Urban Oasis at Bloom in the Park 2010

Urban Oasis Garden at Bloom in the Park 2010

http://www.myplant.ie/ http://bloominthepark.com/engagingspaces/

The Urban Oasis

Choice and theme of plants form an integral part of all gardens from the most minimalist Japanese designs to the riotous flower colour of the Victorian perennial border. This year at Bloom in the Park 2010 three professionals from the gardening world from Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland have come together to pool their years of gardening, artistic and architectural talent into an Urban Oasis which I hope you will agree brings a new outlook on plants in the urban living space.
The plants of Urban Oasis were selected by Designer Dawn Aston predominantly with foliage as a major and crucial consideration. Over the last 10 years I have travelled all over the world both physically and virtually in seek of sustainable foliage colour for the garden and garden containers. Out of this search and foliage lust we have developed a business at FitzGerald Nurseries and MyPlant® which focuses singularly on foliage but should the plant have great seasonal flowering this is of course an important bonus. For what seems forever flower has dominated the visual reporting and public ohh and ahhh of garden shows while foliage sits in the background very evident and giving perfect foil, contrast and sustenance to flower. As a nurseryman it has been a fantastic opportunity to work with Dawn Aston and Crawford Leitch who just like the foliage to the flower give talented and inspired environment for human and plant to interact. I had always wanted to participate in such a project and thanks to Dawn and Crawford for coming up with this wonderful environment giving MyPlant’s this wonderful Urban Garden environment.

The Plants of Urban Oasis.
In 2008 I launched MyPlant® as a brand to represent a range of easy to grow garden plants for small gardens, the concept of such a range was awarded Press Prize at one of the worlds most important professional nursery shows Plantarium. Plantarium is held in Boskoop Netherlands the heart of European garden plant production so this was a great honour. http://www.myplant.ie/news.php?n_id=33

Now in 2010 thanks to this opportunity with Urban Oasis the plants can speak for themselves and show their value in this style of environment I first envisaged the collection would be used in. I hope this information gives you some idea to the background and people behind the introduction of each key plant and its origin. Behind most good garden plants lays a story of search, discovery or breeding. In addition to this work production development must be undertaken to bring this new life form to the world at large. Breeders and selectors must ensure any new plant introduction has some uniquely distinguishable attribute that makes it worth all the fuss. I feel we have chosen plants for this wonderful Urban Oasis which are just that. The following paragraphs will try to give a brief history of these wonderful plants. For more detailed information on the plants you can see http://www.myplant.ie/ .

Key feature plants.

Carex oshimensis Evergreen is similar to the species form of the Oshima sedge from Japan with wonderful simple brown tipped abundances of flower in Spring. Later we will see more selections of the Oshima sedge which I have made over the last few years and are now FitzGerald Nurseries most popular exported plant. Almost 1 million Carex plants will be produced by us in 2010. Evergreen provides a simple natural and relaxing under planting or feature plant in containers and this from was selected for its more compact growth and depth of colour.

Libertia ixiodes Goldfinger selected at Naturally Native Nurseries in New Zealand and marketed in Europe by Plantipp Netherlands on behalf of New Zealand’s Lyndale Nurseries Kiwi Gold native New Zealand plant collection. When I first saw this new Libertia variety on a trip to New Zealand in 2003 I knew immediately it was a must have. Goldfinger sets the gold vein for Dawns artistic theme in Urban Oasis and Crawford in his design catches this with some well positioned gold and mineral finishes in the structure of the garden. Libertia Goldfinger is one of my favourite introductions and is ideal for containers in the colder regions and mass planting in coastal and milder parts. Goldfinger will tolerate temperatures of -5 C to -7 C but below these temperatures will need protection with heavy fleece covering. This fantastic plant has white flowers in May and the foliage colour changes from butter yellow to old gold as temperatures decrease through Autumn and Winter. There is no plant like Goldfinger and it lives up to its iconic name all plants of Goldfinger like all the other plants in Urban Oasis are produced here in Ireland, exported throughout Europe and many other countries worldwide. I am proud to be associated with this wonderful plant and deligted it gets pride of place in the garden

Carex trifida Rekohu Sunrise is Another representative from New Zealand’s native flora. This is the first introduction from the trifida species of Carex and in New Zealand is commonly known as Muttonbird Sedge due to the flowers resembling the feet of the native Muttonbird. Rekohu Sunrise was bred by Mr Terry Hatch of Joy Nurseries in New Zealand, During this harsh and prolonged cold spell of January 2010 I found this plant to be even hardier than first thought and is a wonderful addition to the urban landscape palette. Rekohu Sunrise can be cut right back to tidy it up in March / early April and will produce vigorous but compact shoots of wonderful bright foliage take a close look at the flower of this plant as you walk through the Urban Oasis its most unusual in detail.

Ophiopogon nigrascens and its other mondo grass relatives are some of hardiest, functionally attractive and most versatile dwarf ground cover plants available. Slow growing ground hugging and with wonderful detail in flower and berry what more can one ask from a plant but there is more. Ophiopogon nigrascens is drought tolerant, will grow in shade semi shade and full sun and is hardy to at least -15 C what more can I say? This Japanese native provides attractive ground cover in the garden but look closely and you will see the developing lilac coloured flower spikes which on mature plants set attractive black berries. Well I have a hidden treasure surprise for you! I can say more because three years ago I received an improved variety of this wonderful plant and its called Blackbeard. Since then we have been exclusively working to produce this plant in the MyPlant laboratory to distribute to nurseries worldwide and now I can tell you more! Ophiopogon nigrascens Blackbeard will be available to the gardening public for the first time ever in limited numbers as 9cm pots here at Bloom in the Floral Marquee! Blackbeard was bred by my friend and wonderful plants man Steve Yandell from Penzance (where else would a good pirate come from). Steve selected Blackbeard for its faster growth, longer leaves and more clumping habit. This is what plant breeders do and Steve has added immensely to the value of this the blackest foliage plant on earth suitable for garden use. Dawn has made appropriate and use of Ophiopogon nigrascens in her Urban Oasis.

Canna Tropicanna is a wonderful Tropical perennial plant introduced by Mr Keith Kirsten from South Africa named and marketed around the world by Anthony Tesselaar International. Tropicanna has led to two other varieties now introduced and featuring in Urban Oasis Tropicanna Black and Tropicanna Gold making a wonderful collection of this colourful and exotic plant. Like all of the plants in Urban Oasis you can read more about Tropicanna on http://www.myplant.ie/ Canna Generally has a reputation for being difficult to grow by some people. Over the last 5 years I have been involved in a project to make growing these Canna varieties much easier. I am pleased to say that from work done by our nursey and plant laboratory we now have young vigorous plants which are easy to grow. As Canna is a tropical plant one can easily be put off in cold damp Ireland but I assure you with the same care as you would give Dahlia, Tropicanna can be a wonderful addition to the small garden and should not be ignored for those of us with foliage colour lust. Tropicanna also has spectacular flowering.

Royal Hawaiian Colocasia Collection. You haven’t heard of this series before? This is because its another surprise in the Urban Oasis and another first. These Colocasia are again like Tropicanna tropical plants in the Urban Oasis garden and yet another first time display treat for Irish gardeners looking for something special. Royal Hawaiian Colocasia can be seen in more detail on this website http://www.royalhawaiiancolocasias.com/ and I am sure will decorate future gardens conservatories and patios. They go on sale in Europe generally in Spring early Summer 2011. In the mean time we have some baby plants available at the MyPlant® display in the Floral Marquee for you experienced gardeners who want to try them out in your conservatory or greenhouse and plant them out in 2011 to be ahead of the rest of Europe with this wonderful collection. The sensational collection comes from an internationally acclaimed breeder Dr John J Cho who has achieved outstanding success with his new line of ornamental Colocasias.

Cordyline australis Karo Kiri is a most unusual variety of the common Cordyline we see all over Ireland in our coastal towns and cites. Unlike its species form Karo Kiri is an easily maintained dwarf form which can be cut back to make what you see in The Urban Oasis at Bloom in the Park. Just try it yourself is my only way to describe this plant, you will either love it or leave it. For me it is an exciting option in Cordyline and is versatile in containers or small gardens. Now you can have what looks like a mature muti-branched New Zealand Cabbage Tree but perfectly at home on even a small balcony. Guess what, yes this is another first for the MyPlant Collection and comes from New Zealand breeder and selector Ross Baybliss and now finally after many years of production work we can bring this plant to the European garden plant scene.

Carex oshimensis Everest is another from my breeding work on the Oshima sedge. I have been growing Carex for 20 years now and having been bought stock of the well known Carex Evergold as a birthday present (another long story) the year I set up FitzGerald Nurseries. We are now possibly the largest producer of Carex oshimensis in the world and export many hundreds of thousands worldwide. Carex oshimensis just loves our Irish climate and is a versatile plant for the garden or containers. It is sometimes unfortunately misunderstood and misused leading to unsightly clumps in exposed and sodden landscapes but more about that another time. Everest is ideally suited to sheltered urban gardens, will thrive in semi shade situations and in containers giving the most wonderful white margins seen on any plant. Dawn uses Everest as a total blanket ground cover. Check it out for yourself and use in containers or small garden borders. Everest was picked as an entrant in the recent American Idols plant competition in USA and won a Silver medal at Plantarium in Boskoop Netherlands.

Carex oshimensis Everillo was first launched at the wonderful Hillsborough Show in Northern Ireland earlier in May. Everillo is a wonderfully cheerful addition to the garden only just discovered in 2008. We are now building up the numbers as limited availability launch in Ireland then full worldwide release Spring 2012. This is how long it takes even a relatively fast to produce plant such as Everillo. Take a look at Everillo in the head containers in Urban Oasis I think its a fantastic addition for shade and semi shade I hope you agree! Remember this plant is a Japanese native bred for its colour right here in Ireland and like many of the plants in Urban Oasis is not to be seen in any garden except Urban Oasis.

Phormium cookianum Black Adder is another selection from FitzGerald Nurseries and now sold internationally by us to as far away as Japan, Australia, its native New Zealand USA and most European countries. Black Adder selected by me over 6 years ago has been a wonderful success story and adopted by many nurseries including leading New Zealand Nursery Lyndale Nurseries as the number one black / purple Phormium. To be accepted in its homeland as such is accolade enough for me to be proud to present Black Adder in an Urban Oasis. You can find plenty of information on how Black Adder is spreading across the world if you Google Phormium Black Adder. Its amazing how this plant has spread around the world with almost all the production coming from Ireland as tiny baby plants to be grown in local markets to planting maturity. Black Adder won best container plant award for FitzGerald Nurseries at the worlds largest professional Horticulture Show IPM Essen Germany in 2008.

Yucca gloriosa Bright Star is another winner for FitzGerald Nurseries at IPM Essen 2009 and first prize for best patio container plant was presented to FitzGerald Nurseries by Germany’s Federal Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner. Bright Star was discovered at Walberton Nursery West Sussex England by Mr Tim Crowther, promoted by Plants For Europe and introduced into production in Europe by FitzGerald Nurseries. Bright Star is an outstanding colour selection of the hardy and drought tolerant Yucca gloriosa. This plant is a wonderful foliage and flower addition to the Urban Oasis garden or any garden looking for that glow of colour during the dull winter months. A wonderful additional feature of Bright Star is its pink colouring which comes during drought or cold weather conditions.

Cordyline fruticosa Caruba Black is a tropical Cordyline from Anthony Tesselaar and produced exclusively in Europe by FitzGerald Nurseries. Unlike its more hardy cousin C. australis Caruba Black needs temperatures over 3 C to maintain its attractive appearance and colour so must only be used as a Summer dot plant to give a tropical exotic look to borders or containers. During the Winter months Caruba Black makes a fantastic addition to conservatory containers and can even be cut back the following spring to encourage multiple stems.


I hope you get time to see all these and more in Urban Oasis at Bloom 2010. Visit Stand N13 in the Floral Marquee to take home some of our plants to begin your own personal Oasis.

Pat FitzGerald
MyPlant
by
FitzGerald Nurseries.

Twelve months of Social media

I have been trying for weeks to get a short post done to give my experience of using social media. The purpose of me looking at social media was for information gathering, promotion of my business and to learn how people around the world are using plants. I hoped also to generally understand trends and broaden my knowlege of day to day horticulture in other countries. This at least was my original motivation. So here is my post its not professionally written , its just my ramblings and in no way meant to be a tutorial so feel free to tell me where I am wrong please.

Gone are the days when the phone is your fastest and only sales tool.

Background

Over the last ten years I have worked to develop our business from predominantly a Ireland UK sales based business to now selling our plants in 18 countries.
During these years I have been developing selecting and breeding some great plants to bring into our nursery business. In addition to these plants I am lucky enough to have some fantastic friends and colleagues in the industry around the world. Having great plants growing them well bulding all the resources we have built in the business has taken a lot of stress time energy and cost. As we all know working ones butt off doing ones best and what one feels is the right thing doesnt always feel good while observing the mayhem and ridiculous behavoir of established wiseguys and so called establishment over the last number of years. All of us in the horticulture world who try to make a living from it must compete with these pretty slick industries selling profitible non perisable products giving sometimes short lived instant but obvious gratification. Of course ours is not the only industry producing great products and not all products with very big marketing budgets are bad. So we have serious competiton for that dollar or euro. Year by year over the decades the bar has risen higher and its become more difficult for small businesses to access publicity and advertizing as good advertizing became more and more expensive.

So how on earth is some guy in the middle of nowhere Ireland going to tell people about these great plants. Now that we have done all the work getting them into production and physically out to far flung places such as Fresno and Watsonville California Angers in France various places in UK Germany Holland Japan Australia etc to be produced locally. Well the short answer is that we just had to hope it happened that people liked the plants and found out about them thorough some of the great people we deal with. Like our nursery these nurseries have to grow lots of varieties these days to stay in business and provide variety for the customer. Its not fair to expect our customers to be thinking of our plants every day. Advertizing isnt a possibility we simply right now dont have the budget for this but its chicken and egg, if we dont make the sales we will never have the budget. We have already spent money in our established markets on advertizing but no way can we do it in countries where we have no sales already as our industry does not give us that much profit that quickly and plants for some reason are not valued for longevity. Ahem maybe a pay by view system? In additon to these issues how do we know we are offereing what people in these countries like or want without a big budget to do market surveys using professional firms. For a small business like ours we just have to do our trade shows, try to put budgets aside for advertizing and hope for the best. In 2008 I travelled from San Diego to Bellingham Washington doing 2008 Pack trials on the way. I learned a lot but I didnt meet any of the retailers, landscape designers or got to chew over what they like or dislike with the very people who might use my plants. Well I guess this is why big companies get bigger and small companies take a lot of time unless they get some lucky breaks noting wrong with that we just got to work harder at it.

While reading the Sunday Business Post newspaper in January 2009 I saw an article about Social media. It described Twitter, Facebook, blogging and a few other platforms. I logged online took a look and reckoned yep it's for people with plenty of time on their hands who like to talk about what they ate for breakfast and liked to say 'yay' a lot. However being a nosey git I still signed up for Twitter account 'cos its free' I cant remember exact date but around the end of January 2009. Over the following weeks and months I checked in on it regularly looked at what was going on used it to post up pictures after a while. The main thing was information and seeing what others were doing. I found Facebook and did the same, started a blog connected them all together as its very simple and no course needed but in hindsight a course probably would have saved a lot of time. I already had http://www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com/ and our brand website http://www.myplant.ie/ so at least there was some window people could look into to see what we do.
I have to say without intent to portray it as a virtue, Horticulture is more than a business to me, to put it simply, I like what I do when I am working and that is not nescessarily a virtue. This is an important point when interacting with people in horticulture as I believe most other people in the horticulture business are the same. Myself my wife Noirin and all our nursery and laboratory staff do really good work and thats what I tweet about and put up on Facebook. Its real its honest and its good so why hide it and its not as if millions are interested anyway but some like what we do and like our plants. As owner of the business I have responsiblility to the 35 staff we have and if I dont promote our plants every day then who will! So it was not so much a optional choice but a responsibility to use this medium where the alternatives were not an option.

So what is this stuff about. Two heads are better than one or do we need five?

Not having had marketing training i know one thing is certain. I am making hundreds of mistakes and possibly wasting a lot of time doing things on the cheap and the hard way. For me social media is about being 'sociable' like the local pub or golf course where you get to chat sometimes sort out problems or tell someone youre looking for a second hand forklift, or I need to find someone to landscape the garden or that guy I got the second hand forklift wouldnt know a donkeys tail from a Toyota so dont go near him or other such gems of wisdom. There is no point in trying to manipulate or be selfish with our actions just the same as it isnt good to use your friends without being available to give back if needed or if you see the opportunity without any obligation! If I do do that its by accident so I apologise in advance if thats not believed then I am doing something very wrong. Most of us dont expect anything back when we do a favour and like all giving it can feel better for the giver than the receiver. There are life long givers who simply love doing good are superhuman and are impossible to return kindness to in kind. I dont like to dwell on this part of the whole social media thing as it should be simply common sense to us all and its not measureable in any case as to some a small gesture is gold. I feel its just right to be concious and prepared to share, if you cant invest the time in interacting in this spirit then think about another way of telling people about your work or products.

Keeping up to date with all the tweets, posts and updates is not always easy brrrrrrrrr it makes me dizzy a lot of the time and in fact its impossible. This time of year for me its especially very hard to spend time checking out trends, whats happening and telling people about our business, pushing out other peoples information, shouting out what we are doing and what plants are going out now. This is where the iPhone came in it is in my opinion revoloutionary, some times on Sundays I take pictures of articles in the newspaper Tweet them or email them. This picture below from the farmers journal was just fun didnt take but a click and a tweet. Once I started using the IPhone in July 09 it became so easy to share stuff and thats simply what I do on Twtitter and facebook. Using IPhone I can upload visideso so go to here if tou want to know what I do there. http://www.facebook.com/patrickjosephfitzgerald?ref=profile Its not rocket science.

Over the months that followed using Twitter, Blogger and Facebook, things started happening. There are some amazing people on my Twitter followers list and they know who they are. Without singling out anyone I can assure you there are some very generous and good spirited people with genuine good will. This is my Twitter profile http://twitter.com/PatFitzGerald I want to take this opportunity to thank them all for the last 12 months education. I am a bit hit and miss at times right now but the gardening, designer and nursery community on Twitter and Facebook are exceptional and know no borders in the continent of Social Media. You can see some of their generous posts here.

http://thelivengoodway.blogspot.com/2009/08/ballad-of-patrick-fitzgerald.html
http://gossipinthegarden.com/2009/09/07/the-adventures-of-black-adder-tuxedo/
http://lifeonthebalcony.com/gardening-in-the-internet-era/
http://www.soenyun.com/Blog/2009/05/04/some-garden-ceanothus/
http://spreadfarthefame.com/2009/09/17/the-many-faces-of-pat-fitzgerald-2/
http://www.anniesannuals.com/plants/plant_display.asp?prodid=3184
http://mygarden.rhs.org.uk/blogs/graham_rice/archive/2010/02/28/ceanothus-tuxedo-the-first-black-leaved-ceanothus.aspx
http://westsoundgardener.pattisplants.com/2010/03/04/the-beautiful-black-leaved-tuxedo%C2%AE-ceanothus/

Summary.

Can I tell you what has been acheived to date for the business from my social media efforts. I cannot tell. Yet! I do know many hundreds of good horticulture people know more about our plants and our business than could ever have been possible.

Has this added to our bottom line? I havent a clue, right now we are having a very good sales season but cant tell if this would have been the case anyhow and has more to do with the hard work of staff and the things that have to be in a business with or without social media. I have not figured out a way for people to pay us just for a picture, tweet of our plants or talking about them :-).

Am I glad I use social medai as a buiness tool? Yes.

Do I feel it is a worthwhile investment in time? Yes but I probably should have done more formal training and analysis and maybe I will.

What advice would I give to someone new to social media trying to use it for their business? Keep the day job! Dont listen to me talk to a professional! The product must be the key and unless youre some real Einstien nobody is probably going to pay you for your opinions, most of the old rules apply. At least thats what I think.

Its a whole new area, I am not sure even the gurus know what they are talking about but I suspect its not such a new phenomenon just more public. The Sandwich board man or the guy holding the arrow to a shop down a back street or the blimp may be just simplified versions of social media.

Maybe if you just make a good product people will seek you out. However these days there are lots of people making products just as good as yours or on the high street making lesser products but much more accessible or better known and trusted. Tune in next year and if I am around I might know more.

End

Sweet Potato Planting 2010

Sweet Potato Planting 2010.

Kildalton College of Horticulture, Piltown Co, Kilkenny.

After our successful trial of Sweet Potato at Kildalton College in 2009 organised by Mr Jim Kelliher Senior Nursery Advisor with Teagasc we have gone back for a much larger trial this year. Unfortunately this time Jim was not with us to do the planting. I am very sure however Jim will be with us to harvest the resulting crop and myself and Dermot Callaghan on left in the picture here look forward to this event. Without the input and drive of Jim the 2010 trials on sweet potato growing would not have gone ahead. I wish to take this opportunity to thank Jim for getting the trials to this stage.

Today we planted 5 rows at 1 metre centres with 30 cm between plants so 400 plants in total have gone into the trial. This trial will give us a fair indication of the value and return from Sweet potato growing in greenhouse conditions in Ireland. The purpose of this further trial is to asses the viability of this crop commercially and promote this wonderful healthy vegetable as an alternative commercial crop for organic and amateur gardeners. This crop will be grown using organic methods therefore no fungicides, insecticides or herbicides will be used in the production. The trial will continue until September / October 2010 at which point we hope to harvest a wonderful crop of sweet potato. In addition to my last blog piece please see here information on our trial in 2009 http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweet-success.html
During the planting I overheard a student in the greenhouse next door say something about the first time he came into the greenhouse. This sparked my memory back to when I came into the greenhouse as a student at Kildalton. I suddenly realized to my shock, it had been almost exactly 30 years since I first set foot in this greenhouse. Michael Minihan RIP and Michael Conlon RIP were part of the lecurer team there at the time, both wonderful guys but both sadly passed away before their time. The glasshouse where so many hundreds of students have learned their first lessons in Horticulture took on a slightly different meaning bringing memories and echos of past afternoons into the mix of humans and plants. Myself and Dermot "perspried" in the heat of the greenhouse on a wonderful May day. I couldnt help remebering 30 yr old trickling beads of sweat on Michael Minihans red complexion as he tried to explain some salient Chrysanthemum growing tip. During that period in the early eighties it seems to me there was more experimentation hope and expectation from horticulture even though the economy was even worse than it is today. Hopefully the powers that fund Horticulture in Ireland can take a step back and ask should we have drifted away. Maybe we can go some way back to those times and invest more in the real skills of Horticulture and plant science which have serious economic and social values that may have been forgottten for a while. I do believe we have lost some of our hunger and drive from those times and we need to direct resources back towards skills like Horticulture before it becomes more difficult to do so.
Finally back to the sweet potato. Just as myself and Dermot had finished planting the very last cutting Mr Jim Mahoney Head of Horticulture with Teagasc dropped in. Jim on left with Mr Brian Lyons Glasshouse section Manager at Kildalton as you can imagine was dissapointed having missed helping with the planting. We however were delighted to assure Jim that we will not forget him when the spuds need to be harvested in the Autumn. We expect to have plenty of help on hand for that occasion when the proof of the pudding will be in the eating!

Nurserymans Tip to Growing Sweet Potato

Nurseryman's Tip

Sweet Potato.

Full Name: Ipomoea batatas ‘Beauregard’
Leaf: Heart shaped, green
Preferred Location: In the soil/big growing containers
Likes: Well drained, sandy soil/Full sun
Dislikes: Over watering and temperatures below 5°C

Sweet potatoes are becoming increasingly popular as part of a healthy diet in Europe. Home
production of Sweet potato can be done in big plastic containers, on the patio and therefore
makes the crop available for a wider range of gardeners. This crop is especially interesting for
younger people or those without a large garden who want to grow something special. Anyone who has traveled to countries like USA, Australia, Middle East and many of the Pacific Islands where Sweet potato is a common vegetable. The dietary and health advantages of Sweet potato are now well recognised and Sweet Potato is commonly recommended by dieticians for very young babies beginning their solid food diets.

In 2009 I posted this blog piece showing ourtrials on Sweet Potato. You can see this post here http://fitzgeraldnurseries.blogspot.com/2009/10/sweet-success.html

I have put together the following detailed tips for your information in growing and storing your own SweetPotato this year.

Growing instructions
- Optimum of 4 - 5 months of continuous growing between 10°C night and 30°C day required
- ‘tuber’ growth starts during the shortening days
- Well draining, sandy soils, pH 6 to 6.5, minimum 20 to 30 cm deep
- Planting of the rooted cuttings in rows 1 m apart, 30 cm within the
rows or in individual growing containers
- Water in when planting the rooted cuttings, but overwatering during
the growing period can cause root damage
- Requires less fertilizer than most vegetable crops so do not overfeed
- Keep weed free during growing
- Relatively free of pest and disease problems, but can have root rots caused
by cold and wet soil conditions
- Harvest in dry weather where possible
- Harvest before the first frost and with care as sweet potatoes are sensitive to bruising
- Store the roots by over 25 °C and a minimum relative humidity of 90% for 2 weeks to heal
the wounds, reduce weight loss and convert the starches into sugars
- Savour the Sweet potatoes boiled, mashed or fried accompanied by a nice glass of chilled white wine

Nutrition information
Sweet potatoes are :
- fat-free and cholesterol-free
- have only 130 calories per serving (one medium
potato)
- are a good source of fibre – 3.9 grams
- are an excellent source of:
Vitamin A – 7860 IU/serving
Vitamin C – 29.51 mg/serving
Potassium – 265.2 mg/serving
Calcium – 28.6 mg/serving
Iron – 0.79 mg/serving
Folate – 18.2 mcg/serving

Special notes on harvesting & storage of sweet potato.

It is desireable to leave your crop of Sweet Potato for as long as possible before digging out. The top growth will not die back like the normal potato unless it is hit by frost. I recommend you target to harvest some time end of September if growing out door and mid October if growing in a greenhouse. It is important that they be harvested befroe grond temperatures go too low and certainly before any early frosts.
When harvesting Sweet Potato it is desireable to have dry soil conditions. If this isnt possible take special care to lay the roots out in a dry warm location. Sweet Potato have a very thin skin so care should be taken not to bruise or cut the skin surface as this can lead to rots during storage or curing the potatoes.

Curing.

For best it is desireable to cure sweet potato after harvest. Curing brings out the best in flavour. Proper curing has been shown to increase the sensation of moistness and sweetness, enhance the aroma, and decrease starch content while increasing sugars. Curing also drys up any skin damage and prevents rots in storage. Curing also helps harden or set the skin which helps prolong storage. An idea temperature for curing is between 25 C and 29 C with humidity of 85% which helps avoid weight loss.

Storage.

Ideally cure the tubers for at least a week you can then store the tubers between 10 Celcius to 13 Celcius for over 6 months. Ensure the tubers are stored at a reasonable humidity 80% to 85% is perfect but good air circulation should be maintained by storing in layers. Do not the potatoes storage environment to become excessively dry or weight loss can occur. It is also important not to allow storage temperatures rise too high as sprouting will begin at about 15 Celcius or 16 Celcius.

Honest Scrap

So this is a most unusual post for me it is a challenge or a passing of the gauntlet from Rebecca Sweet who is an amazing garden blogger in California with her Gossip in The Garden blog site. Rebecca has put some interesting facts about herself in this blog piece and thats the general idea so when you

get to number 2 on my piece I will wake you up by conveniently giving you a link to Rebeccas blog piece.

Nothing outstanding or startling included in the following just simple frivilous facts.

Here goes.....

1. Ok this is going to be a big admission, I was never interested in nursery production when I went to Horticulture college. Whats more I couldnt see the point in producing ornamental plants when it was so obvious they cant be eaten and people will always need fruit and vegetables. That was the logic of an 18yr old. This didnt change during my hort studies and ahemmm it was my worst subject even though I won two student of year awards for Fruit and Vegetable production and did my main project on the storage of Onions and the growing of Japanese onions :) .

2. When I was about 11 I tried to get a stand in role in the movie Barry Lyndon as it was being shot nearby they rejected me :( but my sister got a part in the crowd. My movie career cut off so young. rejection was so painful. SO you never hear of the movie Barry Lyndon starring Ryan O Neal? Aha well now you know why!

3. Before going to hort college I went to school at St Kierans College where in first year class I sat behind Ralph Fiennes the actor I cannot say anything remarkable other than he did use the term piss off Fitz more than once or twice as for some reason he didn't like being poked in the back during class. odd thing about some people. Ralph left St Kierans after one year hmmm now I hadnt thought about that and why he may have left :). He just didnt come back, whaaaattt I didnt poke him that hard. He wasn't the Dali Lama though so here is where you can go to http://gossipinthegarden.com/2010/02/02/honest-scrap-award-gulp-here-goes/honestscrap12/

4. After college I worked on a vegetable farm for a year then a hop farm for a year before finally spending 6 years working with and managing a Horticultural Workshop for people with special needs and this was my first entry into nursery production. My friend Patrick Murphy began the workshop / nursery and I took over from him when he left to be a landscape designer in USA and now operates a successful Landscape business in New Jersey. Pat actually picked up an application form I was after getting from the American Embassy as I was considering going to USA on an Agricultural working Visa. I managed the workshop and nursery until 1990 when I left to set up FitzGerald Nurseries and it was the most fulfilling work I can imagine we had about 35 trainees all with varying forms of special needs and all very special people. There were too many funny, interesting and good times to recount from Special Olympics outing to various other events with the lads.

5. This one I probably will be sorry for bringing out but its fact. As you know Carex is a big thing for the nursery and we have our own varieties now all coming from my work on Carex Evergold. In 1989 having bought me beautiful Omega watch (yes which I still have) for my birthday Noirín my then girlfriend now my wife asked me what I would like for my 26th birthday. So this guy who didn't study nursery production too well at school but now working in it and had decided that year to set up my own nursery. So I said ummm how about buying me some Carex Evergold plants so I could start producing some. I thought it was a pretty simple and very attractive evergreen so I couldn't go wrong. So Noirin bought them for me :).

6. FitzGerald Nurseries produced over 500,000 Carex oshimensis Evergold last year has introduced 3 other varieties from using mutated selections of Carex Evergold. In 2010 we expect to sell close to 1,000,000 Carex oshimensis in 4 varieties all coming from plants received as a birthday present back in 1989.

7. No matter how I try I can never remember the jokes properly I love listening to them but when I go repeat them they re gone. Very annoying.

8. During by first year at college while making my first cold frame I cut my knee badly with a chain saw, that same summer I was passenger in a serious car accident and missed a summer job in Netherlands. I am a terrible carpenter and totally useless at DIY jobs so dont ask me to fix your shelves!

9. When I worked for people with special needs I sometimes used to just blend in with them when people from outside wandered into the nursery. I would let them assume I was one of the lads so they wouldn't ask stupid questions about plants which took up our time from what we were really meant to be doing. OK there I have admitted it :) .

10. These are two among my favourite songs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6Khy9A1mT4 my favourite group is Meatloaf this is another one of my favourite songs corny as it may be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-2mxuj_ttQ&feature=related My favourite month is September and colour blue.

Nurseryman's Tip

Coming out of winter in this part of the world we can start to get the garden back in shape. Sorting your container plants can be a task tackled even on wet days in the dry comfort of your garden shed or greenhouse.

Like the rest of the population us gardeners are watching the pennies or cents to make ends meet while still maintaining comfortable and attractive surroundings. However we want pleasant surroundings and love to garden, that should not change and indeed it should get even stronger as the garden becomes our refuge. So for many of us thrifty is the new nifty.

FitzGerald Nurseries are producers of container plants that you can see at http://www.myplant.ie/ . I guess one might assume we like it when people have to replace plants? not necessarily so! Like any good professional we want to give value and help your plants mature into a feature in your garden. We want to be as proud of your plants as you are. You may or may not buy less but you will recommend our plants to your friends and family and hey we dont need to sell millions as we are not some big mass producer of disposable products. I personally like it when our plants give you value and you are interested enough to keep them alive, we all need a bit of maintenance now and then. Besides large container plants can be expensive to replace with like sized specimens so I want to give some tips I have learned as a nurseryman when I want to save that plant that's special to me. Over the years I have seen the behavior of plants and their fight to survive far outweighs our comprehension. Plants like humans vary in their resilience but give them a chance and they are survivors. Remember the basis to a healthy plant is similar to the basis of a healthy human nutrition, water, shelter and suitable climate environment so choose your care plan to match your plant. Choose your plants to match your realistic care limitations.

My first tip of 2010 is in relation to containerized Cordyline which is one of the most popular temperate region container plants, and one of our best sellers. Cordyline is used now even in colder regions of the world for its exotic looks. Compared even to 10 years ago there is an amzing range of shapes and colours available. I have often used the following trick this time of year as root growth begins again. This trick is ideal for larger Cordyline that have become unstable or had root rot over winter. I come across a lot of one off attractive mutations in my work which cannot be replaced easily and this little trick has saved many of these special Cordyline over the years.

Here is how you do it.

Take your plant out of the container and using a sharp knife cut off about 40% to 50% of those damaged roots shaping a tidy root ball. A bit more may be necessary if roots have badly rotted but ensure a sufficient core remains that will keep the plant anchored stably in the container. Plunge at least 6 to 8 inches of stem into a pot of moist well drained potting compost. Fill the container the rest of the way to the top. Ensure you use a good quality compost, I use a compost with 30% well composted pine bark but other good quality materials can be used. Firm the compost gently against the stem to help minimise movement as you fill the pot to the brim with the compost. Keep your Cordyline patient in a very sheltered spot or designate some sheltered hospital recovery area in your yard, garden or ideally a greenhouse. After a few weeks new roots will appear and begin to sustain the plant. During this period I must stress again it is essential to keep the plant stable in the container. Cordyline roots very easily from a trunk as old as 3 to 5 years once given the chance. I have even re-rooted a completely rootless plant with a 3 ft stem by burying in good garden soil in March and tieing to a strong iron rod for stability.

If the top growth on your Cordyline has also been damaged you can peel off some of the damaged leaves but be careful not to take off functionally sound leaves even if unattractive for for a time. Some removal of leaves will prevent the plant catching the wind if kept outdoors and reduce rocking in the wind as the plant establishes. You need your foliage to help your root recovery by allowing photosynthesis to occur. Keep the compost moist as Cordyline does like moisture but does not like cold waterlogged conditions. My experience has been that Cordyline treated this way given a little care for the rest of the season will go on for many more productive years in larger containers.

I hope this helps and if any questions just make a comment below.

Plant Climate Protection System

PlantInPod

How many of you have lost that precious plant you should have kept in the greenhouse during cold spells?. Or if you have no greenhouse and intended moving your tender container plant to the garage but forgot and one nights frost was one too many. Maybe the container was too large to move, was forgotten or you were away that weekend.

Together with Swedish company, Living Plant, MyPlant® has been working on this problem for a few years . To cut a long story short, after years of research, visits to the testing centre at the University of Agriculture Alnarp, Sweden with more on site testing here in Ireland, a solution for a number of levels of cold tolerances has been developed. Out of this work has come our PlantinPod strategy. The advantages of the shared knowledge of such a wide temperature range and how such temperatures affect various plant species has been invaluable. This cold protection system for plants is not just a product its a group of different elements and knowledge brought together to deliver the PlantInPod system. This simple system is for people who love gardening on the edge of their climate zone or for home owners with a flair for the best plants the world has to offer. PlantInPod brings more opportunity to maintain those plants which you always want to have but fear your climate zone will kill. Now you can stylishly and professionally create the climate zone your plants need in their own safety pod for those periods they will be at risk. With the decorative finish and an light we have also created a night time garden feature giving a magical glow through the frost laden environment.

All plants are sensitive to cold of a certain extreme or other. Some plants immediately die at a temperature below -1 to -3 degrees Celsius while others can tolerate a few short spells of cold. With our PlantInPod system such plants can survive temperatures down to -20 degrees C. The system has a built in control which ensures that the warming starts before the critical damage temperature is reached. This creates a "micro climate" which can give the plant a comfortable temperature of around plus 5 degrees Celcius for the entire cold period. Also with our customisable root insulation material plant roots are protected from over heating against the direct drying and burning summer heat of clay pots. The protection system is efficient for plants permanently in your garden border as well as your container plants.

As we container plant enthusiasts know plants have two main parts that need protection, roots and shoots. No roots no shoots, you can protect the shoots all you like but if those roots get killed its curtains for the shoots. Many perennial plants can survive dessication of the top growth and re-grow but for most plants survival from year to year depends on maintaining the stems, branches and foliage through the winter.
The new PlantInPod system consists of three different parts which can be used independently of each other. In the most severe weather conditions all three parts used together will protect a very wide range of plants in the most extreme weather conditions. As I write this blog piece I know all you experienced plants people out there might be of immense help to give some initial critique. Am I crazy? Is this system going to be of use to you in a meaningful and practical way? Has anyone been looking for this kind of one stop system? Any comments help or advice will be welcome! I am hopeful that this system will also be useful to botanic gardens and other specialist institutions so please feel free to spread the word about this work we have done.

In the first weeks of 2010 I will be doing a follow up blog article before the launch of the PlantInPod system. I am working on some alternative uses I am testing for the soil and air heater. I will post data from our final pre-launch winter testing. The first public and trade viewing of the system will be at IPM Essen 2010 http://www.messe-essen.de/ Our stand number at IPM is Hall 2 Stand 509.

I look forward to any comments you might have or even seeing you at IPM 2010. If you would like to buy a system from us they areavailable in limited numbers fo European delivery. You can Contact me through our FitzGerald nurseries website www.fitzgerald-nurseries.com