Plant Collector: Ilex cornuta “Burfordii” and Raphiolepsis indica “Enchantress”

Ilex cornuta “Burfordii” - berrries galore if the birds don't find them

Ilex cornuta “Burfordii” - berrries galore if the birds don't find them

Many readers may fail to identify this immediately as a holly on account of the fact the berries are greenish yellow and the leaves lack the common prickly appearance that we associate with the family. The reason the berries are not red is because I had to get in, despite the rain, and photograph the astonishing crop before they ripened. As soon as they show colour, the birds strip them very promptly and without hesitation. Hollies don’t usually berry well in this climate – they need a greater winter chill – but this selection which is native to China and Korea is a notable exception. I can’t help but think that the reason why holly and ivy are so closely associated with an English Christmas might be that, in their cold climate, there are not a lot of other candidates which are amenable to being picked in the depths of winter and the red holly berries contrast well with snow. Presumably their birds are not as voracious as ours, particularly our kereru or native wood pigeon. Ilex are very slow growing – this one was maybe a metre and half high and wide after many years but this form is apparently widely grown as a hedge in USA. A holly hedge is one way of making sure that people only enter your property by the designated pathway and not via shortcuts. Burglar deterrent plants, really.

Raphiolepsis indica “Enchantress” - enchanting may be a slight case of hyperbole but the berries are amazing

Raphiolepsis indica “Enchantress” - enchanting may be a slight case of hyperbole but the berries are amazing

Planted adjacent to the ilex in a town garden, is Raphiolepsis indica “Enchantress” which is a similar sized, bushy evergreen shrub from South China. While “Enchantress” might be slightly over-stating the case, the pretty apple blossom-like flowers have matured to a remarkable display of deep purple berries. They look like blueberries so I asked the garden owner if they were poisonous. A man of impeccable horticultural and botanical credentials (it was George Fuller), he replied that as far as he knew the berries had no toxic properties. With its dark foliage and dark berries, it is not a landscape plant that will stand out in the distance but there is a definite shortage of well behaved evergreen shrubs which stay tidy and dense in a smaller garden rather than becoming leggy triffids. This plant is worth growing for its berries, let alone its other attributes.

In the Garden this week: Saturday 23 April, 2011

• I was wrong. The first wintery blast did not wait for Easter but arrived last Monday morning. Fortunately we should not stay cold for a while yet, but it was a good reminder to make the most of remaining mild autumn weather in the garden. Nothing saps gardening motivation faster than cold, wet conditions.

• Easter should signal the time to be out doing the autumn clean up. Tell yourself that you are working off the extra calories consumed by most of us at this time. Remove spent crops in the vegetable garden and do a weeding round. If you don’t need to use all the area for winter and spring crops, either sow down bare areas in a green crop or at least mulch it to keep the invading weeds at bay.

• Silver beet is a rewarding vegetable to grow for those who are willing to eat it (and apparently some people like it) because you can continue harvesting repeatedly from the same plants. It is also hardy so makes a good winter stand-by. It is best to put in small plants this late in the season. There is not a lot of growing time left before winter.

• In the ornamental garden, the time for autumn feeding is over in colder, inland areas and fast running out in milder parts. The idea of feeding now is to allow the plant to take up the goodness before growth slows down or stops during winter. There is no point in feeding dormant plants.

• Last gasp, too, for perennial cuttings this season. After this, perennials need to be increased by division, not cuttings.

• Slugs and snails are undeterred by the cold. Watch for signs of them around emerging spring bulbs and set up bait stations if need be. We often use a low-sided plastic bottle top such as those from milk containers with a paua shell covering it to stop the bait from dissolving.

• Wrench plants which you intend to move to another site. Wrenching involves making straight cuts down two sides of the plant’s roots now, following up with cutting the other sides in two or three weeks’ time. This reduces the stress on the plant but is only necessary for well established plants which have been in the ground for some time (as in more than a year or two). Plan to take as large a mass of roots as you can physically manage.

• If you have not yet given hedges a tidy up trim, don’t delay on it. Trimming forces a new flush of growth and you don’t want it so fresh and tender that the first hint of frost will burn it off.

Tikorangi Notes: Friday 15 April, 2010

Latest posts: Friday 15 April, 2010:

1) Plant Collector this week is about Rhopalostylis sapida, better known to New Zealanders as the nikau palm – in this case the Pitt Island version of same. The Pitts are one of our more remote islands and the nikau is the world’s southernmost palm tree – and one of great beauty.

2) Garden tasks for the week with particular reference to autumn treatment for hellebores and a note about kang kong (which is an Asian green veg as opposed to a misprint of a giant ape).

3) Outdoor Classroom this week is the second instalment on garden mulches. We look at options which are usually available free but what you save in dollars across the counter, you will likely spend on your time assembling these options.

Tikorangi Notes: Friday 15 April, 2010
Our magic run of autumn weather continues. Dead calm days (always appreciated in a windy climate), mild daytime temperatures in the early 20s (Celsius) and cool nights. Rain is forecast, which is good because all my recent efforts on dividing perennials and relocating shrubs need watering in. Our avenue gardens consist of five parallel borders around 50m in length (each). I have finished three borders plus the one across the end. Just two to go so, realistically, I may have finished in another fortnight. In the meantime, the rockery continues to please. Nerines have a good long flowering season and they continue to look splendid. While we grow some of the species, it is the sarniensis hybrids which are the showstoppers. I will forgive them their foliage which hangs on until late spring, looking ever tattier. Our autumn flowering would be so much the poorer without them.

The rockery in autumn

The rockery in autumn

Plant Collector: Rhopalostylis sapida

The ripening seed on the Pitt Island nikau palm

The ripening seed on the Pitt Island nikau palm

The botanical name for this native plant does not trip off the tongue easily. It is much easier to refer to it as a nikau palm. And yes, it is indeed a palm. In fact it is the world’s southernmost palm. This form is even more south eastern than most, as it is from Pitt Island. Nikaus are often regarded as very slow growing but it is curious fact that the variation that is endemic to the Chatham Islands (which includes Pitt) is much faster growing and sets viable seed years earlier than the mainland form. They are hardy throughout most of New Zealand (except for deep inland or alpine areas) but not widely seen internationally because they don’t like extremes of heat, dry conditions or the cloaking of cold, dry arctic air which is very different to the chilly air movement that we get with wintery blasts.

The handsome crown of the nikau palm

The handsome crown of the nikau palm

Nikaus are exceptionally handsome plants but they get large. This plant is already around eight metres to the top of its crown and the arching fronds are about four metres long. It will keep growing and get larger. In the juvenile stage, the unfurling fronds wrap around the whole plant and the shape is reminiscent of an old fashioned shaving brush or feather duster but that hardly does justice to these handsome plants. We find that they seed down very readily throughout our garden and we just dig out those plants in inappropriate places. They are not the easiest plant to transplant as they get larger. Their roots go straight down and you have dig well below the base plate to extricate them without damage. The seed turning red is a sign that it is ripe.

In the garden this week: Friday 15 April, 2011

A little attention now will ensure a better winter display from hellebores

A little attention now will ensure a better winter display from hellebores

* It is time to give hellebores (winter roses) a little attention. We go through at this time and cut all the old leaves off, removing them to the compost heap. This gets rid of any aphid infestations, allows the flowers which will start emerging in a few weeks to be visible and the fresh foliage is much more attractive than tired old leaves. You can go through with a slasher if you wish. A weedeater is faster but tends to leave chewed looking stems. Feed and mulch the crowns.

* Most hellebores, particularly the common H.orientalis, are not the most amenable plants to divide. They take several years to build up to a good size so if you plan to divide a clump, make them large divisions. We prefer to go through and remove all the seedlings to prevent too much competition, leaving the large plants alone.

* Autumn is a good time for pruning and shaping most woody trees and shrubs.

* Sow lawns without delay while the weather is still mild. If you don’t do it straight away, you will have to wait until spring because grass seed won’t grow in winter.

* In response to phone calls, the pumpkin crop we grew for hull-less pumpkin seed was called Austrian Oil Seed and we bought it from Kings Seeds. Only the seeds are edible although the pumpkin may be suitable for stock food.

* In the curious world of vegetables, Sydney daughter reports that amongst the various bok choy/ pak choi variants at the market, she found a different veg called kang kong which she thought looked like a weed so she bought some to try. She says it was “quite nice”. Upon looking it up, she worked out why it looked like a weed. It is a convolvulus. I have yet to see kang kong offered here. Most Asian green leafy vegetables are quick maturing so ideal for a short term crop.

* While on the topic of seeds, the new autumn catalogue from Franchi Seeds is available on line at http://www.italianseedspronto.co.nz. These are predominantly summer crops but you may like to browse the traditional tastes of Italy in anticipation of sowing seed later in the year. Mark is planning to try some of the tomato crops and I am encouraging him in this because the most delicious tomatoes I have ever eaten were in the south of Italy. By no means are all tomatoes equal in the flavour stakes. Make the most of the pleasant autumnal weather which is brilliant for gardening. We frequently get the first wintery blast over Easter. No matter when Easter falls, the weather gods spy the event, not the date.