Naked bloomers show off

Some autumn bulbs burst into bloom before their leaves appear. Amaryllis belladonna is called naked ladies for the pink blooms that dance on tall bare stems often seen along the fence lines of old farms.

Colchicums (confusingly also sometimes called naked ladies) spring into flower after the first rains of autumn.

But the biggest show-off is the paint brush or blood lily, Haemanthus coccineus.

The trunk-like mottled stem – 25cm tall – supports a chunky redorange chalice chock full of golden-tipped stamens. The enormous tongue-shaped leaves come later – each pair like the pages of a bible open on a lectern. Plant in those tricky dry places in semi shade under trees or eaves.

Groups of blooms are more effective. They grow well in pots too. Let them get pot bound and don’t over water. There’s a white one too – Haemanthus albiflos.

I bought one at last year’s Ayrlies Plant Fair but it has yet to flower. Bulbs of both varieties are available from Joy Plants and Coast Palms & Cycads.

COCKTAIL MIX

Compact portulacas caught my eye at the garden centre. Just the thing for some terracotta pots that bake in the sun by the front door, I thought. The prostrate stems would look terrific spilling out of hanging baskets too.

The plants had a distinctly different form to the punnet of portulaca seedlings I had already planted. The succulent leaves are broad, oval and flat rather than slim and cylindrical.

Vibrant striped, two-tone, single and double red, yellow and orange flowers were on offer. The variety names sound like they belong on a cocktail menu. Any one for ‘Lemon Twist’, ‘Mango Mojito’, ‘Grenadine’, ‘Plumberry’ or ‘Double Magenta’?

Plant in well-drained soil in full sun.

The flowers open in sunlight and close in shade so place the plants where you can enjoy the blooms while they’re open.

Portulacas are drought-tolerant but do flower better with regular watering and flower fertiliser. The stems snap easily. Use accidentally amputated stems as cuttings. Root in a glass of water or pot into a half and half mix of pumice and potting soil.

STRANGLEHOLD

Star jasmine earns its popularity as it’s very versatile and easy to grow. It is one of the few climbers that doesn’t get ‘‘bare legs’’. Clematis, for example, have all their leaves and blooms on show up top and only empty stems below. Star jasmine, on the other hand, has a good coverage of neat, glossy leaves from top to bottom.

Its other virtues are lack of thorns, evergreen foliage and small exotically scented blooms in early summer that self groom – no deadheading needed.

It’s not a rampant thug but in autumn it does send out questing tendrils searching for new heights to climb, and at my place it’s clasping the electric gate in close embrace.

It’s easy to clip back with shears but do change into gardening gear to avoid getting the white latex sap all over your good clothes. That sap gums up shears and secateurs, too.

Give blades a wash with soapy water and dry thoroughly or they’ll be glued together next time you want to use them. Dry clippings for a day or two then put through the shredder before using as mulch.

SAP SUCKERS

Hot, dry weather has stressed my clump of garlic chives. They’ve bolted into bloom and are covered with black allium aphids. I don’t mind the flowers which are attracting hoverflies and bees but the aphids need to be dealt with or they’ll move on to the spring onions and chives.

Different aphids target This column is adapted from the weekly e-zine, get growing, from New Zealand Gardener magazine. For gardening advice delivered to your inbox every Friday, sign up for Get Growing at: getgrowing.co.nz different host plants. These are Neotoxoptera formosana, aka onion or garlic aphids, which specialise in alliums, including the ornamental ones.

Unlike other insects, they don’t lay eggs. The entire population is female and each one can pop out a couple of live babies a day, which mature rapidly and start producing babies of their own.

They can reproduce all year round but warm conditions bring on population explosions. In winter they hibernate in leaves or bulbs. Squish small clusters with your fingers or wash off with a squirt of the hose. Soapy water is better when a whole clump is infected.

You could also use a neem oil spray or Grosafe Enspray 99 but do remember those beneficial insects and don’t spray when they’re active.