Author: Ned McDowell

 

Most humbly, I have to give myself and my partner Bop, a great pat on the back for the creation of the sculpted hedge of the grey leaved Santolina at the very front of my garden. For me, it is garden design and art at its best and undoubtedly what I am most proud of. I simply love it, as do many others.
Today it runs a good ten meters in length and a metre and a half in depth and lies adjacent to a busy town 3 lane highway.
The hedge has evolved and changed throughout the years. Slowly it has crept forward towards the road, tripling in its depth. There have been tragic losses due to debilitating long droughts accompanied with severe endless water restrictions and of late major water works excavations by council, which dug mercilessly and ripped out about half of the hedge.
Originally, I decided to create a single line of santolinas and planted 12 tube stock sized santolina specimens, and waited until they matured then clipped them into simple row of twelve successive high rising puffed up loaves of bread. Each year the hedge grew and expanded, and I was very chuffed and proud with it all. It was visually unique with minimum work to maintain.

 

 

Then my partner in life, Bop, a Thai born national, changed all that. One afternoon, long ago, I arrived home after work and my carefully crafted, yet simply shaped santolina hedge of a dozen loaves, had been completely transformed. It had been replaced, within a single day, with a new, stunning grand work of art. After my initial shock I quickly realised what Bop had created. It was his own original, modern interpretation of the delicately carved, centuries old, classic Thai woodwork wall sculptures. Here was art and sculpture at its best.

It was pure magic. Some, the lucky or the gifted, can create such magic, as if it was the everyday. Bop did that. For him it was not hit or miss, or a flight of the imagination, for he knew, from the get go, it was always going to be a fantastic success.
Like all great sculptures, the hedge possessed it all. The refinement of long clean, finely clipped, extended lines, the deep and determined, scissored sharp shapes and the intricately carefully carved, chiseled shallow cuts and curves. It was all there as if the angels had created it. A whole long, seamless sweep of an organic piece of living sculpture.
The success of any great outdoor sculpture is how its lines, shapes and curves, through light and shadows are continuously transformed as the sun moves across the sky each day. It was simply sublime.

 

 

Then the second extraordinary thing happened. This sculpted, tightly clipped hedge became a true tourist attraction. The cars of tourists and locals parked daily, to admire and complement and to take innumerable photos. Even a few declared it was on their to do to list when they annually drove past on their way to further other destinations. locals
The ever frequent question asked by local passerbys and tourists was that since this tightly clipped hedge was so complex, intricate and precise in detail, that there most certainly must be a hidden message or meaning behind it, ‘but what does it all say, what does it all mean?’ In reply I would in true jest, but very convincingly answer, that it was based on an ancient Thai written script that states, ‘true love is a true gift never to be lost’. Most were mighty happy with this. I saw no harm in it, any positive message about life and love is a blessing and should be shared forever far and wide.

Initially while writing this, blog, I could not recall where I got the inspiration for this extended planting design. And then it all came back to me. Many years ago, I remember pruning back old ratty and neglected santolinas in a garden I tended one day a week for a decade or so. At the time, with the lady of the house, being of quite strong religious beliefs, and with a convoy of nuns about to descend upon the house and garden for the weekend, I decided, using a large existing unkept expanse of santolinas, to create for the occasion, a broad sculpture. It was all inspired by the bible story of the loaves and the fishes. When completed I thought it all looked rather super and splendid. Thankfully the owner was especially pleased, and all the nuns thought it was all a bit of great fun. I asked with humble humour if the nuns could bless my little biblical artistic folly. I vividly recall their collective responses of sweet smiles and serene nods. I have no idea if they did or not. But at least these daughters of God appreciated and enjoyed it.

Sadly, Bop my partner of 15 years, passed away in a fatal car accident. He is forever remembered for his gentle and forever happy soul, artistically truly gifted, though his talents and abilities never fully realized. But this sculptured hedge is a memory and testament to his life.  I feel completely privileged and eternally grateful to have the opportunity to have shared my life with him, no matter how brief.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Ned McDowell

The caterpillars of the white butterfly, (moth), are the true scourge of growing all of the brassicas. These include cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli and mustard leaves. You can also include the Asian greens of pak choi, bok choi and wonbok.

The butterflies’ progeny, small luminous green caterpillars, are rapacious eaters, and in a single night, the brassica’s leaves can be shredded, resembling Swiss cheese, bare skeletons, devoured right back to their bare leaf ribs. Their eggs are laid en masse on the leaves, and before you know it, you have an explosion of caterpillars, an invasion of biblical numbers.
The larvae pupate in open-weave cocoons stuck to the leaves, from which the next generation of adult butterflies emerge. The entire life cycle can be completed in as little as three weeks

Interestingly, “the white butterflies have the curious ability to taste the quantity of mustard in a plant, the principle being the stronger the taste, the better host for their eggs. The curiosity factor in this is that the brassica plant developed the mustard taste as a defence against insects. The butterflies in turn take on the same mustard taste in their own tissues, which works effectively against predation by birds.” Monty Don.

Regardless of their damage, I still admire the white butterfly’s acrobatic agility in flight. They are a delight to watch, when they whip, weave and wheel, dip, flit, flip and flutter, a dance like an aerial ballet of extraordinary beauty. I love to watch them for a few minutes each day. But seeing and remembering the evidence of their destruction on my brassicas, my admiration quickly evaporates and my murderous behaviour kicks back in. The survival of the fittest and all that.
In heart of winter the butterfly is not a problem, but its autumn leadup and the following spring and summer are when the butterfly is most prevalent and dangerous.

 

 

So how can we deal with them?

Firstly
• My first choice in their control is to pick them out by hand, however this is not that effective for they are very small and hide in the dense foliage during the day.
• The best overall long term solution is to net the bed with a material with small enough holes to prevent the butterfly reaching the brassicas plants. something like a mosquito net.

Secondly – The Commercially available products
• Dipel a biological spray of Bacillus Thuringiensis var. Kurstaki which only affects caterpillars and so is safe for bees, ladybirds, birds and animals. Repeat weekly.
• Derris Dust made from the roots of the derris plant. Apply at night when the caterpillars are active and wash off in the morning. The dust also kills aphids and slugs so I suppose they may well kill ladybirds etc. There is a one day withholding period where you cannot eat the produce. Repeat weekly.

Thirdly – Companion Planting.
• My research has suggested the plantings of thyme, rosemary, sage, wallflower, wormwood, mint, basil and tomatoes to reduce the proliferation of butterfly. In my own experience none help in the least for I already have all these plants surrounding and interplanted with my brassicas.
• However there are two which work effectively,
• The broccoli is under planted with land cress, itself a great salad leaf to grow. The butterflies believe it is the very best and tastiest of all the brassicas and when then diverted they lay their eggs on them instead. When the caterpillars appear they are concentrated on the land cress stripping it bare first and thus you know there will be an imminent explosion of the butterfly and easier to step up manage the problem.
• Plantings of the herb dill. Brassicas support the floppy stems of dill. The tall fuzzy foliage helps camouflage the brassica leaves, their odorous foliage masks the scent of the brassicas, and the dill flowers attract beneficial predators that attack grubs.

 

Fourthly – Eco-friendly home-made remedies.
Some are highly effective, others only partially. All should be applied early evening and weekly.
• A spray of sour milk on the leaves deters the butterflies.
• A spray of glutinous garlic/soap solution prevent butterflies from laying eggs.
• Gather a few older leaves from your brassicas, add a couple of cups of hot water, blend and strain the mixture and let it cool before spraying on your plants. The butterflies cannot stand the rank smell of rotting leaves and go elsewhere.
• If you have indeed hand-picked the caterpillars then if you have a reasonable quantity, say ten or so, follow the previous recipe and spray. The butterflies again cannot stand the stench of their own dead caterpillars.
• Throw old brassica leaves on the ground and fertilise with Rooster Booster on top and water them. The slowly rotting leaves again deter the caterpillars and will eventually become a nutritious fertilised mulch.
• Other reported spray remedies may be made from the leaves of rhubarb, geranium, potatoes, tomatoes and if you can find a smoker nicotine. Yet not tested
• Sprinkling of wood ashes and salt are said to prevent eggs hatching.
• Good old plain flour, the caterpillars ingest the flour, it swells and sets in their stomach and they die. This is the easiest and most economically efficient method of the lot. But beware the combination of flour and water creates a paste, so a thorough washing off of the flour the next morning is mandatory.
• Pepper on sprinkled on wet brassica leaves deters caterpillars.
• Large eggshells placed around brassicas with the white side up or thread eggshells onto string or fishing line and hang it above your vegies to keep them away. The butterfly believes the white eggshells are other butterflies, and thus will not lay its eggs and will continue flying elsewhere.
• When planting brassicas, mix 1 teaspoon of sulphur in the soil, reducing the mustard taste and the new leaf growth makes it most unattractive to butterflies. The leaves may become slightly yellow but are they are still great quality eating.
• And now for my favourite method. I play a lot of tennis. When outside gardening I always have my racquet on hand. Who needs an advancing tennis ball when I have a target of countless white butterflies to chase. Swinging left and right, high and low, at times quite madly, trying to swat the little buggers with their wild looping and acrobatic flight patterns. It’s great for my tennis game lifts my aerobic activity and drastically reduces the butterflies numbers.
I would truly appreciate any feedback of the effectiveness of these mentioned methods or any other alternate suggestions which you have found successful.

Good luck, have fun and happy planting, but in this case happy killing.

Regards     Ned McDowell

If you want to create a piece of ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, hanging baskets are the one for you. Done successfully, they are a feast for the eyes, a striking sizzling summer statement of real glamour and beauty, imbued with a sense of majesty and even fairytale magic. But most importantly it is all about having a whole lot of fun. The only limits are the degree of your own boundless enthusiasm and imagination.
Maybe there is Christmas coming up, a future wedding or a grand birthday celebration perhaps, or even a competition for the best hanging baskets at the inaugural New England Garden Festival this coming November.
Quite often planted hanging baskets start out all well enough, however if initially poorly prepared with not enough love and attention, they slowly deteriorate in health and at the height of summer, just in time for Christmas, a whole lot of ugly sets in and past great intentions shrivel to a crisp.
To create a surefire perfect pizzaz of a hanging basket all you need is to follow five pieces of advice. This blog may well be a lengthy one for some, however there is a lot of information to be learnt and absorbed, to get it all just right and as perfect as possible. Then just go for it, all plants and hanging baskets a blazing.

1. The Basket
The great issue with hanging baskets is their ability to retain moisture and subsequently their frequency of watering to maintain their health and vitality. You have two alternatives, plastic or cocoa fiber matting in open wire frames.
The advantage of plastic pots is that the material and its accompanying fitted saucer hold their moisture well, thus less watering and easier case of maintenance. Because of this, plastic pots are the only type of hanging pot filled with flowers or any plants available for sale in retail nurseries. The disadvantage is you cannot make holes below the rims circumference to add any further plants and the basket may well still be visible even when the plantings are mature.
Open wire baskets with coconut fiber matting, though so very aesthetically pleasing, just bleed water, and quickly the potting mix and the matting will shrink in upon itself and become hydrophobic and near to useless. The only remedy for this is the addition of an inner lining of plastic, to conserve water and keep the soil moist, much like a plastic basket. Their great advantage is that you can make cuts in the basket’s cocoa material to add further plants and hide the basket surface.
Importantly, the size of basket does count, the bigger the basket the better. A minimum of 45cm in width is perfect. You have a larger soil mass to retain water and the opportunity to grow even more plants to make it all more visually appealing.

2. The Potting Mix
The best quality potting mix is essential. Please don’t be a skint or miser with this. Nothing is as important for ensuring either future grand success or quick dismal failure. Inferior potting mix is simply cheap crap, comprised of nothing but wood, sand and sawdust without a trace of any fertilisers, far more appropriate to desert plantings, and are not worth the plastic they are wrapped and bagged in. A great quality potting mix will contain much better and longer composted materials, enriched with a mix of well-balanced fertilisers, trace elements and wetting agents all guaranteed for a minimum of six months.
I also further improve the quality of the basket’s potting mix by adding a generous couple of handfuls of Seamungus, peat moss and more water crystals. The Seamungus promotes greater root development by at least 50%, greater resistance to stress and disease and the overall health of plant. The peat moss and wetting agents will further contribute and elongate the potting mixes future water retention abilities.

3. The Design
Pick your colour tones, maybe hot, rich and exotic, or soft and subtle pastels. Whatever you choose the inclusion of white is mandatory for two reasons. Firstly, in the evening as the sun falls, when you may be relaxing, even entertaining, white is the only solitary colour which will be visible and thus appreciated. Secondly in our hot summer sun, the colour pigments of pinks, blues and purples are simply washed and bleached away. But with the addition of accompanying white flowers their lost rich pigments are reinstated becoming again crisp and clear in their original colouring, and thus sparkle in their own right. For these very reasons, in garden design it is generally recommended that white flowers should comprise at least 40 to 60% of your choice of flower colours.
In creating decorative baskets foliage contrast is just as vitally important as flowers. It adds another layer and dimension in design and beauty. On their own the contrast of foliage, that is, their size, shape, colour, texture, habit of growth and how they play with accompanying flowers, can elevate the detail and sophistication to a higher level of decoration.
The height of plants in a basket is rarely considered. A great design trick, the plantings should be divided into the proportions of one, two and three. One is the height of plants, two is the plants which will cover the surface of the basket and add volume, and three the plants which will drape and cascade down.
Positioning, the basket should always be hung just below eye level, not looking up at it, as if they were clouds in the sky or fodder for giraffes. If placed too high, you will be missing out on your great decorative successes.

4. Stuffing it
I am an impatient gardener and I endeavor to achieve results as immediate as possible, as in yesterday. Life is too short to wait. Thus, when creating hanging baskets I stuff the basket with plants, stuff it and stuff it more, stuff it to the brim, stuff it until it is overflowing with plants. Remember you do not want to see any of the container’s surface or the soil contained within.
Alas you will have a few nonperformers and the odd casualty, a case of the survival of the fittest. The very successful plants will become the more dominant and more spacious masters, overshadowing, and out muscling the weaker ones. Through this time invaluable lessons will be learnt regarding your original plant selections.

5. Watering
It is no secret that hanging pots need extra water. As mentioned before the quality of the potting mix is so vitally essential to success. As the plants grow and develop, they need ample water for root development, then the summer heat hits hard, they need more and more, rivalling even the gargantuan thirst of a dry land elephant. The only answer is a solid deep drenching every single day. If this is not possible, please give up now, for the only certain outcome will be long days filled with tears and heartache.

Suitable Plants for Hanging Baskets
Now we come to the creative and super fun part, selecting the best suitable plants for hanging baskets. These plant recommendations are for the warmer summer months.
Height.
Lavender, artemisias, wormwood, short stemmed gauras, annuals of cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, helichrysum petiolare, geraniums, grasses such as carex or liriopes, shasta daisies, salvias of all sorts, chrysanthemums, cineraria dusty miller.
Basket Surface
Petunias and their cousins calibrachoas, nasturtiums, alyssum and lobelia, dianthus, seaside daisies, blue fescue grass, asters, African daisies, brachycome, coleus, gypsophila, miniature roses, cat mint, portulaca, livingstone daisies, purple flowering pigface, dwarf dahlias, phlox
Trailing
Ivies, weeds for many, but invaluable for the staggeringly decorative variety of leaf varieties, blue or white flowering groundcover vinca, native myoporums, blue or white ground cover convolvulus, verbenas, silver leaved dichondra, trailing petunias, ivy geraniums, prostrate rosemary.
Once you have garnered your newfound confidence, then you can switch your learned knowledge and experience to creating hanging baskets devoted to other planting combinations. For example, hanging baskets prolifically full and brimming with the edible produce of vegetables and herbs. The baskets could include chillies, tumbling cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rambling rosemary, the alliums of spring onions and chives. spinach and red chard, strawberries, even beans and peas.
Another basket idea could be devoted to shade-loving plants, adorned with ferns, begonias, fuchsias, impatiens, tradescantias and spider plants. And then there are the cacti and succulents. Well, that is a whole other story.

Happy gardening and remember to have fun. Regards Ned McDowell

It is late summer, early autumn and it is the season for the growing of the genus brassicas, and by far the most popular for home cultivation are the broccoli.
I have never been a great fan of broccoli. Whist I grew up it was long boiled to near death and served with the taste and texture of soggy cardboard. It was one of those greens which sat way on the edge of the plate as a third fiddle to the main meat dish. In more modern times it was then presented so raw and tough it could chip off a tooth or crack a molar.
However, my real appreciation and love affair with broccoli began when I was living in Thailand for many years. Thai cuisine is deeply infused with Chinese influences, where Chinese Broccoli is eaten in many different meals, from soups to noodles and stir fries.

Nutrition
Today broccoli is promoted as a Super food, being rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants whilst low in carbohydrates. They are high in beta carotene, selenium, vitamin A, C and K, folic acid and iron with moderate levels of calcium. The combination of beta carotene and vitamin K help to keep vitamin D in balance in the body. It is thought to lower cholesterol when lightly steamed, but very strangely not when raw.
Grown for edible immature flower heads.

History
It is supposed broccoli originated from a wild cabbage plant in the eastern Mediterranean and was widely eaten at the time of the Romans and then over the time, its widespread distribution through Europe and the world. Broccoli is derived from the Latin ‘brachium’ meaning arm or branch, and from the Italian language for the flowering top of a cabbage

Varieties
Readily available in nurseries are the large headed Green Dragon and Magic King. In recent years their popularity has somewhat been supplanted by the smaller headed varieties such a Broccolini, Broccoleti, Bambino and Baby Bunching, all promising smaller florets and greater repeat cropping.
Heirloom varieties available are green headed Waltham and Purple Sprouting.
Chinese broccoli or Kai Laan is different in its growth habits for they do not form a large single head. It has small blue green leaves and small florets on single individual thin stems, thus you can eat the leaves, stems and unopened flower heads in stir fries, noodles and soups. Although a cool season crop it is more heat tolerant and thus can be sown in spring and summer.

Soil preparation
Broccoli likes a soil pH of 6-7.5. It prefers a slightly alkaline soil, so if your soil is little acidic add some lime to sweeten the soil.
Dress the soil with a good quality compost, Seamungus for great root growth and health of the plants, the fertilisers blood and bone and Rooster Booster and a generous layer of sugarcane, to conserve water retention and minimize weed growth.

Cultivation
Nine to twelve plants should be sufficient for the average sized family, with the option of successive plantings every 6 weeks.
Broccoli is generally a cold season vegetable They prefer full winter sun, cold nights and mild day temperatures to form their flowering heads. Although broccoli grows best in areas which have cool winters it is an adaptable plant and can be grown in most climate zones. If begun by seed, it can take three to six months before it is ready for harvest. So here I only provide information when planting seedlings.
The elder seasoned and experienced vegetable growers who visit the nursery maintain the ethos that broccoli should be first planted late summer to early autumn, maturing early enough to begin cropping before the onset of winter and then strong enough to crop through winter.
Broccoli can grow to a height of 1m and 0.5m in width. Thus, they take up a lot of room in the vegetable bed so a great idea is to underplant them with other cold season produce plants such as spinach, rocket and lettuce that do not compete too much for nutrients and appreciate a bit of shade and shelter.
All brassicas are heavy feeders, so regular applications of compost, tonics and manures are highly beneficial to better growth and thus the much-improved bounty of edible produce.

Harvesting
Depending on when planted and the seasons’ climatic conditions, the first harvest should begin in about ten weeks. Once you have harvested the main florets from the centre, the plant breaks out into a constant flow of miniature heads. Hotter and drier conditions cause heads to bolt into yellow flowers faster than you can blink.

Pests
The main enemy of broccoli is the dreaded white butterfly/ moth which can decimate a broccoli plant overnight. To find the best solutions in their eradication please visit my blog on the White butterfly

Companion planting
Plant with rosemary, thyme, sage, onions, garlic, beets and chards. Unsure exactly the reasons why, probably for root health and minimizing pest problems, but I thought I should pass on the available proffered information.

Cooking
To prepare, cut into florets leaving 2-3cm of stem and then cut a little cross in its base, this allows heat to penetrate the stem and to cook it at the same rate as the tops. The side of the stems can be peeled back to make them even more tender.
A great simple recipe is to make a winter pesto replacing basil with broccoli.
In a blender combine two cups of steamed broccoli with garlic, pine nuts, parmesan, salt and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil and pulse until smooth. Totally delicious and highly nutritious and simply fantastic with pasta or as a dip. Broccoli is also fantastic grown for micro greens.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell

I write this, for me a very special blog, whilst lounging under the massive canopy of my very own winter flowering Clematis Napaulensis. It now stands a good four metres in both height and width. Remarkedly this climbing winter wonder is my most prized and coveted plant in all my garden, not just for winter, but for the entire gardening year calendar. And that is saying a lot.

The happiness it brings to me is priceless. For the last six weeks it has not shut up flowering, fully clothed, even drenched in a stellar froth of the most endearing and daintiest of pendulous delicate flowers. Its pure magic. It’s a starry, starry, night in the middle of the day. And to continue its beauty, large fluffy seed pods, just as attractive, follow its flowering.
No matter how old you are, the spectacle of its flowers conjures up a sensibility of a world full of wonder, where you can believe in the best of things, a world which fires and inspires the imagination, an enchanted fairytale playground, where pixie princes and fairy princesses reside and inhabit, who fly and flip in full fun and merriment. Yes, a perfect world.

 

 

C. napaulensis turns the seasons on its head. It is deciduous and thus dormant in spring, summer and autumn.
A good ten years ago I planted the clematis at the feet of a maturing deciduous fruiting fig tree. My initial idea was the framework and structure of the fig’s bare winter branches would supply the perfect host for the clematis to climb and spread. When the clematis has finished its glory and becomes itself deciduous, the fig in turn, leaps into life in spring with its great large foliage and the promise of future fruit. And this glorious cycle continues so easily every year.

Quite crazily this climber in my own garden has never been watered, never been fertilised and never been mulched. It seems to thrive on neglect. Our past hot dry summers combined with restrictive water rationing, has had no detrimental effect on the health of the plant. I suppose it is because in summer it’s asleep, the cycle of the falling leaves of both the clematis and fig provide a rich mulch and the thick leaved canopy of the fig ensures the clematis’ roots are forever sheltered and kept cool. In addition, the honey nectar birds smother the vine in winter and the parrots which feast on the fig’s fruit in summer, in turn fertilise the soil with their droppings. On all fronts it is a great big bingo.

I think it would be just as successful when planted with other clematis varieties or up and through deciduous shrubs and trees such as smoke bushes, crab apples or other vines such as wisterias or grapes.

 

Regrettably the C. napaulensis is not readily available at retail nurseries. In early winter I always discover scattered seedlings from the mother plant, but alas, lazily I never get around to digging them up and cultivating them, and then it is all too late, they become deciduous and disappear from view. This season I have promised to myself to making zillions of cuttings to propagate this enchanting climber, and to dig up immediately its self-sown seedlings. So, I am confident I will have more than ample new plants to share with my garden friends and colleagues. Here’s hoping.
Coming soon, further blogs of the Clematis Montana and the total groovy Jackmanii varieties.

Happy gardening and have fun,
Ned McDowell

 

Iberis sempervirens, commonly known as Candytuft, are a true garden jewel in the cold miserable long months of winter. This gem of a plant is the cornerstone of my own winter garden. Sadly, they are not as popular as they 64should be, and every single garden should have them. You can never have enough candytufts.

When everything else in the garden is in a deep sleep, dormant, barren of leaves and flowers and a whole lot of ugly has set in, is when they shine so brightly. Candytuft possesses flowers of the most luminous and magical, the purest, the clearest, the crispest of sparkling snow whites. Their other great attribute are their small rich glossy dark green evergreen leaves. The plant naturally grows into lovely, neat, small rounded shaped evergreen cushions or mounds. Their foliage and shape provide essential evergreen garden structure in winter and indeed right throughout the whole year. Their shape merrily conjures up images of Miss Muffett’s tuffet. Iberis are slightly fragrant, but you would have to get on your hands and knees, or possibly completely horizontal on the ground, to fully appreciate their delicate scent.

History
Iberis include annuals, biennials, hardy perennials, and dwarf evergreen shrubs. They originate from Iberia, the ancient name for Spain, hence its name, and also across the Mediterranean regions and northwards to Central Europe, where they naturally grow wild in abundance. I also have an endearing white flowering biennial, which I adore. However, it is difficult to grow, because it abhors hot summer sun, but very thankfully, it self-seeds prodigiously. There is alsoa very pale purple flowered variety, not very common or popular. For me its colour is a bit murky and confused, not quite this hue, or that hue. In comparison the original white flowering variety easily outshines and eclipses it.

Cultivation
Like all plants a good soil is ideal, but in my experience, they will grow in any soil. Iberis appreciate an annual good light pruning after flowering in late spring and if you are inclined and have the time an occasional trim in summer to keep the mounds tight and tidy. In hot climates they prefer to be shaded from the harsh afternoon summer sun.

Landscaping
In relation to design, with their small rich green foliage and tight shaped growth, they look superb in rhythmic mounds in a single long line. Even better, if you have the space, a mass planting of three or more deep as well in length can create a stunning landscaping design, If not, just a single specimen will still reward you with great pleasure. I have never lost one, touch wood, either to frost, severe heat, drought or lack of care and maintenance. they are the great survivors.

Iberis are available in nurseries all year round. Out of season you can find them in small pots, larger ones when they are triumphantly in winter flower.  So do yourself and your garden a big favour and get one or more as soon as you can. Their rewards are many and one you will never regret it.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Regards Ned McDowell.

Nellie Moser

What does it mean to believe, sometimes against all odds, that the near impossible is possible, not to ever give up, but to try and try again? For me it’s the cultivation of the large flowering Jackmanii clematis.
I am a hopelessly romantic optimist when it comes to these clematis’ varieties. Every spring I am beside myself with the new season’s selection. I shake with excitement and practically weep with happiness. They are irresistible. The breath quickens, the blood rushes, the endorphins spin. A sense of merry madness, even silly insanity grips me. The opportunities for landscaping are endless. The window of their annual availability is brief and finite. So now, today, it’s now or never.
The imagination soars, I just cannot deny myself. Yes, I must have that one, and that one, but what about the others? The choice is tantalisingly overwhelming. Ok, three is enough, but really 5 would be better, maybe even 7. But what about that final other one over there, near the end, the one that screams do not forget me, its label, like all the others, promising so much. I quickly decide that life’s far too short and the season of their availability is so minimal in time, that I dearly deserve every single one of my choices. The nursery trolley quickly fills to overload, its wheels stubbornly stuck stationary with the clematis’ combined weight. I labour to the counter. The wallet opens wide, the cash disappears, and then the card is maxed. And I’m as happy as a pig in mud.

Then reality hits me. In years gone by, my wee humble garden was just one large clematis cemetery. It was littered with their old, faded, slug bitten, battered labels, which acted as tombstones, evidence of past failures and hard forgotten dreams.
But not this time, not this spring, not this year. This time I am not headed for the hell of heartache. I am determined that history will not repeat itself. As Confucius states, “always look backward to gaze into the future.” Valuable lessons have been learnt through hard and harsh experience, and the sorry demise of my many previous clematis plantings just ain’t gonna happen no more. This year instead of a clematis cemetery I am determined to create a clematis Garden of Eden.

Josephine 

Varieties
Whoever said, ‘size doesn’t count’, well, they have never grown the large flowered Jackmanii clematis varieties. It does, big time, the bigger the flower the better. These hybrids possess majestic flowers of sizes between 15cm -20cm. Today there are so many beautiful varieties to choose and salivate over. I highly recommend both the pure white ‘Marie Boisselot’ 15-20cm in flower size and ‘Madame Le Coultre’ 15–20cm, the rich magenta ‘Ernest Markham’ 15-18cm, ‘Candy Stripe’, striped pink with mauve 15-18cm, the rich violet blue of the ‘President’ 15-20cm, creamy green with pink mauve ‘Josephine’ 15cm, the large pale violet blue ‘Crystal Fountains’ 12-15cm, and the pink lilac with carmine stripes Nellie Moser’ 15-20cm. The list is practically infinite. I recommend to readers to do their own research to find and discover the magical world of clematis.

Cultivation
It’s in the clematis’ first year when you must throw endless love and attention at them. Soil preparation is everything. In a large bucket mix together a third of a bag of great quality compost with about 3 generous handfuls of Seamungus, one of Rooster Booster and about six taken from the existing soil you have dug out when creating the planting soil. Plant the clematis and add another couple of handfuls of Seamungus on top, then lastly a layer of sugar cane mulch. Then there is the mantra of never, ever, ever, ever, let the new root ball dry out, especially in the long, hot dog days of summer. You must with great devotion, drench them with very regular, long, deep, and even deeper drinks of water. Mandatory is that rocks and/or mulch are placed at their feet, in order to provide them with a cool root run. I repeat mandatory. And beware and be on high alert, please watch out for the dastardly onslaught of the early spring scourge of slugs and snails, which can devour and destroy a clematis overnight.

The President

Landscaping
Landscaping with clematis can only be matched by the limits of your imagination. So give your clematis the opportunity to let fly and soar. I throw them in at the feet of climbing and long hedges of roses, the red leaved tall trunks of Cordylines, the deciduous shrubs such as Japanese maples, Philadelphus, Deutzia, Kolwitzia and Berberis, and hedges of every kind. Basically it’s any plant which can provide a framework for them to grow up and through.
One trick I have had success with and repeat quite often, is to combine a couple of the large flowered varieties with the smaller flowered Montana clematis, all together in a large common hole. Importantly, the more robust and tougher ‘Montana’ will provide the skeletal support for the larger flowered varieties to snake, twine and twist upwards. In addition the larger flowered varieties will begin to flower in the last weeks of the Montana’s. Thus there is a brief, yet glorious couple of weeks or more when the two combine to flower so fabulously together.
So, I am no longer clothed in a cloak of mourning for all my previous perished and past clematis plants. There will be no more future funerals accompanied by my endless woes and weeping tears. My graveyard of lazy good intentions is over. It does pay to believe and dream big. The impossible is possible.

My next dream to achieve is to have clematis strutting their flowering stuff every calendar month of the year. But that’s for another blog.
The subject of further blogs to come are the
‘Viticella’ clematis,
Winter flowering ‘Nepalensis,’
‘Best way to prune all the different varieties of clematis.’Happy gardening and have fun,
Ned McDowell

Daphne is a true pure joy. The plants great miracle is that it reigns supreme in the deadening and miserable cold days of winter.
Daphne is blessed with one of the greatest of flower fragrances. Its perfume is truly exquisite. It is so perfectly sweet, it drenches the surrounding air with its scent and when inhaled, is deliciously intoxicating, always uplifting and memorable. You can never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever have enough plantings of Daphne.

Daphne is a rounded bushy evergreen shrub roughly 1m x 1m in habit and clothed with glossy green leaves. Their star are the clusters of small, waxy, white to wine red flowers borne at the end of the branches from late autumn to early spring. There is an equally beautiful white flowering cultivar ‘Alba’ and a variegated leaved variety. Recently various new varieties have been released, for example D. Eternal Fragrance which has the promise of repeat flowering and more hardiness in hotter conditions. However, they do not carry anywhere near the same rich full fragrance or the crisp rich green foliage of the original D.odora.
In addition, they are true perfection as cut flowers. Place them in a short squat glass or vase and their powerful perfume will gracefully waft, lilt and linger throughout all the four corners of a room. As the Daphne bush progressively get older, they become leggy and untidy, so this winter pruning for cut flowers will greatly benefit the future health, shape and appearance of your plants.

Cultivation
To have success with Daphne there are two essential prerequisites which must be met.
First is the soil. It must be reasonably friable and well-drained, no clay to be seen, coupled with an acidic soil level of ph. 5.5-6. If this is not present or impossible to create, your next bet is to plant them in a pot. A glazed sealed one is best to help retain moisture, not too big and not too small, about 300ml in size would be ideal. It must be potted up with a top-quality potting mix specific for azaleas and camellias.

Very often in autumn and winter, you will see their foliage turn an anaemic sickly yellow and shed leaves from the bottom up. The reason is that the plant is concentrating all its energy into the creation of flowers at the expense of the foliage. To quickly rectify this problem, throw on a few handfuls of Seamungus to strengthen the root system, and a good quality azalea/camellia fertiliser. You can also apply iron chelates or wettable sulphur, but beware, never let it touch the leaves.

Second, is the mandatory protection from summer heat and sun. Daphne’s abhor heat, even in cool to cold climates. If you cannot provide this relief from full afternoon summer sun, and I’m talking from midday on, rethink quickly your positioning. As districts such as the NSW slopes and plains and coastal areas become more hostile with heat, longer hours of shade are required, even to the extent of dappled shade for the entirety of the full day. Planted on the east is optimum positioning. If any of these conditions cannot be met, just don’t even go there, they will quickly curl, shrivel, and perish like old, aged parchment.

Landscaping

To fully benefit from the stunning scent, position them in a garden bed or in pot next to frequently travelled areas, such as stairs, paths, doors and entranceways, outdoor seating and entertaining areas. In most cases, the Daphne is planted on its own as a single specimen. However if you are a bit brave, bold and adventurous and willing to let your imagination fly, there are other fresh landscaping ideas and possibilities in cultivating Daphne in the home garden.

One idea is you could plant a long low clipped hedge of Daphne, reminiscent of a box hedge. I have witnessed such a successful planting, executed beautifully at Heathebrae in the New England region of NSW.
Edging both sides of a long lawn pathway, were two clipped hedges of D. odora, each a good 3m long and 1m high. Behind them were a succession of tightly clipped camellia hedges, three deep in straight rows, each row clipped progressively taller in height, creating a further three tiered, pleached hedge effect. Magnificent. Sadly, this established Daphne hedge died in the great drought of 2020. But this loss does teach us some valuable lessons, for its demise was directly caused by its positioning on the western side of the garden and its exposure to too much harsh, summer afternoon sun, even though it was receiving dappled shade for a few hours from newly planted deciduous trees.

Another idea comes from a previous design of mine. The owners of a long established garden, requested some fresh and original ideas for a particular area of their garden. What I immediately observed was the prolific success of numerous Daphnes. They were as happy as Larry, a good 1.5m in height and width, large rounded rhythmic balls in shape, and rarely if ever tended. Their success undeniably lay in their perfect positioning under the tall and broad canopies of both deciduous trees and old majestic conifers which amply provided the protection from heat, the abundance of autumn leaved mulch and the acidic nature of fallen pine leaves.

In any garden design it is pivotal to build on the present successes and not fight against the site and nature. In addition, In both small and large gardens simple repeat mass planting of the same plant whether it be three, five, seven, nine even up to fifty or more are always aesthetically very effective.
What we agreed was the planting of a large swathe of massed Daphnes, about seven plants wide and five plants in depth. Also included in the design were 5 topiaries of Daphne, staggered throughout to provide vertically, height and visual interest. It was one garden within a larger expansive garden and in the minds of both the client and myself a great success.

Happy gardening and have fun,

Regards Ned McDowell

Noisette – Champneys Pink

Miss MacLean, a true rosarian had a garden in Armidale NSW, known as the ‘Garden of a 1,000 Roses’. Over the course of a few years, this is where I did my true and invaluable apprenticeship in pruning and caring for roses.
I never actually knew her first name. She was always addressed by everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone, simply as Miss MacLean. Her expansive and comprehensive collection of roses was all contained in an average suburban town sized block. There was little to no lawn or outside entertaining area, every single spare inch from fence to fence was devoted to her beloved roses. When I first met her she was a formidable woman, a spinster in her eighties, wildly intelligent, as sharp as a tack, encyclopedic in her knowledge of all roses, yet whippet thin and frail in body and health. She was a true lady. I never saw her in pants or trousers, always wearing dresses or skirts accompanied with her mandatory rolled up stockings.

Her garden was literally her life. She lived and breathed it. She tended it every day throughout the year regardless of the weather. She at times would crawl on her hands and knees, through the ever-narrowing paths, to weed and tend to her beloved roses, her stockings stained, scraped and shredded every single day. The garden’s wooden pergolas, fences and screens were ancient, near derelict, lopsided, long weathered and bare of paint. But it never really mattered, the magnificent roses hid it all. Miss MacLean was formerly for many years the Head Mistress of the private boarding school, PLC in Armidale.

Bourbon – Madame Ernest Calvert

Her rose collection included a dizzying and dazzling array of varieties. They were all planted in designated grouped areas. There were the Albas, the Centifolias, the Chinas, the Portlands, the Damasks, the Chinas, the Teas, the Bourbons, the Gallicas, the Rugosas, the Noisettes, the Hybrid Musks, the Hybrid Perpetuals, the Hybrid Chinas, the old world climbers and ramblers, and finally the modern Floribundas and Hybrid Teas. If you have no experience with these old roses, look them up and do some research, for all modern roses have been bred from these original varieties. Even better plant some of them in your own garden.

Charles de Mille

Remarkably, with her passion to forever add to her rose collection and with finite space available, new specimens were planted densely and tightly, shoulder to shoulder with older varieties, planted every 30cm or so apart in both width and depth. At times it all seemed a bit insane. Or was it the work of a pure genius? Even today I am still unsure. But what I do know is the garden dripped with love, the blooming roses truly exquisite in their massed perfection, all married with their deliciously intoxicating perfumes. It was a truly divine and magical experience, probably never to be repeated.
I spent a wonderful and rewarding few years tending this rose garden. Even though she had the great manners of a true lady, she followed me like a hawk, watching everything I did. Thus I had the opportunity to endlessly ask her questions. What rose is this? What group of roses does it belong to? When does it flower best and so how should it be pruned and when? I was hungry for her answers, forever learning, learning and learning, lapping up all her pearls of wisdom, knowledge and experience. It was the best of times.

Sadly Miss MacLean has now passed away, but her passions, dreams and legacy still lives on. A year or two before her death she bequeathed her entire rose collection to the local branch of the Australian Garden History Society and duly to the establishment of a brand new rose garden at the National Trust’s Saumarez estate on the outskirts of Armidale NSW. This huge and expansive rose garden’s purpose is to showcase the history of the rose from around Australia and the world. So do yourself a great favour and visit when you can, for it is a truly memorable experience.
Happy gardening and have fun,
Regards Ned McDowell.

Growing Delphiniums

Delphiniums are the true royalty of cottage garden perennials. With their regal, statuesque tall towers of flowers, they can create an unrivalled floral extravaganza of pure brilliance and beauty. And you can never have enough of them.

But with great regret, deep embarrassment and with a quiet sense of shame, I have not a single mature specimen in my own garden. They have all perished, over and over, year after year. It all starts out so well. Yet, take your attention off them, at any time, no matter how briefly, they mournfully cry,

“Hey bro, you don’t love and care for me enough, I’m giving up, I’m out of here, see you later, maybe try again next year”.

All that remains is a totally demoralising graveyard, littered with sad delphinium deaths marked with their stakes as gravestones. But that’s all about to change, big time.

Yep, delphiniums are hard work. They are not for the faint hearted or the casual gardener. They silently scream out, and you better somehow hear their call, demanding boundless doses of attention and care, especially in their first year whilst becoming established. Their foes to success are many, poor soil, bad positioning decisions, snails, slugs and caterpillars, lack of water and exposure to harsh, tough summer sun.

But this year, piqued with an infectious fresh sense of enthusiasm, I am determined to win the great delphinium challenge. Failure will not be in my vocabulary. I’m dreaming big, doing big and achieving big.

To minimise any mishaps, I am creating a dedicated only delphinium garden bed to concentrate all my efforts to their successful cultivation. lt is an area about 2m x 3m, planted out with 24 seedlings from 4 punnets. It has adequate room still available for the future addition of the odd small single pot and if further space becomes available due to the regrettable odd fatality. My past experiences have taught me to be realistic.

History

The name Delphinium is derived from the Greek word for dolphin, because the shape of the unopened flowers bears a resemblance to that of a dolphin.

They originate from the Alps of northern Europe, Iberia and the mountains of China. Thus, we must keep this in mind when cultivating them in our own gardens.

Present cultivars first emerged around the 1850s through to the 1930s, with the best of current cultivars being ‘Pacific Giants’.

Description

Delphiniums possess large, serrated fern like leaves. Their flower stems are up to 90cm or more in height, bearing single, semi-double and double flowers with shades of blue, violet, mauve, pink and white with contrasting eyes or centres. Mature specimens may reach 60cm in diameter.

Cultivation

As mentioned before, delphiniums originate and thrive in climates where it is cool and wet. Thus, we must attempt to replicate these conditions as close as possible.

Firstly, you must be strategic in their correct positioning, that is, an area which receives morning sun and dappled to no direct afternoon summer sun, say on the eastern side of a garden or under the umbrella of large deciduous trees. If you are in a hot climate allow minimal light throughout the full entirety of the summer day.

Secondly, it is all so very important in prepping the soil, and don’t be a miser in this. They enjoy a humus rich well-drained soil. Dress the soil very generously with great quality compost. Next apply a good heavy carpet of Seamungus which is pelletised seaweed and fish, to improve the condition of the soil and to enhance root development and thus future general plant health and strength. Follow this by another dressing of a quality pelletised chicken fertiliser, my choice is Rooster Booster. Deeply dig in and combine the three. Repeat the applications monthly around the plants.

Thirdly, delphiniums are forever thirsty plants. Please be very diligent in watering them lavishly, that is deeply and often, especially in the hotter months.

Fourthly, remember we are thinking and doing big, so signpost each seedling with a 2m stake for future support for the tall, yet thin and fragile flowering stems.

Lastly, surround the delphiniums, with a good thick carpet covering of sugar cane mulch in order to conserve moisture, keep the roots cool and inhibit weed growth.

Oh, and so very vital, apply snail pellets or a homemade deterrent weekly, and never, ever forget this chore. Even though the juice or sap of the plant is deadly poisonous to us, snails and slugs are strangely immune to their toxins and treat them as a true delicacy, their own delicious equivalent to caviar. They will slide a mile to feast and completely devour a delphinium in one single night. See my blog on snail prevention.

 

Propagation

For delphiniums they are best achieved by root division, but that is if you are lucky enough to possess a healthy established plant. So, for me I purchase them in punnets or in small pots, planting them in autumn, or early spring. Planted in winter, they just seem to sulk, remain still and miserable, yet if they are available, grab them when you can and keep them in pots until the arrival of warmer weather. You may also have some success raising them from seed in autumn or early spring.

Postscript

Late yesterday, to my utter delight I discovered in my back garden, three very lonely and completely forgotten one-year old delphiniums. Planted last winter, miraculously and against all odds, they have survived the hot dry summer, kept alive under the protective canopy of self-seeded nasturtium leaves. Each of these three survivors are all small and stunted but still very much in existence. My previous efforts had indeed resulted in an achievement, however minor. I was not a total failure.

The easy lesson here is to never give up, try and try again, success must arrive sometime. With renewed hope and enthusiasm my grand new delphinium project will indeed become a reality. Yes, this year I will win the great delphinium challenge. I can grow three, so why not thirty. Wish me luck.

Have fun and happy gardening.

Ned McDowell