Author: Ned McDowell

 

Wisterias reign most supreme in early spring. And I do so very love them. For me they are one of the most anticipated annual big bang flower power plants I wait for each and every year. When in full bloom they create a stunning grand sweep of magical enchantment and little to nothing can eclipse their unique magnificence. The total bugger is that they only last a few short weeks, but I suppose that may well be the reason why they are so treasured.
Their flowers descend and drape in long, thick curtains and then there is their scent. It drenches the air with an all-pervading heady perfume of pure delight.

In my own garden I have four towering and aged pencil pines, estimated at least 40 years old, a good 20 metres in height and collectively at least 5 metres in length. A good decade ago, I planted at their feet a single white flowering wisteria. Over time it has chased its way up and across, threading and weaving along its whole length and climbing to pines’ full heights. When in flower it is truly sublime. Doubling up the visual splendour and intoxicating perfume are its partner, Jasminum polyanthum, which have also has grown up the through the pines just as the wisteria. A true sight to behold.
Also along my house wall plates threaded its way
Their longevity is astounding, a single specimen easily reaching hundreds of years in age.

 

 

Wisteria is a genus of flowering climbing vines belonging to the legume family Fabaceae. They originated in China, Japan, Korea and the USA. The genus was named after a philanthropist dedicated to the sciences, a German professor at the University of Pennsylvania, a Caspar Wister in 1818. There are three main species and two lesser-known others. it is best for you to understand the differences between the varieties for your climate, their suitability in growth and particulars of their flower performance.

Chinese wisteria, W. sinensis, twine in a clockwise direction. It has relatively short clusters of flowers, 18-30 cm in length. Their scent is very fragrant and possess a distinctive vanilla and honey perfume. The blooms appear on bare vines before the leaves emerge in spring.
Much fasster grower, far more fragrant, flowers alond the racemen flower all at onceIt is not as cold hardy as other varieties, for its early new growth can be clipped hard by late severe frosts, thus is best suited to warmer climates. That said, the white varieties of ‘Alba’ and the strongly scented ‘Jako’ with their 45cm long fragrant flowers can tolerate lower temperatures. There is also a reddish-purple variety called ‘Amethyst’, which is notable for growth is similar to ‘Jacko’.

W. floribunda is native to Japan and literally means lots of flowers. They bloom 2 to 3 weeks later, with smaller more widely spaced flowers that anti clockwise
They twine in a anti clockwise direction. //Their flowers have more and smaller individual flowers but in greater abundance and in longer clusters between 60-100cm in length. open progressively, beginning at the base of the cluster, a racemen. of bloom They bloom 2 to 3 weeks later than the sinensis and have a slightly longer flowering period and flower and leaf at the same time. ‘Macrobotrys’ have flower clusters1-2m in length. Also notable are the double mauve ‘Violacea Plena’, the palest lightest pink ‘Kuchibeni’.and the white ‘Shiro Noda’
w. Brachybostrys a second Japanese with shorter and wider flowers. Probably the best is
w. frutescens Longissima which features pale lavender to mauve flowers that will often grow up to 1 metre or more in length.

You should prune wisteria once a year but preferably twice, once in summer after flowering back to 5-6 buds and then again lightly in autumn. It is important not to prune in winter for you will cut off all that seasons forth coming flowers.

Wisterias will grow in practically any soil and after their establishment there is no need for further watering and fertilising. Please remember their roots and stems are highly invasive, they can suffocate and throttle, even corrupt and destroy a weak structure. Thankfully they are pest and disease free.
Like many commonplace plants, wisterias are poisonous. All parts of the plant contain the toxin glycoside called wisterine, which can cause vomiting, stomach pains and diareha. However, a large amount needs to be ingested to cause these symptoms.
So if you are thinking of growing a wisteria, please go ahead, its enchanting beauty is one not to be missed.
Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

Garlic is not just any old garlic. Many do not know there are two subspecies, Hard Neck and Soft Neck. Understanding the differences between the two is vitally important in choosing the most suitable garlic variety for yourself. The two vary in plant and bulb size, growth, flavour, colour, harvest and storage time and their climate suitability across different parts of Australia. The crazy thing is that with the utter dominance of only Soft Neck garlic available in supermarkets with minimal depth in flavour, we the consumers and cooks have had little exposure, opportunity or choice to use the more stronger and more robust, deeply flavoured Hard Neck in cooking. So, we are missing out big time on flavour and this why it is so important to grow your own. More to that later.

A true sign of garlic’s huge popularity in present day home cultivation is its extraordinarily high level of sales in the nursery I work in. They are close to even eclipsing those of daffodils and tulips. They fly off the shelves quicker than we can replace them. Then the shelves sadly lay bare, barren and empty, until the next long anticipated delivery finally arrives, no matter the volume I order.

A long, long time ago, growing up as a youth in an outback town in Australia I never remember the use of it, not in any dressings, sauces, bakes, curries or stews. It was a strictly English menu, garlic a thing mentioned only in movies to ward off vampires. There was a deli run by Greek family but I never remember my mother shopping there, and one I myself never visited. But then in those days there were no supermarkets either, only corner shops. Today our wholesale adoption of garlic is emblematic of how far we have come to fully embracing international cuisine.

Wild garlic probably originated somewhere in Western Asia and has been around for over 5,000 years. It is one of the oldest cultivated crops in history. Today it is called a super food for its many health benefits and is a mandatory ingredient in most great international cuisines. And most importantly for us gardeners, they are a perfect candidate for companion planting throughout the whole garden. Today there are a huge plethora of cultivars to choose from, from the everyday easy names of Australian Red, Purple and White, to the more exotically and cosmopolitan named varieties such as Marble Blush, Rojo de Castro, Crook Long Neck, Oriental Red and Oriental Purple, Spanish Purple Stripe and El Camino. All these are Hard Neck with the exception of Australian White a Soft Neck. Here is a rundown on the differences between the two.

 

Hard neck (Allium sativum var. ophioscorodon)
• Rarely if ever sold in grocery or supermarket stores,
• Have a much stronger, complex and robust pungent flavour. They are used in European cuisines adding great depth to dishes such as French, Italian, and Mediterranean.
• Have a stiff, woody neck that produces a central flowering stalk called a scape that is also edible.
• They are best suited for growing in cool climates with a cold winter.
• The bulbs are generally smaller than soft neck bulbs. with larger but fewer garlic cloves. Each bulb usually has 4-12 cloves neatly arranged in a single layer.
• Hard neck bulbs are easier to peel and often have a stunning purple blush.
• Shorter shelf life lasting 5-8 months
• All the before mentioned cultivars available are of the hard neck sub species with only exception the Australian White, which is a soft neck.

 

Soft Neck (Allium sativum var. sativum)
• Is the type commonly seen on supermarket shelves and thus the variety we are most familiar cooking with.
• Possess a much mild sweeter flavour that gets even better when stored for a few weeks before use. They are ideal for cuisines that need subtle flavouring, for example Asian dishes.
• Have no central flower stem or scape but sports a bendy, braidable stem.
• A longer shelf life lasting 8-12 months
• is less resistant to frost and thus grows best in warm climates
• Produces larger bulbs with each bulb tightly packed with 10-30 cloves of varying sizes. with larger ones on the outside and smaller ones towards the centre.
• Their bulbs and skins are typically cream or white, but some varieties may show a pinkish blush.

 

Companion Planting
Having a potager I plant the great majority of my garlic, not in a dedicated vegetable bed, but as a companion plant, tightly interplanted en masse amongst my many roses to help deter the spring infestations of aphids. What makes garlic work so well in this case is the sulfur and allicin found in them. The smell of the two combined confuses the aphids’ sensory receptors and thus reduces their ability to be attracted and attack your coveted roses. In this case you need to plant the garlic very shallow, so the tops of the garlic are just exposed above the soil, for it is the cloves, not the green stems which produce the repelling odour. In addition, garlic planted amongst your brassicas such as cabbages and broccoli is very effective, for the garlic reduces and disguises the attracting smell of mustard in their leaves against white butterflies. However, if the aphids have already settled on any of the plants, the method is no longer very promising and thus it is generally considered only as a deterrent or preventive measure. It is the same with the use of garlic sprays commonly available commercially, again only a preventative measure. But every little bit helps if you are a gardener.

 

Cultivation
• In cold Australian regions, plant hard neck garlic in autumn. This ensures early root growth before the advent of the first frosts. They love cold hard winters. Cloves need around four-eight weeks of cold exposure below 4°C, to trigger bulb growth.
• If you live in a warmer climate, you can begin first by keeping them in the fridge for four-eight weeks before planting to mimic cold weather. This is called vernalisation.
• A well-drained soil is a must to prevent the cloves from rotting away, for they detest wet winters. If you have to live with a clay soil the best alternative is to cultivate them in raised garden beds or in pots and ensure it is of the best top quality.
• Garlic prefers slightly acidic to neutral soil (pH 6.0-7.5).
• Good sun in winter is essential in order to maximise growth.
• Plant each clove 2-3 inches below the soil with the pointed end upward. Plant 3-5 inches apart
• Water the planted cloves to settle the soil and cover with a lightweight mulch such as sugar cane to retain moisture and regulate soil temperature.
The shoots will grow through the mulch.
• They’re usually ready to harvest when about half the leaves have turned yellow and died back, typically 7-9 months after planting.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Regards Ned McDowell.

 

I am a Lupin assassin. Again and again, year after year, it is a long story of failure stacked high, built on the top of countless past sad failures. It seems as even if I just look at them, even with a side glance, then their sorry demise is very quick to follow. It is if I have the touch of the devil in me or the evil eye, or the powers of a sorcerer to curse any possibility of their future survival.
For many years I have had a large bed solely devoted to a trio of delphiniums, foxgloves and lupins. I thought the threesome would be great companions together, a combined mass of tall, towering blooms. Well really only the first two. The third, lupins, is a very long repetitive planting of eternal disasters.

However, being a gardener and thus a true optimist, year after year I was doggedly determined to try again. I figure one day the spell of death must be finally lifted.
But those days are gone. Early last summer I vowed to myself to give lupins up for good. No more unnecessary deaths, no more heartache, no more failures. It’s over, its finished, goodbye lupins, begone.

 

 

Then five months ago in mid-summer, a dear friend of mine gifted me three very healthy potted lupins grown lovingly from seed. I promptly told her that I kill them, but she was insistent in her charming lady like way. They were a present proffered with love, how could I resist. I remember they lasted about 10 days. Yep, history repeats itself. Yet again I declared no more lupins for me.
A few months later in early autumn my friend arrived with another 3 more new plants. I practically begged her, no, not for me, give them to another who is more deserving of them. She replied, ‘No these are for you, I know you can do it’. With great reluctance I accepted the gift.
What to do? How am I do undo the curse of repeated murders? Immediately I knew I had to start afresh, a new strategy. First it was the soil. Second their position and location and third the level of care.

 

 

Six short weeks have passed and unbelievably as a blessed miracle they have all quadrupled in size and two actually have flowers, one with shades of hot and powder puff pink and the other in royal purples and white. I had finally triumphed. In my whole life these were the very first lupin flowers I had ever grown. I was in the throes of pure ecstasy.
With my newfound success my enthusiasm and confidence was soaring. I wanted more, many more and on a far grander scale. However, my new dedicated lupin area is very finite in space, barely 1m x 1m, being tucked in between long established more mature plants. Where can I find another perfect location for them? In the short term I couldn’t. Then I decided not to be too greedy and be humbly satisfied with each of my three great plants. It was early days, and I should be patient and wait to see if my success would continue throughout the entirety of another full year. For there was always the certainty of a long hot burning summer to come. Here’s hoping. I shall keep you posted.

To read how I improved the conditions for the successful planting of Lupins please see my next blog to be released in a weeks time.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Regards 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/winter 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.