you just can't please everyone

You can please some of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all the time. 

I think it was an American president who said that first, and later Bob Dylan used it.  Anyway, now I’m using it, in relation to the garden (of course) and specifically in relation to how people react to my garden.

People seem to react to my garden in 3 distinctly different ways:

1.     There are those who love it.  They express interest, curiosity, appreciation and pleasure. They go outside to experience it close up no matter what the weather is like.  They notice things. They notice buds, spiders, flowers, birds, leaves …

2.     Then there are those who just don’t notice it.  They might be in the family room that has big windows looking onto the garden. They might even be outside on the deck.  How can they not notice the garden? Maybe they are preoccupied with other things.  Maybe they are more attuned to their inner worlds.  Some of the people in the non-noticing category are passionate gardeners themselves, growing and harvesting their own produce.  We may be fellow gardeners, we may be friends, but we’re not in synch garden-wise. It's as if a garden that isn't devoted to growing food doesn't really count.

3.     Some people react in a way that makes me laugh. They seem to have an idea of what a garden should look like. When my back garden doesn’t fit with this idea, this makes them uneasy, uncomfortable.  I think it feels risky to them. Maybe they see it as wild nature out of control or simply unhygienic.  Sometimes they change their minds.  

In an early post I wrote about a 3 year old girl who visited with her mother.  She looked out at the garden and said: 'Mummy, why is the garden dirty?' The next time Gabriella visited was two years  later. This time she was entranced, strolling along the paths and dreamily picking flowers for her mother.  

Recently G. dropped in. He stood at the window and stared out at the garden. 'It needs a focal point'.  'It's not that sort of a garden', I explained. 'It's not so much for looking at, it's for being in.' So we wandered into the garden, and he got it. Like Gabriella he got to see it differently and now loves it. 

My mother has also changed. Initially the untidiness and presence of insects made her uneasy.  I explained the idea of creating natural, relaxed and informal garden pictures, and now she loves it.

Recently we needed an electrician. In between doing whatever it is that electricians do, he silently stared out the window onto the back garden. Then he looked out of the side window and noticed the group of Japanese maples next door.  His relief at seeing something familiar was almost palpable. He turned his back on my garden. 'Look at those beautiful Japanese maples! Aren't you lucky to have them outside your window?'

four more trees in the RBG: part 2*

5. Quercus canariensis  (Algerian Oak)

The Royal Botanical Gardens have about 75 trees that have been planted by, or in memory of, prominent people. 

This wonderful old oak tree was planted by William Guilfoyle at the entrance to his residence in 1873. Guilfoyle had only recently been appointed as Director of the Gardens and he planted the tree to commemorate the appointment. His former residence, known as Gardens House, is now used for functions.

6. Agathus robusta (Queensland Kauri Pine)

The majestic Kauri  is a coniferous tree,  a Queensland native. It belongs to the Araucariaceae family and once grew all over the ancient supercontinent of Gondwanaland.

They grow straight and tall - forest giants.  They used to be heavily logged for their highly prized timber. Now they are protected and no longer in danger of extinction in the wild. 

  7. Metasequoia glyptosroboides (Dawn Redwood) 

 We were fortunate to see this tree in the autumn, when it was dramatically cloaked in bright orange branchlets.  Now that it's winter, it will be leafless.  It is a conifer, but is unusual in that it is deciduous.

This tree was growing in prehistoric times. It was known to have existed 225 million years ago through the fossil record, but until 1942 was believed to be extinct. After the discovery of a few specimens in China, seeds were collected and distributed to botanical gardens around the world. Including Melbourne. 

The reason it is called Dawn Redwood is because of its age - that it existed in the dawn of history.

 8. Pinus patula (Mexican Weeping Pine) 

I don't usually like pine trees that much, but this one has a  soft, spreading, weeping habit that is very attractive.

Like the oak tree above, this is another commemorative tree with an interesting history.  In 1974  the Shah of Iran and his wife, the Shabhanu (Empress Farah), visited Melbourne where they were met with angry protests against their harsh authoritarian regime.  While here the Shabhanu planted this pine tree. Four years later they were driven out of Iran and into exile.

*Click here if you want to read the first post about four trees in the Melbourne Royal Botanical Gardens 

earth stars

Geastrum saccatum (Photo: Wikipedia)

I noticed these strange fungi a year or so ago. Lately I have been thinking a lot about them  as they multiply and multiply.  The other plants don't seem to mind their presence. The sage plants have rust or some fungal disease but this is only to be expected in such rainy weather as we've been experiencing lately. I don't think their disease is caused by the mystery funghi.

Now the mystery is solved.  A bit of googling, and this is what I learned ...  

Its name is Geastrum australe. It is an inedible species of mushroom belonging to the genus Geastrum or earthstar fungi. It can be mistaken for Geastrum saccatum or Geasturm simulans, and is found in Melbourne.

I mentioned that it has rained steadily on and off for months now. The soil is nicely damp after years of heat and drought. Other mushrooms have appeared in the garden as well.  Snails have re-appeared after a long absence. Common ordinary garden snails as well as exquisite tiny snails with delicate spherical shaped shells.  There is lovely soft green moss between the stones on some of the paths.

I welcome and appreciate mushrooms, snails and moss in the name of biodiversity. The weather will eventually return to heat and drought. Then the mushrooms, snails, moss and other living things that need damp, will disappear again. 

And then I will miss my earth stars.

Geastrum australes (Photo: Wikipedia)

the meaning of now

How do we understand where we are in time, now? Time is relative, and now is understood in relation to other times. We garden in time, and we are aware of our gardens changing over time, measured by days and weeks and the seasons of the year.

Another perspective on now is in relation to the really big picture, geological time. Geologists divide time into aeons, eras, periods and epochs lasting thousands and millions of years.

Until recently scientists regarded now as the Holocene epoch, a term derived from the Greek meaning whole and recent. The Holocene epoch is a ten thousand stable period of time between ice ages. It is characterized by warm clement weather enabling the widespread presence of flowering plants and mammals.

Today many people believe that we have moved into a new age, in which human activity is so powerful and significant that it changes the way the planet works and affects the future evolution of living species.

This new age is to be known as the Anthropocene, also derived from Greek, meaning ‘the recent age of man’. It represents a paradigm shift for the natural sciences. In the past science described a world in which people were merely observers. Now human influence can be detected in nearly all ecosystems, and it is not possible to understand the natural world in isolation from the social world.

We'd better come to terms with this. Because, like it or not, for better or worse, we are shaping our world.

Source of information: The Economist, May 28th 2011

winter garden doings

It’s winter, and a cold one, but I’m still beavering away doing garden things as if it was autumn. Hopefully the plants will cooperate. If they don’t then visitors will just have to put up with less growth and more gaps when spring comes and the garden has its open weekend.

Visitor: Where's the garden?
Me: It's there, it's a work in progress, it's still in its potential phase.
Visitor: ****???????***???

I decided the front path would look better with nutmeg geranium on both sides. One side has grown into a lovely low hedge edging the path, the other had bits of geranium interspersed with vigorous erigeron. They are pretty little daisies but I am getting a bit sick of them. They seem to be everywhere. (Sorry guys, I admit it, I’m acting ungrateful to you after years and years of loyal service).

So I pulled out the erigeron and threw them on the compost. Then I took cuttings of the geranium and stuck them in the ground alongside the path. Yesterday the temperature reached only 14 degrees. But the soil is rich and moist, and they are tough little plants, so in time we’ll see if they take or not …

I’m still trying to work out where to place some tall trees and shrubs. The two Eucalyptus leucoxlyon looked a bit militaristic as a pair, so I rushed off to my fave native nursery, Kuranga, to get another one to make it an informal-looking group of three.

While I was at the nursery I bought a couple of pots of Derwentia perfoliata (Speedwell) and Gastrolobium melanopetalum (the low form with black flowers) to fill some gaps.

There’s an Alogyne heugelii shrub (native hibiscus) that is tiny because it’s been moved so many times. It’s still not in the right place. So I moved it. The contents of the garden bed it’s in are fairly invisible unless you put on your Potential Vision Spectacles. Then you can see it as I can – with tall plants at attractively varying heights. (Will it / won't it achieve this by spring???????)

As I prune and thin out, both sides of the compost heap are getting very full. Most things go into the compost: fruit and veggie peels, prunings, paper, boxes, old clothes too worn and torn for the op shop. What is definitely not composted are violets. Like erigeron, they seem to be all over the garden, especially during the present extended rainy spell.

I found a large box to store leaves. Leaves decompose much more quickly than other things in the compost. I chuck leaves anywhere I see a gap between plants. I think they look great on the garden, very soft and natural, and are good mulch. To me leaf mulch is like a warm cosy doona, compared to other mulches which are more like a (wet) blanket.

four of the trees in the RBG

Growing in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne are 4 interesting trees.

Of course there are many MANY more than these! These are just some of the trees that Jan and Garry, our helpful and enthusiastic volunteer guides, pointed out on a recent walk in the Gardens.

1. Gingko biloba (Maidenhair tree)

Gingko biloba is a living fossil. It is a unique species of tree with no living relatives. It was cultivated widely in ancient times, and some specimens are claimed to be over 2,000 years old. (Not the specimen above, that one is a relative newbie).
The G. bilbao is no longer found in the wild except in a few parts of China. China claims a special relationship with this tree. Recently the Chinese ambassador presented the Australian Governor General, Ms Quentin Bryce, with the gift of a gingko seed in a perspex tube.

The leaf shape is beautiful and unique among seed plants. Reproduction is also unusual - Ginkgos are dioecious which means trees are either male or female. The female ovules get fertilized by motile sperm, as is the reproductive way with ferns, cycads, mosses and algae.

It has long been used for its memory and health enhancing properties, as well as for food. In recent times it has been used as a treatment for people with dementia.

2. Acacia laprosa 'Scarlet Blaze' (Cinnamon wattle)

Acacia leprosa 'Garden Blaze' is a rare wattle with bright red flowers. (The tree in the photo has lots of buds but isn't quite ready to show its red flowers). It was discovered as recently as in 1995 a group of bushwalkers in the Black Range State Forest north-east of Melbourne.

On a side track one of them noted a single red-flowering variant of Acacia leprosa among the usual yellow-flowering ones. One of the bushwalkers picked a flower and eventually it ended up in the National Herbarium where it was identified as a new species and given the name 'Scarlet Blaze'.

The tree was subsequently grown in the Gardens from cuttings. Because it was so attractive, as well as compact and easy to grow, it was successfully launched on the horticultural market.

And yet it could so easily have remained undiscovered!

3. Erythrina crista-galli (Cockscomb Coral tree)

Erythrina crist-gall is a slow growing deciduous tree from South America. Its special feature is its beautiful deeply furrowed bark. Its form is achieved by pollarding - a pruning technique that stimulates dense flowering. Branches are pruned annually without disturbing callusing 'knuckles' to provide a spectacular floral display in early summer.Bark is not only for show. Bark wraps around the trunk of the tree like a suit of armour, protecting the delicate tissues inside. These tissues carry water and nutrients to all parts of the tree. That is why ringbarking a tree can kill it as it cuts into the vital living tissues. The heart of the tree is actually dead. (Bark Factsheet, ABC Gardening Australia).

4. Jubaea cilensis (Chilean Wine palm)

As its name says, Jubaea cilensis comes from South America. The sap of the palm is rich in sucrose and can be boiled down to make palm sugar or fermented to make wine. Unfortunately to do this the palm must be chopped down. Because of this it is now endangered in the wild.This individual tree is over 107 years old. It was planted by R.L.J. Ellery, Government Astronomer in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ellery lived and worked in the Observatory, a building still situated adjacent to the Gardens. So it is not only an interesting species - this particular specimen is rooted in the history of Melbourne.

In 2009 it was decided that employees of the RBG with 20 or more years of service will have the opportunity to plant a tree in either the Melbourne or Cranbourne Gardens. The tree will not have a commemorative plaque like the one below, but it will provide a lasting personal link for that person and their future descendents with the landscape and its history.