GARDENS CELEBRATE SPRINGTIME

IT’S A TIME FOR REAWAKENING AND RENEWAL

WHILE southern hemisphere humans celebrate the first of September as the calendar version of spring, nature (in our region at least) has been doing its own thing since the start of August and will continue to do so for easily another three months.

Obvious outward signs of the approach of warmer weather are soft, new growth on deciduous shrubs and trees, newly emerging leaves on reawakening bulbs and herbaceous perennials, and, of course, a myriad of blooms on “spring-flowering” plants.

Here’s a few interesting images of springtime in our region.

1. Vegie gardeners are celebrating the change of seasons with a changing of the guard from cool season varieties to typical warm season choices such as lettuce, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes. These Sebago spuds were planted a couple of weeks ago and are well on the way to producing a bumper crop in late spring.

2. Many deciduous plants are bursting into leaf or flower as the air temperatures and day lengths increase. Coming out of hibernation at this time and producing new growth, and maybe an early “breba” crop of fruit, is this ‘Brown Turkey’ fig tree, ideally suited to our region.

3. A wonderfully resilient plant for semishaded spots under deciduous trees, this white iris (Iris albicans) spreads slowly to fill a space via its thick, fleshy rhizomes. They’ll also handle full sun and love to be divided every few years.

4. In my humble opinion, azaleas are the ultimate expression of spring in our local gardens. Some are quite hardy and do well on less water than their larger, thirstier cousins. This little toughie is Azalea ‘Kirin’, one of a group of smaller azaleas in the Kurume group. There are upwards of 23 named Kurume azaleas, with ‘Mrs Kint’, ‘Christmas Cheer’, ‘Adonis’, ‘Hino de Giri’ and ‘Shin Sekai’ ones to look for.

5. The ubiquitous double May bush (Spiraea cantoniensis ‘Lanceata’) can be seen in bloom all around our region right now. This is the triple May bush (Spiraea prunifolia) a lesser known relative but quite stunning in the way it flowers on deciduous branches. It’s just as tough as the double May bush, enjoying a full sun spot in the garden.

6. Need a small shrub to brighten up a shaded spot in the garden? Look no further than this little gem, Justicia rizzinii ‘Firefly’, growing no taller than about a metre and producing copious blooms in yellow and red in spring. It does quite well in the open as well, if protected from hot afternoon sun.

7. Nothing says “spring” as well as the magnificent blooms of a Clivia in a dry, shady garden position. This little beauty is an interspecific variety of Clivia, a mix of C. miniata and another species such as C. robusta or C. nobilis.

Don’t forget the Clivia Show at Toowoomba TAFE Horticulture from Friday, September 17 to Monday, September 20.

8. One of the most outstanding displays of new growth on any plant in our region is that of the bright, lime-green shoots on Acer palmatum ‘Dissectum Viridis’, a Japanese maple with finely dissected green leaves. Not only do new leaves appear now, small, inconspicuous flowers will soon open and attract a squadron of honey bees for pollination.