Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2019 i The Gardener Magazine

The wonderful thing about plants is that no matter how long you have been a gardener for, there is always something new to discover. Even if you have read all the books and magazines, travelled the world, or perform regular ‘plant hunts’ in your local garden centre, there is always something to find that will amaze and dazzle you, and totally take you breath away! I made such a discovery just last week with a plant called Wachendorfia. Yes, say it again: ‘WACH-EN-DOR-FIA’. Wow, I hit the jackpot! I first spotted this plant while driving between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay a year ago. The plants were growing in the marshy bogs alongside the N2 in these mass clumps, and were of course in full flower. After the third cluster that…

Bromeliads have made an effortless leap from outdoor jungle to stylish indoor tropical plants. Elegant enough to match most modern interiors, they are sculptural in their simplicity and symmetry, with ‘flowers’ that are both unusual and wildly coloured. What intrigues most is their ‘water tank’, which most varieties have, that looks ever so slightly carnivorous, like Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Would an unsuspecting finger dangled in the water tank be snapped up? Fortunately, bromeliads are completely harmless and not in the least predatory, so there is no danger to inquisitive children or pets. The only danger they pose is that you may find yourself becoming a collector, such is the range of leaf patterns, flower forms and colours. In fact, there are some 2500 species from the tropical…

What is the taste of summer? Cool watermelon, juicy and refreshing; pineapple, sweet and tart; slivers of golden mangoes and the honeyed fragrance and flavour of sweet melons. How lucky are we to have such a cornucopia of summer fruits to enjoy during the festive season instead of hot, stodgy puddings! Besides the tropical fruits, there are berries, grapes, sumptuous cling peaches and many more. They are naturally good for us, containing vitamins such as A, C and E, as well as fibre and minerals like zinc, phosphorus, magnesium and folic acid. According to the health experts we should eat two pieces of fruit (different colours and types) a day. How easy is that? Turning fruit into a special dessert is where culinary art comes into play, with the aid…

The bladdernut or swartbas is a member of the Ebenaceae family, which includes ebony hardwood and sweet persimmon fruits in the genus Diospyros. In South Africa the bladdernut (Diospyros whyteana) is an evergreen tree or large shrub up to 12m high, found in all provinces in a range of habitats such as forests, rocky outcrops and grassland. It is appreciated by gardeners for its glossy deep-green mature leaves and hairy, coppery or light-green new leaves, clusters of small, cream, sweet-scented flowers, large reddish fruits surrounded by a bladder-like papery calyx, and grey or sometimes black bark. Forming upright, multi-stemmed trunks, it has an attractive canopy of spreading branches, and the leaves, flowers and fruits are carried on zigzag branchlets. The new leaves and flowers appear in spring, and at the…

With great timing, the roses come into their second flush in December. If you are staying at home this is a chance to unwind by smelling the roses. Escape into the rose garden to deadhead and disbud, pick for the home and attend to the basic tasks of watering and spraying. If you are going away, put some measures in place that will allow your rose bushes to survive with minimum care in your absence. Roses home alone In the week before you leave, pinch off the tip of all new shoots, leave old blooms on the bush, and spray with Chronos and Ludwig’s Insect Spray to protect the roses from black spot and pests. By pinching you delay flowering and the plants need less water. If you have automatic…

None of us wants to openly acknowledge (or show off!) the passing of time. Time has caused the class of ’69’s body parts, which used to be so pert and upstanding, to now sag close to our knobbly knees. The ‘A-line’ mini dresses, mostly made of crimplene fabric by our mothers and which barely covered our backsides (because we stapled them even shorter as soon as we left our homes), have now been replaced by grandmotherly blouses and brown slacks with elastic around the waist for comfort. The summer ‘sandals’ we made ourselves with a plastic daisy resting on our big toes and a piece of raffia to tie them down, are now soft leather shoes with a low heel, to keep us stable in case of vertigo. Our make-up,…

Balcony Box The Balcony Box is the perfect set for all balcony and terrace gardeners. This set includes a trowel, a grubber, secateurs and a hand brush. All of these tools, along with additional utensils, have room in the spacious plastic box, which has a lid that doubles as a dustpan. The set is a handy holder of everything you need for caring for small gardens. The box can also be mounted on a wall. www.gardena.co.za Aloe skin care Out of the garden and into the palms of your hands: Aloe Unique’s super-hydrating Aloe & Honey Gel Mask provides a moisture-rich experience to nourish the skin. The complete range has indigenous Aloe ferox at its core, providing nature’s answer for renewed radiance. Shop online at aloeunique.co.za Composting food waste made…

One of the things that gives you that Christmas feel, other than the decorations and audible carols, is the smell of spice in the air. As soon as the gammon goes into the water with cloves and bay leaves, Christmas is near. We have gathered some décor ideas and recipes that represent what’s fresh for the season, and what tastes like Christmas. CCC cocktail A Cranberry Christmas Cocktail scented with pine is the perfect start to the celebrations. The addition of pine (we used juniper) gives a gentle ‘fir-tree’ taste, but it’s more about the decoration and the aroma than the flavour. While most pine and fir trees are edible, there are a few that are toxic. Make sure you avoid hemlock, Norfolk pine, Australian pine and Ponderosa pine. If…

The sizes of bonsai trees are often classed by how many people it takes to lift and move them. Small to medium trees that can be lifted by one person are called oneman-trees. Large trees that may require two or even four strong men to move them are called two-man or four-man trees. Trees that can be held easily in one hand are called shohin (meaning tiny thing) or mame (pronounced ‘maa-may’). Mame reflect the pinnacle of bonsai in many ways. The whole goal of bonsai is to produce miniature trees, so the smaller the tree is the more successful the bonsai process has been. Mame have become increasingly popular over recent years, with some artists taking things to the extreme by growing almost microscopic trees in pots the size…

EASY CARE coreopsis The humble tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) is a perennial, exotic veld-flower that was always the stalwart in our grandmothers’ flower gardens. It’s known for its clumps of emerald green leaves, happy yellow daisy-like flowers, general toughness and ease to grow in full sun and sandy soil. New kids on the block include smart hybrids bred for larger and even two-tone flowers, heat tolerance, and to be more resistant against disease such as powdery mildew. TRY THESE OUT ‘Double the Sun’: Golden yellow, semi-double flowers with a prominent golden eye. ‘Citrine’: Lemon-yellow single flowers. ‘Uptick Gold & Bronze’: Large bi-colour flowers with golden-yellow edges and a large eye of deep bronze. ‘Uptick Yellow & Red’: Vibrant, sunny-yellow teamed up with dark red in the centre. Although rugged by nature,…

Agapanthus hybrids ‘Double Diamond’ has small double heads of pure-white, frilly-edged flowers on short, sturdy stems. This is a very dwarf variety, reaching a mature size of 20 x 20cm (including the flower spikes). A prolific summer bloomer with lush dark-green foliage. Double up on your white aggie look by also planting ‘Snow Ripple’. This is a medium-sized (35 x 50cm), early flowering variety with pure-white flowerheads that will reflower during winter in ideal conditions. The flower stems are 50cm tall. ‘Great White’ bears super-large white flowers paired with compact, attractive foliage. Plant size is 50 x 50cm. Physostegia virginiana ‘Crystal Peak White’ is a dwarf selection of the obedient plant, a native wildflower of North America. This perennial forms a compact mound bearing lovely spikes of white tubular flowers…

Did you know? A common name for gazanias is treasure flower. The plant was named after Theodore of Gaza, a Greek theologian. In Greek, ‘gaza’ means riches, and it is thought that this may have led to its nickname. Without doubt, it is a garden treasure. Want to add summer colour to your succulent garden? Don’t know what to plant in your sandy soil? Looking for a flowering groundcover that you can almost forget about? The answer to all these garden questions is simple: gazanias. They are our most heat- and drought-tolerant indigenous flowers, and come in a dazzling colour range that beautifully complements the silvery, blue-green, maroon and orangey-yellow leaves of most succulents. The open, daisy-like flowers add a depth of colour as many are bold, with stripes or…

These plants were extremely popular in the Victorian era so have some ‘old-fashioned’ associations, but since the 1980s their image has been completely transformed by the arrival of a number of new varieties. The draw of plants is often their intricate flowers that tend to steal the spotlight, and while there is no doubt that heuchera flowers are stunning, their true beauty lies in the leaves, with every pattern, texture and shape imaginable. These popular perennials add a pop of colour and fun to shade gardens, with the vast range of options bound to satisfy any kind of gardener. Why coral bells? Coral bells can withstand a good amount of heat and humidity as well as a lack of water, making them perfect for water-wise gardens. The nectar of the…

December is holiday month and gardening generally goes into holding mode. Getting away for a week or more means the veggie garden needs to survive with minimal care. There is nothing worse than returning to a heat-frazzled, pest- and weed-infested garden. It undoes all the good of the holiday. Here’s how to return to a happy garden that is easy to get back on track. NO FREE LUNCH FOR PESTS Pests are at their most active from November to February. Before you go on holiday, start a preventive pest-control programme that eradicates or substantially reduces the pests that could wreak havoc on the veggies, especially tomatoes. Use an all-in-one preventive spray cocktail of Ludwig’s Insect Spray and Margaret Roberts Organic Fungicide. They are both organic and can be used together in a…

Moon gardener's maintain beautiful blooms and perfect produce by noting the 'best days'to 'mulch' and' irrigate'. Moist soil also helps slow down leaf vegetables from bolting to seed in the heat; as does nipping flower buds on 'trim to increase' days. Create instant festive colour by planting flower annuals and shrubs on the fertile days of the 13th & 14th and 21st to 23rd. Food gardeners can enjoy the season's bounty by picking salad herbs, leaves and fruit for the celebration table, either on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. BEST DAYS FOR DECEMBER…

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