The gardener's eye

The Gardener's Eye

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Aussies Arrive



The ASA (Australians Studying Abroad) Tour called "Gardens, Art & Fall Foliage: Coastal Maine to Philadelphia including Boston & New York" stopped in earlier this week to visit my garden. A tour led by John Patrick (far left above) was spending 23 days visiting North East America to see gardens including Wave Hill, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Longwood Gardens, Chanticleer and several private gardens, including mine. When I was asked to be a stop on this tour and saw the list of gardens they would be visiting, I was honored to be included.


The night before their arrival, the temperatures dipped to 34 degrees F and many of the tender plants were hit by a light frost. I watered the lightly frosted foliage of the coleus and begonias in this flower box before the sun hit the leaves. This old trick of florists seemed to work because the leaves survived unscathed. Apparently, the cell damage to the leaves occurs as the sun melts the frozen water on the leaves but if warm water melts the ice, there is less chance of damage. The afternoon turned out to be a lovely sunny autumn day: perfect for garden visiting.


I learned that the Eucalyptus gunnii ‘Silver Drop’ that I use as an annual in the Lower Garden grows to become a large tree in Australia. John Patrick also pointed out that Plectranthus argentatus, another silver-foliaged-plant that I use as textural plant in the Lower Garden is also native to Australia.


The most admired plant on the Blue Bench Terrace was Pelargonium sidoides, a tender geranium with gray foliage and tiny magenta flowers which spilled out of the central planter.
                     

  


Being such a small garden on this tour had its advantages because the participants got the chance to use the seating throughout the garden to take a contemplative moment to rest and actually "be" in the garden.


I thoroughly enjoyed the invasion of friendly Aussies to my garden. Australia has always intrigued me. I hope to get the opportunity to visit gardens in their country one day.

6 comments:

  1. What a great experience that must have been, Michael. I have a son who lives in Australia so I visit there regularly. It is a fascinating country in terms of flora and fauna -- and people! Lucky you!

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    1. I would love to go to Australia, Pat. You are lucky to have the opportunity to visit. My visitors were a true delight. I lead tour for Americans to England, so it was very interesting to see it from both sides. There is a lot of work that goes into having the garden look good the day they arrive and I have a better appreciation for all the work the English gardeners do prior to our arrival. The common thread is that gardeners are a generous lot.

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  2. Interesting -- the watering before the sun hits frosted foliage-- trick, I didn't know about. You are clearly considered one among the big-wigs. Congrats. Sounds like it was much fun.

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    1. I think it will only work on a light frost, Sarah, but I do think it does work. There were plants in my public gardens that were tinged with frost bite. The cannas in my garden definitely had a coat of ice on them and ended up looking great. Coleus and dahlias are particularly sensitive to an early frost. Some of the salvias and especially Melianthus major can survive the cold temperatures much better. And yes, it was great fun.

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  3. Thanks for the tip about the water and the sun, I did not know it either. Sounds like the Aussies had a great tour. When I was in retail, I had a salesman that would stop by once a year to see if we wanted to import exotic plants, including some from down under and from New Zealand. While our mild winters were not the issue, our humidity and high night time temps often were.

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    1. Let me know if the watering trick work for you, Les. It makes sense, when you see pictures of the terrain in Australia, that plants originating from there might not be well-suited to your conditions.

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