In My Garden-
August 18th, 2008
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There are two acquisitions
of Euphorbia rigida growing here at Lambley. The first was collected
more than twenty years ago “….just north of Sparta”
in the Pelloponese. The second more recent collection was from north
east of Gulnar in the Taurus Mountains “Among stones on limestone
hills”. The plants raised from Turkish seed flower a few weeks
earlier than the Greek collection otherwise there is very little
difference between the two.
Euphorbia rigida would be worth growing for its evergreen foliage
alone with waxy blue leaves spiralling around 60cm tall, upright
stems. From mid July until October large flat lime yellow flower
heads top each stem. These flower heads turn crimson with age and
don’t get really ragged until Christmas. I generally cut the
spent stems to the ground sometime during December by which time
fresh new shoots are ready to take over.
The milky sap of all spurges is caustic and can cause severe rashes
if it gets onto susceptible skin. A splash in the eye is very painful
as I’ve found out a couple of times. Gloves, long sleeves
and glasses should be worn when cutting back or even weeding around
these plants. Ninety centimeters between plants would not be too
much although I always seem to end up planting too closely. |
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Euphorbia myrsinites
is a similar plant but its stems lay laxly along the ground and
it produces its softer lime flowers a few weeks later than E. rigida
and is at its best during September as Tulipa hageri bursts into
flames. Both of these spurges need well drained soil in full sun.
Both will gently self sow. Self sown seedling of any Euphorbias
can be transplanted when they are small, no more than three or four
centimeters tall.
A deep violet blue form of the Algerian Iris, I. unguicularis ‘Mary
Barnard’, has flowered for us all winter in the dry garden.
It flourishes in a very difficult spot at the base of an olive tree
and competing with a privet hedge. The plant that can be called
“typical” Iris unguicularis can be found in Tunisia
as well as Algeria. This plant is most often found in gardens has
large, primrose fragrant, soft lilac flowers nestling under arching
leathery leaves some sixty centimeters long and two centimeters
broad. There were two clumps of this in the garden when we first
came here. Each would have been growing in the same spot for at
least 50 years. Until quite recently this plant was known by the
more euphonious Iris stylosa.
Brian Matthews, in his monograph on the genus, suggests that the
lilac pink flowered, short leaved Iris ‘Starkers Pink’
can be referred to the Cretan population Iris unguicularis ssp.
cretensis. Matthews found it difficult to grow in England but it’s
easy enough here. Rabbits occasionally graze it and will do serious
damage if no action is taken. A light dusting of blood and bone
around the bed is enough to deter the rabbits for a few weeks by
which time, with any luck, they should have forgotten all about
the Iris. |
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Last summer I planted
a hundred Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ in a hot sunny spot
in the dry garden. These little bulbs are native to Turkey, Iran,
the Caucasus and Central Asia where the summers are long, hot and
dry and the winters cold and bleak which exactly describes our climate
here at Ascot. These bulbs also want an alkaline or near alkaline
soil. Ours is naturally acid; the paddock we carved the dry garden
from had a PH of 4.5 when we started. We put two tons of lime to
the acre before we planted anything and each year try to add a dusting
of lime. When redoing an area I dig the soil as deeply as possible
mixing in as much well composted humus as possible, this year spent
mushroom compost. Humus not only keeps the soil open it also helps
to keep soil moisture levels up.
Over the last few weeks all one hundred bulbs of Iris ‘Harmony’
have flowered. The flower stem is ten to twelve centimeters tall
and the rich blue, yellow crested flowers are heart stoppingly,
exquisitely beautiful. Brave too as they’ve had to stand up
to frost, hail, snow, sleet and rain during their blooming period.
I’ve been so besotted by them that I walk down to the garden
to look at them a dozen times a day no matter what the weather. |
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The Snakes Head or Mourning
widow Iris isn’t included in the genus at all. Hermodactylis
tuberosa has a unilocular ovary, that is it has an ovary with a
single chamber, whereas Iris have a trilocular ovary. I first saw
this bulb 40 years ago in a garden belonging to an International
Brigader, Arthur Howells. His garden in the Dandenongs had a patch
some two metres by five metres naturalized under a Mt. Fuji cherry.
It does well in shade and our group in the dry garden is under and
olive tree. The black, yellow and green flowers are held on 30cm
stems during August.
A seriously good book, one of the best gardening/plant hunting books
I’ve ever read is Janis Ruksans --Buried Treasure. Recently
published it details a Latvian nurseryman gardener’s journeys
into Central Asia looking for rare and beautiful bulbs. Tulips,
Alliums, Iris, Crocus and Fritillaria are just some of the genera
he writes about with passion and good gardening sense. It is one
of my four best gardening books. Florilegium Bookshop in Sydney
stock it. www.florilegium.com.au |
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