I can only recall being flustered to the point of blushing and stuttering on two occasions in my adult life. One was when I had to face a customs official, knowing that I had contraband in my suitcase. The other was my much less forgettable first meeting with Patrick Watson.
I’m glad to say I no longer dissolve into bumbling nervousness around Patrick, but I was certainly excited when he recently invited me to visit some of the gardens he has designed in and around Johannesburg! Sandra and I were shown around Steyn City (2,000 acres of parkland and residences), the Saxon Hotel, and the grounds of the Hollard Insurance Company head office in Parktown. However, the highlight of our tour was the new Reflection Pizza Bar at Broadacres Shopping Centre. The old Broadacres nursery has been transformed into a veritable floral kingdom interspersed with generously spaced tables on either side of a curving walkway. I positively glowed with pride to see so many plants from Petal Faire Nursery integrated into the beautiful design - the climbers in particular. Well worth a visit!
Reflection Pizza Bar
Climbers starting to cover
The attentive student
Patrick Watson is one of our most well-known landscape designers whose list of clients is quite the ‘Who’s Who’ of South Africa, although he has worked all over the world. He knows his plants and geology, accurately reads his clients’ needs and preferences, and has a particularly unique gift for visualising how to design large spaces.
You can read more about his background and accomplishments here but what really makes him a hero in my eyes is that he makes a point of supporting the smaller growers and nurseries.
Thank you so much, Patrick! I cannot wait for our next appointment.
IN THE GARDEN
This wonderful autumn weather brings me such joy. I lie awake at night planning what needs to be done in the garden over the next month and then spend hours prioritising the chores. For now, that list includes the moving of shrubs, trimming of trees, lots of new planting, and of course the one constant in a gardener’s life – weeding. I must confess that I tend to let the weeds be until the garden becomes unbearable to behold, at which point we jump in and weed the property from front to back. As trees and shrubs go into autumn mode, it is also time for us to start our seed collecting.
Even as things wind down, there is still some lovely colour in the garden.
Salvia - Silkies Dream
Ruellia macrantha
Salvia eizi-matudae
IN THE NURSERY
Click here to view all the plants in this newsletter on the website.
Indigenous plants
Indigenous to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, Barleria delagoaense is an upright perennial whose spikes of pale orange flowers in summer attract insects and butterflies. Evergreen and hardy, it grows about 1m high, and is happy in sun or semi-shade. It does well in the vase.
The sturdy clump-forming hybrid Kniphofia – Yellow cheer has lax deeply keeled green leaves and tall spikes with round-based yellow flowers that attract birds and insects in autumn. It is evergreen and hardy, reaches an approximate height of 1.2m, and can take sun or semi-shade but wants moist soil.
Children love the ‘Mickey Mouse’ seeds of Ochna serrulata. This gorgeous slow-growing shrub is semi-hardy and evergreen, and reaches a height of about 2m. The yellow flowers in spring attract birds and butterflies. Plant in sun or semi-shade.
Pycnostachys reticulata is a slender upright shrub with narrow, slightly furry, short-stalked leaves and interesting dense spikes of two-tone pale blue flowers in autumn. Hardy, evergreen and approximately 2m high, this one wants full sun but moist soil.
Exotic plants
Lobelia speciosa – Tania is a gorgeous clump-forming deciduous perennial with lance-shaped leaves and spikes of cerise pink flowers in summer. It grows about 80cm high and likes sun to semi-shade and moist soil. A good cut flower.
Phlomis russeliana is a low-growing clump-forming 60cm high perennial with large heart-shaped green leaves and whorls of yellow flowers from spring to autumn. Evergreen and very hardy, it is happy in shade to semi-shade as long as the soil is dry and sandy.
The upright suckering perennial Physostegia virginiana alba has lovely tall panicles of white flowers in summer. This clump-forming plant is evergreen and very hardy, grows about 60cm high, and is happy in sun or semi-shade.
The common name of Thalia dealbata is water canna, but don’t be fooled. This is not a canna as we know it, but a beautiful aquatic perennial that has tall lance-shaped grey green leaves and panicles of violet flowers in summer. Deciduous and very hardy, it wants full sun.
SNIPPETS
I have been invited on a trip to Greece from 27 April to 12 May! In between lazing on the beach and visiting ancient ruins, I hope to find the time and opportunity to do some botanising. While I gallavant around the Greek islands, my trusty staff will be ensuring that it is business as usual in the nursery.
And lastly – don’t forget to collect all those wonderful autumn leaves for composting and mulch.
Happy gardening!
Leoné
082 482 0257