Author: Ned McDowell

Many call them the butterfly bush. This is not so much for their ability to attract butterflies, but because, when the breeze catches their long thin delicate stems laden full of flowers, they sway gently back and forth, to create a beautiful vision of a mass of circling, dancing butterflies. Little is finer.
Gauras are one of the most valuable perennials you could ever wish for in any garden design. Their longevity in their flowering, about 6 months, from late Spring right through until late autumn is always promised and always delivered. They originated in the North of America. The most common variety ‘lindheimeri’ will grow to a height of 1.2m.

Gauras come in either white or pink flowers, however newer varieties can have a combination of the two and with different degrees of shadings. Most notable are the new ‘Belleza’ hybrids with shorter, more compact stems. I much prefer the white for its snow white crisp clear colour. The pinks are not to be ignored but at these times, the pink flowers of annuals and perennials seem to dominate, so to my mind the less pink the better.

I well remember, for a year or two Gauras were unavailable. I believe this was due of their unfortunate propensity to readily self-seed and thus become an invasive weed. But what a great weed it was. But now they are back on the market. I am unsure why, maybe all the new varieties are now sterile and are unable to throw viable seeds and self sow.

Many years ago, I was lucky enough to visit a great expansive garden, created by the very highly respected garden designer Caroline Robinson. It was a true masterpiece in landscaping. In one area she had been brave enough to create a large planting solely devoted to white flowering Gauras. This mass of Gauras, in long wide drifts, flanked each side of the front entrance path leading to the house. It was a revelation, so simplistic in design yet so grand in its confidence and execution. Unforgettable.

One of the great benefits of Gauras are their minimal maintenance and care. They are simplistic to grow in practically any soil and are impervious to frost, drought and summer heat. All they require is a good smack back haircut in spring. They will grow in any soil, but again, the better the soil the better the results. Once a year I apply a generous application of the tonic Seamungus and pelletised chicken fertiliser Rooster Booster, water well, then mulch with sugar cane and water well again. Then off they go once more to create without fail its unique and stunning flower displays. Like any plant a casual deep watering may be needed when the summer is dry, hot and long. They have no pests or diseases to mention.

Gauras epitomise the present fashionable prairie planting style of gardening, an attempt to partially replicate the naturalistic schemes of the countryside.

As mentioned before a massed planting of Gauras is truly spectacular, that is if you have the room. Most gardeners don’t. So a small gathering grouped together in odd numbers can still make a great statement. Even a single planting is far better than none at all.
If you wish to accompany them with other summer/autumn flowering perennials great choices are Perovskia or Russian sage, Echinops and Eryngiums, Rudbeckias and Echinaceas, Buddlejias, Dahlias, even Roses, Salvias of any colour, and at their feet catmint or sea side daisies,

Remember Gauras are perennials, so in winter when they are in growth hibernation, you need to create essential form and structure with the accompanying plantings of evergreen shrubs. Perfect candidates are low mounds of Buxus, Berberis, Hebes, English Lavenders or Rosemary ‘Blue Lagoon’, with a backdrop of a hedge, say of Escallonias, Elaeagnus or Michelias.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

I well remember a day, quite long ago, working in a client’s large country garden whilst she hosted a small group of open garden committee members. Initially, unbeknownst to the convening of this gathering, I had already determined to give a giddy up to a struggling foxglove I had planted a good month ago. My little experiment was to apply to the foxglove a steeped tea of water and Seamungus, (a pelletised tonic of seaweed and fish), and repeated each hour throughout the entirety of my nine hour workday. My mission was to record the foxglove’s subsequent performance in growth, if any. In my car I had a long wooden ruler 90cm in length, used for drawing garden designs, and would use this to record any hopeful growth measurements.

Within two hours the foxglove had grown 10cm, after four hours 20cm, and finally at the end of the day, a massive 37cm.

I was incredulous at the clear results. Not at all could I understand or fathom this new furious growth. But there it was, with my wooden long ruler perfectly recording it. In my utter excitement, on several occasions I relayed the foxglove’s rapid incremental growth results to the garden veterans. However, with great courtesy, they dismissed my information, for them there were far more important business to attend to. At the end of the day and reporting the after repeated updates, I believe that at the end of the day they had all collectively decided I was maybe a little bit touched, not the full quid, my statements just a little fairy tale, for this minor story could in no way be the solid truth. Then maybe I was just completely wrong. Maybe it all was just a fantasy. Maybe there was magic in the air. Maybe the day’s heat may well have muddled my mind, or I was witnessing false visions. But no, the evidence was correct and clear.

Attempting to understand it all I gave the single foxglove a much closer inspection. The stem of the foxglove had indeed grown a good 13cm. Then I realized that the leaves themselves had also grown in length and instead of extending below the normal horizontal line as foxglove foliage naturally grow, had in defying gravity, indeed flipped upwards, laying practically vertical, like praying hands. This phenomenon was the reason the foxglove had reached its final height of 37cm. There the exuberant foxglove stood, so healthy and as happy as Larry, rejoicing in its new friendship and bond with the great product of Seamungus.

It was a grand halleluiah moment. That singular day I became a convert to the great powers of Seamungus. I had seen the light. Seamungus was the almighty, king and lord. For forever and a day I would I follow and be a disciple, to spread the word amongst the masses of its divine and magical qualities. Today, after 19 years, I am still its true disciple and humbly believe I have increased the faithful by many, many thousands. But there are many more still to convert.

I must declare that I am not a board member of Neutrog company who produce Seamungus. I have no shares in the business, and at no time have I ever received any payment or commissions on/for their sales. But I damn well should, the whole three of them, and big bloody time.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

 

Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea) herald in the glorious days of spring and are a mandatory inclusion in my garden each and every year. And the buzzing bees adore them.

Its officially autumn and tis the season to start seeking out and collecting foxglove plants, either in punnets or small singular pots. In my blogs I seem to focus on my most favourite plants, however, there always seems to be a caveat that I have trouble in their successful cultivation. But not with foxgloves, they are so, so, easy peasy, even for a beginner or novice. I have been growing them successfully both in pots and in the garden for about the last 10 years or so and I am rarely ever disappointed in their magical beauty.

Foxgloves possess tall, elongated spires or columns clothed with bell shaped velvety flowers which surround the stems. The flowers can be as large as 6cm long. During the season, as the stems climb forever higher and unfurl further upwards, they reveal a new succession of flowers. It is said their stems will grow to a height of 1.2m to 1.5m in height but mine grow well over the 2m mark and require good staking.
My undoubted favourite is the pure white flowering variety with their rich royal purple freckles nestled deep within their flower throats. Purples of any hue/shade are of course always worth having, and the apricot is a pure stunner. The strawberry pink varieties in colour are a rather washed-out affair, and thus I try to avoid them. Though maybe I have just yet to meet the right one.

 

 

They are just superb massed planted, akin to towering flowering treescapes. However if you are limited in space, a small group of three or so in a loose triangle shape, will still ensure you are rewarded greatly. For myself, I always ensure that I have at least a dozen or more growing in a designated area dedicated solely for them, cheek to jowl, so as to fully appreciate their collective big bang of a blooming bonanza. Their foliage is in itself also quite attractive with large crinkly woolly grey green leaves which grow in the form of a rosette creating a large mound of about 30 or more in width.

D. purpurea is native to western and central Europe and as far north as Scandinavia and are found on the slopes of hills, on sub-alpine slopes and in shady meadows. Remember their natural habitat teaches us valuable information for their successful growing in a garden.

 

 

 

Medicine and Poison
Foxgloves are highly poisonous, though personally I have never heard or encountered a poisoning in either humans, animals or pets. In the past the plant was used as a remedy for chest complaints, scurvy and ulcers. Later it was used as a diuretic cure and as a cardiac tonic. Today digitalin is recognised in the treatment of heart complaints. Digitalin reacts immediately on the muscles of the heart, making the systole more energetic and expanding the diastole, slowing down and regulating the heart beat, while at the same time increasing blood pressure. Or something like that.

Cultivation
In my experience they detest hot afternoon sun especially in the high heat of summer. Positioned either on the east, with only morning sun or under the protection of deciduous trees and receiving full winter sun and dappled shade in the hotter months are the ideal conditions for their successful cultivation. Repeated generous watering are essential when high temperatures arrive and are prolonged. Any soil will do, however, like most plants the better the soil the greater are the results. I plant each one with a generous amount of Seamungus, Rooster Booster and homemade compost. Generally they are a biennial but if you are lucky enough and the surrounding soil is rich enough, they will pleasantly self-seed around the parent plant. Fungal disease and caterpillars are supposedly there only foes but for me neither have caused any harm or damage.

Design
In my own garden, the collective spiral stands of them are positioned directly next to a backdrop of an adjacent bed of delphiniums. The combination of the two, when in full bloom are just sublime and forever memorable, truly a gift delivered from the gods of nature. You can view a short video of a garden created by Matuesz Dekoruje to see a masterful and wonderous example of foxgloves and delphiniums massed together. You can access it either on my Facebook page, Ned McDowell Gardens or directly on his own Facebook page.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell

 

 

Echinacea, you can never have enough of them, ever, ever, ever. Tis mid summer/early autumn and the flowering perennial Echinacea are at their magnificent and glorious best.
I dream of them. Long, large, expansive fat fields of them, an endless massed blanket of forever sunshine extending far off into the horizon, shining so bright with their dazzling array of colours, as if the gods have descended and kissed the earth to create such a spectacular vision. I wish I had the room to plant such a spectacular thing. But alas that will never happen. For some silly stupid reason, I have absolutely zero available room left for such a grand planting.

Back to facts. Echinacea have dark green lance shaped leaves, with their leaf mound growing to a width of 45cm. Their daisy like flowers are about 10cm in width on single stems rising to about 1.2 metres in height, with a high central cone stiff and quill like, dark in colour and touched with orange/gold illumination. A big bingo of simply stunning.

 

 

The most common are the white and pink flowering varieties, E. purpurea. Modern hybrids have thrown up new vivid flower colours, drenched rich in pigments, with an immense variety in differing shades of oranges, yellows, purples and reds. There is a pallida variety, taller, with long droopy reflexed petals. They are quite charming and have a wilder feel to them and great for massed plantings. There are also a range of new double flowered varieties. Another is a green-eyed variety, which I saw a good 15 years ago. Sadly, I missed the chance, they sold out immediately and I have never seen one since, a great example of one of my life’s mottos, ‘there is now and then there is too late’.

Echinaceas are native to the large vast areas of North American plains. The widest selection come from the grasslands of Oklahoma and Missouri where the summers are hot and humid with long cold winters often protected by the covering of snow. The name Echinacea is of Greek origin, ‘echinos’ meaning hedgehog referencing to the crown of sharply pointed sepals surrounding the corolla of the flowers.

 

 

They are the ideal candidates for any garden style, whether it be cottage, formal or prairie. Planted en masse alone, if you have the space, will create a scene of true beauty. Or to elevate further, strategically yet in random positions, to interplant with other summer/autumn perennials such as white Gauras, Perovskia -blue Russian sage, Echinops and Salvias. They are all perfect companion plants.

In my own garden I believe I have a reasonable enough collection of them, though limited in number due to the limited size of my garden. They reside in two separate beds, comprising a good dozen in each, with a further few single plantings around the garden and a few in pots.
The white and pink varieties are by far the easiest to thrive and survive and readily throw out their seeds to self-sow around the parent plant. Sadly, the newer hybrid colours can be more temperamental and problematic. In my experience they only live for a single year or two. My research has suggested that these newer hybrids have been created from tissue culture and thus for some reason have poorer and inferior root development and as a consequence sharp drainage is a mandatory requirement. This is what I understand, but I could be completely wrong.

 

 

For example, I have often attempted to grow the newer rich crimson pink and orange flower varieties with a white all snuggled together in a single pot. Thus they receive the exact same conditions and attention. I can cosset them through their first autumn and winter, but as soon as the dawn of spring arrives the newer hybrids just turn up their toes with a quite surrender before their sad goodbye. On the other hand, the white merrily soldiers on and will last for many years. Now I am not advocating to avoid them, just a small warning for more tender loving care in their cultivation is required. Still give them a try, maybe you are more capable than I.

Not ever considering defeat, this year I am creating a new far improved soil condition for my Echinacea. It includes a mixture of sand for greater drainage, more cocoa peat for higher water retention and again better drainage, large quantities of Seamungus for greater root development and strength in health, and a light dressing of Rooster Booster as a fertiliser. Cross fingers that this will improve their longevity. Time will tell.

 

 

They do not appreciate hot full afternoon summer sun one little bit. So I recommend filtered sun in the afternoon or good sun only in the morning when positioned on the east.
To optimise and lengthen their flowering period it is good to dead head them. However upon their final flowering, many leave them to form seed heads to both collect the seeds and to create structural winter silhouettes, especially enhanced when the morning dew or frost linger on them.

Rich in antioxidants, the Echinacea’s dried roots and rhizomes are used in herbal medicine and said to be an aid boosting the immune system, helping combat the severity of infections such as common cold and flu. It is also said that it may reduce blood pressure. The native American tribes used the roots as a general medicine.

So if by chance you do have the spare room to create a large sweep of a visual masterpiece of Echinacea, I strongly encourage you to do it. Maybe a future client will understand the beauty of this fine floral fiesta and be inspired to include it in their new garden design. Or possibly someone one who reads this blog is brave enough to execute it. Yes, maybe it is all just a dream but here’s hoping.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

Today I was given a fantastic gift from an equally fantastic friend, Richard. It so made my day, my week, maybe even my year. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness. The gift was a small paper packet of Fritillaria meleagris bulbs.

Many months ago, he asked me about their availability and any knowledge I knew about them. He had a large metal sculpture whose subject was the plant and flower of the Fritillaria and sought to grow the genuine thing. I explained to him that my experience with them was mighty brief but very memorable.

A good decade ago, on display in front of a local homewares shop, the owner being an avid gardener, I bought a small pot of the bulb in flower which I was not at all familiar with. They were mesmerizing and truly exquisite. They were fritillarias. It was love at first sight.
The flowers were so beautifully enchanting and unique that I carried their pots around with me, from room to room, from house to garden and back again for countless days, never wanting to be departed from them at any moment. At the end of the day, I would carefully place them on my bedside table, so the very first thing I would see upon waking were the arresting beauty of the flowering fritillarias.

Sometime after, stupidly, in a frenetic garden clean up I inadvertently hurled the dormant potted bulbs away into the garden, thinking there were only common dead annuals. The bulbs didn’t like it, not one bit. They never reappeared. Lost forever. Idiot me, big time. Dumb, dumb, stupid me.

Ever since, I have been relentlessly searching for some fritillaria replacements. I have never had any luck in sourcing them, in nurseries or online. No matter what time of the year, the bulbs were always either not presently in stock, or not yet available but will be in the immediate near future. And then as quick as you can blink an eye, my endless enquiries were always finally met with the depressing story, sorry they are all sold out. Try again next year. That is until today. Richard had remembered my fritillaria story and this is why his gift was so extraordinarily special.

Why are the flowers so drop dead gorgeous and so exquisitely unique?
Fritillaria meleagris have the shape of square-shouldered pendulous bells clothed with the most spectacular chequerboard pattern in subtle shades of purple, yellow and white on thin tall stems of about 20cm. Their common name is snake head lily because the curiously marked petals are painted, not unlike the skins of certain reptiles. They are many cultivars and are native to Europe, from Great Britain to Norway and all of Northern central Europe.

They flower in early spring. You can cultivate them in the garden under deciduous trees where they receive dappled shade. Accompanied in a drift with blue or white Grape Hyacinths or blue Forget-Me-Nots, their combined beauty is truly divine.
However, because they are so small and special I grow them in pots. Please ensure you mark the pots with their name, big and bold, so when they are asleep and resting, you don’t forget their existence and accidentally throw them out like a total ninny I know.

So please start your own quest for the search for the elusive bulbs of the great fritillarias. I sincerely hope the length of your search will far shorter than mine or possibly a fantastic friend of your own will appear bearing gifts.
Good luck, happy gardening and have fun,
Ned McDowell.

The great success of the second annual New England Garden Festival has come and gone. The open gardens were simply sublime, some completely unforgettable, and the festival at the racecourse attracted a fantastic and rewarding record attendance. For me it was the biggest festival Armidale has ever seen.
However, the great major highlight for me was that my sister and 3 other dear friends from Moree, came to town for three nights to attend the festival weekend. I was their tour guide, recommending their accommodation and booking 3 nights of different restaurants, each showcasing the quality and diversity of great cuisine choices available in Armidale. They all loved the superb food and exemplary service.
In addition, I had also organized the itinerary and timetable for visiting the best gardens and the festival itself for morning breakfasts and lunches and to view the hundreds of stalls for the next 2 days. As in my career in business and ensuring the highest optimum customer satisfaction at all levels, I thought my carefully constructed plans were bullet proof, every detail had been examined and catered for, every contingency covered. Yep, nothing could ever go wrong.
I had one other member join the group, a fellow worker from Bunnings, Zee, so our little tribe contained six people. The Saturday was to begin at the racecourse festival site for a brief coffee and breakfast.

But very silly me, I had completely forgotten how girls just love to shop, and shop, and shop, and shop some more, and so very, very, very slowly. They seemed to be born to it. Their pace was slower than a colony of hidden hibernating snails. Every single stall and every single one of their products required their mandatory minute investigation. Their undivided attention was not just focused on the stalls selling plants but those selling the postcards, the tea towels, the lamp shades, the jewelry, the art, and of course the clothes. But these girls were from farming stock, there were no rash or expensive purchases, just a long wily investigation to find little inexpensive gifts for their extended families.
And then again, very silly me, I had forgotten how girls love to talk and talk and talk and talk that little bit more. They would stand together, generally in pairs or as a threesome, totally stationary, and totally oblivious of the bustling surroundings, as if enveloped in their own cone of silence.
It was not a case of catching up with each other, I mean they were all great friends, came from the same town, they had travelled by car for 3 and a half hours and went to dinner together, basically spending 24/7 altogether. There was none of this parading and promenading up and down the long avenues of stalls. It was 5 steps forward to investigate the next stall then another little huddle together again for another 10 minutes of long deep conversation.
Working at the local nursery I am relatively well known in gardening circles. However, ignoring all of my good manners, I completely gave up introducing the girls to anybody I knew who approached me with a big hi, for another guaranteed 10 minutes was further time lost in endless chat chat and talk talk.
So with the girls’ love of talking and shopping, I realized time was ticking away big time and my best laid plans were in deep jeopardy with the high risk of complete failure. I assessed our little group had only seen 7 stalls in an hour and a half. Into the horizons there seemed many hundreds more.

Consequently, I decided I had to adopt the leader role of the top duck, the gander, and they were my little gaggle of ducklings. It was my responsibility to keep them safe, continually gathering them together as a group, gently giddying them up, explaining “c’mon my little treasures we have to move on for we must travel to the open gardens.”
I was continually on high alert, craning my long neck, checking out where they were, more than often I could locate the majority of them before disappearing into the thick and obscuring crowds. Ok now I can see 3, where is the other, ok I can see one where are the other three. Ok now I cannot see a single one of them. Where the bloody buggering bollocks are they? At times I wished they were all connected by a long rope. Finally, somehow, I was able to maneuver and corral all of them to exit the festival and onto the minibus to travel to the gardens.
I know very well, visiting open gardens are a great social event for folks, an occasion to view and appreciate inspirational gardens. It is also a perfect opportunity for a day meeting old friends and just as importantly meeting new ones. But these girls yet again took it to another level.
The ducklings’ pace at the first open garden continued at the same somnambulist snail pace, with their deep conversation huddles continuing big time, even accelerating further. It was if they lived in a time warp, a parallel universe, where time had no meaning or even never existed at all. But this time it was all very fine by me. I love a slow beat to take in all the individual parts and elements which come together to create a whole complete garden. That is, to analyze the use of plants, the colour palette of flowers, foliage and the soft and hard landscaping used. Then if a garden is truly great, a second round is vital to investigate what you may have missed and to fully appreciate the whole design as one.

However, I quickly determined the girls, my dear ducklings, unintentionally, were going for the world record of time spent attending an open garden ever recorded. At the first garden we were approaching two hours with no sight of their visit ever finishing.
Once again, my top duck duties were called upon for the days’ timetable was yet again very threatened. Thus, a continual collection together of my ducklings and the curtailing of further long stationary and immersive conversations had to be implemented. Repeatedly I attempted to politely push my ducklings along, “c’mon there is much more to see and much more to do”. At times I realized my efforts were reaping zero results and I just had to resign myself to go with the flow. I mean there is only so much a top duck can do and achieve when dealing with a gaggle of errant ducklings.
So how did we go time wise? Somehow against all odds we visited two great iconic gardens, a return visit to the festival for lunch and then travelled to an open day for the local peony farm and a visit to a country potager garden. It was a long day, but it was stuffed full of fun, beauty and entertainment.

On the Sunday I was pretty well, a little bit exhausted, and more importantly I believed so were the girls. One duckling was down with an ailment, and my Bunnings buddy had had enough. I had only three to manage for the day. I thus decided to postpone any more garden visits and just let the girls leisurely enjoy themselves at the festival site at their own slow pace, to casually roam around all the yet unvisited hundreds of stalls.
This free time was truly needed. It took over 5 hours to complete the viewing of all the festival’s stalls. I could tell the hot sun was having an effect on them, so I capitulated and completely abandoned my timetable and any further garden visits, instead suggesting in the remaining couple of hours, a visit to the New England Regional Art Museum. The gallery was an air-conditioned sanctuary, a perfect and thankful refuge from the festival’s open air sun and heat, the bustling noise of thousands of visitors and the amplified live music. NERAM was dripping with great art and culture. And yes, there were many more tea towels, postcards and a cornucopia of artistic knick knacks to purchase.

Our last meeting was on their third morning with a quick visit to my own garden. It was way from perfect, rather neglected, but the bones were there and great lessons in design were easy to see, learn and appreciate.
For me the great bonus of the weekend was the chance to catch up with girls, for I had not seen them for many years. On this last meeting they showered me with homemade goodies and plants for their many thanks for the weekend, for which I was extremely appreciative.
Many thanks my little ducklings, Sue, Carolyn, Jill and Joy, for it was a truly memorable weekend. Just thank the heavens it is not every weekend.
Regards Ned McDowell.

 

I’m afraid I’m beginning to lose it and lose it big time. I’m not talking about my receding hairline, my battle against later age weight gain or even that I’m going bonkers. No. What I’m losing is my sense of smell.
Of late I have been diving and digging my nose into flowers, rattling and rolling, sniffing and snorting, inhaling and exhaling, with diminishing success. Thus I’m determined, with the remaining time afforded to me, to plant en masse as many highly perfumed plants in my garden as possible. Pathways, doorways or anywhere I may park my widening bum provides optimum positioning.
So what is my ageing nose beginning to miss? The story is there are over 150 essential oils which can combine to create the complex notes that make up individual fragrances. Scents may vary depending on the flower, the plant, the hour, the temperature, the humidity and the individual’s nose.
Descriptions of roses show how discerning some noses are: a “fruity fragrance with notes of guava, citrus and sweet white wine,” and another of “developing sauternes, strawberries and mulberries.” Compare this with a description of a shiraz: “rich fruits with chocolate overtones and a lingering flavour of plums, caramel and peppery spices.” They all sound rather fanciful to me. What I seek is a scent turbo-charged; a fragrance which will stop me dead in my tracks; a smell to make me dizzy with delight and demonstrate that nature is great and good.

Jude the Obscure

Roses top the shopping list. Great candidates include Mr. Lincoln and Oklahoma, Fragrant Cloud, Big Purple, Ebb Tide and Double Delight. Some of the best David Austin cultivars are Jude the Obscure, Abraham Darby, Heritage and Gertrude Jekyll.

 

Of the shrubs, Philadelphus coronarius is a must, with its white flowers in spring. Ordinarily it is planted singularly, but the effect is much improved when grown as hedges or massed in groups of odd numbers. There are many new cultivars but coronarius is still the best.

 

Choisya Ternata has white late spring flowers, reminiscent of orange blossom and Michelia Figo is a dusk performer, its summer flowers speak of port wine and/or ripe bananas.
Osmanthus Fragrans is often overlooked, probably due to its diminutive sized flowers, but its fragrance is memorable. Newer varieties with a more compact habit are Heaven Scent and Eternal Fragrance but sadly hard to find in nurseries.

 

Daphne Odorata offers the richest of fragrances and is remarkable for its longevity as a cut flower. It’s ideal for mass planting and most attractive pruned into successive balls or as a low hedge. Just keep them away from hot afternoon summer sun. there are a few modern varieties which promise greater heat tolerance and longer flowering seasons, but alas their perfumes are nothing in comparison to the original.

 

Gardenias are a personal favourite with their pure white flowers flanked with rich green foliage. They are perfect for both garden planting or grown in pots. The best varieties are Florida and the larger Magnifica.

 

The inclusion of Jasminum Polyantham as a climber is a must. I have one which has chased and draped its way up around a row of monumentally tall pencil pines. When in flower the air is drenched with an angelic perfume. Beware of late frosts for they may bite back the whole of the flowers and the possibility of becoming invasive.

Don’t forget the scented foliage of many plants, for example geranium plants, mints, rosemary, lavender and many other herbs, perennials and shrubs. But that is all for another blog.

Regrettably I’ve come to realise that a future career as a perfumer or wine critic is now closed to me. However, I have a few more years left to trip the fragrance fantastic, to leap and dance, before my nose gently retires. The memories of their perfumes will still forever remain.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

The districts agricultural flower show competitions are extremely competitive, even downright cutthroat. And the entry for dahlias is easily at the top of the list as the most savage in deceit and ruthless in behaviour. You would practically kill all others to win. And all in the pursuit of immediate yet false glory.

At the last local show, a dear friend of mine, proudly entered in the dahlia cut flower competition over 20 different specimens. When she returned the next day to view the selected winners, someone had secretly switched the name cards attempting to gain credit for her winning dahlias.
Luckily, my very savvy friend, had cunningly marked the stems of all her entries, so she was eventually able to regain credit for her own winning specimens. Yep, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, or rather a dahlia-eat-dahlia world.

I don’t know what happened to the switchers. The hard evidence of their despicable deceit and reprehensible behaviour, was broadcast clearly with their names on the switched cards. Repercussions must have followed, though I am not sure of what nature or severity.
I sincerely hope they were black banned from entering any future competitions, and that their shame and ostracization in the local community will shadow dark and punitively plague both their gardening and social lives for forever and a thousand days. Bastards.

Thankfully I am not so competitive in nature. Yet within my own garden the large collection of different dahlias always jockey to be the most beautiful and decorative. However they are all crowned winners to me.

Happy gardening and have fun
Regards Ned McDowell.

Lavender Angustifolia – English

It is very difficult to write any new magical words and stunning superlatives in describing Lavenders.

So instead, let’s begin with a whole lot of silly stupid crazy. What we may commonly know and believe as a particular lavender variety, may not be quite so. Where history, ancestry and classification are so important in the horticultural world, lavenders stand alone in their messy maze of confusion of origin and labelling. So let’s begin.

English lavender is not actually at all English but is native to the Mediterranean. French lavender is not actually French but is native to Spain. Italian lavender is not actually Italian but is an early hybrid of the Spanish, for example L. Avonview. Spanish lavender is not actually only Spanish but is native to the broad lower Mediterranean and northern Africa. Then there are the Dutch, the Portuguese and the Asia Minor varieties but I am not even going to attempt to go there.

Thus, the lavenders which today we collectively class as French is not French at all, but actually Spanish or maybe Italian, or a cross between the two, but definitely not French. And the more I research the more weirder and complex it all becomes. This lavender is really that, that lavender is really this, a crazy merry go round of total confusion and now I have fading confidence in reporting what is what.

Though one thing is certain. There are two general types of lavenders.
1. Spica, which include the English L. angustifolia, L. latifolia and L. lanata.
2. Spanish L. stoechas – which include L. pendunculata, L. viridis and L. dentata. However, some term L. stoechas as Italian lavender, Are you keeping up?

Lavender stoechas ‘Kew Gardens’

Regardless of the uncertain and frustrating origins and present day identification and labelling, lavenders are among the most popular plants grown in gardens. With their highly aromatic flowers and foliage, the longevity of their flower season, their ease of care, its frost, heat and drought tolerance and probably greatest of all, a major magnet for bees, they are the must have plant for any garden. A true bingo.

In response to their extraordinary popularity, the nursery I work at has a long and wide bench of 3-tiered shelving, and a good 6 metres in length, solely dedicated to lavenders, with probably 30 or more different varieties and hybrids on offer. In spring and summer when they are in full flower, it is swarming with dizzying buzzing bees and very determined customers. At these times, it seems like it is the survival of the brave.
The name Lavander comes from the Latin ‘lavare’, to wash, which alludes to the ancient custom of scenting water for the toilette with lavender oil or a few lavender leaves and flowers.
Following is my humble and valiant attempt to understand and convey some sort of sense about lavenders.

Varieties

L. dentata.- French lavender
It is actually native to Spain and is also known as the fringed lavender for their bright grey green narrow leaves with defined toothed margins. While not as fragrant as other lavenders, its leaves have a rich lavender-rosemary scent. The spikes of lavender blue flowers, bloom from spring to autumn. The bush will grow to about 90cm in height and width and can also be a great choice for coastal gardens.

A natural hybrid of L. dentata is L. allardi. It is a more vigorous variety growing to 1.5 in height and width. Amazingly even in the worst miserable winter weather, they are smothered in flowers. I guess they are rarely if ever pruned, yet are still clothed top to bottom with foliage and flowers.

                                      Lavender stoechas ‘Avonview’

Lavandula Stoechas
Here lies the big bang of confusion and uncertainty. L. stoechas are generally known as Spanish lavender. However, they are also called French, Italian or butterfly lavender. They are native to the lower Mediterranean and northern Africa. Are you still with me? Here I shall collectively call them Italian, no, French is maybe better, but its truest classification is Spanish. Anyway, these lavenders’ fragrance is a mix of camphor and rosemary. Its great attraction and popularity are twofold. First, is its ability to repeat flower from spring to late summer, even through to autumn, and second for its exquisite striking flowers, with various shades of purple, blue, pink or white inflorescences at their tips, topped with distinctive upright tassels of varying colours.
Many declare they become leggy and unruly, and very soon are full of gnarled exposed wood and sport very few flowers. This is a direct result of poor and infrequent pruning, which can be difficult to time, since they seem to never shut up flowering. If you can, aim for three prunings a year. You should not ever prune back to hard, just to below the outer surface of foliage behind the old flowers. If they are an outright eyesore yank them out, for life is far too short to put up with a whole lot of ugly.
Lavandula angustifolia – English lavender.
It is native to the Mediterranean. The flowers are held atop elongated thin stems and flower throughout the height of summer. Their foliage is highly aromatic when brushed against or crushed.

Lavender x Intermedia Grosso

The English is the one you associate with lavender fields. Grown commercially, it is cultivated for its high quality lavender oil. L. angustifolia x intermedia ‘Grosso’ is the dominant hybrid grown. It is a cross between L. angustifolia and the Portuguese variety L. latifolia, both Spica varieties. Thus, it has the cold hardiness of the English and the heat tolerance of the Portuguese.
Personally, Grosso is easily my undoubted favourite and unchallenged for its great decorative appeal with or without its flowers, 365 days a year. One of its great bonuses it is blessed with beautiful stunning steel silver foliage. If you want to plant a lavender this is the one. Its growth is larger than the common English varieties and when mature and in flower, a good metre in height and width.
One of the great advantages of the English is their ease of maintenance. It requires only an annual single good clip after flowering to just down below the top of the foliage. What will be left is a sculptural, tight, steely grey, round mound, akin to a stemless mushroom or a Miss Muffet’s Tuffet, a great structural element in any good garden design.
There are the smaller growing varieties of Hidcote and Munstead, named after iconic, old established gardens in rural England. Both now are National Trust gardens. They also are popular and generally available in punnets or tube stock, so are quite cost effective for both small and large landscaping endeavors.

Cultivation
Heavy and clay soils may be your only foe or nemesis, for lavenders desire a relatively free draining soil. In heavy soils they are perfect for sloping sites or terraced built up areas.
When first planting, regular watering is suggested to get their root systems established and then once mature, little to no watering is needed.
If you are up to it and want top notch lavenders, you can apply lime in spring and autumn blood and bone. You can also add potassium in spring for more intense colour and stem strength. And don’t forget the application of Seamungus, for the overall health of the soil and the plant, and its ability to counteract stress due to heat and drought.
So be it Spanish, Italian, French, English or Portuguese, and the endless hybrids bred from them, they are all lavenders worthy of inclusion in any garden. I have thought about just collectively calling them all European lavenders, but then I forgot to include the north African and Asia Minor varieties.
Please see my blog about using Lavender Grosso in creating a simplistic, low maintenance yet visually stunning garden design. It is a ripper.
Amid the confusion, happy gardening and just have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell

                                                  Hydrangea Macrophylla Mop Top

For me the blooms of hydrangeas are the grandest of all summer dames. It is a love affair pure and true, and long shall it always remain so.

Unless I kill one, which is quite often. Then it is a whole bunch of shameful embarrassment and silent heartbreak, stupid, stupid me. But life is all about learning lessons, and in respect to growing new young hydrangeas I sure need a lot of them, me thinks the information held within the full size of an encyclopedia would be just about perfect.

History 

The Hydrangeas we most commonly cultivate today originated in Japan and China. Their natural habitats possess an overall cool climate with very generous rainfall and protection from full sunlight. Thus, in the Australian climate with its hot baking summers and infrequent rainfall, we are marginally up against it from the get go.

The name Hydrangea was not named, contrary to first assumptions because of the plants ability to consume more water (hydros) than an elephant, but because the seed capsules resemble a small water pitcher. Sad but true.

Varieties 

                                                          H. Macrophylla Lace Cap

H. macrophylla are by far the most popular. Within this group, there are the two major types or shapes of flower heads, mop tops and lace caps. Mop tops have flower heads made up of a mass of small infertile flowers, where lace caps have a central cluster of fertile flowers surrounded by a fringe of infertile flowers. Newer varieties of lace caps possess bicolour blooms with blue and white or pink and white flower heads. I have many mop tops in my own collection. One is a complete treasure, with both its foliage and flowers gargantuan in size, easily bigger than a dinner plate. Size does indeed count. There is a must have black stemmed variety, which is a perfect foil against the rich green leaves and flowers, and when naked of foliage in winter, is a garden architectural delight in itself.

 

                                                                      H. Annabelle

Hydrangea purists declare that H. aborescens ‘Annabelle’ with its white flowers, is the only one to grow, more open and graceful in habit, its foliage a lighter green and thinner in texture. In the warmer months it is always an easy mass of flowers.

 

                                                                Climbing Hydrangea

There is a climber H. petiolaris, native to Japan, with aerial roots that attaches itself to walls, tree trunks, etc., in the same manner as ivy. It is hard to find and even harder to grow well. I have never had much success with it but I suppose I was just so wrong in its positioning and neglective in its care. But if you find a specimen for sale immediately grab it while you can. The successful specimens I have seen over the years are truly divine in their resplendent beauty.

                                                              Oak leafed Hydrangea

H. quercifolia is native to North America. It has elongated cone shaped white blooms fading to pale pink as they age. Their distinctive decorative oak shaped leaves have the great bonus of very splendid autumnal foliage in shades of scarlet, crimson and gold. The colour and texture of its bark is also highly decorative with the colour a cinnamon brown with exfoliating bark that splits and peels. It is a great survivor for it can tolerate more sun and less water. It’s a must have even in a small garden and you will never regret it.

There is also H. paniculata, H. serrata and H. villosa, (and a ton more varieties) but they have their own blogs soon to be posted.

Pink or Blue?

People always seem to want what they don’t have, and with the flower colours of hydrangeas, it is a prime example. Where in general pink is by far the most popular colour, gardeners forever seem to covet the rarer blue flowers. Go figure.

Hydrangeas are native to neutral or acid soils, and thus the true flower colours are some shade of pink. So, if you want to change their colouring, from pink to blue, it is indeed a difficult path to tread and a fight against nature which is very hard to win. I have tried many a time with absolutely zero results. So I decided to just be happy and blessed with the flower colours that I am lucky enough to have.

However, if you still valiantly seek to follow the quest to change their colour, please understand the following. Simply, alkaline soils produce pink flowers and acid soils blue ones. The difference in colour is determined directly by the ability of the plant to take up aluminum and iron from the soil. Alkalinity locks up and imprisons the aluminium and iron in the soil, making it impossible for the roots of hydrangeas to absorb them and to produce blue flowers. On the other hand, acidity, with a pH 5.5, the aluminium and iron in the soil are naturally absorbed by the roots and thus will bear blue blooms.

To change the pH. apply soluble iron chelates or aluminium sulphate to produce blue flowers from as early as autumn.  I have completely given up after a zillion attempts. For me it is downright impossible, though I have had some good success with hydrangeas in pots.

Then there are the white flowering varieties. To me they are the most endearing and beautiful, I can never have enough of them. But they are also for another blog soon to be published.

                                                                   Oak leaf Hydrangea

Positioning

The optimum positions for planting are on the east or south. If they receive too much shade hydrangeas will be mighty recalcitrant and stubbornly refuse to flower. I have quite a few of these, with healthy robust foliage but absolutely zilch attempts to flower. On the other hand, with too much sun, the foliage will quickly wither and dehydrate, akin to the properties of done dead dry parched paper.

Planting

If ever there was the necessity for great soil preparation this is the time. Dig a hole at least 1 and a half times the depth and width of the plant ball. Throw in a couple of handfuls of Seamungus for energetic new root development, dig in and water very well. Next combine the best quality compost with cocoa peat and some dirt from the existing soil, and after teasing out the root ball, plant.

Finally, you should create a deep moat of good quality compost to surround the plant at least one and a half times wider than the potted root ball, and a good 10cm in height. Dress the area with very generous amounts of Seamungus and completing drench it with water. Repeat as often as you can. This will ensure the plant receives the vital deep watering it will need for future success.

Once established, I liberally dress with Neutrog’s rose fertilizer Sudden Impact and frequent regular applications of its sister product Seamungus to continually improve the quality of the soil, greater root development and overall general health of the plant.

Watering

You need to water, water and water especially in their younger years. Over time their root mass will expand and need less attention as they age. It is astounding how resilient hydrangeas are. When you discover a totally miserable plant with limp and lifeless, forlorn foliage, which you are certain is very close to death, just a good generous soaking on both the leaves and the surrounding soil,  will result in a  quick miraculous recovery.

Pots

I grow about a half dozen hydrangeas very successfully in pots. They are all in quite large sized with deep saucers, raised up on hidden metal chairs, stands and even milk crates. They are always positioned at the back of a collection of other pots for two reasons. Firstly, their growth is quite high to about 1.5 metres or more, and secondly, the more forward pot’s foliage and flowers camouflage their winter bare branches. Living in pots they receive more frequent love and concentrated attention, especially in the act of watering.

Pruning and propagation

There is very strong advice about when and how to prune back hydrangeas in winter. Hydrangeas flower on old wood. When pruning your hydrangeas don’t give them an all-over hard chop in winter because you run the risk of removing flowering wood, which means you will get far fewer flowers or a longer delay the next summer. Just cut back the stems that flowered over the recent summer. Make your cuts just above a plump pair of healthy buds. Basically all you are doing at this stage is dead heading the bush. If your plant is getting too big and you need to prune it hard, do this during the growing season, as soon as the blooms begin to fade. That way the plant has a few months to create new fresh growth, which will give you greater blooms the following summer.

The exception is the relatively new ‘Endless Summer’ hybrid which flowers on new wood and thus have the ability to repeat flower throughout the whole season.

When you are pruning your hydrangeas, keep in mind that its worth using some of the healthy pruned material to make cuttings and increase your stock,  to as many as you wish. They strike quite readily. hard wood in winter, soft wood in the hotter months.

Hydrangeas are simply perfection as cut flowers. Their flowers are actually a collection of sepals called inflorescences. Being composed of sepals and not petals, they do not fall and remain on the plant right up to winter, changing to lovely shades of pink, red and even green, and thus are great for indoor decoration.

Throughout the year there are the ever popular cut flower competitions, for example, the roses and the dahlias, well I say bring on the hydrangea competitions. I will be there with buckets brimming full of my prized hydrangea flowers. I may well be chasing the winning blue-ribbon prize even though my blooms may not indeed be any shade reminiscent of the colour blue.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Regards Ned McDowell