The Spring Garden 2023

When the cold, harsh winter has given its last breath,

When the sky above shows life instead of death,

When the claws reaching to the frozen sky become decorated with leaves,

When the animals -long in hiding- scurry from trees,

We know winter has ended.

Spring by Camille Gotera

This winter seems to have lasted forever and apart from an abnormally cold snap in December, it has rained with unremitting persistence. The aforementioned ‘snap’ also put paid to my oft trumpeted declaration that my garden had become ‘frost free’. A low of -4 was sufficient to damage many of my borderline southern hemisphere specialities and indeed killed a number but several Banksias and Puyas appear unscathed.

“Pride comes before a fall”!

As a rule, if a particular plant dies three times, I do not attempt a fourth try, accepting that I am unable to provide conditions for its successful cultivation. However, Edgeworthia chrysantha is such a beauty that I have made an exception. A biologically close relative of Daphnes it resembles them in form and the fact that it was also used in China to make paper. Its round heads of fragrant yellow flowers open early in the year but are prominently carried all winter. Red and orange forms occur and are sometimes available commercially. Careful planting is required because it does not tolerate unsuitable soils especially any trace of waterlogging. It succeeds best in slightly acid soils with the ‘mythical’ quality of moist but well drained. My current incumbent has been planted in a deep humus enriched loam and to date appears to be happy but watch this space! It is worth every effort.

Fatsia japonica in its natural form is a rather unspectacular plant, with large jaggedly palmate leaves, useful for its ability to tolerate windy coastal positions and to grow in difficult situations but not in any way ‘showy’. In its form ’Variegata’ it is much showier; however I have found a tendency for the variegated leaf edges to brown and wither if exposed to even a small amount of sunlight and no longer grow it. A relatively recent introduction, ’Spider’s Web’ also has variegation but in the manner of small white spots along the leaf edges and sometimes extending across the whole leaf. I have used this quality to enlighten dark corners and since variegation reduces growth it requires little attention. Despite initial reservations I have decided to like it!