Category Archives: Plant collector

flowering this week, tried and true plants

Plant Collector: Strelitzia reginae

Strelitzia reginae or the bird of paradise

Strelitzia reginae or the bird of paradise

Is there anything more exotic, more tropical in appearance than the bird of paradise plant? In fact it is native to South Africa which is not the usual “Tropics”, though it is now grown widely throughout the temperate and tropical world and is not as fussy as one might think. In its homeland, it is commonly called the craneflower because of the resemblance to cranes – which are heron-like birds.

It is a very curious bloom, almost two dimensional. The actual petals are the blue centre to the flower and it is this that holds the pollen and the nectar which is what attracts the birds to achieve pollination. The leaves are like paddles with very long stems (technically called petioles) and are heavy textured.

There are about 5 different species of strelitzia but this is by far the most common and therefore probably the most adaptable variety. It is never going to like heavy frosts and wants some warmth but is not too fussy. Looking at photographs, I think it must flower more profusely in hotter, drier climates but it is a pretty low fuss perennial in coastal areas of the North Island and some protection from frost will extend its range inland. For us it reaches about 120cm in height. Mark tells me he has the giant Strelitzia nicolai waiting to be planted out. That apparently reaches closer to 10 metres. If it only flowers on top, we will be wanting to plant it down a slope somewhere if we are to see the blooms.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Plant Collector: Davidia involucrata

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Many readers will know this tree by its common names – variously “Dove Tree”, “Handkerchief Tree” or “Ghost Tree”. I’m going for the handkerchief. In full flower it does look as little as if somebody has pegged white hankies all over it. In fact the showy white bits are not flower petals, they are what are called bracts – specialised leaves which are an adjunct to the flower structure. The actual flower is pretty insignificant. It is the same with bougainvillea where the showy, colourful bits are bracts, not petals.

The davidia is a deciduous tree from central and western China which means it is cold hardy. It is a medium sized tree, upright and conical in habit, reaching maybe 10 metres in height. It needs a bit of age before it reaches flowering size so is not a tree for the impatient gardener. Keep an eye out for damage from cicadas which can weaken branches.

The davidia makes a handsome tree with lovely, light green, pleated leaves – not unlike a tilia or lime tree but more compact in the longer term – with a floral display which is quite remarkable.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Plant Collector: Doronicum orientale

Doronicum orientale, not as was fixed in my mind, a geronicum

Doronicum orientale, not as was fixed in my mind, a geronicum

Who knew that the daisy family – or asteraceae – is one of the largest extended plant families in nature? Rivalling even the massive orchid group, in fact, with somewhere over 23 000 different daisy species. But really, it is the apparently simple charm of the daisy form, as with the poppy, that makes many of us smile. The sunny yellow doronicum has been lighting up the garden these past few weeks. To my embarrassment, I thought it was a geronicum but no, somewhere it had bedded into my memory under the wrong name. It is in fact Doronicum orientale, widely referred to in the UK by its common name of leopard’s bane. It is one of the earliest daisies of the season. The almost flat rosette of leaves grow from a small tuber below the ground and the root system is generally small and shallow. The flower stem can push upwards to about 50cm high and sets multiple blooms in succession. When it has finished, it gently fades back down and goes into a state of semi or total dormancy by late summer. This doronicum is native to southern Europe and the Middle East which may explain the timing of its dormancy period.

Botanically speaking, daisy flowers are not so simple after all. What we call petals are often individual ray flowers, with the fertile disk flowers being clustered in the centre (the bit that looks like a pincushion).

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First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Plant Collector: Kerria japonica “Pleniflora”

Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora'

Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’

I hadn’t registered the kerria until we went to see the bluebells at Te Popo Gardens and there, lo and behold, it was impossible to ignore. The double form looked somewhat like a bright gold, thornless banksia rose. I wasn’t quite so keen on the single form which is a bit like a giant buttercup flower but others may like the simplicity. On a gloomy early spring morning, the kerria were like rays of gold.

This is a deciduous, clumping Chinese shrub which will spread by putting out suckers. It flowers just at the point when the leaves start to emerge. It is not a plant with strong form or shape, being more a thicket of arching canes. When not flowering, it is one of those anonymous plants that does nothing to attract attention to itself. It benefits from being pruned (thinned, really) once a year because the flowers come on the newest canes. Treat it like a raspberry, in other words.

The real boon is that kerrias are not fussy and they will grow and flower in shade – full shade, even. It is no surprise that the Japanese have always liked them. An arching spray of golden flowers is a wonderful statement of both simplicity and cheer.

First published in the Waikato Times and reprinted here with their permission.

Pink bluebells

Pink Hyacinthoides almost certainly hispanica - I picked them because the light conditions were not good enough for the row multiplying in the old vegtable garden to be photographed

Pink Hyacinthoides almost certainly hispanica – I picked them because the light conditions were not good enough for the row multiplying in the old vegtable garden to be photographed

“Besides all this and spotted by awful white rocks and holed limestone rocks like a great fungus, there was the pink bluebell glade. Miss Anna Rose often remarked to him upon the prolific beauty of the pink bluebells which some aunt of hers had planted here. And he always refrained from expressing his absolute preference for the blue bluebells. Only the very young prefer pink bluebells to blue. Equally, they prefer pink primroses to yellow.”

Molly Keane Treasure Hunt (1952)