Whether you like your plums with golden yellow, rich crimson or creamy white flesh, they’re sweet, juicy and delicious.
As winter sets in don’t put your gardening gloves away. There are lots of wintery gardening delights to keep you wonderfully busy and your kitchen stocked with fresh, home- grown ingredients. There are so many plants to sow, grow and enjoy.
Grow something unusual‘Buddha’s hand’ or ‘Fingered Citron’ might look like something from another planet or a sea creature from the deep — however they are a fascinating type of citrus that has fruit shaped like fingers on a hand.
In Asia, the fruit symbolises long life, good fortune and happiness and is often used in religious ceremonies. The beauty of this fruit is in the rind (rather than the flesh), which can be used to make candied citrus peel and syrups and the zest used in salad dressings and roasts. The fruit, which ripens in late autumn to winter, has an intense aroma, combining fragrances of tangerines, osmanthus, cumquats and lemons and a bowl of Buddha’s hands can be used to scent a room.
Buddha’s hand trees grow to around 3m tall and do best in a warm, frost-protected spot. Feed citrus trees every 1 to 2 weeks with Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food to help keep the plant healthy and productive. It’s is a complete citrus fertiliser that contains a specially formulated blend of nitrogen to promote green leaf growth, phosphorus for strong root development and potassium to encourage flowering, healthy plants and quality fruit.
Hungry citrusCitrus trees like mandarins, oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit are always hungry! They’re busy throughout the year, growing lush new foliage, producing beautifully-perfumed flowers and developing their delicious fruit.
During winter, citrus trees will be ripening their fruit, so it’s important to support them during this important time and provide them with plenty of nutrients to ensure the fruit are nurtured.
It’s easy to give citrus the nutrition they need by mixing 2 capfuls of Yates Thrive Citrus Liquid Plant Food into a 9-litre watering can and applying over the root zone each week.
Scale tip: sweet sugary sap that’s flowing through citrus plants is a magnet for sap- sucking pests like scale. Scale insects can be brown, white, pink or grey and appear as small raised bumps along leaves and stems. Sometimes the scale are hard to spot themselves — however, if you see sooty mould developing on the leaves (a black ash-like film) or ants moving up and down the stems then they’re indicators of a sap-sucking insect pest like scale.
Regular sprays of Yates Nature’s Way Organic Citrus, Vegie & Ornamental Spray, on both the upper and lower leaf and stem surfaces, will help keep scale under control. It’s based on natural pyrethrin and vegetable oil and is certified for use in organic gardening, so is ideal for gardeners wanting to use organic methods of insect pest control.
Perfect plumsWhether you like your plums with golden yellow, rich crimson or creamy white flesh, they’re sweet, juicy and delicious. Plums are freestone (the flesh comes away easily from the stone) or clingstone and come in a range of skin colours from dark purple to light red and yellow.
If you enjoy eating plums during summer and early autumn then winter is the time to plant a plum tree in your garden, when they’ll be available as bare-rooted trees. Most varieties of plum trees do best in areas with cool winters. However, some varieties, such as Burbank, Coe’s Golden Drop and Damson can be grown in warmer areas in the north of New Zealand.
Plum trees can reach up to 5m tall. Plums will need to be grown in a full sun, wind- protected position, near a pollinating partner to help achieve the best possible harvest. The plant tag will provide information on the best matching plum varieties.
Plums are also available in double-grafted forms, where two different varieties are grown on the one tree.
For the best flavour and maximum sweetness, allow plums to ripen on the tree. They’re ready to pick when they’re just starting to soften.
Feed plum trees from spring to autumn with Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Plant Food, which promotes healthy leaf growth and lots of delicious plums. The combination of concentrated manure, fishmeal, blood and bone and seaweed in Yates Dynamic Lifter also helps improve soil quality and encourage hardworking earthworms and beneficial soil microorganisms.
HelleboresThe coldest months can still be filled with beautiful flowers and interesting foliage.
Hellebores, also known as ‘winter roses’, add gorgeous winter colour into low light areas in your garden. They are perfect for growing in full to partly-shaded spots such as underneath the canopies of trees or in a pot on a shady patio. They are a delight during the cooler months of the year, putting on a prolific display of large, bell-shaped flowers right throughout winter and into early spring.
Hellebores can be fed now with a high potassium complete plant food, like Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food, to promote lots of beautiful flowers and healthy foliage growth. Mix 2 capfuls in a 9-litre watering can and apply around the root zone each week. — Courtesy of Yates