Perk up the patio, harvest herbs and have your pick of fresh frilly lettuce.
Indoor plant of the month
It’s time to take tuberous begonias indoors for some long-lasting indoor winter flowers. The large blooms with their frilled petals come in such a huge range of colours that it is almost impossible not to find a colour that will either stand out or tone in with your home’s colour scheme. Being compact, they just need to be popped into a decorative pot as a table top or coffee table feature. Make sure they receive good light in a bright room, but not direct sunlight. Water directly onto the soil, keeping the leaves dry. Keep the soil lightly moist, but not soggy otherwise the roots will rot. Details: www.lvgplant.co.za
We’re planting …Geranium Marcada Magenta to perk up the patio for winter. It’s a hardy geranium that flowers effortlessly and will cascade over the edge of hanging baskets and pots. It loves autumns cooler temperatures and is an easy plant for hanging baskets and containers because it likes to be kept drier than most other geraniums. The best is to water it once the soil has dried out slightly. A drench of liquid fertiliser once a month will keep looking good and flowering well. Don’t hang your basket too high, rather have it at shoulder level for easy care and to appreciate all its flowers. A position that receives morning sun and afternoon shade is ideal. Details: www.ballstraathof.co.za
Veggie of the month
Want to grow your own lettuce? This is the month to start sowing this cool season salad veggie. Loose-leaf lettuce is the easiest to grow and the quickest to harvest. Why not plant a mix of red and green-leaved lettuce like Red Sails (RAW seed) which has bright red tips, shading into light maroon and deepening into green toward the base. The leaves are soft and have a buttery flavour. It can be picked at baby- leaf stage, as larger individual leaves or as a full-size lettuce.
Sow into seedling trays because the seed is very fine and easy to waste if sown in situ. Once the seedlings are big enough to handle (about 10cm high) they can be transplanted, spaced 30cm apart.
All lettuce needs is full sun, fertile soil, and watering at least once or twice a week because it has shallow roots that dry out quickly. Protect plants from the cold (even mild frost) with frost cloth. Details: www.rawliving.co.za
Garden tasks for March
- Plant autumn flowering perennials like rudbeckia, gaillardia, asters, argyranthemum, and osteospermum.
- Towards the end of March sow colourful winter flowering Namaqualand daisies, calendula, Iceland poppies and Shirley poppies. For fragrance there are sweet peas, Virginian stocks, alyssum and nemesia.
- Divide perennials like agapanthus, arum lilies, summer flowering red hot pokers and day lilies that have become too crowded. Prepare the soil well, with lots of compost, before replanting.
- To keep your lawn green during winter (in frost-free areas), fertilise this month with 5:1:5 and water regularly.
- Start harvesting and preserving your herbs for winter. Aromatic herbs like oregano, marjoram, thyme, sage, bay, and rosemary dry well and keep their flavour.
- Water once a week and give the garden a last application of 5:1: 5 fertiliser to keep the garden going through winter. Water well after applying the fertiliser.
Look what we found for the little gardeners … MyEcoSprout Mixed Loose Leaf Lettuce. Inside, you will find an A6 coloring-in card, 20 mixed loose-leaf lettuce seeds and the collectable seed chart for R38. Details: myecosprout.com
Text: ALICE COETZEE
