The generosity of some gardeners and the vandalism by non gardeners

I smile each time I pass a property down our road. The frontage is a froth of flowers for much of the year. There is nothing choice. Most of them are common enough daisy bushes and pelargoniums which balloon out onto the road verge. It is just a delightful picture for the passing motorist – it being in a position where there is no foot traffic. What makes it a little bit special, to my mind, is that the sole reason for this planting is to bring pleasure to passersby. From my vantage point on the road verge, it looks as if the property owner would not really see this particular planting from their house windows or indeed from inside their garden. That shows a generous gardening spirit, in my opinion.

The contrast to the bleak hillside on the edge of my local town could not be more extreme. Until about two years ago, this hillside was fully planted in mixed trees and shrubs, many of which were flowering varieties. I am guessing the property was sold and that it was the previous owners who had planted it up two decades ago. We always enjoyed the roadside view, particularly because at the bottom, it had a well established specimen of our Magnolia Vulcan which the owners must have planted in a prominent position not long after we released it on the market. Being in town, the air temperature tends to be a degree or two warmer so this Vulcan would come into bloom every spring just ahead of the time it opens in our own garden. It was such a feature and was on the way to becoming a mature specimen.

Cleared entirely and left to weeds and erosion

Cleared entirely and left to weeds and erosion

The hillside is too steep to garden intensively or indeed to mow or graze, and it lacks sufficient space to be terraced so there is very little that can be done with it beyond establishing permanent plantings. It took a lot of plants to cover the area but over twenty years, they had grown to give an attractive cover which had knitted together in a patchwork of colour, foliage and flowers. It would have stopped most of the weed growth below, prevented the risk of slipping in rain and given an attractive drive in to reach the house at the top. It would also have required very little maintenance yet it brought a great deal of pleasure to passersby who stood to benefit the most. The house, perched on the top, looked over the plantings.

It must be two years ago now that I drove past as the hillside was being stripped. By stripped, I mean every tree and shrub was removed, even the Magnolia Vulcan at the base of the hill. My heart sank but I thought they must have plans to develop the property differently. Not so. After two years, all that remains are weeds, rank grass growth and clay. But wait – a billboard has appeared, advertising loans at 11.9% to people who cannot afford them to buy new cars. It’s a destructive travesty.

My guess is that new owners moved in and found the shrubs at the top of the slope were starting to block their soaring views across the town and maybe distant views of the river and sea. You have to understand that these are soaring views of a former freezing works town which is not noted for the beauty of its architecture. Rather than seeking advice as to how to frame views, to establish view shafts and to thin or selectively remove problem plants near the top of the slope, they went in and cleared the lot from top to bottom. Believe me, the house will have unimpeded views (and wind) at the top and the owners may never realise how much pleasure people used to receive because of the generous gardening spirit of the previous owners.

Fortunately, this planting facing State Highway 3 still grows and blooms

Fortunately, this planting facing State Highway 3 still grows and blooms

Fortunately a similar planting alongside the state highway survives. A different owner with another difficult slope of some area, she planted it around the same time. Many rhododendrons, camellias and flowering cherries grace this hillside along with a large specimen of Magnolia grandiflora at the base of the slope. Very little of it will be visible from the house and again it is relatively steep. It too has billboards but in this case they are faded old ones promoting the activity of golf, rather than the town’s newest finance company. Every day thousands of motorists pass the boundary and for three months in spring, many of them will notice seasonal blooms and maybe it will bring a smile to their day.

To me, that sets a standard for generous gardening, way beyond the sharing of cuttings and divisions. With no expectation of admiration or appreciation, these good folk create beautiful plantings in areas where they can see little from their own homes or outdoor living spaces. They are there to be enjoyed by passing strangers.

Plant Collector: Deutzia x rosea

Deutzia x rosea

Deutzia x rosea

Flowering deciduous shrubs are a mainstay of colder climate gardens but less popular in our temperate to warm climes. This means that many gardeners miss out on delights such as this little deutzia. In winter it is a bare bunch of twiggy branches, in summer it is an anonymous leafy shrub with smallish, pointed leaves but in late spring it comes into its own with a mass of small starry flowers. The flowers are comprised of five slightly pleated, bi-coloured petals which sit flat like a daisy with a centre boss of pale gold stamens. If you look closely, they resemble icing flowers or ones made from fabric. There are plenty of blooms held in clusters and it is very pretty and dainty.

Deutzias are a relatively large family of hydrangea relatives and most originate in parts of Asia which experience colder winters. They are cold hardy, unaffected by even heavy frosts. While there are a large number of different species and hybrids, D. x rosea is hybrid between gracilis and purpurascens. Like the majority of deciduous flowering shrubs, it prefers sunny conditions though it doesn’t seem to be too fussy on soils. I think it is best treated as a border shrub where it can shine when in flower and gently meld into the background when it isn’t.

Garden lore

The moment the trees are in bud and the soil is ready to be worked, I generally come down with a crippling muscular complaint as yet unclassified by science. Suffering untold agonies, I nonetheless have myself wheeled to the side line and coach a small, gnarled man of seventy in the preparation of the seed-bed. The division of labour works out perfectly; he spades, pulverizes and rakes the ground, while I call out encouragement and dock his pay whenever he straightens up to light his pipe. The relationship is an ideal one, and I know he will never leave me as long as the chain remains fastened to his leg.

Acres and Pains by S J Perelman (1951).

The narcissi flies are on the wing

The inoffensive adult fly (photo credit: Sandy Rae via Wiki Commons)

The inoffensive adult fly (photo credit: Sandy Rae via Wiki Commons)

The Nazi flies are on the wing. That is what we call the dreaded narcissus fly here. It lays an egg in each of the leaf crowns of the bulbs. That egg hatches in to a larva which wriggles down, enters the bulb and eats it from inside out. Narcissus fly loves daffodil bulbs but also attack a range of other bulbs, including hippeastrums, snowdrops, snowflakes and, apparently, hyacinths. Mark stalks them with a little sprayer of the insecticide, Decis, which is just a synthetic pyrethroid, similar to a strong flyspray. If you are not so inclined, remove the dead and withering foliage of daffodils now and pile a few cm of soil or mulch on top. It makes it much more difficult for the fly to find the crown of the bulb. The narcissus fly resembles a baby bumble bee.

The last day of Festival 2012


Tomorrow marks the final day of the Powerco Taranaki Garden Spectacular for this year. While our garden remains open, the special flavour of Festival ends tomorrow. This means that after that, Mark and I will not be standing in attendance at the entrance all day, meeting and greeting and answering questions. Nor will there be tea and coffee available at all times. And plant sales end for another year.

This morning dawned grey and quickly deteriorated to the worst possible conditions – windy, cold and with torrential rain. Frankly, we were astonished that over 60 determined souls braved the weather to turn up and visit the garden in the morning. But by lunch, in typical Taranaki style, the sun came out, the rain stopped and all the flower and the garden is looking its smartest.

We are open from 8.30am until 5.00pm daily. Admission to the garden during Festival is $12.00 or 3 x Festival tickets. Garden entry includes tea and coffee at this time. We are open from 8.30am with final garden entries at 5.00pm each day. Plant sales end tomorrow.

589 Otaraoa Road, RD 43, Waitara 4383, New Zealand
Email: jury@jury.co.nz | Tel & Fax: +64 6 754 6671

Not a common buttercup - Ranunculus cortusifolius from the Canary Islands

Not a common buttercup – Ranunculus cortusifolius from the Canary Islands

The late spring bulbs


Left to right: Gladious carneus, a dainty allium, Romulea rosea, camassia, Phaedranassa cinerea, Stenomesson miniatum, Gesneria cardinalis, calanthe orchid, Albuca candadensis and spiloxene.

When spring bulbs are mentioned, most people think of daffodils, bluebells and tulips. But when they have been and gone and all that is left is the scruffy foliage, there are the late spring bulbs coming into flower. Most of these are less well known and certainly less celebrated in literature and art. For all that, they are often more interesting, maybe because they are unexpected.

We love bulbs here and with bulbs I include corms, rhizomes and tubers. More than any other type of plant, they seem to mark the passage of the seasons and to create the smaller, detailed pictures that add layers of interest to the garden. Maybe because the perennials and annuals are coming into their own at this time, the late spring bulbs are often ignored and therefore harder to source.

I headed out to the garden to see what was coming into flower. Discounting the earlier bulbs which are still flowering but well past their peak (veltheimias, the late lachenalias, Hippeastrum aulicum and the like), I found about 20 different types of bulbs coming into their own and that is by no means complete. There is little which is duller than endless lists and plant descriptions so I lined a number up for photographs.


Clockwise from top – Soloman Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum), tritonia, babiana, Satyrium odorum (orchid), rhodohypoxis, Watsonia brevifolia, tulbaghias – probably comminsii and possibly simmleri

I featured the rhodohypoxis in Plant Collector a fortnight ago. These are relatively common and form attractive carpets in pinks, whites and carmine red with their mass of star flowers. There is nothing rare or exclusive about Soloman Seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) either. It was common in the gardens of grandparents and is perhaps undergoing a surge of discovery amongst newer generations of gardeners. It is particularly handy for semi shade positions and, after battling a near impenetrable mass of entangled rhizomes, I decided it may well have some merit as a natural stabiliser for an eroding bank. I will report back in three years about the success or otherwise of this venture but as it will grow pretty much on top of the ground and grip hard, I am optimistic. As a bonus, the foliage turns golden in autumn – an unexpected source of autumn colour for us.

Hippeastrum papilio

Hippeastrum papilio

For sheer exotica, it is hard to beat Hippeastrum papilio which is just opening. Papilio means butterfly though I think it is more orchid-like really. This is a spectacular bulb from Brazil which is offered for sale from time to time. It is more expensive than rare. We had to try a couple of different places in the garden before we found a spot where it was happy but we now have it thriving in open woodland conditions.

Scadoxus puniceus

Scadoxus puniceus

While on the big bulbs, Scadoxus puniceusis one of our showiest but I won’t dwell too long on it because it is rather too frost tender for inland areas and rare in this country. Its cousin, Scadoxus katherinae, is a better bet for frosty areas because it is dormant in winter and doesn’t start moving until spring, flowering in summer. Similarly, our love affair with the arisaema family (sometimes called snake’s head lilies though they aren’t lilies) is of limited value because our showiest ones are Mark’s hybrids which we have never sold so they can’t be seen anywhere but in our garden. Given time, we may put them on the market but that is a way off. Most of the arisaema family hide their flowers below the foliage but Mark has managed to breed with varieties to bring out the desirable trait of holding their flowers above the leaves, making them much showier as well as being easy garden plants. You may, however, find Arisaema speciosum which is easy to grow and Arisaema ringens is relatively common. If you have a bank that you look up to, the flowers are little more obvious without having to part the leaves to see them. We describe A. speciosum as the closest thing to a cobra you would want in the garden.

If you are getting frustrated trying to find more unusual plants, there are good reasons why. Many if not most of the specialist nurseries throughout the country have closed down over the last decade as have most mail order nurseries. Treasure the ones that are left because there are few new plant businesses opening. However, bulbs are perhaps a little easier than trees and shrubs and I occasionally look at the bulbs section of Trade Me and see some interesting and less common material offered for sale there. Beyond that, you may have to start haunting your local horticultural society or keen gardening groups where there are likely to be one or two people who know their bulbs from their onions.

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