November 29th, 2022Glen, about the house
From my living room window
My all-time favourite rose rosa mutabilis has finally reached maturity as a small
tree and with its first full crop of ever-changing coloured, butterfly-like blooms.
Their masses of bright yellow buds turn through shades of pink as they ‘mutate’ to
finally turn to crimson.
A tall, spreading evergreen, long-flowering shrub (if allowed) can reach the eaves
of your house. (I chose to train mine as a small specimen tree.)
Rosa mutabilis’ beginnings, although definitely oriental, are unclear and
apparently introduced to horticulture probably from China, sometime in the mid
1930s. It is usually listed as a China rose, but some list it botanically as rosa x odorata
‘mutabilis’.
Thank La Nina and prune now
Spring time is normally clean-up time for citrus trees. The time to remove weak
or spindly growth and dead wood.
As citrus trees grow, they tend to accumulate dead, woody twigs and light growth,
towards their centre. By using a sharp pair of pruners and a little patience you can
open up the tree and allow plenty of sunlight in to prevent the fungal disease and
insect pests that normally thrive on weak, shady growth.
Do not take too much growth from the top or centre of the tree because citrus
prefer a healthy covering of leaves all over to protect the young growths from the
summer sun.
Hard pruning of citrus is usually carried out in late August to early September
but, as long as this unseasonable cloud-covered, wet weather persists, it may as well be
put to good use.
A good dressing of mulch and organic citrus food would be helpful as well.
Christmas trees live:
Whatever way you look at it somehow Christmas would feel incomplete without
that all-important piece of traditional equipment – a real Christmas tree.
Although the many synthetic trees on offer certainly make things easy, they lack
charm and character.
The other alternative, the cut tree, has even more problems. Sure it’s real, it even
smells like Christmas, but by the time New Year comes around…just think of all the
messy needles you’re going to have to clean up.
Don’t settle for second best – grow a living Christmas tree
A great feature of a living Christmas tree is that it brings joy and pleasure to the
children for many years and can become the children’s project to protect and nurture
from year to year.
Because the tradition of featuring a decorated tree sprang from the ancients’ yule
log, and later, the Tannenbaum, the Germanic Christmas symbol has always been a
conifer.
There are now many beautiful conifers available from nurseries and garden
centres, all eminently suitable for growing as a Christmas tree.
Among the winners are: abies douglasii or Douglas fir – the traditional American
tree that is a beautiful dark green needled tree with attractive lush green pendulous
new shoots. (The ones that the plastic Christmas tree manufacturers try to emulate.)
Picea abies, the Norway spruce – the delightful symmetrical conifer with tightly packed branches and light-green needles. It is the traditional European Christmas tree
and an excellent choice for a small tree setting.
For a real, almost Aussie traditional look you couldn’t do better than to settle on
the araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk pine). Its beautifully symmetrical shape makes it
perfect for decorating even when it’s small enough for a table top.
Each of these three plants are relatively slow growers which means they will serve
you well for a good many years. They will all still continue to serve outdoors in a large
tub on a terrace or porch before necessity causes them to move out into the garden.
Got a gardening question? Email glenzgarden@gmail.com
