Selwyn Times: September 13, 2016
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SELWYN TIMES Tuesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>13</strong> <strong>2016</strong> 27<br />
Quick and easy<br />
to grow endive<br />
Gazania likes the heat<br />
• By Tod Palenski<br />
IF YOU’RE looking to add<br />
some spark to your garden this<br />
summer, look no further than<br />
gazania.<br />
This flame-like plant produces<br />
incredibly striking orange, yellow,<br />
cream and red flowers and<br />
loves hot, dry, sunny and even<br />
windy growing conditions.<br />
For a perfect planting buddy,<br />
partner it with livingstone<br />
daisies. These bright coloured<br />
plants thrive in the same conditions<br />
as gazania. Because of<br />
this, both plants are great for<br />
mass planting on dry slopes,<br />
bedding, ground cover, edging<br />
and in pots.<br />
And for the same reasons,<br />
gazania and livingstone daises<br />
are both perfect to plant now as<br />
the weather warms up. They’re<br />
especially good to grow if you<br />
plan on being out and about<br />
or away a bit over the warmer<br />
months – once planted, they<br />
require little to no care.<br />
Grab your gazania and livingstone<br />
daisy plants<br />
Make sure the area you<br />
choose to plant in is welldrained,<br />
rather than hard and<br />
wet. Dig a hole and pop a seedling<br />
in. Plant them quite close<br />
together – about 200mm apart –<br />
as they don’t tend to spread far<br />
when they grow.<br />
In around six to eight weeks<br />
your garden should have some<br />
extra spark of summer colour.<br />
• By Tod Palenski<br />
SPRING HAS arrived, which<br />
means salad season is just around<br />
the corner. And there’s nothing<br />
like picking fresh salad ingredients<br />
straight out of your garden.<br />
I’ve talked a lot about the<br />
different salad plants (typically<br />
lettuces) – iceberg, baby cos,<br />
red, triumph, just to name a few.<br />
But for some reason I’ve never<br />
mentioned endive in one of these<br />
articles. And I’m not really sure<br />
why.<br />
Endive is a great addition to<br />
any salad. I like to partner its fine<br />
curled, mid-green leaves with<br />
rocket.<br />
To my mind, endive is a bit bitter<br />
and rocket is a little peppery,<br />
together they’re a great combo.<br />
What’s equally important, and<br />
another reason why I’m surprised<br />
I haven’t mentioned endive in<br />
the past, is it’s so easy and quick<br />
to grow. Unlike most lettuces, it<br />
doesn’t need to create a heart in<br />
the centre so it’s very quick to<br />
produce. Simply pick the leaves<br />
off as you need them.<br />
To plant, look for a welldrained<br />
spot in the garden. If the<br />
soil is still a bit wet and cold from<br />
TASTY: Pick the leaves as you<br />
need them.<br />
winter, try growing endive in a<br />
pot. Just add some good quality<br />
potting mix, plant a couple of<br />
seedlings around 5cm apart and<br />
away you go.<br />
Depending on where you are in<br />
New Zealand and how warm the<br />
soil is yet, it will take around four<br />
to six weeks for your endive to be<br />
ready to harvest. Remember, you<br />
can tell the soil is warming up<br />
when you need to start mowing<br />
your lawns again.<br />
Take a chance on endive. You<br />
might just like what you grow!<br />
HOME<br />
GrOWn<br />
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www.igro.co.nz | Phone 03 347 9415
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