January and February can be the most testing time for the Canberra gardener. If they want to go away for a few days, it is imperative they think about watering arrangements. I was on holidays for 2 weeks over Christmas-New Year, and arranged for someone in my street to water my container-grown plants. I moved all of the plants to the front garden under a weeping liquidamber, so they could be watered with minimal effort. Often, I leave them all togetner in the shade until the weather starts to cool, as I am watering every second day myself.
Two weeks ago, I started to turn over the vegetable garden - I have neen collecting seed from an array of vegetables and ornamentals - oak-leaf lettuce, rocket, curly kale, Pak Choy, Green and Red Minuza, pink and red poppies, ready for autumn planting. The vegie garden is mostly sitting dormant - my perennial shallots have started to sprout so I need to replant them and start watering. I have been harvesting tomatoes since just after Christmas - red and yellow cherry types - and there are still lettuce coming on, mostly in shady spots - oakleaf and cos types. I also have a flourishing crop of red leaved basil growing in large pots in the front garden -along with some yellow capsicums easier to care for them this way.
I was lucky with the watering-minder over summer, as a few of my winter-planted seed came up and some young seedlings have become established. Primula bulleyana seedlings are doing well, with the pots standing in water. I also have one seedling of Aquilegia vulgaris 'Leprechaun Gold', and earlier in Spring, two seedlings of Fritllaria raddeana have emerged.
Fritillarias. Over the years, I've grown a few different Fritillaria spp., mostly in pots, but only managed to flower a few - Mostly they have died down early in Summer and reemerged in Spring. I lost F. mealeagris in 2007 after several years of repeat performance planted in the soil - the drought finally got to it - and F. biflora has performed consistently from a pot - if not very spectacularly. others have limped along - but mostly I have lost the name labels!
This year, I have been more attentive about watering Fritillarias and here in mid January, plants of one species are still growing - I am hoping this means bigger better plants next Spring!
Gardener’s Gumption # 1
(excerpts originally published in Your Garden Magazine from January 1994 with updating in 2009)
Turn over some new leaves...Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla and other spp.) have a familiarity that can lead to neglect when it comes to choosing garden plants. It's the associations with neat, trim stucco houses of the 50's, one hydrangea either side of the entrance: the antithesis of modernity.
Not so! These old-timers have a place in the 21st century garden too, be it cottage or Glenn Murcott Australian. In semi-shade, they produce fine serrate glossy leaves and plate-sized posies of pink, blue or white flowers in late spring and summer. A no-nonsense, weed-smothering, easy-care neatness that lasts the weeks of heat and summer outings when gardening-time is scarce. The flowers fade and blotch in russet autumn tones, and the leaves drop off in winter, leaving a skeleton tipped with firm, fat buds and the promise of another spring.
Plant them in rows beside a wall, around deciduous trees or along a drive. They'll grow to 150 cm high and wide. Tubs in-flower on paved or gravelled areas, or at the entrance, also look great and, at the local drive-in nursery have that strong `buy-me' allure for customers after `instant-garden' effects.
In Canberra - I lost most of my hydrangeas in the drought - only one mop head survives in a shady spot beside the wall where it was watered more regularly. My thinking about Hydrangeas in Canberra is : Plant in pots or in garden soilwith added water -holding crystals and a watering system. Plant them in well drained soil. Good nourishment helps. Prune them lightly in winter, the flowers form on last year's dormant buds. A good idea is to cut one third of the canes back hard, one third to mid length, and the remaining third just lightly.
Propagation: At pruning time, plunge the cuttings into pots or in garden beds where new plants are required, and water regularly. You'll have a brace of new plants in Spring. Pink/blue colour forms are influenced by soil acidity, pink in acid, blue in alkaline soil. Addition of copper sulphate can intensify the blue colour. White forms are soil pH neutral. Variegated forms have extra charm, but are slower growing and should be in bright shade. Several other species of hydrangeas, including climbers, are available from specialist nurseries. They may be more sensitive to the summer heat, but are worth a try in cooler spots.
Two weeks ago, I started to turn over the vegetable garden - I have neen collecting seed from an array of vegetables and ornamentals - oak-leaf lettuce, rocket, curly kale, Pak Choy, Green and Red Minuza, pink and red poppies, ready for autumn planting. The vegie garden is mostly sitting dormant - my perennial shallots have started to sprout so I need to replant them and start watering. I have been harvesting tomatoes since just after Christmas - red and yellow cherry types - and there are still lettuce coming on, mostly in shady spots - oakleaf and cos types. I also have a flourishing crop of red leaved basil growing in large pots in the front garden -along with some yellow capsicums easier to care for them this way.
I was lucky with the watering-minder over summer, as a few of my winter-planted seed came up and some young seedlings have become established. Primula bulleyana seedlings are doing well, with the pots standing in water. I also have one seedling of Aquilegia vulgaris 'Leprechaun Gold', and earlier in Spring, two seedlings of Fritllaria raddeana have emerged.
Fritillarias. Over the years, I've grown a few different Fritillaria spp., mostly in pots, but only managed to flower a few - Mostly they have died down early in Summer and reemerged in Spring. I lost F. mealeagris in 2007 after several years of repeat performance planted in the soil - the drought finally got to it - and F. biflora has performed consistently from a pot - if not very spectacularly. others have limped along - but mostly I have lost the name labels!
This year, I have been more attentive about watering Fritillarias and here in mid January, plants of one species are still growing - I am hoping this means bigger better plants next Spring!
Gardener’s Gumption # 1
(excerpts originally published in Your Garden Magazine from January 1994 with updating in 2009)
Turn over some new leaves...Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla and other spp.) have a familiarity that can lead to neglect when it comes to choosing garden plants. It's the associations with neat, trim stucco houses of the 50's, one hydrangea either side of the entrance: the antithesis of modernity.
Not so! These old-timers have a place in the 21st century garden too, be it cottage or Glenn Murcott Australian. In semi-shade, they produce fine serrate glossy leaves and plate-sized posies of pink, blue or white flowers in late spring and summer. A no-nonsense, weed-smothering, easy-care neatness that lasts the weeks of heat and summer outings when gardening-time is scarce. The flowers fade and blotch in russet autumn tones, and the leaves drop off in winter, leaving a skeleton tipped with firm, fat buds and the promise of another spring.
Plant them in rows beside a wall, around deciduous trees or along a drive. They'll grow to 150 cm high and wide. Tubs in-flower on paved or gravelled areas, or at the entrance, also look great and, at the local drive-in nursery have that strong `buy-me' allure for customers after `instant-garden' effects.
In Canberra - I lost most of my hydrangeas in the drought - only one mop head survives in a shady spot beside the wall where it was watered more regularly. My thinking about Hydrangeas in Canberra is : Plant in pots or in garden soilwith added water -holding crystals and a watering system. Plant them in well drained soil. Good nourishment helps. Prune them lightly in winter, the flowers form on last year's dormant buds. A good idea is to cut one third of the canes back hard, one third to mid length, and the remaining third just lightly.
Propagation: At pruning time, plunge the cuttings into pots or in garden beds where new plants are required, and water regularly. You'll have a brace of new plants in Spring. Pink/blue colour forms are influenced by soil acidity, pink in acid, blue in alkaline soil. Addition of copper sulphate can intensify the blue colour. White forms are soil pH neutral. Variegated forms have extra charm, but are slower growing and should be in bright shade. Several other species of hydrangeas, including climbers, are available from specialist nurseries. They may be more sensitive to the summer heat, but are worth a try in cooler spots.
