Blossom Bonsai

Crabapple blossom, Malus floribunda

I bought this Crabapple at a specialist bonsai nursery last week. It has been pruned and just needs to be placed in the right container. Growing spring flowering blossom trees as bonsai  means you get to enjoy different trees which you either don't have space to grow or which are outside of their normal climate range to grow well. I like the fact that you can move the plant to a sheltered spot if there is likely to be rain and wind which can ruin the flowers very quickly, and it can be kept cool on a searing hot summers day.

This weekend (21 & 22 September) the Bonsai Society of Australia is holding a show in Sydney called "Reflections" at the Don Moore Community Centre, Cnr North Rocks Rd. and Farnell Ave. in Carlingford. For further information call Maureen on 9871 4162 or Georgina on 9636 4261.

 C'est le Printemps! and at least the weather has cooled and there has been good rain though many plants have already finished their display. The Wisteria shot into leaf before the flowers had opened properly. Maybe next year we will have "normal" weather.

 

Carnations for amateurs

 Dutch express: 2013 Sunflor carnations from Hilverda-Kooij plant technology
These little fragrant carnations come with a label in five languages and have been shipped to Australia from The Netherlands, such is the way of the world now when marketing fresh produce. I leave the commercial growing of carnations to the big guys and grow a few just as a hobby. Now is the time of year to take cuttings of favourite ones and also to plant seed for summer flowering. Theory behind this mid winter process is that the seeds like a bit of freezing to act as a germination cue and the cuttings are less likely to die from collar rot and have more of a chance of establishing roots in a propagation medium.
Cuttings can be taken from the middle of the previous seasons flowering stem or from semi mature wood as per below. 

 I have an interesting book on carnation growing which dates from 1947, called Carnations for Amateurs by J L Gibson. The previous owner of the book earnestly wrote his name and address inside the front cover and that in itself tells a story. He lived in Richmond Street, Corinda in Brisbane. This street is on the Brisbane river flood plain and I wonder whether he had a market garden on that fertile strip of land tempered by a river breeze in summer from the worst of the humidity. Gibsons book is fairly comprehensive and has not really dated though his use of english is florid by today's standard. I love his humble words in the introduction 'Where I have floundered into pitfalls I have not hesitated to leave the red signal hoisted ,so that beginners need not blindly fall into like confusion.' He does go a bit strange when using the words 'sinister appellation' when referring to the French 'Malmaison' variety of carnation. Perhaps it refers more to the fate of Empress Josephine than anything else.
I would like to get my hands on some Malmaison carnations. These are the big fat 14cm across variety originally selected in 1857 and going strong well into the 20th century. In Britain they were assumed lost to horticulture but some were found in the 1990's in a Scottish glasshouse and these have since been cloned. They represent the 'Belle Epoque' for carnation fanciers, from the time when were at their most popular. 
Australian gardening books from last century mention the Malmaison but always with dire warnings about collar rot and other pests and diseases.
Perhaps their waning in popularity from the late 1950's onwards was about fashion. A few years after Marty Robbins had his 1957 hit A White Sport Coat (and a pink carnation), the fashion was probably turning away from adorning a buttonhole with a carnation for a dance at 'Cloudland' in Brisbane by a younger generation not wishing to emulate their parents and adopting a more Marlon Brando cool.
 I have included the Keith Urban Marty Robbins tribute below.
Carnations are still available in a good range of colours from mail order nurseries who advertise rooted cuttings. They do like a dry climate, are not fussy about fertilizers and like a bit of lime added to the soil. They are very successful when grown in pots but best treated as an annual in warm climates.

 Carnation sophistication: from 1933 exhibition 'Plant Form in Ornament'

Iznik carnation bowl displayed on Italian velvet

Department of Islamic Art, 'The Met' ,New York

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.

 

Gaura lindheimeri

Gaura lindheimeri "Whirling Butterflies"

This perennial plant, a native of Texas and Mexico, has been in the garden scene for a number of years now. It is noteworthy because it produces masses of light and airy white or pink tinged flowers on tall stems, arising from a basal rosette, throughout the summer months. There are a number of cultivars derived from it including a compact dwarf form ,an all pink variety with burgundy leaves called 'Passionate Pink' and the all white 'So White'. In the garden it provides a good contrast with solid dense foliage or garden walls and the flowers appear to dance on air in the slightest breeze.
The down side of Gaura is that it can be a bit weedy especially in sandy soils. It is banned in WA and has been on and off the weed list in NSW. It produces lots of viable seed which is able to germinate anywhere and the plant itself has a tenacious root system . The long tap roots are an adaptation from a dry climate and help anchor the plant and even protect it from grazing animals. It should be cut down to ground level in late autumn before the seed sets to prevent problems.
If Gaura were to be a piece of music it would fit nicely within the framework of a sweet and delicate courtly minuet. Well the flowers would at least but not its root system or bad habits of going weedy. Haydn's String Quartet 'Die Quinten' in D Minor has the appropriate minuet. Its severe style introduces a strict canon ,first between two violins and then between the viola and cello. It is eerie and full of razor sharp tension. The Jerusalem Quartet version is the one to listen to.