10 Minute Plant Combo Exercise

We've spent all week receiving deliveries from nurseries for the City Hort Team's shrub replacements and now have a whole standing out area full of wonderful yummy looking plants.
I had a few minutes at the end of the day and set myself a quick game of coming up with a couple of plant combos using the available plants. It made me realize that you just can't pick plants from a photograph online, you really have to see them in real life to get a good feel for their colour and form - less internet perusing and more nursery visits for me I think! - oh, what a shame ;)

I should start with a disclaimer that this exercise was merely for plant shapes and colour combos - the science of whether they will actually grow together in the same conditions is a different matter! So all just strictly hypothetical fun here...

So my first combo was slightly predictable of me - Reds, I have a weakness for all plants red. Throw in a few silvers as well and it's got Sabrina written all over it.

The first plant of the group that I picked up and chose as my starting point was the Grevillea 'Gaudi Chaudi' (wonderful name!) I liked how the new leaves start red/maroon and turn into a deep glossy green. The shape of the leaves is interesting with it's seven lobes. And an added bonus upon further research, the flowers are a deep burgundy colour to go with the foliage.

So now, I want plant number 2 to go with my Gaudi Chaudi and my eye was caught by the Raoulia hookeri. This is a new plant to me, but I was taken by its dense silver foliage, each leaf is tiny and so tightly clustered it almost looks like gravel from a distance. The mat forming ground cover will act as a glowing light-box underneath the foliage of the Grevillea and really accentuate the interesting leaf shape and colour. The silver of the Raoulia matching the highlights on the glossy Grevillea foliage reflecting the sky (albeit a raining one - yes i was out drooling over plants in the rain - so this pairing may not look as good in the full sun)

Plant 3, I want something of the same deep burgundy red to compliment the Grevillea's new growth. Enter stage right, Phormium 'Dark Delight'. The deep colour reminds me of red cabbage. This plant is an attention grabber, and I have to confess to not being a Phormium fan, but i'll allow an exception to the rule for this colour. Its just a shade darker than the Grevillea but I think it continues the gradient perfectly. It give continuity of colour but the shape provides the contrast and presence that this plant combo needs.

And lastly - yes I know i've only chosen 4 plants, breaking the odd number rule, but I was pushed for time! Pachystegia rufa. I already have clumping tiny silver leaves, tall spiky dark red, lobed red and green, so now I want something calming, a nice deep green to compliment but not compete, and smooth rounded, quintessential leaf shape to add balance to the extremes of the others, a mid ground to tie them together. The rufa has a more muted tone than the P. insignis, which would be too white for this palette. And the overall height of this plant also acts as a middle stepping stone between the spreading Grevilliea and Raoulia to the Phormium.

In hindsight, and after a little research, both the Raoulia and Pachy have yellow flowers that may not be suited to the deep red tones i'm after - just goes to show how important it is to know your plants before picking them purely on foliage colour!

Combo 2. Yellow.
I hate yellow, it is the colour of sickness and the hardest colour to work with, but Sabrina likes a challenge! Let's step outside the comfort zone and work out what the hell to do with this ugly colour.
Sitting either side of yellow on the colour wheel is orange and green, so let's try something to compliment the Coleonema 'Sunset Bold' that I have challenged myself with. The foliage is somewhere between heather and juniper, small and needle-like and the overall shape is spraying up and out like a miniature explosion of yellowness.

Working with the orange idea, my eye was drawn to the Libertia 'Taupo Sunset'. The colours in this are wonderful - orange is on my super-yum colour list :), the streaks in this range from pale orange to bronze, and standing next to the Coleonema the colours work great together, fiery and bright. The shape of the Libertia blades with their definite direction mimics the up and out form of its yellow neighbor too.

Selection 3, an unlikely plant companion in reality, Azalea 'Ria hardijzer' (pronunciation suggestions written on a postcard sent to me please!). Again I was seeking a calming green, but the large leafed pachys would be too much against the fine heather-like Coleonema, so I opted for a small leaved green shrub, that also happened to have orange stems and buds - my tie-in with the Libertia. But again, that ol' hindsight kicks in and research says this has bright pink flowers. Pink and yellow...no.

Plant 4. Actual heather this time - Erica 'Springwood White'. The foliage compliments the Coleonema with a similar form, if slightly less assertively straight. The flower buds is what drew me to this plant with their creamy hue, although it will flower in white. Not perfect, but using the logic that lighter colours attract the eye first, it might divert away from the yellow...

And lastly, against my reluctance to like divaricates, I beelined for the Coprosma acerosa. I have seen this plant many times and been thoroughly uninspired by it, but put it next to yellow and orange and I actually like it. The form is crazy and messy, but next to the strict upward trusts of the Coleonema and Libertia it adds a certain softness that is needed.

I'm not totally sold on my yellow scheme, but given that I had 10 minutes to choose 5 plants, the initial colour and form are what led my decisions. And I learnt a lot from it, a) Go to a nursery and look at real plants and not just pictures, b) Phormiums can be attractive, c) Research!!! Don't just look at the foliage colour, the flowers will make a huge difference to a colour scheme, d) step outside your comfort zone and try something different, e) yellow still sucks to work with :)

Clever use of colour in planting design

I just saw this image on Facebook from Gamble Garden and have fallen in love with the planting scheme. I recently spoke to Karl about writing reports on gardens to get into the habit to evaluating design and planting and really look at the composition of what makes the garden good, so I saw this photo and thought it would be a good place to start. I realise my plant ID is woefully lacking as I'm not sure I can name anything here with certainty, so i'll focus on the colour, form and shape.

So, my overall impression of this image was one of calmness and a sense of seclusion, and my eye was instantly drawn to the burgundy shrubs opposite each other on the pathway because they are unexpected. I'm not entirely sure what they are, possible berberis (?). My first thought was that this is a white garden with highlights of burgundy and then I started seeing the other hints of colour, there are pale pinks and blues in there as well. Punctuated by the solid and plump dark green conifers to provide a rest between the colours and fine texture of the small flowers. I note there are three of them in a row, being the magic number. These are framed again by more solid burgundy peeping up behind the dark green, acting like a roof to the design, steering the eye back down by way of the glaucous shrub in front, whereas a lighter tree would continue to draw the eye up and away.
The dark green is echoed in the smaller topiaries sitting on the angles of the path - almost acting like subtle punctuation for the change of direction.
The flamboyant big white rose is clearly meant as the center of attention as the biggest, brightest flower, it says 'Look at Me!' and has no equal contender. My first impression of it being a white garden come from this but on second glance little else is white - the main focal point really does set the scene in a design! The burgundy supports the rose but recedes next to it, and the row of daisies are merely the chorus line supporting the main act, necessary though they are. These daisies are steering the journey through the garden, and they want you to follow, but the soft and abundant spray of flowers isn't in a hurry like a more solid block of colouring would be. This is a garden in which to linger.
The big buddleia (?) adds more height and emphasis on the seclusion, but it feels like the full stop barrier before a different garden continues behind in different shades of pale yellow not belonging to this garden. The subtle blues helps highlight the glaucous colour of it's neighbour and supports the small blue flowers in the foreground, and I imagine more on the other side of the path that we cannot see. The small pinks in the foreground also are supporting colours to the burgundy and just soft enough to add to the overall effect of the garden without contending to attention. A bigger, brasher pink would have been too strong and confused the design.

I suspect this scene will look much different in another season, though there are a few evergreens in there to keep its structure intact.

I find this garden very pleasing to look at and certainly well designed.

Spirit, Science and Art

I just bought Bev McConnell's books from Ayrlies. I'm only 20 pages in so far, but had to stop to write this note. She said that to create a good garden you have to use a combination of these three principles:

1 - find out the spirit of the place, what does it want to be, what is sympathetic to the natural surroundings and environment.
2 - use science.  Where do plants come from, what is their natural environment, how do they grow and why
3 - now use art to put these plants together. Create artistic compositions within the architecture of the landscape.

And most importantly, a garden is never finished. It is constantly evolving and changing.

Making hanging baskets

Every spring new baskets need to be made up for the new seasons hanging baskets for the Begonia House. We use wire baskets packed with Sphagnum moss to retain moisture.

Here's how to make them...

Get a small handful of moss strands and poke it into and
over the top wire. Keep doing this and pack it it really
tight, squeezing the moss into shape to form a
firm rim.

When then rim is finished pack the base and side of the
basket from the inside with moss. Make sure there are no
gaps for soils to fall through. Give the moss a light trim
to neaten it up.

Start to add soil forming a bowl shape - this will help
when watering so that it doesn't run off. Use your fist to firm
the soil into the sides.

Add the hanging arms and make sure they are secure.

Put in the plants around the edges of the baskets, leaning
them out slightly to encourage them to drape over the sides.
Water them in and leave to grow on until ready for display.

Air layering !!! :)

This propagation technique is awesome! - Although I've yet to see if it actually works, but the theory is pretty cool. Air layering is essentially getting a plant to form roots from its branch so that it can be cut off and become a separate plant. The new plant with its roots is still attached to the donor plant so it continues to receive water and nutrients as normal whilst growing roots from an injured and light restricted area.

The benefits of doing this rather than taking cuttings is that you can get a larger section of growth (bigger new plant), and an artificial environment (nursery) doesn't need to be provided for the cuttings.

How to do it...

Select a section of previous or current seasons growth (depending on plant)
with healthy growth and vegetative buds.

Make a slit to the center of the stem (don't cut all the way
 through) about 1.5cm long with a sharp knife.
The roots will grow from this wound.

Wedge the cut apart slightly with a bit of moss so that
it doesn't seal closed. Then wrapped the whole
section of stem in wet sphagnum moss.

To keep the moisture in wrap in black plastic and tie in
place

It can take about 5-6 months for the roots to grow enough to sustain the new plant once it is removed from the donor tree. So be patient! the best time of year to do air layering is in early spring when the sap starts to flow for the new seasons growth.

Crytpolaemus breeding

As part of the integrated pest management (IPM) programme that we use at the Botanic Gardens, we use predator insects to control the populations of some common greenhouse pests. 

Cryptolaemus montrouzieri (Mealybug Ladybird) is a predator insect of Mealybug, native to Queensland, Australia. Cryptos lay their eggs in the white cottony mass that the Mealybug produce and their larvae look very much like mealybug. The larvae and adult feed on the youngest bugs and their eggs. The average lifespan is 3 months.

Cryptolaemus larvae and adult

In the nursery Cindy breeds a small number of Cryptolaemus mainly for educational purposes. A larger population is harder to sustain because there isn't enough Mealybug to feed on. To keep the small number of Crypto growing we have to breed Mealybugs to provide a constant source of food.

When we find a plant with a large infestation of Mealybug
some of the leaves are collected

The leaves are then placed on sprouting potatoes which
act as a good constant food source for the bugs

When the sprouting potatoes have a good infestation we can
then feed these to the Cryptos

The Cryptolaemus are kept in a ventilated box with
a thin mesh cloth to keep them contained

The infested potatoes are added to the box as food

There is a lot of good info about using Cryptolaemus on this website https://greenmethods.com/cryptolaemus/

Design for Contemplation

http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/city-parks-design-calming-brain

Just read this article about how the design of garden spaces has an influence over entering a contemplative state.

Of three urban spaces evaluated the common elements included:
- Panoramic vistas with long-distance views (more than 400 meters).
- Large empty spaces
- Natural asymmetry
- Clearings and stimulation to look at the sky.

The least contemplative settings, by contrast, usually lacked these features, and instead had characteristics such as paths and enclosed spaces (as in small pocket gardens).

-
I find the psychology of garden spaces interesting and important to how we shape our environment. Having a contemplative space is important for those times when relaxing and taking time out is essential. However, a varied amount of stimulation is needed for other times. A garden can also make you feel invigorated if surrounded by colour, or adventurous by exploring hidden areas and discovering little gems. Each space can bring a different emotion, and you want different spaces for each mood. Like listening to music, sometimes classical music is needed to sooth, when other times heavy rock is perfect for an adrenaline rush. Having a contemplative space should be just one of the many moods of the garden.

Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'

My 'yum plant' of the week. Juniperus squamata 'Blue Star'. I'm always on the lookout for interesting evergreen plants and I love this one. It would work particularly well in a white garden... ;)

Some stats:

Slow growing

Max height 1m

Full sun

Water - adaptable, can take wet or dry conditions

Clump forming

Single seeds from blue cones.

And yes, I took cuttings :)

Camellia cutting experiment

A large old Camellia outside the cottage was cut down. It was starting to look tired and past it's prime so Cindy made the decision to remove it and make way for something fresh and new.
However, before the plant remains were taken away we took some cuttings... :)

Apparently Camellia's grow well from cuttings with good success rates, so I thought i'd try a little experiment to see what conditions the cuttings will grow best in.
One sample I put on the heated bench in glass house 1 with the misters,
and the second sample I put in Shade House 6, with no heating and manual watering.
The race is on!

I'll report my findings when they have rooted. I spoke to Karl and he said that Camellia cuttings either grow straight away or they callous over and don't initially do anything, but if you cut off the callous and re-pot the cutting they will grow. So I will try this when my two batches are ready to pot up.

Random fungus

Random fungus I saw growing on a tree in the fernery. No idea what it's called but I thought it looked awesome! It almost looks like a leather shoe. I prodded it (as you do) to see what it felt like and it was hard and solid although it looks soft.

Setting begonia tubers

It's mid-winter and the begonia tubers have already been taken out of last seasons pots, cleaned and sterilized. They were separated into different containers according to their future use;

'General' for display in the Begonia House, 

'Baskets', for hanging baskets, 

'Pollinators' those with good characteristics worth breeding,

'Seedlings' last years seeds that will be too small for display this year. 

Not forgetting 'Cindy's special reds'!! A gorgeous big, deep red flower that Cindy bred last year :)

Each begonia tuber was bagged individually so that the label
did not get separated from it's tuber during the sterilizing process.

I forgot to take photos of the process. Basically, line a tray
with 2 sheets of newspaper, then fill with begonia mix
(60:40 peat:pumice). Press in the tubers so that they are flush
with the soil level, stick the label behind each.
Sprinkle with enough soil to slightly cover, then water
in well so that the top layer of soil washing off exposing
the top of the tuber but sealing in round the edges.

Leave in a warm greenhouse (indirect light) and after a
few weeks we have sprouts!

Amorphophallus tuber re-potting

The bulbs from previous season have been dormant over winter and it is time to re-pot them ready for spring. They will go into the same size pots but with fresh soil.

Old pot

Tip out contents and collect all the tubers.
Over the last growing season they have grown
  small tubers on the side so these all need
to be collected as well.

They need to be cleaned to remove old soil and
checked over for weevils and caterpillars.
I used a dibber and brush.

Fill a pot with new mix (60:40 pumice-soil) to
about 5cm below the rim.
Press in the tubers and arrange them with
eyes facing up.

Add a thin layer of soil over the top to cover them.

Water them in and leave to grow.

Succulents

I really like the arrangement of these succulents, the red flower spikes and the roundness of the prickly pear makes a fun combination.

Taking Cuttings

I am now on my second placement - Cindy's Nursery! :)
The units I have to complete during my placement here are two propagation units and pest and diseases. The first propagation unit is a written part to demonstrate knowledge, the other is practical. For the practical unit I need to take leaf, softwood, semi-hardwood/hardwood cuttings and monitor their growth.

First up...collecting the plant material.

Here is all the material I collected, placed in a pot with a bit
of water to keep them from wilting and labels for each plant.
They now need to be trimmed and prepared for the cutting mix.

For my leaf cutting I have chosen Pepperomia argyreia.
I have kept about 2cm length of stem to push into the soil
for anchorage, the bottom of the leaf will touch the soil
and the new plant will grow from the base of the leaf.

Plectranthus coleoides 'marginatus'. Herbaceous/softwood cutting.
Left two leaf pairs with two nodes to go into soil

Ficus benjamina 'Diana' - Semi-hardwood.
Approx 10cm length cutting with one or two nodes
at the bottom

 Once the cuttings were prepped they were ready to be put into cutting mix - 60% peat: 40% pumice. I took about 10 cuttings of each plant so put them into 6in pots.

Ta da! Streptocarpus, Plectranthus coleoides, Pepperomia caperata 'Burgundy',
Ficus benjamina 'Diana', Ficus 'contorta?', Strobilanthes dyeranus, and Pepperomia argyreia

All pots were put on the heat bench under the misters until they start to root.

Rose Pruning

It is winter at the gardens which means rose pruning time, and several hundred of them to get through! Each apprentice was assigned  a few days at the Rose Garden to help Rachel and the team with the mammoth task.
I have secretly been looking forward to this for a while and i've been itching to know how to prune a rose. I have one in my own garden and its a curious plant, it seems to grow no matter how rude and mean I am to it, but always looks a bit spindly. I wanted to find out why, and how to professionals do it and make them look good.
So here is the magic revealed...

Tools needed: Sharpened Secateurs (parrot beak blades), Loppers,
Trowel and Wire Brush. And MOST importantly
thick leather long gloves - you cannot do this without them!!!

Start by taking out dead, diseased, damaged and defected
wood (The 4 D's). Next take down the height of the whole
 plant leaving about 50-60cm of main stems
 - all remnants of flowers/hips removed.

Next, take out thinner, spindly or crossing canes. Chose only the
stronger looking canes and cut them on a diagonal slant just
above a healthy bud. Aim for a vase-like frame work of about
10 canes remaining. It feels really harsh to reduce a huge rose
 bush to just a few bits sticking out of the ground,
 but I've been assured they will grow back!

When happy with the  pruning, clear back the soil from around
 the crown, remove any weeks and debris.
With a wire brush go over the crown to remove any loose
 bark and caked on soil. Check from crown gall as well.

And there you go. It took me a while to get the hang of which canes to cut and which to leave and I started off being fairly gentle with it until Rachel showed me I could cut back much harder. I had a fun few days. Now to come back in summer and see how they've grown.

Here is a weeping standard rose. The same principals
applied, making sure to leave outward facing buds
to promote the weeping appearance.

Here it is afterwards. we were fairly gentle with this, mostly
 taking off previous seasons growth whilst maintaining
the framework.

Hedge Maze - Design and Planting

In order for us to calculate the correct number of plants needed to go into the hedge maze we first needed a design - preferably to scale.So, I measured up the area using a straight line of twine pegged into the ground at the dissecting the site in two. I then used a measuring tape held at at 90degree angle from the line at 50cm intervals to record the distance to the edges and obstacles within the proposed maze.

From this data I created a scale plan view of the area - give or take a few cm here and there, it was moderately accurate. And I rather enjoyed the whole process :)

Scale plan view of proposed maze area

I then passed this plan on to Ali who drew up the final design for the maze and calculated how many plants were needed. (Sadly I don't have a copy of the design!!)

We were originally going to use the same coprosmas as the existing hedges, and we did take cuttings, but they will take a couple of years to grow. So Rewi ordered in some ready grown corokias to use instead.

So now we were ready to lay out the maze and get planting!!!

Ali drew the design on the ground and I placed all the plants
along the design.

I had to make sure that the spacing for each plant was going to be adequate
to allow for it to have enough room for it to grow, but also to be close
enough to not have any gaps in the maze.

When we were happy with the placing, now began the
 task of planting them all.

View of the maze entrance

Grow my pretties, grow!!!!

Bowling Club Entrance - Border Renovation

Following on from my Wardian Case project Finn suggested that I renovate the Bowling Club Entrance border. The existing plants were not performing well and were starting to look messy and untended. As this is one of the entrances to Otari-Wilton's Bush it deserved a make over to create a more welcoming and inviting border.

Here are the 'Before' photos:

Here was the entrance border before any work started. The sign board was very
overshadowed by the large fern tree and woodland behind it. The sun is positioned
behind the trees so it is always dark in this corner.

Overgrown Kawakawas encroached on the edge of the boarder, with a few
sporadic Rengarenags and Chatham Island forget-me nots.

The Astelia Chathamica needed a good cleanover to remove the dead leaves, and the
Rengerengas was overgrown and had spread throughout most of the border.
The Corokia hedge at he back also needed trimming.

 There were three mature sized Astelia Chathamicas which I quite liked and were in good condition, once that dead leaves had been clean up. So I decided to keep them and work with the silvery colour of the leaves to add some lightness to the dark border.

Cleared border! I removed all the Rengarengas and forget-me-nots.
Finn cut back a lot of the overgrown tree and kawakawas from the
 back of the border and behind the signpost as well.
The area suddenly had a lot more light and felt more open.

I forked over the soil and removed all the weeds then raked it smooth.
This gave me a good indication of what the soil conditions were
 in the border. There was patches are very dry soil need the
 hedge and very damp soil right underneath the drip line of the
fern tree. The rest of the soil was of a good loamy quality.

I good the hedging shears and clipped the Corokia hedge. I quite like
 the silvery colour of this hedge, it certainly lightens up the space.
It is quite satisfying to trim a hedge and see a neat
smooth line after i've finished.

Finn and Dave cleared a lot of material from the rest of the path and
 beyond with the intention of opening up the space and planted
decorative shrubs in place of the old kawakawa hedge.

Now that I could see the space and what the remaining plants were like, I could now develop my planting scheme. Using the silver of the Astelia and Corokia hedge, and the research I had already done for my white garden display, it seemed a logical step to create a Silver and Gold garden.
I wanted to use the Pacystegia I has selected for my white garden, but Finn showed me a few that he had planted in a similarly dark area and they just hadn't performed very well, so I chose an alternative plant instead. Brachyglottis greyi - it has silvery pale foliage most of the year and then flowers with bright yellow daisies.
I also chose Pimilia protrata - for its pale foliage and small white flowers, its spreading habit should fill up the lower front of the border.
Interspersed with the pimilia, I planted clumps of Schlernathus biflorus - this has a much more vivid green to contract against the other pale plants, it will spread in spongy mounds.
Behind that, Hebe albicans, my new favourite hebe. It has a neat round form with white flower spikes, gowing to less than 1m high. a good foreground shrub.
Alternating next to the hebes, an Olearia with a deep green leaf with a white margin (whose species name has slipped my mind).
Behind this is the golden grass Libertia perigrines, to add a touch of gold all year round.
To block the view of the bowling club from the garden's path, I put in tall growing Oleaia avicenniaefolia. These should grow fairly quickly and bring the view back into the garden instead of out over the hedge into next doors carpark.

Before planting anything, I laid them all out into the positions I wanted
and making sure they each had the correct spacings for the future growth.

Et voila!! One newly designed and planted border.

Now I just need to come back in a year and see how well they have grown and if they are happy in their positions. I'm very pleased with this.