Growing Gardens

with Julia Hancock

Cool, calm containers

If you've given up on your garden because of the drought but your green fingers are itching to get into some planting up, containers are the obvious chance. Perhaps one either side of the front or back door will suffice, or several in the shadiest part of the patio. Unless you've got lots of time it's best to limit the numbers and keep them handy to the house for hand watering purposes.

Flowering annuals are always a good choice for containers because it's possible to satisfy their large appetites for sustenance. Petunias are fantastic for summer because they come in a huge range of colours and flower for months if deadheaded regularly. Experiment with blue, white and mauve hues to give the illusion of coolness around the house.

Geraniums are another excellent container plant and will last for several years if pruned at the end of their main flowering period in late autumn. They require sun but in high summer a morning's worth will suffice. The ivy leaf varieties have a pleasant trailing habit, allowing for something taller to be planted either behind them if the pot is against a wall, or in the middle with the geraniums all around. Upright perennial plants with contrasting-shaped leaves such as dwarf flax make good companions.

In situations that receive afternoon sun, lavender and rosemary will thrive. In fact they may do better than if you planted them in the ground because they like neutral to alkaline soil, whereas the soils around here are somewhat on the acid side for their liking. They have the added bonus of deliciously scented leaves and pretty blue flowers and again, will last for several years if pruned lightly after flowering. Companion them with dianthus which like the same conditions.

Gardening in containers will enable us to grow at least something pretty over the next few months.

Lismore Garden Club News

Don't forget the next meeting of the club at the Lismore Workers Club at 1.30pm on Thursday, Nov 4. All keen gardeners are welcome.

Among the most beautiful of lillies, the Hippeastrum (Amaryllis) is one of the easiest to grow. They produce lovely trumpet shaped flowers in an ever-expanding range of colours. A large number of Lismore gardens contain at least a few Hippeastrums. They do very well in our sub-tropical climate. The bulbs are planted in a sunny location in winter and burst into bloom in early October. Plants can be purchased in flower at present at nurseries and some op shops and most Sunday markets. Or the bulbs can be purchased from specialist nurseries from early winter.

Like most spring flowering bulbs, they will flower well in October if they are fed with compost, dynamic lifter blood and bone or animal manure in spring and summer and watered well in late September and early October.

Happy Gardening
Ron Burns