Gardening Australia

welcome

I get a bit flummoxed when someone says that their garden is nearly ‘done’. What is ‘done’? We’re not talking about a cake you pull out of the oven when the top springs back to the touch. To me, a garden is a dynamic, shifting melange of hopes, dreams and green matter. And so I enjoyed meeting Doug and Cal (pictured, right), two young artists renting a home in Sydney’s Inner West. In a little over a year, they have transformed the lawn-and-two-shrubs garden that was there before into a tapestry of foliage, flowers and food plants. Just as with a painting, they bring a restless artist’s eye to the whole, layering the details, testing it, resting it, scrubbing bits out and trying something else. Most of the plants have been…

plants

Displaying gorgeous bright yellow blooms that fade to apricot then cream, ‘Happy Birthday’ (inset) is a special rose that will light up a patio or garden. This free-flowering shrub grows up to 1.4m high with light green foliage. Jessica’s Rose (bottom) produces masses of blooms of the palest pink, fading to nearly white when fully open, on a rounded shrub about 1.2m high. Perfect for growing in pots or the front of borders, it teams beautifully with lamb’s ears and blue dwarf iris. Both roses are bred by Australian breeder Bruce Brundrett and can be ordered bare-rooted now, for dispatch in winter. wagnersrosenursery.com.au Small, semi-double watermelon-red blooms with a silver reverse feature on the elegant ‘Cherry Bomb’ rose. This compact bush grows to 1m high, with multiple blooms on each stem. Clusters…

falling for you

The most romantic rose is the one my husband leaves on my place at the table on my birthday. It’s a deep red, almost black, richly fragrant climber, ‘Papa Meilland’, from the bush that grows over our woodshed, where it thrives in the reflected light from the roof. A single, fully opened ‘Papa Meilland’ is perfect in a bud vase. It will sit on my desk for a week, or possibly two, depending how the weather has treated it. The most romantic roses are fragrant, so you can bury your face in their scent, unless you or your beloved is allergic to perfumes, that is. Only then may you choose a scentless one. Romantic roses should also be a deep, passionate red, although I am prepared to admit that soft-pink and golden…

old masters

Roses have inspired artists for as long as they’ve been grown, including Australian artists Hans Heysen (1877–1968) and his daughter Nora Heysen (1911–2003). Although Hans is well known for his landscape watercolours, the Heysens also drew inspiration from the roses that grew in their garden at The Cedars. Here are some of the dreamiest cultivars, with notes on their rose type and date of introduction. THE ROSES ‘Souvenir de la Malmaison’ Bourbon, 1842 A much-loved subject painted by both Hans and Nora. Ten bushes of this pale pink rose still flourish in the garden, most planted in the 1920s and 1930s and brought back as cuttings from the local Hahndorf cemetery. This rose is the subject of Nora Heysen’s 1946 painting Souvenir Roses (left). ‘Mme Isaac Pereire’ Bourbon, 1881 Rich, dark-pink full flowers with an…

where to buy

Roses are readily available as bare-rooted stock in late autumn and winter. If you can’t find one of the roses on these pages at your local garden centre, try a specialist mail-order rose supplier, such as: Green E Roses (NSW) greeneroses.com.au Knight’s Roses (SA) knightsroses.com.au Limestone Coast Roses (SA) gardenarium.com.au Ross Roses (SA) rossroses.com.au Swane’s Nurseries (NSW) swanes.com Treloar Roses (Vic) treloarroses.com.au Wagner’s Rose Nursery (SA) wagnersrosenursery.com.au…

think big!

Most of us will have experienced the joys of majestic deciduous trees. We’ve climbed them, and picnicked and daydreamed beneath them. We particularly love them for their summer shade and glorious autumn colour. The idea of planting one for our children or grandchildren to enjoy is tempting, but it’s not a decision to make lightly. Large feature trees need large gardens to ensure they can be planted in an appropriate position. Their roots will spread at least two to three times the tree’s height and could, over time, cause paving or concrete to lift or crack. And while roots don’t actually break water pipes, they will grow into the tiniest split, eventually creating havoc. Plant large trees at least 10m away from buildings. Research the mature height of your ideal tree to…