the tomato week

 'The Member Dr Sir Leslie Colin Patterson KCB AO'

Tim Storrier's entry in the 'Archibald'

Art Gallery of NSW

Tomato stains a plenty and a 'traveller's tool' to please all the ladies, this portrait won the 'Packing Room' prize at the start of the week.

 Having a yarn over the back fence during the week with a neighbour who speaks with a measured Tasmanian drawl, I was told of his on going soil preparation for his vegetables this summer. This involves dragging large bags of sea-grass/seaweed from the lake's edge and much composting and digging in. My input in the conversation was about tomato varieties and my desire to plant a large fruiting type. The reply came back that his parents in Tassie grow tomatoes so large that just one slice will cover a slice of bread and they weigh almost a kilo. "Yeah but there are no fruit flies in Tasmania" I replied "and here you have to have your crop all harvested by Christmas to avoid the fungal diseases of January and February......"

 Now I could be accused of being something of a dilettante when it comes to tomato growing. Last year I grew none but the year before I had a terrific crop of Romas. I used the Mildura method for growing the Romas, that is like a 'commercial crop' by letting them sprawl over the ground and giving them just appropriate fertilizers at fruit set etc. Too easy, no stakes, removing laterals or spraying.

 So this year I have decided to put a bit of effort into growing a descent sized one and have been doing the appropriate 'homework' as preparation. In frost free areas like here on the coast, the 'early varieties' such as 'Rouge de Marmande' can be started off from seed now. 

 One of the books I referred to about early tomatoes was this one by Percy Joseph Hurley (1893-1983). Originally published in 1951, this edition dates from 1962 and is full of good tips week by week even though the sub-title of 'young poisoner's handbook' may be appropriate given the litany of chemicals on offer. His pen name of 'Waratah' refers to his work as horticultural correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald from 1937 to 1969. He gardened at Lindfield in Sydney at a time when gardening was taken more seriously than it is today. Rouge de Marmande is described as the 'North Coast Winter-cropper','setting fruit in mid-winter in frost free areas'. I assume this means you can plant seed now for a late spring early summer crop or in March for a winter crop. Given the above average temperatures this June I imagine it would be quite successful at either planting time.
The other varieties he recommends for sowing seed of now are the perennial favourite 'Grosse Lisse', 'Break o Day' and 'Rumsey Cross'. All of which are still available today from specialist suppliers. 'Break o Day' was released in 1931 and Rumsey Cross from the 1950's bred by local seed merchant Eric Rumsey who sold his business to Yates in the 1960's.
So for now I am sticking with Rouge de Marmande and am hoping for some nice big fruit by early summer to pass over the fence to my neighbour with a big smile.

Suburban archeology 2

 Good things come in glass...

There was a story in the paper this morning about a builder who uncovered some antique bottles and vessels while restoring a cottage which was formally the home of an Anglican Minister. Question is, was said Minister having a tipple or two in the garden or merely entertaining parishioners with good cheer. A small stash of coins was also found in the ceiling.

Digging up bottles can be a bit tricky. Often a spade will slide off the glass surface without shattering it especially if you are working in clay soils. Once you see that glint of intact glass it is time to go down on hands and knees and carefully work around the bottle removing soil with a small trowel. When the bottle is out of the ground intact I usually wash off the excess dirt with a combination of shaking vigorously to dislodge stuff at the bottom and then soaking it for a few days to loosen any other things like tree roots or fibre. 

The most sort after bottles are those which were once sealed with a glass stopper. I like "bottle green" ones for the colour of course. Medicine bottles often have a flat face as an indication that once a paper label was attached probably with a pharmacist note of instruction. Classic Coca-Cola bottles with their familiar and distinctive design never fail to please as does the miky blue glass of an early Ponds Cold Cream jar. Keep digging...

Suburban archeology

 One of the eccentric habits acquired over my years of digging in gardens has been to keep any items or objects I come across in the soil. The most common being decorated shards of pottery, matchbox cars, plastic war figures once placed in cereal boxes, lots of marbles, coins (Australian Pennies!), unidentified metal pieces, bits from dolls etc. I keep them all in an old metal tool box and occasionally rifle through them, eyeing them with wonder about their former life.

A Bloke's Backyard

Australian Icon: the 44 gallon drum

An essential Australian backyard item is the 44 gallon drum. The rustier the better as in that way you feel you are paying homage to the Australian artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999).

I like to keep one topped up with water as you can wash soil from the roots of plants which have been freshly dug by deep swishing up to the elbow with ease. Mosquitoes are only occasionally a problem and you can pour a bit of organic oil on the surface of the water to discourage them. If you site your drums in the partial shade of a tree you will soon find that the larger birds such as Wattle Birds will dive bomb the water surface for a bath and return to do the same each day like clockwork.

Empty 44 gallon drums are equally as useful. Knocking a few holes around the base with a crow bar will allow any rainwater to drain out and they can be used as a fire-pit barbecue or as a giant pot in which to grow some tall sunflowers.

Looking up at Trees

 The paintings of Australian artist William Robinson invite us to look at trees in a fresh way. They are not painted face on or in profile as we are used to seeing in traditional landscape paintings but from the inside looking up into the canopy and sometimes from above with a birds eye perspective looking down to earth. Their forms are lush and sinuous, writhing and jostling for space to grow.

These days many gardens have become too small to include large spreading trees so it is a delight to visit a botanic garden or park where you can gaze up into the branches and get an understanding of what Robinson is trying to convey in his work. 

 

Scarecrows

There is a long tradition of scarecrow making across the world and it was interesting to see some in the Wollongong Botanic Gardens yesterday. Not only do they help scare birds away from edible crops, they are are also very decorative and are a great way to get children involved in gardening.

Norman J Sparnon

 Norman James Sparnon OAM (1913-1995)

Ikebana Master

 Norman Sparnon was born in Melbourne and is remembered there by a plaque in Jells Park, Glen Waverley, where he planted a tree in 1984 to celebrate 25 years of Ikebana International in Australia. As a young man he became absorbed by the learning of written and spoken Japanese and following his service as an Army Major during World War 2, he went to Japan to serve in peace time redevelopment, eventually living there from 1945 to 1958.
One day he went along to an Ikebana class his wife Mary was attending, to act as an interpreter, and became hooked on all aspects of Japanese floral art. "I was captured by the art right from the beginning. I felt I'd found something that matched up with my personality" he recalled later at the launch of one of his books. On return to Australia he lived in the Sydney suburb of Darling Point where he had a studio and ran an Ikebana school in the 1960's and 1970's , teaching both the classical Ikenobo and modern Sogetsu styles of the art. For Norman it was always far more than just flower arranging,"You become so very close to nature and understanding it." he said.
These days his timeless  books are fetching high prices and his last from 1970 The Poetry of Leaves sells for about $250.00. Trouble is you may just have to go to New York City to buy a copy, such is his influence outside this country.

 His first book from 1960

The illustrations below are of his use of camellias. In 1968 he wrote a book called The Magic of Camellias with E G Waterhouse

 Modern 'moribana' arrangement of quince and camellia

 Window arrangement with camellia and fasciated willow

 Red-lacquer plate with lichen covered pine and camellia

 Shoka arrangement of Ikenobo School

Single flower 'Ichirin' with incense burner

 Nagiere arrangement of quince and camellia

by Sofu Teshigahara founder of the Sogetsu School

 Pine and camellia in 'shin' arrangement

'tsubaki' = Camellia japonica

'to-tsubaki' = Camellia reticulata

'sazanka' = Camellia sasanqua

To prevent camellia flowers from falling in an arrangement, apply damp salt to the base of the stamens by means of a match.

The 'true blood' Camellia

 Earlier this year The University of Adelaide offered The Art of Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898) as a free 'ebook' available for digital download. It was interesting to become reacquainted with this decorative artist who saw things as a pattern of black and white, influenced by, among other things, the Japanese woodblock print and who used the 'Japanese rose' or camellia as a motif in his work, for decorating voluminous kimono style clothes or as background wallpaper.

 'The Dancer's' Reward' from Salome

In feudal Japanese culture, the camellia was associated with beheading by a samurai. It was given this association because the flower drops to the ground intact,with the ground below a big camellia bush often littered with still perfect flowers as if after a battle. The short vase life of the flower still has some modern superstition attached to it, in that it is not given to a hospital patient or used in a flower arrangement unless accompanied by a longevity symbol plant such as a pine.

 La Dame aux Camelias 

Volume 3 of 'The Yellow Book'

Beardsley had another reason to have the camellia as his favourite flower. He had met Alexandre Dumas, the author of La Dame aux Camelias at Puy in France and was smitten with the subject matter of the book; about a young courtesan who dies young. Beardsley already knew his days were numbered and he died of Tuberculous at the age of 26. A copy of La Dame aux Camelias was placed in his coffin.

 'The Black Cape' from Salome

 In the 1960's there was a revival of interest in Beardsley as much of his subject matter had appeared too shocking for previous generations. Life Magazine in 1967 included some fashion shots with his work as background.

Mrs Harilaos Theodoracopulous wears an Adolfo camellia hat with a Bill Blass cocktail dress.....

Suddenly it's Spring

Alto sax player Phil Woods blowing a gale with a vase of Freesias

 Phil Woods recorded a track called Suddenly it's Spring in 1956 for the album Pairing Off. He blew the kind of sound I like to hear, not like what is happening outside at the moment with the wind howling through the trees gathering speed as it goes from the mountains and on out to sea. There has been nothing nice about the weather of the last week. The ground is littered with blossoms which have been torn off or shredded. The air is dry and gritty, hot one day, freezing the next. Flowers which normally bloom for a few weeks are all over in flash. I picked the last of the Freesias today. Feel like giving up on gardening? Yes...

However artist Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) seemed to be conveying the same message in 1449 when he painted La Nascita di Venere .The sea is whipped up, flowers are flying through the air, and the assistant to the central Venus is having a hard time trying to cover her nakedness with the flowing garment. Thankfully she had such long hair to cover herself.

 

Median-strip plants

Everyday I drive on a freeway or motorway and join that random group of vehicles all going at 100kph or more across 2 or 3 lanes. Going any less than this speed means you find yourself being tail-gated or worse, but that is another story. Along the way (eyes on the road of course) you see quite a diverse range of plants, with some being planted to plan but more often than not, it is just the usual assortment of feral weeds. Looking at weeds can be really quite disheartening when you see the way they have degraded the landscape. Embankments of Lantana stretching over 50 square metres or vines such as "Balloon" or "Madeira" smothering tall Casuarinas, are my least favourite sights. However other plants stay imprinted on your mind long after the journey. What springs to mind immediately ......the golden wattle in bloom right now beside the Hume Highway with purple Hardenbergia and Clematis in summer; the Bottlebrush, "Bird of Paradise" and cascading Bougainvillea on the drive into Sydney from the airport; the statuesque Agaves and the robust young Moreton Bay Figs on sections of the M7. The figs on the M7 are juxtaposed against a dramatic curved flyover which always reminds me of a Jeffrey Smart painting. 

This post is to remember the great Australian historian and art critic Robert Hughes who has passed away in New York at the age of 72.

Growing sugarcane

A couple of weeks ago a mate gave me a 3 metre stem of sugar cane which I cut into short lengths each with an "eye" or node. I placed them in an old Styrofoam box and roughly covered them with potting soil. Then we had lots of rain and green shoots appeared really quickly. What is interesting to observe about this growth is that each leaf exudes a tiny droplet of water near its tip. 
I do like to have that spoonful of sugar in my coffee each morning at about 10.30. The painting below gives us a wry look at that habit.

The Heart goes from Sugar to Coffee 1919
Watercolor by Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)
Museum of Modern Art, New York

Chilli variety 'Purple Tiger'

Ornamental Chilli 'Purple Tiger' 
 Capsicum annuum cv.

This is an ornamental variety of chilli which can be eaten though it is not particularly flavourful. The shiny black pendant fruits make a terrific table or plate decorative particularly when teamed with 'Black Russian' tomatoes. In the garden, the creamy grey and pink flecked leaves match well to plants like dark opal basil which has bright magenta coloured flowers. Some silver foliage, from say a Cineraria, the "silver dust" plant, is a good foil to this combination also.

As this is the first summer I have grown this variety,I am assuming it may well keep on fruiting for quite some time and I may just get a second year from the plants if they are kept a bit drier over winter. Other varieties with these black or dark purple fruits include 'Jigsaw' and 'Black Cuban'. 'Purple Tiger' also goes by the name of 'Trifetii'.

Tiger Hunt (detail) depicting Mughal Emperor Akbar (1556-1605)
Victoria and Albert Museum ,London

Akbar is shown on the brown steed beheading the purple tiger with his scimitar. One hopes this is a pure fantasy depiction from the book of his fantastic exploits. The playboy emperor was well aware of the need to appear larger than life to sustain his popularity and dominate his surroundings, though paintings like this could have been used to intensify the experience of being in a cool, sumptuous and safe Mughal garden with its voluptuous sense of luxury.
I am in need of a time machine right now to take me back to the 16th Century Persian style of gardening without the senseless killing of tigers.

Edwardian Striped Petunia

I like the stripes of summer especially in Petunias like the one pictured here. The stripe was the height of fashion during the Edwardian period; that first decade of the 20th century. It represented a jaunty casting off of all the stuffy Victorian gloom. The Australian artist Emanuel Phillips-Fox captured this in his sun drenched summer painting The Arbour from 1910. The boldly striped dress of a woman seated in a wicker chair is as vibrant as the boy in his red sailor suit who is ready to leap out of the scene and chase his hoop. The joys of summer.....

The Arbour 1910
Emanuel Phillips-Fox (1865-1915)

The height of fashion for men: the striped trousers with matching tie of the morning suit.