Mother's Day

Mother’s Day is just an overrated commercialized day and we don’t celebrate it our family …. Said no mother ever!

Mother’s Day is all about celebrating all the wonderful things your mum has done for you and forgetting about the things that niggle at you. Because don’t forget many of us are mothers too and I’m sure our children feel the same way if not now definitely in the future!

I heard an advert on the radio the other day that basically went like this “if your mum told you she doesn’t want a present this year, just time with you is present enough”, means you aren’t the best gift chooser and please don’t waste money on something I don’t want.

Now days it seems like we are spoilt for choice in the present department. Years ago a pot of chrysanthemums was the only choice you had for Mother’s Day. 

You know what? It’s still a darn good choice.

Chrysanthemums are traditionally given at Mother’s Day as they flower profusely during autumn and they contain the word mum! 

They are so many varieties of chrysanthemums available today; there is surely one to suit every mum. 

The US National Chrysanthemum Society has derived that there are 13 different types of flower forms and over 100 different colours.

Chrysanthemums are honestly one of the easiest plants to grow and are a perfect gift for green or brown fingered mums! Chrysanthemums have long lasting flowers and are relatively pest and disease free. 

Potted chrysanthemums can flower for several weeks indoors but thrive best if placed in full sun. They can be grown in pots or in the garden. To keep them looking fantastic and to promote more flowers all spent flowers and discoloured leaves should be removed and liquid fertilised fortnightly. After flowering chrysanthemums should be cut back to about 15cm (6") high and be given some organic link complete organic fertiliser. They can have up to three flowerings a year.

If you don’t like the traditional Chrysanthemum, Trevallan Lifestyle Centre is overflowing with living flowering gifts. Cyclamens, azaleas, pansies, anthruiums, orchids, camellias, roses are all in bloom, look fantastic and are easy to care for – even brown thumb mums should enjoy all of these! 

Team any of these plants with a beautiful planter and you have the perfect present even if your mum doesn’t have a garden. Planters are a little different from normal pots in that they don’t have a hole in the bottom. With a planter you just place the plant inside the planter, no potting. They are great for indoors as you can still give your plants a good drink without having the water running everywhere problem. Just don’t over water!

With every present you give though, don’t forget to give a little of your time as well. Even though we are adults we are still our mum’s children. She just wants the best for us – so ignore the so called mothering insanity and give her a hug and kiss and let you know you love her. Because while a mother’s love is unconditional we as children need to reassure them that our love is unconditional too!

The Secret

I have discovered the secret to great looking plants.

 

Trace Elements.

 

Trace Elements isn’t some brand spanking new fertiliser on the block. It’s an essential item to healthy soils.

 

Most gardeners are going ‘pfft’ - I so knew that.

 

Well you might know it but how many of you use a complete trace element mix on your gardens at least once a year? What about your pots, at least twice a year?

 

It seems everyone fertilises and expects to see results. What happens when you do all the right things but you don’t see the results you want? 

A common question is – “I’ve given my plants all the TLC they can handle, I’ve fertilised, watered well, even checked the pH level and it's perfect.  What could possibly be wrong with my plants?

Trace elements.

 

Most of us are aware that plants require mineral nutrients for their growth and development. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, the macro elements, the names that usually appear on fertilizer packages, whether you use organic or chemical fertilizers.  It is sometimes assumed that they are the "important" nutrients.  These macro elements are just consumed by the plants in large quantities. Trace elements, micro nutrients can often be forgotten about as they are required in minuscule quantities.

When it comes to macro elements being the most important nutrients, nothing could be further from the truth. Trace elements like Manganese, Iron, Zinc, and Copper, are every bit as vital to the plants metabolism as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous. They have essential functions and so a deficiency in even one element will adversely affect the healthy growth of the plant. Strangely enough some trace elements when present in excessive concentrations are actually poisonous for plants.

Common gardening practices (such as liming acid soils) can contribute to widespread occurrence of micronutrient deficiencies in plants by decreasing the availability of the micronutrients present in the soil. Also, extensive use of glyphosate (most common weed killer) is increasingly suspected to impair micronutrient uptake by plants, especially with regard to manganese, iron and zinc.

So how do we pinpoint the problems in our soil? We can get a leaf or soil analysis.  Yeah right! I couldn’t be bothered with all that.

So what do I do?

I use Plant of Health’s Bio Trace. It has a blend of the key micronutrients (e.g. iron, cobalt and manganese) supported by macro elements. It is also contains fulvic acid to further enhance growth and health.

The best thing about Plant of Health’s Bio Trace, you mix some up in a watering can and pour it over the plants foliage or as a soil drench. Done. Couldn’t have been easier.

Go on breathe some life into your garden and use Plant of Health’s Bio Trace.

Careful though, when you see the difference it makes you’ll be buying it in bulk like I do now!

Dirty Clothes lead to Healthy Garden

Strangely enough I’ve found that gardening infiltrates itself into nearly all aspects of my life.

 

My job is gardening, one of my many interests is gardening, some of my food comes from the garden, even many of my outfits and shoes are gardening friendly.  Even my morning relax time with a coffee gets extended sometimes with weed pulling and tomato gathering.

 

 

Even my laundry is garden orientated.

 

Laundry. Garden?

 

Well it all started with the water restrictions years ago.  I had a baby in cloth nappies, a yard that needed watering and severe skin reactions to NapiSan.  So the hunt began for a product that could

• Keep my nappies white and clothes clean

• Be used in a front loader with cold water

• Not lead to skin reactions

• Cost effective

• Wouldn’t damage my washing machine and

• Most importantly the water from the washing machine could be used in my garden

 

Finally after much confusion – the laundry powders take up almost a full aisle in Woolworths, and research - trial and error, I found a solution.

 

 

What I discovered was that not all powders dissolve totally in the water.  Go on go and get your laundry powder, mix it in cold water, leave it for twenty mins and see what the water looks like. I bet there is undissolved particles in it, well there was for me with most of the detergents I tried.  These undissolved particles are called fillers. These fillers can not only affect your washing, they can corrode your machine and even affect our health.  These fillers can also affect your septic tanks and cause problems with your grey water.

 

Many detergents also contain salt (sodium sulphate) that can cause major environmental problems in our gardens and waterways.

 

For me I found that most detergents contained chlorine and synthetic perfumes that are used to sanitise and make our clothes smell pretty. The ones that didn’t contain them didn’t get my clothes clean and didn’t smell as nice. Unfortunately it was the chlorine and synthetic perfumes that were causing my skin problems.  For some the chlorine and synthetic perfumes can even trigger bronchial sensitivities.

 

But then finally I found a product that exceeded all my expectations, lucky for me Trevallan Lifestyle Centre now stocks it.

 

The product In discovered is the Euca Laundry Detergent Range. The range has a laundry powder, laundry liquid, a soaker and a fabric conditioner.

The range is based  entirely on Australian Eucalyptus oil. The Eucalyptus oil helps deodorise and sanitise without the need for harsh chemicals, so no more skin or bronchial sensitivities.

 

Euca has no fillers and on average 35 times less sodium sulphate (salt) than other brands of laundry powder.  So the waterways, gardens and septic systems are safe.

 

It can be used in front and top loaders with warm or cold water, it’s cost effective and most importantly my clothes are clean, look clean and smell clean.

 

Not only this I can use Euca to clean my shower and mop the floors so all my water can be reused out in my garden.

 

Never again can I complain about the washing as it’s all going to a good cause – My Garden!