Marian’s MARVEL
Correas light up winter with an endless supply of blooms. And we owe their success to a genius from South Australia
ONE must feel sorry for Marianne Beek. In the early 1960s, Marianne, who lived in Naracoorte, South Australia, started to breed correa shrubs in her garden that were supplied to professional nurserymen. Several piqued the experts’ interest but none more so than an unnamed gem she sent them that had clusters of tubular, pink and yellow flowers.
Her progeny was deemed so good that numbers were bulked up before it was launched domestically. It was a big hit Down Under and eventually found its way to Britain. Unfortunately, someone forgot to check how Marianne spelt her name and this beauty has been known ever since as Marian’s Marvel.
This correa is a cracking plant that illuminates the winter garden with an endless supply of showy blooms. There’s a lovely 6ft-tall specimen in a front garden near me that’s smothered with pendent, two-tone flowers for about six months of the year, from October until April.
In my opinion, Marian’s Marvel is a true winter wonder but it’s not the only correa that will cheer up a dull time of year. In fact, 30 varieties are available in the UK, with tube- or bell-shaped flowers in shades of white, green, yellow, orange, pink and red, with several boasting bicolour blooms.
AS YOU might have already guessed, these evergreens are endemic to Australia, where they can be found in scrub and woodland. Plants vary in habit, from ground-hugging species to upright plants, 10ft in height. Others make waist-high, rounded bushes. Their leaves tend to be small, oval and rich green.
The plants are named in honour of José Correia da Serra, an 18th Century Portuguese botanist who was friends with Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society.
In 1770, Banks was the first European to document hundreds of Australian plants as botanist aboard HMS Endeavour, the ship captained by James Cook.
Like many plants indigenous to the country, correas played an important part in the life of its Aboriginal people.
The tips were gathered and steeped in hot water to make a fragrant, sweet and delicately flavoured beverage. Early settlers dubbed it Cape Barren tea and made it themselves when supplies of real tea ran out.
These days they are grown mainly for their elegant, drooping flowers that have provided its common name of Australian fuchsia.
Despite exhibiting their blooms in a similar way, the two plants are unconnected: as a member of the rutaceae family, correas are actually related to skimmias and citrus species.
In the garden, correas will thrive in a sunny spot but will still put on a great display in light shade. Most varieties prefer free-draining, neutral to acidic soil, although a few are tolerant of lime. Use them to add structure to beds and mixed borders, or set them in narrow borders running alongside walls and fences.
If you don’t have the right soil, grow correas in containers filled with John Innes ericaceous compost. Choose an attractive pot that’s 1in to 2in wider than the current size and transplant into a slightly larger one annually. Display containers in a prominent spot, placing them on pot feet to improve drainage.
Most varieties will cope with winter temperatures of about minus 5C but are likely to struggle with anything harsher. Keep a close eye on forecasts and wrap plants in the ground with horticultural fleece if necessary. Move pots to a cool conservatory or front porch, with night-time temperatures that are between 0C and 10C.
Feed plants with a balanced fertiliser in mid-spring and then spread a 3in-deep layer of composted bark or garden compost over the soil, making sure it’s not in contact with stems.
Ensure they remain bushy by pruning lightly after flowering, trimming back shoot tips and removing wayward stems.