A New Year

Pohutukawa - the New Zealand Christmas Tree
Metrosideros excelsa

Happy New Year to all. Forgive the lack of posts but of course in the lower half of the world our Christmas and Summer holidays collide and I have been visiting friends and family in New Zealand. We returned last night to our own beds - all the happier for the fact we had a wonderful time with friends and family and were blessed with sparkling bright days in the sun and sea.

In the next week I shall write formally again but for the moment I post a picture of the beautiful New Zealand Christmas tree which flowers prolifically in the North Island of New Zealand at this time of year.

Acquisitions from Lambley

Echinops ritro 'Veitch's Blue'

How likely was it that I would leave Lambley without a little clutch of plants in hand? Very unlikely is of course the answer. At least these days I am a little more restrained. I had thought about what I would like prior to arriving so that I could resist the siren song of other plants who wish to tempt me with their promise of beautiful bloom, foliage or scent.

So I thought I'd share with you my acquisitions and their companions that they will meet in my tiny front garden.

My son chose Kniphofia "Ascot Lemon" which by a small miracle fitted in with my plans - if you've ever tried to dissuade a 7 year old from his line of thinking you will know what a relief this is. He has no interest in my plans for the garden and on the way to school was gasping at the sheer beauty of a garish gladioli the other day - not one of my favourite garden plants, I confess. I hurried him past.

But back to my acquisitions; I managed to get my hands on a single plant of Echinops ritro 'Veitch's blue' (above) which as quickly as it appears in the catalogue is gone. You can see why, I hope it thrives in my garden.

My other choices were:

To go with my existing plants which include:

The tall and feathery - clockwise from L to R Urginea maritima (Sea squill), Stipa gigantea, Perovskia 'Filigrin'
and Verbascum olympicum

The shrubby and the strappy - clockwise from L to R Hemerocallis Stella D'oro, Santolina chamaecyparissus 'Nana',
Agapanthus 'Snow Storm' and Euphorbia griffithii

And beneath those my ground hugging friends:

Groundcovers - clockwise from L to R convolvulus sabatius, the silky soft artemisia
pedemontana and natives Wahlenbergia communis and Brachyscome multifida

At this stage all my plants are immature so I have not included photos of my own plot, so now it is a waiting game .... I shall report on developments.

Garden Bliss

An olive underplanted with Salvia Nemorosa 'Blauhugel' (syn.S. 'Blue Hills'), the spires of
Acanthus mollis in the background

We’ve had a week of insane weather – last Saturday I awoke to rain, hail and wind and winter temperatures but by Tuesday we were back to fine spring weather and as my Mum was visiting from New Zealand I decided that we’d take a little family jaunt out to Lambley Nursery and Gardens. So we packed a picnic and ourselves into the car and headed off.

I've been having a very hectic time of late and I couldn't have made a better decision. The day as you can see was perfect, the garden sparkling and there were only a few people about. My son made friends with Jedda the Labrador dog (picnic lunch nevers goes astray in making friends with a lab) and they both lounged beneath a cherry tree while Mum and I explored the gardens.

I not only take my hat off to David Glenn his wife the artist Criss Canning and the nursery staff but deliver them a low sweeping bow. How they maintain such a magnificent garden in such trying conditions is quite beyond me. The garden and nursery are located on the Western Plains of Victoria where the climate is by any estimation harsh. Strong winds, heavy frosts, searing heat - all are factors at various times of the year. And yet the plants thrive through all of this while receiving only three to four (deep) waterings a year.

Of course the plant selection is masterful. The plants on offer are great performers in difficult conditions. This is not always so of plants I have sourced. There is nothing worse than buying a plant or plants which one believes to be suitable to certain conditions to find that it will in fact only perform well when molly coddled within an inch of its (or your) life. "Good doers" is what most of us require in a plant but in our dreams the doers are magnificent, beautiful and breath taking and this is what Lambley provides.

Plant selection is assisted through David Glenn's concise descriptions in the catalogue and on plant labels. He gives the most useful information not only about colour but plant form, soil requirements and drought tolerance.

But back to the wonderful the garden - the garden is contained by a tall hedge and structure is provided by this and judicially placed olives and cypress trees. At this time of year the garden's colour palette is awash in blues and purple tones with large blocks of salvias, lavender and globular heads of alliums. Contrasting tones of yellow and silver are also a prominent feature.

One of the most interesting things I find about the garden is the skillful plant combinations. During our visit I found a couple of plants which individually did not have much appeal for me but in combination with others their appeal was vastly boosted. Usually I find for me this works in reverse I can be sucked in the by appeal of an individual plant but find that unless I have the right visual companions the individual beauty is diminished.

Ixia amethystina and with the exquisite Yucca rostrata, Salvia nemorosa ssp tesquiccola and Allium

As in many parts of my life I need to learn to suspend judgement. In this example I found the colour of this plant quite jarring and almost unnatural. I was about to dismiss it but when I walked around and viewed it from another angle I found it had a very worthwhile contribution to make to a grouping. As illustrated the complimentary and contrasting forms and colours worked beautifully. I think I've said before this whole plant combination lark can be very challenging - an artist's eye like Criss Canning's is helpful.

An on that note I shall say no more but let the pictures do the talking. Except to say that David Glenn's garden notes on the Lambley website are worth a look for more detailed information.

Cynara scolymus 'Romanesco' Purple Globe Artichoke, Lupinus lonifolius to the right and

Acanthus mollis at the rear

Amongst others the remarkable red spires of Beschorneria septentrionalis or False Red Agave

Salvia sclarea collected in the Taurus mountains in Turkey - "to my mind the best of its race" David Glenn