Duckling and pigeon

A few years ago when we lived on acreage we found a baby crested pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) that had fallen out of its nest.  Crested pigeons are a native bird, they are nice birds.  

It was fully feathered, but could not yet fly.  We called the local wildlife rescue people who could not pick it up until the next day.  At that time we had some very young ducklings in a brooder, so we put the baby pigeon in with them for the night.  

Thought it was worth sharing the photos as they are super cute.  

Duckling and pigeon

Super cutie

Fruit tree hedge bad idea

When we moved here the land behind us was paddocks that was being developed into housing.  What was paddocks filled with sheep is now rather ugly and brand new housing that seem to change owners almost annually.  

People can see into our windows at night, and over summer the heat of the day radiates as if it is a hot plate.  We decided to plant a hedge to screen it off so we could have windows open at night without people being able to see in our windows, and to hopefully block some of the heat.  

We decided to plant fruit trees for the hedge.  Why plant a tree and get nothing from it?  We knew fruit trees would lose leaves over winter, but figured we mostly had curtains closed over winter so that should not be too much of a problem.  We planted two different apples, a peach, and a nectarine because these grow well in this climate and I like their fruit. 

Our trees are established now, and over summer they do a great job of screening off the shanty town behind us.  In spring they are covered in blossom and look incredible.  It blocks a surprising amount of heat over summer.  

It is good to share what works for me, it is also good to share what does not work for me so people can learn from my mistakes.  Even with all the benefits, I regret planting this hedge. 

View from fence towards house, windows nicely protected

View from house - can't see the houses back there

If I had a chance I would never have planted a deciduous fruit tree hedge.  If you are thinking of planting a fruit tree hedge, I would advise against it.  

Over winter there are no leaves.  We knew this and figured that would be fine because curtains are closed at night.  We were wrong, it isn't fine.  During the day we sit on our deck and eat lunch in the sun, and we can see the houses behind us.  Sunny winter days we have curtains open, and the street behind can see in unimpeded.  

Pruning a hedge is very different to pruning to get fruit.  I currently prune part way between the two methods, we get less fruit and have a less dense hedge.  To be honest, pruning this hedge is a pain.  

Pruning fruit trees for fruit is simple, pruning a hedge for privacy is simple, pruning this mess to be both hedge and produce fruit is harder and takes a lot more time than it should.  Admittedly we do get fruit from this, but not very much.

Deciduous fruit trees were a poor choice for a hedge.

Fruit tree hedge from the side

Someone suggested we should have planted a citrus hedge as they are evergreen and provide fruit.  This was considered, but decided against as most citrus don't survive well here without protection.  We have a meyer lemon next to the house, it is well protected and gets heat from the brick wall at night.  They would not cope well out in my yard like this with no protection.  That being said, they might work well in warmer climates.  

Someone suggested feijoa.  I think that would take far too long to reach a decent height as they grow slow here.  I planted a feijoa tree at the same time as these apples and stone fruit.  The feijoa is only about 5 feet tall.  A house down the road had a feijoa hedge near their fence, it was never dense, and never grew more than chest tall.  I have seen really tall feijoa at other places.  Feijoa survive and fruit well here, but perhaps the conditions are too harsh here for them to reach their height potential.  Or maybe the larger feijoa I have seen were just older.  There is a feijoa hedge in a park near where I work, it is old and looks ok as a hedge, but it is too short and produces next to no fruit each year.  It seems like feijoa are not suitable as a tall hedge in my climate.  

Another person suggested Chilean guava (Myrtus ugni) as a hedge.  I can't imagine a hedge of these, they are too short.  I planted one around the same time as the fruit trees, it is only a bit over knee high, maybe waist high.  Some years it grows well, others it dies back and gets smaller.  I have never seen one over a meter tall.  I looked online and it is says they only grow 1 meter to 2 meters.  If you want a short edible hedge then I think rosemary would be a better choice.   

Things like olives are slower growing and are a bit too scraggly to work well as a hedge unless they are well cared for.  Loquat are also slow growing, and not dense enough to hedge well here without a lot of work.  

These plants may work well as hedges in other climates, but they wouldn't work well as hedges in my garden.

Short edible hedges of things like rosemary or lavender would work, but anything taller seems to be more work and less effective than a non-edible hedge.  

If you want to plant a tall hedge and live in an area of cool winters, then fruiting trees may not be your best option.  Perhaps learning from my mistake would be wise.  If you really want to plant a deciduous fruiting hedge, go for it.  Perhaps you will work out a better way to prune, or perhaps you will make better choices of fruiting plants.  

Saffron crocus

Saffron (Crocus sativus) is a very easy plant to grow.  I have been growing saffron for a number of years, and it flowers reliably for me each year.  While the spice is expensive, growing saffron is surprisingly simple and cost effective.  

Saffron grows from a corm (a corm is similar to a bulb) and is dormant over summer.  Saffron only flowers once per year, and each saffron flower only produces three threads.  Given the price of saffron you want each corm to produce as many flowers as possible.  

Saffron threads from my plants

Saffron flowers reliably for me each year.  The flowers are pretty, and the plant takes up little space. 

From what I read online, many people seem to get good flowering in the first year but have trouble getting saffron to flower reliably in following years.  I think this is because they are following bad advice, they treat saffron corms like flowering bulbs and have poor results.  

Saffron needs slightly different conditions than most bulbs to flower well.  Luckily these conditions are even easier to achieve than the conditions needed by many flowering bulbs. 

Saffron corms 

Firstly, some things are the same between saffron corms and ornamental flower bulbs.  

Larger saffron corms produce more flowers, and smaller ones don't flower at all.  This makes sense.  You can even work out flowering size by measuring the corms.  

Don't measure the width of the corms, they aren't very round and it is impossible to know where to measure.  It is more accurate if you measure the circumference.  The simplest way is to wrap a string around the, then measure the string.  All saffron corms that have a circumference of 7cm or more will flower.  It's that simple. 

For me a corm 7cm circumference (not width) usually produces 3 or 4 flowers, and larger corms produce more flowers.  Some smaller ones may flower, but most won't.  

Mine don't often put up all the flowers at once, each corm seems to take its time and puts up a few flowers over a few weeks.  While this makes growing commercially difficult to get pickers when needed, it is not an issue for the home gardener who can pick threads whenever they are ready.  

Saffron produces beautiful flowers

Fertilising during the growing season, and leaving the leaves to gather energy and die back naturally helps the corm to grow larger and produce more flowers in the following year.  Fertilising won't help this years flowers, it will help the corm grow strong and produce flowers next year.  

I find that top dressing with guinea pig manure results in larger corms, and more flowers the following year.  I've tried using compost, green manure, vermicompost, and poultry manure, all of which work well but nothing seems to work as well as guinea pig manure.  I have never used store bought fertiliser, so can't comment on its effectiveness. 

Saffron needs a cold winter to flower well, which we have here and saffron seems to like it.  I have no idea how they would go in climates with mild winters, I assume they would struggle.  Don't lift corms and store in the fridge like a tulip, when dormant saffron corms need heat.  

Some dormant saffron corms of various sizes

Saffron needs a hot dry summer when they are dormant, which we have here.  If we get a wet summer I dig some corms and put them in the garage somewhere dry.  Putting them in the garage somewhere hot and dry would kill most flower bulbs, but heat when dormant helps saffron to flower well.  If I lift them I tend to split them into batches and put them in mesh bags and hang them on a nail.  

Leaving the corms in the soil works well only if the soil is relatively dry, if it is too wet they will rot.  I grow some in pots, I can move the pot under cover when they are dormant so they will be dry over summer.  I want to stress, do not put dormant saffron corms in the fridge, saffron corms need heat when dormant.  

The thing that makes the most difference to saffron flowering, and the thing most people get wrong, is the depth they prefer to be planted.  

Saffron flower before fully open

The advice given for most flowering bulbs are planted twice as deep as the bulb is tall.  This is far too shallow for saffron corms.  If you want saffron to flower well, they must be planted deeper.  Saffron prefers to be planted much deeper than you think.  Even though the corms are relatively small (a corm with a 7cm circumference is rather little), plant them 15-20cm deep.  Larger corms can even be planted a little deeper than that.  If you plant them shallow they will not flower well.  

Healthy saffron corms divide each year.  One corm can produce anywhere between 0 to 15 new corms each year.  I prefer my corms to produce fewer, but larger, corms.  Large corms flower, and larger corms produce the most flowers. 

Planting shallow will usually mean your corms will divide into many tiny corms, none of which will be large enough to flower.  You don't want this.  Planting deeper means you get less division, but more larger flowering size corms.  

It feels like planting a small corm under 20cm of soil is too deep, and it feels like it will not have enough energy to reach the sunlight, but they will be fine.  If you don't plant this deep they will not flower well next year.  Plant saffron corms deep. 

Saffron growing in a pot - lower plant has several flowers 

I grow saffron in large pots as well as in garden beds.  Both work well as long as I can plant the corms deep enough and they have good drainage.  Saffron corms can rot if they are too wet.  

The past few years I largely forgot about my saffron and left it to do its thing.  During this time it multiplied, and the corms got smaller and smaller.  I still got a few flowers, but overcrowding lead to less and less flowers.  

This year I divided my corms, planted some in pots, some in the garden, and some in mesh bags that I still need to plant.  I planted them deep, and fertilised with guinea pig manure.  While I won't get a lot of flowers this year, the small corms will grow larger and many should be large enough to flower next year.  

Saffron starting to flower

Saffron is a sterile triploid that does not produce seed.  

If you want to grow saffron, you must get corms.  You can not buy saffron seeds.  Saffron seeds don't exist. 

You will see a few people online selling what they claim is saffron seed.  These people are thieves, they do not have saffron seeds and they are trying to steal your money.  They will send you seed from whatever they have on hand, it won't even be crocus seed.  By the time it grows and you realise it is not saffron you have already left positive reviews and it will be too late for you to do anything to get your money back.    

Many of these thieves have pictures of other species of crocus in their listing.  This is a giveaway that they are not honest.  Saffron does not grow from seed, do not buy anything from anyone claiming to sell saffron seed.  

Dutch crocus 'pickwick' is not saffron

While saffron is given its own species name (Crocus sativus), this is slightly misleading as it is either a mutation of Crocus cartwrightianus or possibly an interspecific hybrid involving C cartwrightianus.  

Saffron is pollen sterile, but under some circumstances it is possible (albeit rather rare) for it to develop hybrid seed.  There are a few papers where pollen from C cartwrightianus produced viable seed in saffron.  You will never see seed of this cross for sale because it is very difficult to produce, and most of the seed is not viable.  I am unaware if the ploidy level of these hybrids has been tested, and I assume the resultant plants have never achieved any commercial success as they are not particularly great.  

I would love to get my hands on C cartwrightianus and try to cross them with saffron.  There used to be one place in Australia that sold this species, but they went out of business before I go a chance to buy one.  If you know anyone with this species in their collection I would very much like the chance to grow some and try to cross it with saffron.

If you are thinking of growing saffron you should give it a try.  Like most things, growing your own saffron works out to be more cost effective than buying it from the shops.   

One reputable company in Beechworth sells small packets of saffron for $3.  These packets contain 6-9 threads, which is meant to be enough saffron for an average dish for 4 people.  

My corms tends to produce 3 or 4 flowers each, which is 9-12 threads.  This means that one corm usually pays for itself in its first year, plus you get to enjoy the beautiful flowers.  

Each year the corms tend to divide and multiply, meaning you get more saffron each year.  

I used to sell saffron corms, but I don't have any for sale this summer.  I don't have many flowering size corms this year, and I don't like selling smaller corms that are unlikely to flower.  As mentioned further up in this post I divided my corms, and if all goes well I should have a lot of larger flowering size corms next year.  

If all goes well, I hope to sell saffron corms in future years.  If this happens they will be listed on my for sale page.  If you know of a source of Crocus cartwrightianus in Australia, or you have some that you may be willing to part with, my contact details are listed on my for sale page.

Growing African Violets

African violets used to be very common houseplants, they are surprisingly low maintenance if you meet their minimum requirements.  I like the looks of them, some of the colours are incredible, and I am amazed at how long they can produce flowers.  

While African violets used to be very common, and many households grew them, I don't see them for sale very often.  In the old days there were only a few varieties, and most were not all that great.  

Nowadays there are a lot more varieties, many are superior to what was available in the past, and some are not as good as the old ones, yet for some reason these plants are not commonly seen anymore.  

African Violet

I grow a few African violets, and have read a lot about their history and genetics, yet I still feel like I don't know what I am doing with them.  

I got my first African violet in early 2021, it was unnamed other than to say it was 'light blue'.  It was in a pot with a wick which made care very simple.  It is the only one I have in a pot with a wick, all the others grow in regular plant pots.  I probably should grow a few more with wicks as it really is very simple to care for plants in these pots. 

After growing this plant for about 4 years, it is still alive and flowering.  It was not overly symmetrical as I didn't rotate the pot often enough.  I t took me some time, but I eventually fixed this and evened out the plant's growth.  

I took a leaf cutting from this plant, which produced 3 baby plants.  I probably should take some more leaf cuttings as it is a lovely plant. 

My first African violet - looks better in real life (I am no photographer)

I got a leaf of another African violet variety in July or August 2023.  This leaf cutting produced baby plants, which grew well, and flowered in March 2024.  This was about 7 or 8 months after I first got the leaf.  From leaf to producing baby plants felt like it took forever, from baby plants to mature plants felt a lot faster. 

The leaf cutting grew several plants.  They flowered, then some stopped flowering.  I fertilised with leachate from my worm farm, and they flowered again.  I like the colour of its flowers.  

They stopped flowering again, so I divided them into their own pots and ended up with four healthy genetically identical plants.  I love the colour of the flowers and really should take some more leaf cuttings of this variety.  

African violet - I was told the variety is 'New Hampshire'

This stopped flowering so I divided and planted in its own pot

African violets are reasonably simple to grow.  They don't love lots of full sun and don't like deep shade, and don't cope with frosts, other than that there is not much to worry about with them.  You would likely get better results by using expensive and specialised equipment, but I don't use anything special to grow them, and so far they are doing well.

Special African violet pots with self watering wicks are strangely expensive.  I have one plant growing in one of these, and it practically takes care of it self.  All my others are in regular small plastic plant pots.  I keep considering buying some pots with wicks, perhaps one day I will do this as they really are a lot simpler to care for.  

Each year my African violets flower for most of the year.  It is incredible how many months they will bloom.  Winter is a little cold, and a bit dark, and I don't use heating or lighting and my plants don't flower well over winter for me.  Grow lights and heat mats would certainly help, but they cost money to run, and anything electrical poses a fire risk, so I don't tend to use them.  

I have seen special African violet fertiliser for sale, it is meant to be good but I have never used it.  I sometimes fertilise with leachate from my worm farm.  I don't know if this is just a coincidence, or if African violets like worm farm leachate, but each time after doing this they always throw up a flush of new growth and some flower buds.  

I have seen special African violet potting mix for sale in stores and online, other than my first plant which probably came growing in this mix I have never used it.  I buy regular potting mix, and perlite, and mix them together to make a light airy soil.  I use this mix when growing African violets, and it seems to work ok.  The regular potting mix has nutrients in it, and the perlite adds air space in the soil.  From what I have read, this is what these plants need.  Unless something goes very wrong, I will probably continue to use this mix as it is cheap and seems to do the job well.  

Seed pod beginning to develop

As well as growing the original plant, and growing new plants from leaf cuttings, I cross pollinated some flowers, and self pollinated some flowers.  These produced seed pods which contain lots of really tiny seeds.  I planted these seeds, many of which germinated.  I then accidentally dropped the pot and lost all the seedlings!  I have since pollinated more flowers, collected more tiny seeds, and have recently planted another batch of seed.  This time I plan to be more careful.  Hopefully they produce nice plants with interesting and unique flowers, but only time will tell.  

African violets seedlings are said to flower in much the same time as using a leaf cutting, but each will be genetically unique.  Growing from seed seems like a good way to increase my collection and hopefully add some more diversity of flower colours/types.  It also gives me a chance to develop something new and nice and to mess around with breeding if I can find the time and energy. 

'Light Blue' African Violet

Apparently few people grow African violets from seed, I am not sure why.  Other than fake seeds being sold through ebay, I can only find one place online who actually sells African violet seed.  I have seen a few social media posts of people who have grown nice looking plants from their own seed, but none of them appear to sell seed.  

Perhaps the lack of seed sellers is due to these lovely plants becoming unpopular.  I looked for a club or something so I could learn more, and discovered that there used to be a local club and it closed a few years ago due to lack of interest.  I looked for clubs further away, and the ones I found only have meetings during the day as their members are mostly retired people.  This surprises me because African violets can look rather incredible, and are not difficult to grow.  

African Violet - New Hampshire

Even though I have successfully grown African violets for about four years, and have propagated them using leaf cuttings, and I have self-pollinated and cross-pollinated flowers, and my seed have produced seedlings, for some reason I still feel like I don't know what I am doing with African violets.  

These plants have always seemed so mysterious, and have always been described as being difficult to grow, that something inside me still thinks I am missing something.  It almost feels wrong that they could be this simple to grow.  

Then again, plants such as saffron, watercress, and Chinese water chestnuts have reputations for being difficult yet are absurdly easy to grow and are all very productive.  Many people have killed their share of maidenhair ferns and venus flytraps, both of which are reasonably easy to grow for many years and have an undeserved reputation for being impossible to succeed with.  Perhaps the reputation of African violets as being hard to grow is equally as undeserved.