Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2020 i The Gardener Magazine

There is abundance all around us. Just yesterday someone showed me a video clip of Theewaterskloof Dam, Cape Town’s largest reservoir, overflowing for the first time in a decade. At the end of 2017 the dam was just 12.7% full, and now it has registered 99.6% of capacity. How wonderful! Do you remember what it was like a few years ago when day zero was looming upon us? Many of us have forgotten these ominous days, standing in long lines waiting for the water truck, deciding which plant got the few drops of soapy washing-up water. Hopefully one day we will also be able to look back on this day, this month, this year, and remember how Covid-19 changed our lives. Just as the lack of water changed our habits…

Castle Ridge, a gracious home that was built in the early 1920’s, is perched on the highest point of Westcliff’s ridge in Johannesburg, Gauteng. Its current owners, a young family, embarked on an extensive restoration of the entire property approximately five years ago and Gregory Mark, well-known garden designer, was invited to be a part of this process. A photograph of a rose garden on the property, taken in the home’s early years, suggests that the garden was originally styled formally. Inspired by this, Gregory and his client set about removing some of the garden features that no longer served the home, and introducing those that would honour both its age and architectural detail. The faux rock pool was removed to make way for a formal rose garden and a…

Most pet owners are aware of the importance of pet-safe gardening – avoiding toxic plants, fencing off no-go areas and double-checking the label on any chemical products used in the garden. However, few gardeners consider allocating a part of their gardens specifically to their furry friends. Experts say that pets treat their own ailments by munching on particular plants. This may seem strange to us, but it can be beneficial for the health of your dogs and cats. Help them out and show them you care by growing a medicinal pet garden. Choosing the best plants Since your pets will be up close and personal with these plants, the source is important. Ensure the plants you buy are high quality and certified organic. If you are uncertain, try growing the…

Baby vegetables are not just trendy from a gourmet point of view. For gardeners in a hurry or who have limited space, baby veggies are quicker to harvest and can be grown closer together. Their flavour, of course, is the clincher, being sweeter or milder than their ‘adult’ counterparts. Traditionally, baby veggies are root crops or leafy greens that are picked young, before the mature harvestable date. There are also specific mini varieties like carrot ‘Little Finger’, and a whole range of red and green baby cabbages. More recently, the range has extended to dwarf fruiting vegetables such as sweet peppers, brinjals, cucumbers, squashes and tomatoes that produce an abundance of smaller than normal fruit. These have been bred with small gardens or patio living in mind. How to make…

Bedding plants are those little annual or biennial wonders available in seedling trays at nurseries. Sometimes they are already in flower, and sometimes they’re about to flower. These are always purchases that we make in excitement, and in the hope that they are going to grow like weeds and flower like blazes! Well, success is guaranteed and you will definitely get your money’s worth if you follow these suggestions: • Do not leave seedlings for hours in the hot sun in the boot of your car. • Do not plant in the heat of the day – early morning or late afternoon is best. • Do not plant dry seedlings – water them the night before if they have been standing for a while. • Do not pull them out…

Herb of the month is mint julep, which is sweetly scented with a fresh fruity flavour perfect for adding to coolers, cocktails and spritzers. This variety is a cross between spearmint and garden mint, and should be planted in fertile soil in full sun to semi-shade. Keep the soil moist and pick regularly or pinch the tips to encourage bushy growth. For mint julep to survive through winter, grow it in a sunny, sheltered area or in a pot. Use as a summer companion plant for tomatoes and squashes – the aromatic leaves will keep pests away from the vegetables. Try this Mint julep cooler: 1 cup of mint julep leaves, 2 cups of hot water, 250ml fruit concentrate, 500ml soda water and 500ml ginger ale. Pour boiling water over…

Your strawberry patch should be growing and fruiting lushly now, but the other thing that strawberries love to do is produce runners. These runners are horizontal stems above ground that produce perfect clones of the mother plant, which can be grown on in pots or given away as a gift. Do this: 1. Remove the baby plants by cutting the long stalks joining them to the mother plants.2. Place a layer of pebbles in the bottom of a pot for good drainage.3. Mix up a growing medium with ⅔ potting soil and ⅓ palm peat, and fill up the pot to just below its rim.4. Make small holes in the growing medium and insert the baby plants, firming each one down lightly.5. Add more soil medium if needed to fill…

Gasterias, also known as forest oxtongues, are aloe lookalikes and are mostly indigenous to the warmer areas of South Africa. More specifically, they can be found in the Eastern Cape, where they grow in dry thickets or cling precariously to a rock face. The leaves are long and thick with a rough texture, and often marked with interesting patterns and colours. Edible, tubular flowers on slender stems appear from winter to spring and are very rich in nectar. Gasterias tolerate much lower light conditions than many other succulents and are thus perfect to grow indoors away from direct sun, but still in bright light. They also like a growing medium enriched with organic matter, so add some compost to a succulent potting medium. Make sure that they enjoy excellent drainage,…

Bulbs are mysterious storage organs that can be influenced by the seasons and water to produce the most weird and wonderful blooms, and one such summer bulb must be the white spider lily (Hymenocallis). The flowers, borne on stout 60cm stems and appearing from January to March, are pure white and fragrant, resembling a spider with six slender recurved petals. The leaves are long and luxurious, adding to the overall attractiveness of the plant, especially if grown as a pot plant on a shady patio. If you want to grow them in the garden, plant them in compost-enriched soil in partial shade under trees. They love morning sun and shade in the afternoon. Plant these large bulbs with their necks at ground level from September to late November, and water…

Whenever I cried about something I couldn’t have, moaned about wearing homemade crimplene dresses that looked the same as my sister’s, or left food uneaten on my plate, the grandparents sighed, got that far-off look in their eyes, pursed their lips and informed me just how bad it was way back in their days… It was the rinderpest, the great depression, the great drought, and still being stuck under colonial rule that caused their hardship. One ancient great-grandmother of mine, still wearing a Voortrekker bonnet around the time that I was about twelve, even referred to the concentration camps to prove her point. This was while knocking about with her knobkierie in a gooseberry border along her garden’s pathway to show me which edible fruit I was overlooking for the…

‘Knock Out’ If you adore roses but not the constant care some require, this compact shrub rose, with its abundant clusters of vibrant, cherry pink single to semi-double blooms, is just for you! These plants flower continuously from spring to autumn and are self-cleaning, which means there is little for you to do to keep them neat. The dark, purplish-green foliage is very resistant to black spot, which is another bonus. Use them as a colourful border of roses along sunny pathways or around your patio area. Size about 90 x 120cm. ‘My Granny’ Still one of the most popular roses on the market today, and a perfect choice to give as a special gift or to plant in remembrance. Heavy clusters of soft-pink, quartered, rosette-shaped flowers depicting the charm…

We have our own fuchsias… The Cape fuchsia is a fast-growing, multi-branching plant with soft, oval, dark green leaves and weeping tube-like flowers that are loved by sugarbirds and sunbirds. In nature it grows naturally near water in sun to light shade. ‘Candydrops’ is a range of very free-flowering and bushy plants available in red, cream and deep rose. (40cm x 90cm). Hello, little sweet pea! Its big sister, the September bush, grows into a large shrub but the dwarf form ‘Petite Butterflies’ (called ‘Sugar Baby’ too) is a neat, rounded little evergreen cutie with small, green and somewhat heart-shaped leaves and dainty mauve flowers with a distinctive white tuft. They appear on and off all year long and are loved by bees, butterflies and birds. This little shrub (50…

The Cape wild fig, also known as the broom cluster fig (besemtrosvy), is one of the most widespread figs in South Africa. A member of the fig family (Moraceae), it occurs from Knysna in the southern Cape to Limpopo, and its range extends to tropical Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Reaching a height of 25 – 35m, this evergreen or semi-deciduous tree frequents frost-free terrain from the coast towards the mountains, occurring mainly near riverbanks along forest margins and in wooded grassland. In mild climates it remains evergreen, but towards the interior it loses some of its leaves in winter. The tree has a solitary or sometimes buttressed trunk with smooth, light grey bark. The branches form a massive, spreading canopy of elliptic or oval-shaped, dark green or grey-green leaves…

Daylilies are extremely prolific, even though the individual flowers only last for 24 hours. Members of the genus Hemerocallis (daylily) have been hybridised extensively, and those that are available for us to plant today are mostly evergreen and easy to cultivate, quickly growing into thick clumps. Individual flowers open early morning and start withering during the following night, but this is not a problem as they are immediately replaced by another flower sitting on the same flower stalk. A single plant can produce as many as fifty flowers in one flowering season, which is from October to May. What they need • Position: Full sun or at least five hours of sun per day. Darkflowered hybrids are best planted where they get morning sun and afternoon shade, to prevent the…

Although some species of Ornithogalum are spring-flowering, the giant chincherinchee flowers much later (January to April), producing smooth stems up to 1.5m tall and topped with umbels of white star-shaped flowers with pronounced black ovaries at their centres. The leaves are smooth, sword-shaped and slightly fleshy, and bulbs in the garden will soon form thick clumps that successfully rebloom every season. The trick is to deadhead spent flowers when the flowering phase is over, and to keep watering and feeding the plants with bulb food until the leaves turn brown and die down. Dormant bulbs don’t mind overwintering in the ground and will tolerate watering as long as they are planted in well-draining soil. Chincherinchees make quite a statement in large swathes in sun or light shade, and are outstanding…

Solar-powered irrigation GARDENA is known for its innovative products, and this one is no different. The AquaBloom Irrigation Set is a solar-powered automatic irrigation system for up to 20 plants. The AquaBloom runs off solar energy and doesn’t even need to be connected to a tap – it draws water from a bucket! It’s a 3-in-1 system that features an integrated pump to draw water, a control unit to make sure each plant gets the same amount of water from the pressure-equalising drip heads, and a solar panel that provides the energy and charges the rechargeable batteries. And there is more: it has 14 pre-defined watering programmes and can be set up on a tabletop, clipped onto handrails or onto the edge of flowerpots, or wall mounted. This is especially…

Fuchsias, hailing from Southern and Central America, have taken the plant world by storm. There are thousands of varieties available, as well as societies, clubs and annual shows dedicated purely to them. There are basically two growth types of fuchsias: The upright varieties (and species), which are more suitable for planting in the ground, and the trailing or cascading varieties, which are probably the perfect choice for hanging baskets, window boxes and pots. Imagine a roomy summer container filled with pretty fuchsias teamed up with lobularias, lobelias and begonias! While usually pendant, the flower shapes are variable and range from single to semi-double, double and triphylla (tube shaped), depending on the number of petals. Where can you grow them? Fuchsias like both sun and shade, and to give them both…

With indoor plants all the rage these days, a great gift idea is a beautiful indoor plant and a graceful pot cover that complements it. A very useful advantage of pot covers is that you don’t need many – you can easily and quickly slip one plant out of a pot cover and replace it with another, which is great if you have a collection of orchids or other flowering plants that may bloom at different times. These can be grown in cheap plastic pots, but displayed to their best in an elegant pot cover. First Dutch Brands offers an extensive range of very sophisticated pot covers in a variety of colours, shapes, sizes and patterns, so there is undoubtedly the answer to your personal needs and desires. The Tusca…

Indeterminate tomatoes, also known as vine tomatoes, have a long fruiting season, unlike bush tomatoes. However, they are vigorous, producing a mass of stems and leaves, often at the expense of good-sized fruit. Such plants are hard to control and prone to fungal disease. Limiting the plant to one or two strong stems results in fewer but larger fruit and healthier plants. When grown in containers, vine tomatoes can be kept manageable by retaining one main stem. In the garden, two main stems can be trained and supported by a trellis or frame. 1. Identify the main stem/s and tie the stems to a stake or onto a trellis at intervals along the length of the stem. The method of tying is important. Use twine, not plastic or wire ties.…

Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands Asparagus, bush and runner beans, cabbage, celery, cucumbers, melons and watermelons, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Middleveld (Tshwane and other less frosty areas) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, cucumbers, sweetcorn/mealies, bush and trailing squashes, sweet melons, pumpkins, spinach, tomatoes Eastern Cape and Little Karoo Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, radishes, bush and trailing squashes, Swiss chard Western Cape (and southern coast) Asparagus, bush and runner beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, sweet melons, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Northern Cape and Great Karoo Asparagus, bush and runner beans, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumbers, sweetcorn/mealies, pumpkins, spinach, bush and trailing squashes, tomatoes Lowveld and KwaZulu-Natal coast Sweetcorn/mealies…

If bold, bright and beautiful is what you are after, plant this month’s bedding bestie: Celosia (commonly known as cock’s comb). Available in a colour feast of red, orange, yellow, hot pink, rose, mahogany and magenta, celosias are exceptionally hardy little plants. Not only are they very wind tolerant, making them a particularly good choice for gardens exposed to strong winds as well as coastal gardens, but they also prefer to grow slightly drier rather than wetter. Try not to plant them with other annuals or plants that require regular watering, especially if you’re using an automated sprinkler system. The blooming time of Celosias normally lasts eight weeks, and is undaunted by our unrelenting sun, but will go on for even longer with deadheading.…

Want a tree inside? Pick a Ficus benjamina ‘Starlight’. This is a weeping fig with dense, cascading branches and bright variegated foliage – the leaves are creamy white splotched with bright green. The plant will become large and lush, giving you years of pleasure if you are consistent with its care and provide a calm environment. If not, it will act the same way as a child with a routine problem, throwing tantrums by way of dramatic defoliation! Prevent tantrums by: • Placing it in a warm position with bright, filtered light.• Keeping it away from cold drafts.• Never moving it around unnecessarily. It won’t even like to be turned. Sudden temperature and light changes will cause dropping leaves.• Watering regularly in summer as soon as the soil feels dry.…

Sometimes it’s hard to find space to best display small potted plants. This fairly easy DIY allows you to do just that, displaying them on a wall wherever it suits you. You’ll need Cutting list 3 x 22mm x 144mm x 1.8m PAR Pine cut to: 1 x 1.4m x 144mm x 22mm (upright) 4 x 185mm x 144mm x 22mm (horizontal pieces) 4 x 260mm x 144mm x 22mm, with 45° ends angled in towards each other (diagonal pieces) 4mm x 35mm cut screws Wood glue Wood filler 4 x 12cm pots Tools Cordless drill, sanding block/sander, tape measure, pencil, combination square, 102mm hole saw, mitre saw or jigsaw, paintbrush, speed pilot Do this: 1. Mark and cut the pieces according to the cutting list. To cut the 45°…