Dahlias

Dahlias are a bit of an old-fashioned garden plant - but they grow so well and their fleshy tubers give them some drought tolerance! Flowering and growth has been slow this year - because of the cool summer - especially the tubers that were planted for the first time in Spring.

This image of a painting by Constance Macky, from the 6th issue of Art in Australia (1919) captures the flamboyance and height of the dahlia well.

The caption in Art in Australia calls them chrysanthemums,but any gardener would recognise them as dahlias! It's growth like that in this image that I remember from the front garden of one of my Nanna Johnson's friends - Mrs Blyton, in Tinana - Rectangular beds with cement edging and cement paths between, tall plants with huge flowers, some shelter from the wind and well supported by tomato stakes.

I overwinter the dahlias in the ground here in Canberra (and maybe lift and replant every 3 years). They start to re-shoot when it warms up - just need to keep snails at bay. Fortunately, I have some blue tongue lizards living in the garden, and they have decimated the snail population in the front yard at least.


The best place to see or find out about dahlias is annual showing of local Dahlia clubs and specialist books such as this 1920 volume by Ed Pescott - Maybe somewhat of an anachronism these days!

One reliable performer is Dahlia 'Bishop of Landaff' with red flowers and maroon foliage - it only grows to moderate height and doesn't need staking

I sometimes buy tubers by mail-order or get them from Bunnings in early Spring.

These beauties - Cactus Dahlia 'Cheyenne' (Above) and Ball Dahlia 'Fire and Ice' (Below) are from the Summer  2011-12 planting.

Bilpin Plant Collectors' Fair 2010

Beaut Booty in the Car Boot!

Last weekend, we stayed in the Blue Mountains and drove to Bilpin with family on Saturday for the 2010 Collectors' Plant Fair. Guest speakers for the event included Dan Hinkley from the US and Australian gardening identity, Trisha Dixon. With over 40 stalls, it is becoming a mecca for gardeners and plant collectors of the region. Attending such events, I have only been on the first day - Pickings must be slim by Sunday judging by the buying frenzy in the first hour!

We arrived just before 10, not realising that it had started at 9 am -so the car park was full and buyers were already streaming back to their cars with various verdant treasures. Having been to the Open Garden Plant Fair at Lambrigg near Canberra a few weeks earlier, my green thumb was already pretty happy, so I first strolled from one end of the sales area to the other - looking over the selections of more than 40 stalls. it was delighful to see so many happy buyers - homing on on a long wanted treasure, seeking advice from the sellers and queueing for the coffee!

My current plant interests include the Araliaceae, the Apiaceae and Primulas, so, I was interested to find these in particular, and I was especially looking for Polycias spp. Polycias  is a genus of mostly subtropical and tropical foliage plants that are native to Asia-Pacific. I already had the fernleaved form of Polycias sold by Yamina and another broad leaved form of the Australian species, and hoped that someone might be selling some of the types from the Pacific that were common in Queensland gardens once. No luck. However I did buy the variigated Fatsia japinica and a dormant Aralia californica - Elk Clover - Fortunately, we don't have Elks in Canberra, but maybe the possums will like it! In the Apiaceae, I purchased a plant of Ferula communis (Giant Fennel) and Selinum carvifolia (Milk Parsley) (Left).

I also purchased a double blue and white forms of Prumula auricula - The varieties I bought at Bilpin last year have done well. No-one was selling Primula bulleyana, which I have from seed, with some plants now in their second season - I think I have the secret for growing P. bulleyana - I immerse the pots in water. I recently divided my plants - teasing apart each crown and getting 3 or 4 crowns from each plant. They had strong white root systems so I think they like the growing conditions. So far only a few flower heads have set seed- they didn't like the heat last summer. I use a fairly gritty potting mix for the Primulas, and add charcoal to the soil for the P. bulleyana seeing they are immersed in water.

Amongst my other purchases were:

Ensete ventricosum, a banana relative purchased bromthe Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens Stall. I will need to keep it sheltered from the frosts here in Canberra, but I think it should be OK in a large pot to provide a tropical foliage effect next summer.

Albuca namaquensis (Syn, A.  circinata) . It hales from Namibia and has corkscrew spiral leaves and the flowers are reputed to smell like playdough!

Nothoscordum hirtellum an Allium relative with yellow flowers up to 2 cm across. There were 3 flowering bulbs in the pot and it put out new flowers a week later!. It is summer dormant, and comes from Argentina and Uruguay. It is a relative of Onion Weed (N. inodorum), a weed in warmer areas, so I'll be keeping it in a pot - although Bulbs for Warm Climates, by Thad Howard, suggests this is a non-weedy species.

The proud new owner of a prickly customer.

 

Gil Teague of Florilegium had a fine selection for the Arm-Chair Gardener.

 Bilpin Plant Collectors' Fair - 2010.

Pre-loved, hand-made and antique garden tools and paraphenalia.

Bulbs - My 2010 selections (well, at least some of them)

Last weekend, I bought a few bulb types at the Lambrigg Plant Fair, and I plan to plant some this weekend (except the Tulip - I will keep that til Anzac day). Yesterday, I moved  all of the pots of bulbs from last year's plantings from under the shade/dry of an Elderberry, where they had been for the summer. I immersed the pots in water for a while, top-dressed them with bulb fertiliser, which I then scratched into the crushed brick topping that I use to keep the bulbs cool, and rewatered. Today, I will move them to shade (for shade lovers) or sun - a couple of types are up already!

The illustration in this blog comes from on-line images of the  rare books collection at Missouri Botanic Garden Library (Also see Botanicus, the Missouri Botanical Garden's digital library portal,).

Over the years, I have lost countless small bulbs in the garden, so now-a-days, I plant them in pots, at least for the first year or two. I use terracota. The modern experts say black plastic is better, but I think this may be the case in cold climates. Here in Canberra, I think the terracotta works well ,with the planting topped with crushed brick to keep cool and reduce weeds (terracotta breathes, black plastic may overheat in late Spring) and the bulbs in pots moved to a cool dry spot over summer (at least that's what I tried this year, Spring will see if it worked!)

Some of the 2010 bulb purchases (Lambley)

Ixia paniculata comes from South Afrlca and grows on damp sandy soils . Needs room (avoid crowding) with max sun and bulb mix soil diluted with sand and some blood and bone (Ref), and a risk of weediness in Western Australia. Pictured in the ABC Gardening Australia bulb profiles.

Ixiolirion tartaricum, the blue Altai lily or Tartar lily,  a native of western Asia from Turkey and Eqypt East to Siberia and Mongolia according to Philips and Rix Bulbs. (Curiously, my Google for this bulb only gave two entries! but a lot under the common name see here). The Lambley label says it is rare in Australia, but easy to grow in hot dry spots (another post says perfect drainiage, and very dry summers, and protection from excessive wet in winter), while elsewhere it says plant at 5-10 cm.

Muscari ambrosiacum. (Pictured left) Lambley label says sun or light shade and can take summer dryness!


Muscari macrocarpum . Lambley label says grow in a spot that is sunny in winter and dry in summer. Fragrant grape hyacinth (bulb bigger than common grape hyacinth).  Native to the Aegean region of Turkey and Greece, growing at 10 to 800 m on mountain rocks and flowering in early Spring (ref)

Tulipa neustruevae The Lambley label says they're from the Tien Shan and Pamir Altai mountains and from relatively warm areas so may also suit Melbourne gardens (as well as Canberra natch) plant in sun or light shade and takes summer dryness! The web says plant 10-20 cm deep in early autumn with blood and bone or bulb booster round the planting hole and in mostly sand to some clay soils. I always think it is good if there are bulbs that can be planted deeper than the usual garden digging! See pic from "Dig the Dirt'...

I'll report progress later in the year!

Gardening in Autumn - 'Lambrigg' Open Garden and Plant Fair 27 3 2010

This is proving to be the wettest Autumn in Canberra for more than 10 years - lawns are actually growing - I was glad that I had decided to reseed and fertilise mine during a rainy day in Summer - because it is now showing the results.

Last weekend, I went to Lambrigg, the former home of William Farrer, known as the "Father of the Australian Wheat Industry" and his wife Nina, as it was open for the first time in more than a decade under the Australian Open Garden Scheme, and was also hosting the AOG's annual Canberra region Plant Fair.

 Nowadays, Lambrigg is the home of Peter and Kate Gullett and Peter grew up there. The garden has been developed over the last half century since the property was purchased in 1949 by Peter's parents. You can view a short interview and video about the garden: here, or read the Canberra Times story. For those with a sense of history, it is possible to walk to the graves of William and Nina Farrer and to stand on the steps in the spot that William Farrer was standing when he died, early in 1906 (but for me there was only time for plants!

It was a great day for plant lovers - a beaut garden, and a host of plant stalls - including stalls by Lambley Nursery from Ascot, Victoria (which specialises in drought and frost tolerant perennials), and by Yamina Rare Plants, as well as specialist hellebore, Clivea, Iris, Dahlia and bulb growers, amongst others, as well as the all important coffee stand and sausage sizzle ( and a stall selling 'glow in the dark' cup cakes - Bring back Anzac biscuits and scones, I say!).

I was pressed for time, so, arriving at opening time, I headed first for the plant stalls. I bought a few plants from Yamina - including the native fern-leaf Polyscias (which grows in a frost free spot outside the NBG Bookshop), Fothergilla major, Nothofagus fuscus (Reed Beech, a NZ evergeeen), Sambucus racemosa plumosa aurea and S. nigra laciniata. I got a range of unusual bulbs from Lambley as well as a couple of perennials. Hope to plant some of them over Easter.

After the plant stalls 'round one', I queued for coffee (along with half a million others), being gallantly made by the guys from one of the ANU cafes. A belated breakfast of bacon and egg sandwich from the Rotary stall, then a visit to the gardena and walk on the homestead verandah.

 
My tour of the garden was fairly quick, but it was a delight to see, and to sit in the shade - no time for the walk to the Graves of William and Nina Farrer, next time perhaps.Thanks to all involved in organising this great event!

Perfect Valentine's Day Gift - Rain - and Belladonna lilies in flower!

Over the last 36 h, we have been receiving the perfect Valentine's Day gift - Rain. I think that more than 75 mm have fallen in my garden - and my 5000 L tank is overflowing. I am running a slow hose to put the overflow into a path across the top of the garden that is filled to about spade depth with crushed bricks - this will allow the excess to soak further into the ground which has been bone dry to a great depth for a long time. 

Yesterday I spruiked about planting sweet pea seed on Valentine's Day - I guess this year I will be late as the rain, falling at about 2 mm per hour, is expected to continue all day.

This summer I have Amarylis belladonna - Belladonna lilies, commonly known as Naked Ladies,  flowering on the footpath. They have been in the ground for over 10 years, coming originally from my mother-in-law's garden, and this is the first year they have flowered! They say that Belladonna lilies take a while to settle in, but a compounding factor here in Canberra has been the drought - We had about 60 mm of rain at Christmas time so the ground was wet for a few cm deep for the first time in years - I think this must have sparked some extra life into the lilies and they are rewarding us now - in time for Valentine's Day - Seems somehow appropriate?

Sweetpeas on Valentine's Day, Rain at last, Diplarrena spp.

 

Sweet Peas on the Footpath Spring 2002

Rain. We have been blessed with over 30 mm rain here since midnight - the perfect prelude to the Lunar New year tonight and the coming Year of the Tiger. My 5000 L rainwater tank installed just before Christmas is almost full so I am running a dripper line to ensure the excess goes in to the vegetable garden.

Sweet Peas. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is traditional to recommend planting Sweetpeas on St atrick's Day March 17th. I have found living here where we can have frosts between Anzac Day (April 25 and Melbourne Cup (First Tuesday in November) that March 17 is to late to get good growth before winter. I plant Sweetpeas on Valentine's Day - which seems appropriate. I usually grown them on a circular trellis to one sideof the vegetable garden. I dig out the soil to below spade depth and add a good amount of compost,water holding crystals and dolomite. Pile the soil back on top and water well. After the wateris drained away I plant the Swwetpea seeds at about 2 cm apart up next to te wire nettting of the trellis. A good number of seedlings usually emerge and by late April plants are usually 50 cm high - They make slow growth through winter and by Spring I am usually getting my first flowers.

Last Summer I neglected tocollect seed - it dreid out too early and set was poor so I imagine that there will be quite a few self sown seedlings coming up after this rain. I like to plantold-fshioned types and the Yates Patricia Ann are a good choice - with rippled veins of colour through the petals and good scent. The mai nuisance for sweet peas aresnails - they boldly climb into the foliage and deface leaves with relish.

If you grow sweet peas in the vegetable garden be careful not to eat the foliage or seed or feed them to animals - Lathyrus spp. contain a neurotoxin, and  horses are more susceptible to the toxin in sweet peas than humans.

Diplarrena moraea and D. latifolia, the Butterfly Flag and the Western Flag Iris respectively, are two Australian members of the Iridaceae. Here in Canberra (600 M -5 C to 40 C 35 S 141 E), I am growing D. latifolia  in a large terracotta  pot - in a well drained gravelly mix,standing on a pot saucer so it won't dry out and tucked near shrubs so it is protected from frost and to much direct sun. I bought the plant last autumn, and it has made good growth through the year - rewarding me with the first flower this week - late summer. I have seen this garden gem in mass flowering in Tasmania (Cradle Mountain) in Summer, so it is worth trying to get established! I went out to take a photo of the flower but over night rain had ruined it!

Gardening in February

Golden Weather Grass, Hypoxis hygrometrica Labill., in the Hypoxidaceae, is one of the lesser known and grown Australian bulbous plants. It occurs naturally in open woodlands in Eastern Australia preferring swampy areas or grassy forest clearings. Members of the genus also occur in Africa - the best known being H. hemerocallidea (African star grass, African potato), with reputed medicinal properties, and there are also two species recorded from Brazil.

I purchased my plant at the Open Garden Australia Plant Fair held at Huntly, a property near Canberra, last Autumn so I have had it almost a year. I am growing my plants in a pot along with a dwarf foxglove -. The soil mix includes water-holding crystals to reduce drying out, and over the summer the fox glove foliage has covered the area where the bulb is planted. The Golden Weather grass died down over winter and has been dormant for  most of the summer, and has comeup and flowered in the last few weeks. The plant seems to clump up, but I have not yet attempted to divide it. It seems to have set seed so it will be interesting to see if I can raise a second generation. While Golden Weather Grass might not win any awards for spectacular performance, it is a good addition to the garden - the summer dormancy being a particular asset in dry summers..

Tha National Library of Australia holds a watercolour painting of a group of the plants by Adam Forster, 1924.

Bulbine spp. Here in Canberra,  I have grown two species from seed - (B. bulbosa (Golden Rock Lily) and B. semi-barbata (Leek Lily) (which featured in Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1832). The seeds of both species, and a third, B. glauca ( Rock Lily), are offered by Wild Seed Tasmania . I also grew B. bulbosa years ago, in Brisbane.

After my inital Canberra planting in 2004 (lots of seedlings emerged), I lost both species in the drought. Then a year or so later, a lone seedling of one species emerged in a pot. I kept it well-watered and it flowered and set seed. I raised more plants and now, I have lots and, it seems to spread around a bit in the garden - a sure sign that  a plant is happy! I also divided up the original plant and transplanted it into the garden where they are doing OK - but I am not sure which of the two species it is, but it's probably B. bulbosa. I have found that the plants like to be kept moist, and even tolerate some waterlogging. At the National Botanic Gardens, they grow at least two species in the rock garden where plants seem to like growing beside and amongst rocks.