a grow 😉
Name some of your favourite places to buy plants: Online| Tesselaar, Garden Express, if you have any suggestions let me know down below!
Which is better? Foliage, flowers, cacti/succulent or produce? All!
Which do you prefer annual or perennial? Or both? I like both. Perennials have lots of benefits with the biggest one being that they will last for many years. Whereas an annual will usually live for one year and then die. But don’t let that put you off as there is some which self-seed every year and return. Annuals are also great because they can add colour to your garden when there might not be a lot of flowers in bloom from the perennials.
What is one gardening skill you would like to learn? I sort of know how to do this… but I want to try my hand at doing more grafting work.
Name a plant that is on your wish-list: Rafflesia arnoldii 😛
If you wish to take part in this questionnaire, please fill out the answers to the questions and send them through to me at the gardener.notebook@gmail.com to be featured on my blog! 😀
Until next time happy gardening!
By Bonnie-Marie Hibbs
©BMHPhotographyTheGardener’sNotebook2019
1 comment
Beautiful beautiful pictures, we are in drought as so many are at the moment it is such a relief on the eyes & soul to see beautiful colours like that thank you for sharing.