Well what a year it has been! A year that seemed to both last a lifetime and go by in a moment. Through it all we have been grateful to be able to spend time in our gardens.

A lot of that work is starting to pay off now as the weather warms up. Summer colour is everywhere and an abundance of garden fresh veggies is just around the corner!

From all of us here at Acorn Nursery and the Oaks Cafe, we wish you a very happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.

The Acorn Gift Guide

Hydrangeas

The perfect gift to bring along to end of year events. They add brightness to any room, especially when gift wrapped by our expert staff. After flowering, they can be relocated outside for years of continued beauty.

Cote Noire Perfumed Roses

These flowers are hand crafted and look incredibly lifelike. Better still, they smell amazing. Each petal is infused with a fine fragrance which can be refreshed with the included perfume spray.

Sense of Spa Set

This luxurious set includes Tuberose & Grapefruit Hydrating Hand Wash, Geranium & Juniper Berry Body Wash and Calendula & Shea Butter Hydrating Butter packaged in a beautiful reusable drawstring bag.

Felco 2 Secateurs

The gift that lasts a lifetime for the avid gardener in your life. Felco 2 secateurs are incredibly high-quality and sturdy. They are what we use here in the nursery and at home.

Dohar Blanket

Dohars are made from three layers of the softest Indian cotton. They are just the thing for warm summer nights. We have sizes from bassinet up to king size so there's something for everyone!

Tony's Tips

Thank goodness it’s summer! It’s been a long, cold, wet spring and a lot of warm climate plants have struggled through to now. A bit of warmth will be welcomed by them and us!

Summer flowering perennials such as Fuchsias, Salvias and Lavenders are adding lots of colour to the garden now. This is the perfect time to add them to your garden as all of these warm-climate plants love to be planted into warm soil. Warm-season plants like Hibiscus, Sunpatiens and Mandevillea are also available now with new season Bougainvillea not far away.

Colour is very important at this time of the year and there is a lot to brighten up your world. We have lots of bright, fragrant, and fruiting plants to make the ideal gift for someone special (or yourself!).

Things to Do:

• Protect against disease by spraying roses and dusting tomatoes and veggies. A wet spring leads to lots of fungal disease and increased pests.
• Feed fruiting veggies such as tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers, chillies, and eggplant with Fruit & Citrus Food to maximise their output.
• Watch out for Lawn Beetle Grub in lawns. Telltale signs are dead patches in an otherwise healthy lawn or crows or magpies digging in your lawn. Control before they cause too much damage to the root system.
• Snails are very active thanks to the damp weather. Use the safer Multiguard pellets regularly to control snail numbers and keep damage to a minimum.
• Liquid feed annuals fortnightly with Phostrogen All Purpose Plant Food to encourage more flowers for Christmas and New Year.
• If you had Azalea Lace Bug last autumn it’s now warm enough for it to breed and feed vigorously again. Control with Conguard or Bug Killa.
• Maximise water and food penetration by dosing gardens and pots with Saturaid wetting agent. Follow up with a good mulch to minimise water loss. I Saturaid my whole garden every year leading into summer.
• Keep feeding Gardenias with Harry’s Gardenia Food, they’ve turned the corner now and are looking good.
• If you have a live Christmas tree, put it in the shade outside for 3 to 4 weeks following Christmas. Feed and water regularly to allow it to gently acclimatise to the outdoors.

Plant of the Month

Allium Millennium

Allium Millennium is an attractive ornamental onion that is hardy and easy to grow with showy globe-shaped rosy-purple flowers up to 75cm tall from late spring to late summer. Upright growing with a small footprint, it fits into most gardens fairly easily and adds colour and architectural interest.