MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
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Gardening with Gael - Well, that's it for the beansThe unrelenting heat is taking its toll on our gardens and all gardeners. A common theme is a despairing ‘I’m going to have to let it go’. Jo has just told me she was watering her beans only to discover the green beetle has taken over. “Well that’s it for the beans,” she said. I am still carting two litre containers of water to the new plants at the Block. Once a week I give the most desperate of the citrus six litres. There is still a little water in my rose garden tank which is being carefully distributed. Four roses have died. They were ones that struggled more and this year is definitely a test for the ones that had ‘vigorous, disease resistant’ labels. At the end of summer, or, at the end of the drought, I will take stock of those that weathered the conditions the best. Some plants, that in the past have appeared well established, are also struggling. The real shock is the natives that have literally ‘turned up their toes’. All around I see griselina hedges looking limp and sad. Even the hearty griselina lucida which have survived droughts for years are withering. I have never lost a pittosporum crassifolium (karo) before. Self-seeding and generally hardy, they too are stressed. Olearias, one of my favourite natives, are also affected. In a line of six the last two have died. Hebes are generally doing very badly. On the good news front, weeds are also dying. Inkweeds and tradescantia , to my delight, are almost no more. Tradescantia, the fleshy wandering plant that covers everything is at its most vulnerable. It relies on water for its plump stems and leaves. Now is the time to pull it out or spray it. So, what is looking good? In my front border, in the sand, and flowering its little heart out, is plumbago Royal Cape. Part of the joy of it I am sure is the vibrant blue colour. There is something about blue on a hot summers day that is instantly cooling. Years ago I planted plumbago auriculate, a more rambling almost invasive version. It certainly did an excellent job of retaining a sand bank but I had trouble controlling the intrusive roots around a rock wall. Royal Cape is a smaller less invasive variety and the blooms are a more intense blue. Flowering from early summer all the way through to autumn, this plant enjoys a sunny location and a very occasional watering. They love a free draining soil and do not like wet feet. No chance of that right now. The native that thrives in these conditions is muehlenbeckia. I can’t do better than the description in the ‘Palmers Manual of Trees, Shrubs and Climbers’: ‘A distinctive species, forming a dense upright shrub with numerous slender flexuous interlacing and divaricating branches’. In fact there are numerous species, some much less upright than others but all with the same distinctive branch pattern. I think muehlenbeckia deserves more places in our gardens and I know it can be clipped. Maybe with more of this weather we will see more of it. Fortunately the beautifully blue Royal Cape likes the sun and dry feet. On the good news front, weeds are also dying. |