Aquilegias, ‘keen to promiscuously
interbreed, and generous with their offspring’ said
the holder of the National Plant Collection for Swansea in
the UK. One might assume from Aquilegia vulgaris hybrids and
cultivars from such a comment that the aquilegia is everyone’s
worst nightmare as a weed in the garden, but I don’t
think so. They are versatile, offering a wide range of colours,
plant heights and variety in flower form. They are virtually
pest-free, and will grow in a wide range of soil types. They
are generally grown from seed and self-sown seedlings are
easily culled if unwanted. ‘William Guinness’
(syn. ‘Magpie’) pictured below is a stunning plant
with pleated double flowers in purple and white.
‘William Guinness’ (syn.
‘Magpie’)
Favourites: It is hard
to choose, but some of my best-loved aquilegias are ‘William
Guinness’ (syn. Magpie), a large cheeky red and yellow
spurred garden hybrid in my mother’s garden and a recent
introduction, ‘Roman Bronze’ which has golden
leaves and deep purple flowers. I chose these three from a
myriad of other beautiful forms, and the door is open for
you to explore the wide range of seeds available.
OSMANTHUS by Merylyn Condon
Commonly known as the Sweet Olive and
originating in Asia (Himalayas, China and Japan), osmanthus
produces clusters of tiny tubular flowers with a delightful
fragrance. Osmanthus is to the Chinese what wattle is to an
Aussie and is the focus of many a Chinese festival. In China,
it is used to flavour teas and the extract from osmanthus
fragrans var. aurantiacus (costing US $4000 per kg) is used
internationally in the best perfumes. Historically, it had
many other uses in south east Asia as a hair decoration, dried
and kept in jars for its scent, flavouring wine and medicine,
and the bark used for dye and the timber for carving.
Osmanthus fragrans (pictured above) grows
to 2 - 5 metres. The tiny flowers are pure white, extraordinarily
fragrant and appear in small insignificant clusters along
the twigs in spring to early summer. Osmanthus fragrans var.
aurantiacus is an orange-flowered form and both are well worth
growing and often seen at garden centres. Osmanthus heterophyllus.
The glossy leaves of this species are quite holly-like (though
smaller). Tiny white clusters of perfumed flowers appear in
early winter.
I particularly like Osmanthus heterophyllus
‘Purpureus’, because the young shoots and leaves
have a dark polished tint almost like a copper beech, even
though it is temporary, and as time passes the leaves transform
to dark, glossy green. A variegated form, o. heterophyllus
‘Variegatus’ is also worth growing. On my ‘must
have’ list: O. heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’.
Goshiki means ‘five colored’ in Japanese and refers
to the cream, pink, orange, yellow, and white colourings on
the leaves.
