Didz, sheep manure is the best plant fertilizer, specially for vegetables, it keeps her trace elements for about 5 years and of course is much better than chemicals fertilizers (for our health). BUT,if is it fresh burns the roots of the plants, so you can add the manure in a small quantity at first, on the top of the soil of your pot or barrel. Also it balance the ground of a garden, if is it heavy, it make it lighter, if is it light (sandy)it make it heavier to keep the water. To test if the manure is fresh put it in a pot and water that.next day put your finger in it 3 inches deep, if it hot that's mean that is fresh, leave it for next year till then shall be very well. John from Greece

Like Rouge, I take various routine actions to maintain the identities of purchased perennial cultivars. Still some problems always occur. Rouge covers one big problem; namely, ID'ing winter losses. I do, however, find it even more difficult ID'ing cultivars that go MIA after spring. Planting perennials close and having spring, summer and fall perennials in the same beds means some plants die in shaded anonymity. It's easy to track some spring plants in fall (at least for me, when the flower beds are cleared up). Some spring perennials even remain green under the snow. But some in situ plants (planted in previous years) disappear (= die) between spring and the end of the growing season. With some large, long-lived and in-your-face perennials, it is easy to note their subsequent absence from a mixed perennial bed. For many perennials I don't find the same, particularly when larger numbers of cultivars of the same plant are involved. As Rouge indicates, there's a problem with recording absences rather than presences. I can say from a scientific (anatomical) research point of view, it's usually (but only usually) quite easy to record the presence-absence of minor structures. Recording presences-absences in a closely packed perennial bed is quite another matter.

Hi Allan, That's a great looking show but the sales section is something else WOW! Where would you start trying to select a beauty to take home from there? Thanks for posting. All the best, Nev.

Hi all - Mistymorn - the garden can never be full ;) Popi - yikes, a snake !! I think I would have screamed and ran ! Laurie - I am down near Burswood - near the river. Cruddy soil really - water repellant, poor quality. Am going up the Hills to the native nursery this weekend - one of my correas packed it in and I am buying a replacement. Didn't intend to plant during a 35 + heatwave - boy, was the 42 degree day a stinker !! I was thinking that as it was theoretically now autumn it was good to go. Anyway, my starter tubes are doing ok. Peversely, they seem to be responding to the heat and actually have grown over the last couple of days. The calothamnus is gorgeous and from Lulfitz. Aggie