Shape, Scent and Colour in Winter

 

Variegated pohutakawa

Variegated holly

I have been trimming and shaping our evergreen shrubs as they come to the fore and attending to hedges now the autumn leaves are fallen and the trees bare of green. The pohutakawa took me ages to identify but the nearby New Zealand flax should maybe have given me a clue to the plant preferences of a previous gardener. We have Arthropodium cirratum (New Zealand rock lily) on site too and I have added Korokia cotoneaster to the New Zealand component. In shaping these already established plants I responded to the shape already presented by the plant,  formalising it a little. In the pohutakawa photo there is also a recently levelled buxus hedge, trimmed calamondins and in the foreground a budding Pieris japonica. The holly is very difficult to shape because as well as being prickly it is perched on the edge of a retaining wall and among other thick growth.

Chimonanthus praecox

Lonicera fragrantissima

Winter scent is now being contributed by the Luculia mentioned in the previous post, by our car park daphne plants and in the garden by Wintersweet Chimonanthus praecox and Winter honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima sometimes known as Woodbine, although this name more commonly refers to Lonicera periclymenum, the vine.

Cornus stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’ in front of Cornus alba ‘Sibirica’

The yellow and red stemmed dogwoods have lost their leaves and are now contributing stem colours to the garden. I planted these dogwoods to add winter colour and they have proved very successful. I do think there is some variation in the intensity of the red, depending on the provenance of the actual plant and the nursery it originated from. I bought the yellow stemmed as C.stolonifera ‘Flaviramea’ but it’s more common synonym is C. sericea ,Flaviramea’

 

 

frost edged oregano

We have had a series of frosts and clear days to welcome in winter and now some rain. The buffalo lawn has stopped growing but the rye/fescue is still looking good. I was paid the ultimate compliment a few days ago when a gardener who has done much green keeping told me the Waldorf lawns had a very good colour for this time of year.

early snowflake

The jonquils have been flowering for a couple of weeks and the snowflakes are just starting.

 

 

 

Osteospermums and a lawn of good colour

White brachyscomes, Korokia cotoneaster and Chrysocephalum apiculatum

Luculia gratissima

There are still plenty of Sasanquas in flower and the Luculia gratissima is beginning to flower. The Brachyscomes are flowering at the Gazebo along with some late penstemon and linaria blooms. The gardens are looking lovely at the beginning of winter.

Begonia at stone seat with Sasanqua camellias in the background

I am going to add in a couple of shots taken at the end of May. A farewell to the autumn leaves that  have now fallen from most deciduous trees (with the exception of the Pyrus calleryana. It’s brightly coloured leaves are still falling in the car park). This photo is of one of our Gazebo tripods topped with an old copper float on which Kookaburras love to perch. The autumn colour is provided by an Acer palmatum. The second shot is of the evergreen Clematis cirrhosa “Wisley Cream” trying it’s best to establish against the competition of both large trees and snails. I have surrounded the base of the clematis with a cut off 2 litre milk bottle ringed with copper tape. If the snails can be deterred this clematis will be lovely,

Pyrus calleryana leave and Hellebore foetida in the car park

Gazebo tripod and Maple

Clematis cirrhosa “Wiseley Cream”

 

Gazebo Abutilons

Double pink Abutilon x hybridum

The Gazebo is our indoor/outdoor function area. It is used most often for wedding receptions. There are views onto gardens from all four sides. The garden on one of these sides is built inside the space and covered with a poly-carbonate roof. The feel of this garden bed is that of a conservatory although it is not enclosed entirely from the outside and has no temperature control. To achieve the conservatory feel we need plants that can withstand the cold winter temperatures in the mountains and then the sun that beats in on summer afternoons. Abutilons fill this criteria admirably. The only drawback with abutilons is their susceptibility to aphid and white fly. The insects have easy access to the garden and protection from wind and rain once established. We use a few methods to keep these critters under control. The abutilons are cut back during winter so there is less chance of overwintering insects and their size in summer is more manageable. We spray off the aphids with water and treat the sooty mould that is the aphid companion with a detergent spray and rinse. The white fly is treated periodically and alternately with Eco-oil and Eco-Neem.

Abutilon megapotamicum

With the exception of one, all of the Abutilons in the Gazebo bed are Abutilon x hybridum. This species name is given to abutilons of uncertain origin. They are cultigens not occurring in the wild. Abutilons are related to mallows and hibicus in the mallow family Malvaceae. The species abutilon we have is Abutilon megapotamicum. It has a striking flower but is weedy in the Sydney area.

More Autumn Colour

english beech and redstemmed maple

Nandina domestica

Gazebo garden

The autumn in the mountain villages has been spectacular this year. The leaves have lasted well on the trees because the weather has been calm and dry for the last few weeks. We have only had 12mm rain so far this month. The english beech leaves looks gold in front of the yellow leaves of the red-stemmed maple. The Nandina domestica berries have been brilliant in our Gazebo garden.

ready for spreading

spread

Topdressing the lawns is a challenge in a wedding garden. The bridal party does not want black topdressing ingredients caught up on their beautiful clothes. We waited until after the final ceremony before topdressing. The lawns ideally should be growing quickly so that they both grow through and respond to the layer of topdressing. Our lawns are still growing but slowly. A bit more rain to help incorporate the topdressing would be ideal. The topdressing is mixed at our suppliers and contains sand, compost and cow manure. It is brilliant stuff!

November Garden

We have been hedge trimming and mowing in earnest this month and it was while I was in the middle of our double Camellia sasanqua hedge earlier in the month trimming back the top that I looked out through the cut leaf maple coming into leaf. The light was purple, maybe not quite caught by the photo. The roses are coming into bloom. We have planted some new ones this year and they do have lovely flowers but the established and reliable ones are giving the show, white icebergs and red floribundas.

Insect numbers are on the increase and a green butterfly was spending lots of time in the thyme, sufficient for me to get a couple of decent shots out of many taken. I have looked on the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House site and I think our green butterfly is a Macleay’s Swallowtail Graphium macleayanus.

Our current horticulture trainee Tom has an interest in woodwork so when an old stained glass window turned up in the builder’s skip we decided to have a go at upcycling it into wall art. With mirrors all the go in gardens at the moment we decided to back the glass with a mirror so that the colours of what turned out to be faux stained glass would show up. The section now painted with our turquoise paint had previously been rose glass paint and detracted from the olives and blues in the centre now highlighted by the mirror. The window was white so Tom sanded it back, did much filling with putty and oiled the oregon frame with linseed oil. We have hung it above a raised garden in our Gazebo function area.

Finally a shot taken this morning as we prepare for a wedding under the Linden tree. This Verbascum “Polar Summer” from Cloudehill Nursery is flowering nearby with Cercis canadensis, Stachys byzantina, Lavandula dentata and the Linden beyond.

 

Poppies for Remembrance Day

 

Gallipoli poppy, Papaver rhoeas

Since the Centenary of the Landing at Gallipoli in 2015 Gallipoli poppies or Flanders Red poppies have been readily for sale in garden centres. The red poppy has been used as a symbol of Remembrance of the 1914-18 War in many countries. It was a  beautiful coloniser in the disturbed soil of the battlefields in Belgium and France. The Gallipoli Poppy we grow has been developed by Oasis Horticulture.  There is another red flower that symbolises for me the Great War conflict in Palestine and that is the red anemone. When I first saw this photo at an exhibition at the War Memorial in Canberra I thought it was actually my own grandfather kneeling to pick the flowers. It turns out not to be but the image of the light horseman collecting anemones behind a camp in Palestine

An Australian light horseman collecting anemones near Belah in Palestine

is still very moving. I remember when I was around 10 years old and sick with the measles Grandpa bringing me a bunch of flowers from his garden including (in my memory) white flowering dwarf plum and red anemones. We do have poppies volunteering in this garden but not Papaver rhoeas, although I do remember a dark pink poppy in the cereal crops in the central west that may be P. rhoeas. Our “field poppies” are Papaver dubium,  the long headed poppy and Papaver somniferum ssp. setigerum, the small flowered opium poppy.

Papaver somniferum ssp. setigerum

Papaver dubium

Spring continues

Pandorea pandorana “Ruby Belle”

Pandorea pandorana

We are slowly moving towards the warmer weather and despite experiencing a few frosts last week the spring flowers are continuing to appear. Besides the waratahs photographed for the last post we have three other native plants looking lovely. We have two different varieties of Pandorea pandorana. The white one is a selection very close to the species, although the throat in the ones I have seen in the bush is a little more purple. The second is a reddish variety most likely “Ruby Belle”.

Dendrobium kingianum

We are trying to increase the orchids both native and introduced. Our Dendrobium speciosum is not doing well but a Dendrobium kingianum planted in an old banksia stump is flowering well. There are cymbidiums planted into the ground in nearby gardens so I am trialing them too. More generally in the garden we have Moraea collina flowering.

Moraea collina

It is an unusual flower in the local gardens because we are continually asked it’s name. It is a native of South Africa and known as the Cape tulip. I suspect it has been in this garden for a long time surviving through periods of attention and neglect. I found the echium seedling volunteering in the Margaret Steven’s garden a few years ago so it is in it’s prime now. The thujas were planted when the garden was begun in 1966 and are now a little taller than I would like them as they add to the shade already cast by the 2 storey building.

Echium candicans and Thuja occidentalis “fastigiata”

Viburnum plicatum tormentosum “Double File”

 

 

 

 

 

 

The viburnum is in it’s 3rd year and the first year in which it seems to have established. We are trying to improve the bluebell area by various means including removing some tree cover and planting shrubs. This is the first year we have had a few flowers on the viburnum and though few none-the-less lovely.

 

Festival Highlights

Wisteria chinensis viewed  from our festival cafe with the golf fairway in the background

The Leura Gardens Festival has come and gone.The weather was very windy and cool for the first few days but still the tickets sales were very good and there should be at least as much money raised for the Blue Mountains Anzac Memorial Hospital as last year. We host the music in our gardens at lunchtime throughout the

Cantrice singing under the Linden tree

festival and so one of the highlights for me involved the music played or sung under the Linden tree once the weather had calmed down a bit. The Linden will not come into leaf until the end of this month.

Swing West Jazz Band

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiona and Gillian braving the wind in the entrance for a tulip shot

 

Another highlight of the festival is all the gardening minded visitors including Fiona and Gillian who visited while the weather was still fairly chilly.

 

 

 

Fothergilla major “Mt Airy”

The exquisite blooms  spared  by the rosellas on the Shogetsu cherry

 

 

 

 

 

Leura Gardens Festival

The Leura Gardens Festival begins tomorrow and lasts for 10 days. The spring is a bit later here this year and for us this means that if the winds aren’t too strong our tulips will still be looking good.

Driveway tulips at their best

Tulips around the urn

 

 

 

 

The wisteria is not quite out but it should be flowering during next week. The continuing showers of rain have the lawn looking good and the azaleas are still colouring up.

 

Cyclamens with pink azalea in the background

We have been putting finishing touches to the route the visitors will take which includes displaying the Gazebo as a wedding venue. We have gathered an eclectic mix of plants as table centres.

Table centres ready to go

 

Bluebells

 

 

The bluebells are coming out right on time and the cyclamens are putting on a show under the Caucasian fir.

Cyclamens under fir

 

 

 

 

Corydalis flexuosa above the dry stone wall

Compost Pile Number 32

Ceratophyllum demersum being layered into compost pile no. 32

A once a year ingredient has gone into this compost pile . In preparation for the Garden Festival I don waders on a sunny day and get into the pond to reduce the density of the pond plant Ceratophyllum demersum. It is an Australian native but does have a tendency to clog water ways. It is not endemic to Tasmania where it is regarded as a weed and is an unwanted organism in New Zealand. I think birds have brought it to our rock pool. Once it is out of the water we let it dry for a day. It becomes reasonably light and is transported to the compost area to be layered into the next heap where it readily breaks down. Our heaps are located under radiata pines and consequently we cover them to limit the influence of the growth inhibitor released from the falling pine needles. Until recently we covered the piles with old carpet but this limited the penetration of rainfall and so stopped the heap working. Recently we have changed the covering to 70% shade cloth. The pine needles slide off and the rain penetrates. We are continuing to get weekly showers so the compost is working and the lawns and gardens are in good shape for the festival.

Paul Scherer with Gwen and Flaming Flag

The tulip Paul Scherer is finally making an appearance in our entrance bed with tulips Gwen and Flaming Flag.

Malus floribunda in the rain

I photographed our espaliered crab apple Malus floribunda during one of the showers. This crab apple was planted against the newly constructed brick terrace wall (with fashionable extruded mortar) in 1969/70. There were originally two but only this one remains.

Espaliered crab apple