By Beatrice Hawkins
The judging of the Annual Spring Garden Competition will commence on Monday October 4th and will keep the judge busy visiting the many gardens entered over the Southern Downs region.
If you are reading this soon after publication, there is still time to pick up a last minute entry form from Bryson’s in Palmerin Street and return it there by close of business on Friday October 1st.
We have so many keen gardeners in our region and it is great to be able to showcase their enthusiasm for growing things.
Toowoomba has just had their carnival of flowers but in fact the Warwick Horticultural Society Garden Competition is a much longer running event, having commenced soon after the establishment of the local Horticultural Society in 1908.
The Carnival of Flowers is a comparatively new event having started in 1950 with an amazing street parade that stretched for 3 miles! I am impressed just reading about it!!
Wouldn’t it be great for our region if this could be followed by a “garden trail” event covering a selection of gardens open for viewing in our area each year?
The Rose Festival at St. Mark’s Hall will be open to the public on Friday October 8th from 1.30pm and Stanthorpe has the Gardenfest and Trade Fair on October 8th and 9th.
Gardens entered in the Horticultural Society competition will be given the opportunity to be open to the public if they choose. A list of participating gardens will be in this column next week.
The spectacular Spring Flower Show will follow in St Mary’s Hall in Wood Street on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st and will showcase the best from our region. Finally the Floral Window Competition on the Rodeo Weekend with judging happening on Friday 29th. It is all happening for gardeners in the wider Southern Downs and Granite Belt area in October!
I am looking forward to accompanying the judge and seeing the gardens entered on Monday, and if all goes to plan, I should be able to make the deadline with a report and pictures for next week.
Bottle Brush is blooming beautifully around town at the moment and they are such a wonderful source of nectar for birds.. totally irresistible to them! So if you want to attract the birds, find a spot for one of the many varieties available.
They come in all sizes from half a metre to 4 metres tall and with so many variations of reds that there is bound to be one to suit your space. They are very tolerant of soil types except for highly alkaline soil. They will tolerate quite wet conditions but also are drought hardy! Most varieties are frost hardy also. The main requirement to get a good show of colour appears to be a spot in full sun.
It is suggested that a light pruning after flowering will help maintain a good shape and promote flowers. I had an acquaintance once who took the chainsaw to several growing in the yard and the result the following year was an amazing proliferation of arching sprays of flowers. This is not something I would recommend but it certainly worked then, only highlighting the hardiness and resilience of theses beautiful natives.
Bottle brush became popular in Europe after the introduction of the Crimson Bottle brush to England in 1789 by Joseph Banks. While Europe was fascinated by all the beautiful and unusual introductions from Australia, homesick English were trying desperately to introduce things here from the northern hemisphere and largely ignoring the natives. It is good to be able to see the beauty in all creation.
Bottle brush grow over a wide area of Australia but primarily down the east coast and hinterland with two species in the south of Western Australia and four species in New Caledonia. While they may be native to the more coastal areas of Australia, I know many thriving in gardens in the far west of N.S.W.
With plant breeding and hybridising they now come in a great array of colours and I have seen brilliant lime green brushes and all shades from creamy pink through the bright reds to a red/purple colour…magenta I guess would describe it. As usual I would like to grow several, but space will be the limiting factor and I will have to choose carefully and restrain myself.
While the season is much better than it has been over the last few years, water is still a cause for concern, so many of our beautiful native plants are a great choice in our gardens.
Enjoy your time in the fresh air and sunshine among the beauty created for us and pray for rain!
