Tag Archives: The plant collector

Plant Collector: Tropaeolum tricolorum

The dainty climbing delight of Tropaeolum tricolorum

The dainty climbing delight of Tropaeolum tricolorum

It does not, alas, have a common name but give yourself a huge pat on the back if you immediately identified it as a member of… the nasturtium family. I guess if you took the common nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus) and scaled it down, you might see a faint similarity. Or maybe not. The flowers are tiny but oh so exquisitely detailed and abundant. Shaped perhaps like a 2cm long Chinese lantern with a tail or spur, they are orange red, tipped navy blue with a yellow frill. Tricolorum (or tricolor) means three coloured, of course. The lobed leaves are similarly dainty.

This is a plant from Chile and Bolivia which grows from tubers resembling baby potatoes. It is dormant in summer and autumn, coming into growth in winter and putting on its peak flowering in early to mid spring, after which it dies down very quickly. It is a climber so it needs something to cling to but because it is so light and with a short season, it doesn’t smother any plants it climbs up. We grow it in abundance in two of the narrow beds beside the house which are always problematic because they are so dry beneath the eaves. It has not been as happy in woodland areas so we think it needs good light levels. It certainly does not want to be in wet conditions or it will rot out when dormant. T. tricolorum should not be confused with its thuggish cousin, the red Tropaeolum speciosum which seeds down and is reputed to be a noxious weed in Scotland as well as being a problem in some NZ gardens. Any plant that can be a weed in Scotland and New Zealand is dangerous. We have never seen our tricolorum set seed although there are internet references to growing it from seed. We find it increases gently from the tubers. There are, by the way, over 80 different species in the nasturtium family, all from South America.

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

Plant Collector – Camellia chrysantha

Indisputably yellow - Camellia chrysantha

Indisputably yellow - Camellia chrysantha

It is a camellia and it is indubitably yellow – bright yellow. Camellias don’t only come in pink, white and red. There was huge excitement in the west when the yellow camellias started to become available out of China in the early 1980s and they are certainly a curiosity though hardly great garden plants. Our specimen of C. chrysantha is now about 4 metres high and 4 metres wide. It took many years before it started to flower and even then, the flowers are few, far between and rather small. What is more, the flowers face downwards, well hidden amongst the foliage. I had to pick these to get a photo – don’t be thinking this is how they look on the bush. But even the fat yellow balls of buds are interesting. We have other yellow species which are not flowering yet, after about a decade! So these are plants for the curious collector and the plant breeder rather than the home gardener.

Nuccio’s Nursery in USA has apparently done a lot of work breeding new cultivars using the yellows but we have not seen any of the progeny in this country yet. That said, with its big, glossy, heavily textured leaves (called bullate foliage) C. chrysantha is a handsome plant in its own right for large gardens, even if it is shy on flowering. In this day and age, you are not likely to find it offered for sale in this country though it is around in camellia collections if you are determined to track it down. Grafting is the best option for getting your own plant. It does set seed, apparently, but we have never seen seed on our plant.

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

Plants that Delight

This article was first published in the Weekend Gardener Magazine, issue 316, June 2 – 15, 2011

Bromeliads - a vriesea

Bromeliads - a vriesea

Bromeliads
Generally speaking, I am not a fan of prickly, spiky plants (I have always felt that yuccas in particular were aptly named) but I am willing to make an exception for the bromeliad family even though it means donning protective gear when it comes to working amongst them. We use them extensively in dry woodland conditions and for much of the year they just sit around being extremely undemanding, bar the occasional clean up to remove accumulated debris.

It is when they flower, that bromeliads look exotic. The range of blooms is extraordinary and there is nothing quite like them. Some of them have strange, flattish flowers which might be cast out of thick wax, dyed in parrot colours. What is more, the flowers last for ages. I haven’t timed them but we are into months, rather than weeks. This one is a vriesea of some sort but we have never become experts on the genus, despite growing a range of different ones. Our cool, frost free, high shade conditions keep them looking particularly lush. With some of our plantings dating back to the early 1950s, we would rate them as one of the lower maintenance garden plants.

Bromeliads are readily available and many are easy to multiply for the home gardener. If you want to learn more about bromeliads, check out “Bromeliads for the Contemporary Garden” by Weekend Gardener writer, Andrew Steens.

Meconopsis

Meconopsis

Meconopsis
The simplest poppy form – a mere four petals surrounding a ring of golden stamens – is always charming, no matter the colour. When it comes in pure blue, it enters a league of its own.

Coming from the Himalayas, these are plants which are happier in much drier, colder conditions. We have to work at keeping them going here, where we have high rainfall, high humidity and generally mild conditions. They certainly don’t seed down and naturalise for us as they will in parts of the South Island but when they come into flower each spring, it is worth every bit of effort.

We don’t generally let them flower in the first year because if they put their effort into setting seed, the young plants tend to die. If we delay the flowering, we have more chance of some at least becoming perennial, albeit still comparatively short lived. Fresh seed is easy enough to raise but best done in seed trays and not merely broadcast to the ground with a wish and a prayer.

Meconopsis are available in New Zealand both as seed and as plants. If you have a choice, Meconopsis x sheldonii shows a little more vigour than either grandis or betonicifolia. All come in blue, though there are also white, pale yellow and red meconopsis which are nice to add in to a garden but no replacement for the beautiful and eye-catching blue.

Magnolia Felix Jury

Magnolia Felix Jury

Deciduous magnolias
How could I be a Jury and not put deciduous magnolias in my top favourites? These trees are surely one of the most spectacular on the planet when in full flower, though it has to be said that the bigger the flower, the better in terms of impressive display.

Magnolia trees just get better with size and age which seems entirely appropriate for a genus which is ancient – so old that it does not even have proper petals. What we usually call petals are in fact tepals. They evolved before bees so originally adapted to be pollinated by beetles – hence the fact they have pollen but no nectar.

To get maximum flowering, select a variety which sets flower buds down the stem rather than just on the tips. Some varieties like the purple Lanarth can take your breath away but only for about 10 days. Others, like Iolanthe or Felix Jury, flower over many weeks, extending the display. Indeed, spring flowering on Iolanthe extends over at least eight weeks from first to last bloom and there is the bonus of random flowers over summer.

Daphne genkwa

Daphne genkwa

Daphne genkwa
A daphne with no scent? Yes, but it is so spectacular in flower that the absence of fragrance does not seem to matter. It is also deciduous, which we do not expect from a daphne and it flowers before it comes into leaf so all that is visible is a mass of graceful whips smothered in lavender blue flowers.
I think you can never have too much blue in a garden. It is a colour that complements all others and while I will admit that genkwa is not a pure toned blue, it is still blue enough for me.

D. genkwa is not easy to propagate and is generally increased from root cuttings. Neither is it easy to get established. In fact it is definitely on the touchy side. This plant was a particularly fine specimen but outgrew its allotted space so I pruned it after flowering, as you do. It promptly died, to my great disappointment. I am trying again, but this time as specimen shrubs with plenty of space to grow so they will not need to be pruned. Daphne genkwa is available in New Zealand but is not standard garden centre fare so you may need to find an obliging operator to order it in for you. It is a Chinese shrub and, being deciduous, it is generally rated as hardy.

Narcissus cyclamineus

Narcissus cyclamineus

Dwarf narcissi
In a large garden with some enormous trees, we love the tiny treasures that give detail to the bigger picture. We also have more success with the baby narcissus than with their larger cousins. They don’t seem to be quite so vulnerable to the dreaded narcissi fly, possibly because many of them flower earlier in the season.

These little cyclamineus seedlings always make us smile. With the reflexed skirt of petals, they are rather reminiscent of floppy eared dogs with the heads out the car window and ears streaming behind in the wind.

We grow a whole range of different dwarf varieties – species, named hybrids and unnamed seedlings, tucked into positions around the garden. The first to bloom are the Narcissus bulbocodium citrinus or hooped petticoat types which can show colour as early as late April while others continue the display through to late September. The best known dwarf variety is probably Tete-a- Tete, but there are innumerable others which are offered for sale from time to time.

Cyclamen hederafolium

Cyclamen hederafolium

Cyclamen species
These little treasures mostly hail from southern Europe and northern Africa but some varieties are particularly suited to New Zealand gardens.

The most widely available variety is Cyclamen hederafolium (formerly known as neapolitanum) which puts its first flowers up in our garden in January and flowers through until May or even June. After that, the marbled, heart-shaped leaves are attractive in themselves. C. hederafolium comes in shades of pink and pure white. Following on from them, we have a lot of success with C. coum in winter and C. repandum in spring.

Cyclamen are particularly successful planted in drifts on woodland margins in dappled light but they are pretty adaptable in a range of conditions as long as they have good drainage. They are easy enough to raise from fresh seed if you know of anybody with plants and they grow to form tubers which are like round, flattish discs.

Rhododendron Yvonne Scott

Rhododendron Yvonne Scott

Rhododendrons
Unfortunately, the glory days of rhododendrons have been and gone in this country, but we would not be without them in our garden. Our particular favourites are the nuttalliitypes with their large, waxy trumpet flowers, most of which are scented. Combine that with big, heavily textured leaves (the technical term is bullate foliage) and the most beautiful cinnamon brown bark which peels off in long tendrils leaving a shiny trunk behind.

Add in the fact that these plants show generally healthy characteristics in warmer climates. They can get a touch of thrip but nowhere near as much as colder climate plants and they are not susceptible to the brown crisping round the edges of the leaves which disfigures so many varieties.

If I could only grow one rhododendron, R. sino nuttallii would be my first choice. Sino just means it comes from China (there is another Himalayan form). Fortunately we can grow many so we have a fair range of the nuttalliis and their hybrids, including the lovely and distinctive Yvonne Scott. Huge lime green buds open to lime flowers which fade out to white within two days, but keep the green flare in the throat. Mi Amor is probably the most widely available nuttallii hybrid on the market. While we might not rate it as the best, nuttalliis are not readily available so you might have to grab whatever you can find.

Plant Collector: Podocarpus henkelii

Podocarpus henkelii looks handsome all 12 months of the year

Podocarpus henkelii looks handsome all 12 months of the year

One of my favourite trees here is this African podocarpus. It must be fifty years old by now and stands some 8 metres high. About 25 years ago, we built part of our nursery around it but we made sure it remained unaffected. Now, as we turn that nursery area into garden, we are really pleased that we kept it as a feature tree for our planned Palm Walk. You can’t hurry up maturity on slow growing trees. Not that it has any connection to palms but it fits right in to that slightly exotic theme.

Henkelii comes from the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal area of South Africa. In the wild, it now has protected status but it is common as a garden plant in its homeland because it is an elegant, slow growing evergreen tree. It is commonly referred to as the Yellowwood because its timber is apparently yellow and excellent for making furniture. This may account for it needing to be protected. The narrow leaves measure over 20cm long and hang in a sickle shape. We know ours is a female because it produces plenty of seed which looks like green olives but as henkelii is dioecious, it needs both male and female plants to get fertile seed. In other words, the seed from our tree is sterile because it is a solitary specimen.

The podocarps are a big family and widespread, though mostly from milder areas south of the equator. Our native totara is a member.

Plant Collector: Camellia sasanqua Early Pearly

The lovely white sasanqua camellia Early Pearly

The lovely white sasanqua camellia Early Pearly

Sasanqua camellias are the autumn flowering ones in bloom now. They are cheerful and obliging plants, generally tolerant of full sun and wind and they don’t suffer from the dreaded petal blight. But in the main, they don’t have the good flower form of the main season types. Early Pearly is a stand out exception with quite the prettiest flower of any sasanqua that I know. It is a beautiful creamy white with the petals arranged formally in the layout we associate with water lilies. However, sasanquas have looser flowers and softer petals, so bloom lacks the rigidity or waxed nature of other camellia types. The foliage is a particularly good, dark forest green which gives good contrast.

The white sasanqua hedge has been used so widely that it has become a modern gardening cliché, which is a shame because it can be really lovely. But it does seem to begin and end with either Setsugekka or Mine No Yuki, particularly the former because it is so widely available, gives a quick result and is a favourite stand-by of landscapers. Personally, I would much rather be looking at the lovely Early Pearly. The one downside to EP (it is so hard to find the perfect plant) is that as a juvenile plant, it lacks the flower power of some of the other members of its family. I don’t mind that when each bloom is so pretty. As it matures, it sets many more flowers, especially when it has been trimmed, I am told. Sasanquas are native to Japan. The origin and breeding of Early Pearly has been harder to uncover although it was imported to New Zealand from Australia.