By Beatrice Hawkins
During the last many weeks that I have been away on family business, I have had very little phone or internet service even though I was only a few kilometres from a country town. There is a lot to be said for the old landline system! This is why the column has been missing from the paper.
As I travelled home to Warwick I saw many beautiful things in gardens. In particular, spectacularly beautiful, purple Tibouchina as specimen trees/shrubs. I wonder how they fared in the floods at Wauchope, NSW. as they are the street tree of preference there? The festival to celebrate their beauty was to be held over the weekend of 12 March in the midst of the horrendous flooding that NSW and Southern Queensland has experienced.
Known as Lasiandra when the festival commenced 38 years ago, they have had a name change along the way. They are also known as the Glory Bush and typically has brilliant purple flowers but they are many variations of colours and the genus contains approximately 240 different species.
Species are herbs, shrubs and trees but all typically have purple flowers.
They are considered “neotropical” and I don’t really know exactly what that means! Tropical, subtropical etc. I understand, but neotropical??
Apparently, they originated in South America where they grow over a wide variety of climates and so can be found similarly flourishing in gardens in Australia from Melbourne to Cairns. They don’t like hard frosts and do like acidic soil. They do need pruning after flowering unless you have room for a large tree and they will flower wonderfully from autumn right through to winter. There is not a pest or disease that comes near them to quote the ABC gardening experts, and they come in sizes from 60 cm to 8 metres tall! Even the 8-metre size can be kept in check with pruning after flowering.
Another tree I have seen putting on a good show in the south is the Golden rain tree. In that colder area, it has already flowered and has been delighting me with the brilliant orange/red seed capsules for some weeks. There are some in Warwick and Toowoomba that have the capsules in evidence but the lovely trees in the gardens next to me are still in full yellow flowers and look terrific. I look forward to the appearance of the seed capsules that will be there right through winter even though their colour will fade.
I know they are considered an environmental pest here in Queensland but if they are kept under control and managed well they are really a delight. They are a moderately fast grower and relatively long-lived with a lifespan of approximately 50 years.
I certainly would not plant them in an open paddock where they could not be looked after as the wind-born seeds and resultant seedlings really are a problem. Another reason not to have them in paddocks is that every part of the tree is toxic to animals. They have the potential to reach a height of 10 to 12 metres with a similar spread but can be kept pruned to a much smaller size. While they might provide great shade for the stock the veterinary bills incurred might not be welcome!
Roses around town are still providing some lovely blooms and my neighbour picked some lovely bunches earlier this week before the rain. I had three beautiful gardenias flourishing in pots before I left in January but unfortunately, they succumbed while I was away even with the rain we had. The one I had in the ground in the same area is still blooming beautifully and delighting me with its perfume near my front door.
The salvias in the garden close to the front of my house are still flourishing and in fact, need a good cut back. They really are a great plant and these particular ones have been thriving on neglect while I have been away. I will find some more colours and plant them in other spots in the spring.
Before I went away I had picked all the tomatoes and trimmed the bushes back as the rain had really done a job on them. The damaged tomatoes were scattered over an empty garden bed and raked in. Well, in the intervening weeks, I think every seed has germinated and I now have a huge number of plants thriving, flowering and fruiting in said “empty” bed!! I would love to get down there and really see what is going on but that is going to have to wait for a few more weeks. In the interim, I’m sure my wonderful friends and neighbours will look after them for me.
With a broken foot keeping me housebound, I feel really blessed to be living in Warwick and to have so many wonderful friends around me.
