By Beatrice Hawkins
Among the many beautiful entries in the floral art section of the recent Spring Flower Show, was one that really caught my attention with the use of the brilliant lime green “Bells-of-Ireland”, botanically “moluccella laevis” also known as shell flower. Although its most common name is Bells of Ireland it really has nothing to do with Ireland. It is a native of Turkey, Syria and the Caucasus. In the language of flowers it represents good luck so I guess with that and its green colour it is represented as the “Luck of the Irish”!
These lovely plants have been in cultivation since the 1500’s. The flowers are, interestingly enough, very tiny, insignificant and white. The brilliant green “shell” is actually the calyx.
They should grow in our area in a sheltered position as they will handle a light frost and actually need cold to trigger germination, but they don’t like hot, humid weather.
They are considered a summer flowering annual, like a free draining, neutral soil and full sun, regular watering..about an inch a week..but can’t handle water logging, need staking as they grow to about 3 or 4 feet high and are top heavy although there seems tp be a dwarf variety available…I just haven’t found where yet!!
They are propagated by seed and they do self seed. For the first planting, sow the seed a few weeks before the last frost by simply sprinkling it on the top of the soil as they need light to germinate. At the end of flowering allow some to set seed and then sprinkle it over the ground ready for next year and it will come up after the last frosts. Alternately keep the seed and sprinkle it where you want them a few weeks before the last frost. In this they seem to be very similar to my lovely peonie poppies that come each year. I have just allowed some to dry out and have spread the seed ready for next year. The addition of some bells of Ireland among the red poppies would make for a very striking display. They need similar conditions to germinate and would flower at similar times. Maybe I need to find some seed and try next year.
With the tiny flower and dominant coloured calyx they are similar to the beautiful bouganvillea that is in such profusion at present. In a garden on the Yangan Road, there is a beautiful bright, but soft, pink bush growing…a colour I have not seen before. It is really spectacular, as is the one growing against a white wall at the corner of Guy and Percy streets. I know the spikes can be hard to handle but they do provide such a long-lasting spectacular show of colour I think they are worth being cautious of the spikes!
Jacarandas are blooming spectacularly in many gardens and on nature strips around town. The blossoms provide such a beautiful cloud of purple over each tree with not a green leaf in sight…wonderful! The undisturbed carpet of flowers under each tree early each morning delights me every time I see it… I never get tired of the sight or the happy memories it invokes.
The sight of jacaranda, paired with the gold and white blossoms on the native frangipani, is another of my favourite combinations and the perfume of the frangipani is intoxicating.
While the native frangipani, Hymenosporum flavum, is a rainforest tree of Queensland, NSW and New Guinea it seems able to tolerate a large range of climates. It is grown successfully as a street tree in Tamworth, obviously a far cry from a rainforest area or climate and similarly, there are many growing in Warwick. The ones at the front of the Vet clinic in Bracker road are doing very well and absolutely covered in blossom at the present. They like full sun to dappled shade and a neutral to acidic soil. At the moment they seem also to be relishing the improvement in the season and are flowering heavily, covered in beautiful, fragrant blossom.
As I walk out my front door I am thrilled with the perfume of the gardenias in full flower. The fact that the flowers only last a short time is fully compensated for by their continuing flowering and heady perfume. I now have four different ones doing well, thanks to neighbours who shifted and gave me theirs in pots. As I’ve said before, they were one of my Mum’s favourite flowers… but then, to be truthful she loved all flowers! She was well ahead of her time in planting many natives 65 plus years ago, mostly straight from the bush, as they were not yet available from nurseries. Some are still thriving in the garden of the old home when I drive past.
So many spectacular displays of colour in gardens as I drive around town… we do live in a lovely part of the country and in a beautiful city.
So much colour, so much beauty everywhere at the moment.. it really must be spring!
