Proteas
Not just any old blossom, protea flowers are blooms with attitude. If you can give them full sun and reasonable drainage, proteas will love you.
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Sweet Violets (Viola odorata) are an old perennial favourite. Tolerant of cold winters and warm summers, their colourful and highly scented blooms are a great addition to cottage style gardens. They form a green carpet and push up lovely purple flowers over early spring.
How to grow sweet violet in a garden
- Choose a well-drained spot in the garden that has full to partial sun.
- Enrich the soil with some compost and Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone with Seaweed before planting.
- Plant directly where the violets are to grow. They will spread over time, forming a lovely dense green carpet.
- Water gently and keep only slightly moist and mulch to keep damp.
- Feed regularly during the growing and flowering season with Yates Thrive Rose & Flower Granular Plant Food. TIP: For an added boost, apply Yates Thrive Natural Fish & Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate.
- Pinch out spent flowers to encourage more blooms.
How to grow sweet violet in a pot
- Choose a pot that has adequate drainage holes and place it in a position that gets part sun and is sheltered from strong winds. A shallow bowl is ideal.
- Fill the pot with Yates Premium Potting Mix.
- Sow the seeds directly in the potting mix and lightly cover with 25 mm of potting mix.
- Water gently and keep only slightly moist through the germination period.
- Once the seedlings are established, feed regularly during the growing and flowering season with Yates Thrive Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food.
- Remove any spent flowers to prolong the display.
Growing tips
- Apply some mulch around the base of the plants to help retain soil moisture.
- Pick blooms regularly to promote further flowering.
- Generally pest and disease free!
Azalea
Azaleas vary from small, delicate shrubs that are happy in pots, up to hardy 1.5m shrubs ideal for border planting. Here's how to grow azaleas in your garden.
Lavender
Lavender are hardy perennial plants with silvery-grey, aromatic foliage & dense spike of flowers in shades of purple, blue, pink and white.
Echinacea
Echinacea is a hardy herbaceous perennial with large fragrant pink daisy-like flowers. Used for therapeutic purposes and as a delicious tea.
Recommended products
Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone with Seaweed
A certified organic garden input boosted with NZ Seaweed to gently nourish plants, enrich the soil and encourage a strong healthy root system.
Yates Thrive Rose & Flower Granular Plant Food
Specially formulated to grow all types of flowers. With high potassium for large & abundant flowers, added calcium & iron for stronger flowers.
Yates Thrive Natural Fish & Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate
A complete plant food enriched with natural fish, seaweed, humates, molasses and more - boosted with NPK to improve plant and soil vitality.
Yates Premium Potting Mix
A premium potting mix, ideal for all potted plants and shrubs, including ornamentals, fruit trees, vegies and herbs.
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