Time for closer relationship with these Australians

Press, 12 February 1982, Page 11

Time for closer relationship with these Australians

Gardener’s Iffl DIARY

Derrick Rooney

. Sometimes I think that gardeners, once they attain the higher levels of their hobby, develop a curious kind of selective blindness: they become so adept at searching out treasures from remote parts of the globe that they cannot see many of the genis on their own back doorstep. Take the case of the grevilleas, for example. These are Australian plants, a very large family of them, ranging from alpine mats to fullsize trees from tropical or near-tropical latitudes. Many of them are hardy: many rank among the finest floral or foliage plants of the world. But they are definitely out of fashion in New Zealand; few. if any, nurseries stock more than a handful, and most gardeners, when shown them, suddenly look vague and talk about something else. I wonder why? Most grevilleas have unusual foliage and brightly coloured flowers, and many flower through the winter when any flowers are precious. I should not like to be w’ithout the nine or 10 that I grow, .and in the last couple of weeks I have been getting

much pleasure, at a time when most of the garden ♦ looks as though it has been swept by a flame-thrower, from a new grevillea which

came along last autumn.

This is "Poorinda Peter",

one of a number of "Poorinda" hybrids, raised in the East Gippsiand district in Australia. They are mostly first-cross or second-cross hybrids of species which themselves are plants of con-

siderable horticultural merit, and they thus reinforce the attractive features of their parents with hybrid vigour. But only two or three are available in New Zealand. The influence of one parent. G. asplenifolia. is evident in the leaves of “Poorinda Peter"; this is a halfhardy species which is wideiv grown in the south of Europe for • the cut-foliage market. I did know the name of the other parent, but have forgotten it. However, it must be one of the hardy species, because "Poorinda Peter” is a real toughie. When I got my plant, last autumn, it was very softlooking, and I planted it out with more curiosity than optimism; but it came through the winter frosts unscathed. The label, which bore a tempting colour picture of the shrub in flower, described it as spring-flowering, but my bush showed no inclination to produce buds until midsummer. These have been opening into quietly spectacular “toothbrushes” over the last couple of weeks.

Whether it will continue to be summer flowering, or will settle to its “normal” routine next spring, remains to be seen. If it does continue to flower in February it will be more than welcome, because this can be a time of extreme dullness in the shrub border. But it may well be that, iike many grevilleas, "Poorinda Peter” will flower sporadically year round, as the mood takes it. One of the hardiest and best of these all-year grevilleas is coated right now with rusty orange buds which

will open, when the nights cool off, into clusters of bright red “snails.” This is the “Royal grevillea," G. victoriae.

When out of flower this species is less outlandishlooking than most of the grevilleas (none of which could ever be mistaken for a Northern Hemisphere plant), and indeed it is a handsome shrub year round, dense and bushy with long, silver-green leaves. Usually it has its main flowering in late autumn and winter, but it is apt to burst out at any time of the year.

In the literature it is described as occurring in the wild in moist ground, but in cultivation it withstands considerable drought and. like many Southern Hemisphere plants, wind. A few leaves turn yellow and drop off in long, dry spells, but the bush takes no other harm.

I like this shrub in the garden; it is one of those companionable plants which associate readily with almost anything else, and it always looks well dressed. “Poorinda Peter" makes a good companion to it. The contrast between the highly conventional silvery leaves of victoriae and the uncompromisingly Southern Hemi-

sphere foliage of "Poorinda Peter" is a striking one, made more appealing by the rich plum-red of the latter’s new foliage. In my garden the two at present are on opposing sides of a path, and eventually. I suppose, they will grow into each other, at which time I will have to think again about either the grevilleas or the path. But at present they are part of an intersected group which is made more pleasing by the occupants of its fringe. One of these, a happy accidental choice, is the fragrant Mexican perennial, Agastache mexicana, whose purple-pink tubular flowers have turned out to be just a couple of shades darker than those of “Poorinda Peter" — if you want a really striking effect, try this some time; group together colours which are close to each other, rather than colours from different ends of the spectrum.

Also in the group, and also of unmistakeably Southern origin, are the South African Phygelius capensis and hebe "Waikiki."

The latter, a hybrid of unknown parentage and origin, is a very good shrub which can often be picked up cheaplv in the "bargain bins" at nurseries because it turns scruffy if confined to a planter bag a shade too long; it repairs its make-up after being planted out. Earlier in the season, when nothing else in this group was flowering, save a couple of straggler clusters on Grevillea victoriae. this hebe was covered with little spikes of bright blue. These have faded now

and the whole bush is midgreen. but soon, when the new growth comes, it will turn deep plum-crimson. That colour will hang on until next summer.

Phygelius capensis. the other incumbent, is known in South Africa as "coral bells," a name which describes it fairly accurately.

Despite its origin, it is quite hardy. In the wild it grows, according to the literature, on the banks of mountain streams and rivers, but in cultivation it withstands dry spells. In mild gardens it makes a softwooded evergreen shrub, but in colder gardens it behaves like a herbaceous perennial, dying down completely in winter, at which time it should not be disturbed — propagation is by cuttings of the young shoots in spring. Phygelius capensis has a long flowering period, and a distinctive and unmistakeable inflorescence — the flower stalks begin at the tops of the shoots and have several layers of strong lateral branches, each bearing numerous coral-red, drooping, tubular flowers which face inwards. They rather resemble penstemons or foxgloves. which is hardly surprising as all these belong to the figwort family, the Scrophulariaceae — as also do the hebes.

The grevilleas. incidentally, belong to the protea family, which is an important one in the floras of South Africa and Australia but quite minor in New Zealand. vhe r ' it hr ly two repre-

where L .as on.. sentalives. both trees — the torn and the rewarewa.