THE SWEET SPOT

My friend Blair is establishing a garden from scratch around her newly built grey and white-trimmed timber Federation-style house.

When planning her garden she had a vision of white roses and lavender sweeping right around the house. So she built raised beds, ordered 33 standard “Iceberg” roses and then rang me to discuss the nitty gritty of soil and planting distances.

We chatted away about the need for stakes (standards are very vulnerable to wind damage), mulch, watering and the benefits of Italian versus English lavender, until I asked her what she was planning to put on the southern side of the house.

“The Iceberg roses,” she replied, obviously thinking I was missing the point. “They’re going all the way round the house.”

She was devastated when I explained that roses need full sun and wouldn’t grow well on the cold, exposed, southern side of her twostorey house as they wouldn’t get direct sun for a lot of the year.

Plants aren’t decorator items like the cushions, blinds, tiles and polished timber floors she’s chosen inside. They need the right growing conditions, and that includes the correct amount of sun or shade along with the soil conditions they prefer.

Plants that aren’t growing in their ideal location struggle to grow, flower poorly and are susceptible to pests and diseases. Getting the location right can save a lot of future heartache.

The best alternative

With the “Iceberg” roses off the list for the south side, the obvious choice to give the feel of white rose is white sasanqua camellias. This evergreen shrub enjoys a shaded spot but can handle extra sun late in the day in summer. Sasanquas can also be topiarised for a bare stem and clipped head of foliage.

Blair has now opted for the Sasanqua variety “Setsugekka”, which has large single white flowers with golden stamen-filled centres. It grows 3m-5m high. With flowers from late summer until winter, these plants will brighten up the shady garden for many months. If she hadn’t gone for Sasanquas, my other white-flowered suggestions were Viburnum tinus, Mexican orange blossom (Choisya ternata) and white varieties of hydrangea, which all grow well on the south side.

Learn from experts

Asking a fellow gardener for advice is a good way to get a feeling for where a plant you fancy might like to grow, but there are other options. The horticulturist at your local garden centre or the gardener at a local open garden, are good places to start.

If Blair had been searching for a native option, I’d have sent her to Inverawe Gardens at Margate where “right plant right place” is the theme of the next workshop that Bill Chestnut is running. “Plant a native garden” is on tomorrow, and will be repeated on

February 23 next year. “If you’ve bought plants, taken them home and planted them only to find they turn up their toes, then this workshop is for you,” Bill says. By learning about plant selection, soil and growing conditions and getting it right, Bill says gardeners will be saving the life of future plants. The workshop costs $30 and bookings are essential on 6267 2020.

Gardeners, particularly those with a passion for a particular plant, are always happy to chat about their favourite plants. A group of rose fanciers will be on tap today at the Rose and Iris Show, from 10am to 4.30pm in Hobart Town Hall (50 Macquarie St, Hobart) for the rose conversation.

Simply walking around the neighbourhood can also provide lots of examples about how plants grow and the conditions they need to do their best.