"Perennial favourites"

Although my garden is semi-tropical in nature now, I still have some vestiges from my cottage garden days!
Sunday, 18 October 2020     

Aquilegia hybrid

The month of October always makes me nostalgic for my early gardening years, when I naively believed I could make a sort of mini-Sissinghurst in suburban Sydney. English-style cottage gardening was in vogue and I read tons of English gardening books at that time, drooling over the lush, billowing borders in the photographs. I tried every herbaceous perennial and cold-climate shrub which I could lay my hands on, in an expensive journey through the mail order catalogues and nurseries which had burgeoned at that time. I recall endless lectures which I gave to my parents about the beautiful, romantic English garden I was going to create, of towering delphiniums, proper geraniums, peonies, bleeding hearts, oriental poppies, clematis twining through old-fashioned roses accompanied by lavenders and bellflowers.

Sadly it all ended fairly badly for me, as few of the delicate English-style perennials and shrubs really liked the Sydney climate where I was living, and many of them either rotted in the heat and humidity of summer, or refused to flower due to the mildness of winter. None of them ever multiplied into huge, luxuriant clumps or reached the full stature of those depicted in my gardening books to produce that abundant look for which I had longed. At the time I couldn't really understand why this was so, but I decided that my next goal would be to move to a colder area of Sydney so that these plants might do better.

When I finally moved to Beecroft in 1993, I was able to have a measure of success with some of the cooler climate plants, but I still had many heartbreaking failures with my beloved perennials. Summer humidity and torrential downpours of rain often still spelt death to my much-cosseted treasures, which were totally unused to such assaults in their native habitats. The winters - though a little cooler than in Ryde - weren't really cold enough to give convincing blooms on many of the plants which required a certain number of hours of low temperatures in order to set their buds. I sadly realised that I was never going to be able to achieve the English garden look with these plants in my garden. I felt frustrated and deprived, and began planning my next house move, this time possibly to Bowral.

Just at this time, the tide of gardening fashion once again turned, and even in England, people started ripping out their traditional plants and putting in tropical-style plants - from South America, Mexico, South-east Asia, Southern China, New Zealand, even from Australian rainforests! I discovered these plants grew very easily for me, and my attitude towards gardening completely changed from the challenge of the endless quest for rarities and a constant struggle to keep alive sickly plants from the foothills of the Himalayas, to a focus on creating the lush, full look of an English garden using warm-climate plants that thrive easily.

But I still do have some vestiges from my cottage gardening years, perennials which have stayed with me that I love to see blooming at this time of year, which was when my erstwhile cottage garden looked its best. They seem happy enough in Sydney - some of them persist because they self-seed, others just appear to cope well with our climate. I would never be without them as they are part of my gardening past and are just so pretty. Dainty Linaria purpurea, Aquilegia species and hybrids and cerise, white or pink and white Lychnis coronaria are some which self-seed happily, though the plants themselves often last for several years. The arching fronds of Solomon's seal (Polygonatum x hybridum, pictured earlier in the blog) clump up well in shady corners; a variegated-leaf one is particularly pretty.

I always loved Campanula, and the two species which have proved long lasting in my garden have been the groundcover Campanula poscharskyana in its blue and white forms, and a species with tall spires of bells, which years ago I grew from seed labelled Campanula rapunculus. It is similar to C. rapunculoides, which we were always warned against as a terribly invasive species, but with which I never had any success at all. My version is tough and self-seeds a little bit, but is not a nuisance.

Another favourite of my cottage garden days was species Geranium. I have tried many in my time, but the best doers were Geranium macrorrhizum in all its forms and the wonderful hybrid Geranium 'Rozanne', with its stunning blue flowers. These have lived on in my garden for a number of years I hope I never lose any of these reminders of why I was seduced by the English dream in the first place all those years ago; an important part of my gardening journey!


 Reader Comments

1/11  Jan - 2072 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 19 October 2009

Hi Deirdre, You must have magic powers - every time I have a question on gardening you suddenly present your blog with all the answers - perfect!! The Blue geranium has been a love of mine after visiting an open garden but I didnt know the name or where to buy it. Can you help yet again.Jan

Hi Jan - Rozanne was hard to get for a while, but I see it in a lot of the nurseries these days, or you can get it via mail order from Lambley Nursery in Victoria - here is a link to their site: Lambley Nursery


2/11  Gillian - 2119 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 19 October 2009

I have two pots of Rozanne & absolutely love her delicate petals & wonderful colour, however it is a challenge to keep it that way - it can grow very straggly. I am constantly cutting off the spent stalks and this keeps it looking compact. Liquid feeding promotes plenty of flowers. Gillian.

Thanks for those tips. I do cut it back every so often but it does tend to ramble through other plants. I will try to fertilise more often so my plants can look as healthy as yours! Deirdre


3/11  Helen - 2154 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 19 October 2009

Hi Deidre, I can easily relate to your gardening 'desires', having lived in Southern Victoria, cool with rich volcanic soil. Mandurah, W.A, Sub Tropical with pure sand. And now Castle Hill, not quite Sub Tropical, with the worst soil one could imagine. Its O.K but has taken 10 years. Eureka , H.F

Thanks, Helen. You have had a lot of gardening challenges, by the sound of it! Deirdre


4/11  Julie - 2018 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Tuesday, 20 October 2009

My husband and I also love English gardens (me the herbaceous borders and he the woodland garden) and find that Rosebery is simply not the best place for that! We have perennials like salvias, lavenders, catmint etc. I just wish my sedums would grow like those higher up!

Thanks for your comment, Julie. I am constantly looking for substitute plants that can give the profuse look of the perennial border (or woodland) but which thrive in our climate. Salvias are one of the main plants, as they have the spires of flowers that I loved so much in English gardens. There are lots of options, and it is good we can still grow some of the English-y things. I have never had any success with the Sedum types that look so magnificent in English gardens! Deirdre


5/11  Anne - 2118 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 26 October 2009

My Geranium Rozanne is blooming beautifully. I only recently purchased it from Geranium Cottage, Middle Dural. The owner says the only way to propagate Rozanne is by root cuttings in autumn and be patient until spring. Im going to give it a go! Anne

Thanks, Anne. I had also heard that about the root cuttings. I know someone who did it successfully, but I have always been too scared!Deirdre


6/11  Susan - 2430 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 19 October 2020

I have never seen Sissinghurst but I had this dream of a white border for our rural driveway. And this year, it has come into its own. We have about 60m of white bulbs, marguerites, erigeron, azaleas, agapanthus, white callistemon, euphorbia diamond frost, chincherinchee, white plumbago, white scaevola and a low flowering daisy I can't name. Overplanted with beautiful melia azederach (white cedar). Which as it happens, has lilac flowers... That sounds so pretty, Susan. Deirdre


7/11  Gaynor - 5044 (Zone:10 - Mediteranean) Monday, 19 October 2020

I recently discovered the delights of Geranium Rozanne and I think it is still there somewhere under the giant honeywort. The plant which I get asked about most in my garden is an emu bush (eremophila nivea) I first saw growing in Port Augusta, South Australia. My British friends are quite envious. Your emu bush sounds very impressive! Deirdre


8/11  Hanni - 2134 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Monday, 19 October 2020

Dear Deirdre, Your perennial favourites are mine, too. Being from European background the cold climate flowers are still close to my heart. But I experienced the same problems. Visiting England I just fell in love with the beautiful blue geraniums everywhere. I went hunting for seeds and was even able to bring a packet in. But the seeds did not germinate well and I only have 2 spindly plants left. Hopefully they will flower this year! Luckily my salvias and the white lace flowers do well. Can understand your love of geraniums. I do recommend Rozanne as being the best for Sydney. Glad your salvias and white lace flowers are doing well! Deirdre


9/11  Pamela - 2158 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Tuesday, 20 October 2020

I love this blog Deirdre. Spot on! the right plant for the right place is my mantra.its a very expensive exercise otherwise! We can still create our own cottage look with other more suitable plants.Ive had great success with Dowdeswell Delphiniums, species Geraniums, foxgloves and Vitacella Clematis which are looking stunning atm with the roses which do so well in Dural.Many seeded cottagey annuals thrive here, Cosmos, Zinnias, Orlaya, Cornflowers, Aquilegias, Nigella etc Thanks, Pamela. Self-seeded annuals are such a delight. One of the mainstays of my summer garden is the enormous Amaranthus plants that start as tiny seedlings in September. I remove 99% of them, leaving a few to develop into shrub-like proportions. Cleome are also allowed to self-seed a bit, as well as some pretty Savia splendens varieties, Browallia americana and marigolds. Deirdre


10/11  Pamela - 2158 (Zone:10 - Warm Temperate) Tuesday, 20 October 2020

I long ago gave up growing tulips, peonies and rareities which shrivelled in our early heatwaves. It is a joy to see a plant utterly thriving in the right conditions. One only has to travel to see the differences but many gardeners like to push the boundaries. I knew someone that poured ice blocks every night on their Lilly of the Valley...not me, dont have energy or time to mollycoddle plants!!! I do agree that it is easier to choose the right plants for our climate. But I did used to so want to grow those gorgeous cold-climate plants so I do understand why people put ice blocks on things like lily-of-the-valley etc! Deirdre


11/11  Neil - 3149 (Zone:10 - Mediteranean) Friday, 23 October 2020

I have had trouble keeping Rozanne alive. We have a lot of species geraniums which give us no trouble. Anmy suggestions?


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