Plant Collector – Hippeastrum aulicum

 

Hippeastrum aulicum

Hippeastrum aulicum

At this time of the year the big red flowers of Hippeastrum aulicum look like Jacobean lilies. We use it as a woodland plant because our past experience is that narcissi fly can devastate hippeastrums planted in the sun but the flies don’t go into the shaded areas to lay their eggs in the crowns of the bulbs. It takes a while for the bulbs to get large enough to flower but they are happy to be planted and left alone, gently increasing year by year so, after several decades, we have large clumps of them which oblige with gorgeous blooms in spring, standing 60 to 70cm high on strong stems. With us, they are completely evergreen though they may drop their foliage in harsher conditions.

A colourful woodland plant - H. aulicum

A colourful woodland plant – H. aulicum

Just for a change, the hippeastrum family doesn’t come from South Africa which is home to the majority of bulbs that we grow successfully here. Instead they hail from South America and this particular one is native to Brazil and Paraguay. H. aulicum is a species and not widely available though the curious H.papilio is sometimes offered for sale (expect to pay about $30 for a single, flowering sized bulb) and there are many hybrids which are brightly coloured, big flowered things for growing in containers. I am not so keen on the hybrids, papilio is less obliging as a garden plant but aulicum is both exotic to look at and a consistent performer.

In the Garden this Week – October 15, 2010

• I headed overseas for three weeks and came home to find that I had successfully missed two weeks of hideous weather and the season had changed completely in the third week. The pressure is on in the garden. Most plants are putting on their main growth spurt for the year and that includes the weeds. If you can eliminate the first round of germinating weeds this season, you can do a lot to break the cycle.

• When you have done a weeding round, pile on the mulch to nourish the soil, suppress the next series of weed seeds which will be wanting to germinate and stop the garden from drying out over summer. We favour a thick layer of compost which we make ourselves (but you need to make sure your compost is free of weed seeds). Leaf litter, bark or woodchip, calf shed shavings, old silage, barley straw, pine needles or pea straw are other options.

• Get woody trees and shrubs planted as soon as possible. That includes any new hedging and fruit trees. They need time to settle in and make some fresh root growth before the heat and dry of summer. This is even more important if you live close to the coast where soils are usually lighter or in South Taranaki which dries out faster than the north.

• The cold snap earlier this week was a good reminder as to why it does not pay to rush planting out summer vegetables like tomatoes, capsicums and corn. Labour Weekend is the traditional time but it may pay to wait a little longer until it is clear that we are consistently warmer. These plants don’t like cold changes.

• Get peas sown now. You are running out of time for this season. Planted now, you may have your timing right for fresh peas for Christmas dinner.

• You should be planting out main crop potatoes and in warmer areas, kumara runners can go in soon. Kumara need a long growing season.

• If you have your vegetable garden dug over and prepared for planting, go in with the rake every few days. You will keep cultivating the soil to a fine tilth and hoeing off successive waves of germinating seeds.

• If you persist with the opinion that our native plants are boring, take a look at the island bed on Courtenay Street outside the fire station. It stopped me dead in my tracks from right across the road and I had to go and have a closer look. It is as good a combination of plants as you will ever see. The fact that they are natives is almost irrelevant to the fact that it is just an exceptionally pleasing and interesting small public planting.

Countdown to Festival: October 15, 2010

• With only two weeks left before Festival starts, I am sure we could all have done without the savage winds early this week. In our case it felled yet another massive Lombardy poplar along with the power lines which service a fair number of properties along the road. We are desperately hoping that is the end of any of our trees committing hari-kari before the chainsaw wielding men get to the vulnerable ones straight after Festival. But as we waited for the Powerco crew to arrive, our trees festooned in broken power lines, Mark and I were deeply shocked to see a pair of visitors come out from the garden. They had found the honesty box and the directions and taken themselves around, presumably stepping over and under power lines. We have informed our two dogs that they failed entirely as an early warning system when it could have really mattered.

• Chris Goodin, who gardens around Pungarehu way on Mirihau Road, is very excited about the exhibition of flower paintings by Auckland artist Karl Maughan which she is having in her home this festival. Because the artist will be overseas during the event, they are planning a small exhibition opening at daughter Nicci’s florist premises in town this coming Wednesday, 20 October when the artist can be present. If you are interested in attending, call Chris on 7828 160 or Nicci Goodin on 757 2233. The paintings have all been inspired by Taranaki with a particular link to Pukeiti.

• At La Rosaleda in New Plymouth, Coleen Peri’s best laid plans have been disrupted. She had been feeling confident and well on track until the really awful early spring. She lost two weeping silver pears in one gale and has had to resort to some reasonably expensive, specialised metal staking for her tall standard roses as she feared they could snap in the wind. However, despite the cold, wet and windy conditions, her roses are well advanced and she says most will be flowering for festival. While Coleen describes herself as an impatient gardener, her delight that her Phlomis tuberosa is about to bloom after about three years would suggest that she has more patience than some. She is hoping the Crambe cordifolia will follow suit and finally flower.

• In Waitara, Margaret Goble reports that her roses are already starting to show colour so there should be a splendid display from this experienced rosarian during festival. She is really pleased with how her window boxes are looking – a froth of lobelia and pansies – but her hanging baskets are letting the side down and languishing behind. They need some warmer weather to hurry them along in time. The bearded irises (Margaret has a substantial planting of these and was kind enough to give me some of a pure blue one I admired greatly) are spiking up right on cue this year. Margaret is keeping mum on the design changes she has made in her garden this year (though she did let me into one secret) – you will just have to visit and see for yourself.

• At the time of writing, it seems like a distant memory but Maree Rowe had the sunblock out last week after she unwittingly burned herself the previous day. Weeding has been keeping her very busy. As a certified organic property, she does not use weedkillers but does it all by hand. Readers of the Weekend Gardener should have spotted the feature on Havenview Vegetable Garden in the issue which came out last week.

• How apt to see that the winner of the Early Bird Prize Package (that is the garden visitor’s equivalent of a goody bag) is none other than Stratford’s Shirley Greenhill. Shirley is a renowned gardener herself who opened her large garden as part of the Festival for many years before she retired and downsized. Those of us who know Shirley will be looking forward to seeing her out and about the gardens wearing her complimentary hot pink and white festival tee shirts.

Not all wheelbarrows are equal

1) Contractor’s barrows tend to be larger, more solidly built, heavier and more expensive than garden barrows. Better quality barrows can cost from $200 but these two barrows have been used on an almost daily basis here over 10 years. Some women may find the handles too thick to use comfortably and the barrow too heavy.

2) Metal or plastic tray? Metal trays can last the distance if you look after them and don’t leave them out in the rain or full of debris. Because I am guilty on all counts, I strongly prefer a plastic tray with galvanised steel frame, neither of which will rust, but this is considerably more expensive. This garden barrow is pretty much top of the range, costing around $180 but I like its wider shape and its stability and I have two of them.

3) Cheap barrows are usually in the $38 to $60 range and commonly have a light metal construction which is prone to rust if you don’t look after them. They also have a tendency to tip back if you don’t load them properly. However, with some care, the much cheaper price may be sufficient to offset those disadvantages.

4) Most wheelbarrows are sold in flat packs. Make sure you try out an assembled one in the store before you buy so that you know that you will find it comfortable to use and that it has acceptable stability. If you assemble the barrow at home and find that the wheel is loose with no means of adjustment, return it to the store. A wobbly wheel is a major weakness from the start. If you ever come across barrows with small or narrow wheels, shun them. You need a robust wheel to support the weight of a load.

5) If you store your barrow leaning against an outside wall, make sure that rain can not get down the handles because it will pond in the pipes and quickly rust from the inside out.

6) I have never tried the new tub style of barrow and can’t see that they have any advantage over the traditional barrow which has been around in more or less the same form for 800 years in Europe and up to 2000 years in China where they were invented to carry military supplies. However, should any readers swear by this new design, I would be happy to hear. Otherwise, I suggest you borrow one to try before you spend between $75 and $150 on buying one.

Tried and True: Ligularia reniformis

  • img_6451* Impressive in size and lush appearance.
    * Evergreen.
    * Looks tropical but can withstand light frost and cool winters.
    * Widely available for sale.

 In this country, as in Australia, we all know this plant as the tractor seat ligularia, which says quite a bit about our rural origins. I guess the leaves could be said to resemble a traditional tractor seat in shape and when growing strongly, getting pretty close in size. We have almost made this plant our own in New Zealand and have certainly pushed the boundaries of where it is grown – it is technically sub tropical and from East Asia. In warm areas, it gets considerably larger but even in cooler areas with a bit of frost, it makes an impressive clump a metre across and a metre high over time. It will need more protected conditions where frosts are more frequent but it is happy in high shade and on woodland margins. Typical of any perennial, it likes rich, well cultivated soil with plenty of humus and good moisture levels. While not immune to the munching ways of slugs and snails, it is nowhere near as tasty as hostas and we have never worried about pests or diseases on our plants. It is grown for its foliage and if you have the space for a large and impressive plant with large and impressive leaves (think giant water lily pads), it is a good addition and easy to contrast with a whole range of other plants. Reniformis is widely available in garden centres.