The Early Winter Garden 2022

At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead
In a full-hearted evensong
Of joy illimited;
An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small,
In blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

After months of draining heat, we are now receiving a relative deluge of soothing rain, albeit still not sufficient to percolate to the lower levels of my garden soil. After a long absence, I have resumed my favourite task of inserting a number of ‘must have’ plants purchased before and during the drought, ensuring that each one receives a gallon or so into the requisite hole prior to planting. Casualties have been light but include a Ceanothus ‘Concha’, which might have been expected to survive considering its Californian heritage. Then most unexpectedly, a sizeable Wisteria sinensis ‘Black Dragon’ totally defoliated on my large arbour, and gives every appearance of having died. I have decided to wait until the spring before considering whether to replace them.

South America may appear to have little in common with our own climate but many regions especially on the South Pacific coast, have temperate zones where plants have evolved that are compatible with milder areas of the UK. As any regular reader of this article will know, my own garden experiences a micro-climate on the South Wales coast and I grow a large number of plants from Peru, Argentina and Chile with relative success.

Bulbous plants do not naturally spring to mind when considering the flora of this area, however, Zephyranthes candida is a pure white crocus lookalike which flowers abundantly in full sun in any reasonably well drained soil. Flowering in late summer or early autumn, it is not difficult to increase by seed or bulbs and benefits from an annual feed of bone meal.

Rhodophiala bifida is another late flowering bulb, known in Texas where it is naturalised, as the ox-blood lily, which perfectly describes the flowers. It requires similar conditions to Zephyranthes but is deciduous from early summer for several weeks prior to flowering. I also grow a very brightly coloured hybrid called ‘Harry Hay’, after the famous plantsman, which flowers reliably in my front garden a few weeks before the species.

Both the above bulbs will need to be sought from specialist bulb suppliers but are well worth the effort.

In a different stature is Grindelia chiloensis, a small shrub from Argentina reputed to have originated from Chiloe Island off the coast of Chile. Growing 3-4 ft high and as much across, it is covered in summer by 1-2 inch bright yellow flowers at the end of each stout stem. The flowers in bud are unusual in being covered in a sticky gum whose natural purpose is unknown, however it is believed to have therapeutic uses and was utilised by the indigenous natives for medicinal purposes.