|
|
|
June 08, 2006
Gardening goes global
From Europe’s harsh winter to the Middle East’s sweltering summers, Z.N addresses gardening woes coming in from all corners of the world 
Q: I am in Jeddah and have two plants (brought from Karachi) which give out bell shaped pink flowers. I have been told that they are called ‘Gulay cheeney’ in Pakistan. Now one of them has a long seed pod growing on it. What should I do about it and can it be used to grow more of the same? Also, can you suggest the location, watering routine, etc. for this plant, considering Jeddah can get very hot and humid in the summer?
A: The plants you are lucky enough to have are pink frangipani which are gloriously fragrant in both early morning and in the evening. The seed pod should be left on the plant until it is fully ripe i.e. when it turns dark brown and papery. You can then extract the seeds, there won’t be many and they should be black and hard. Soak them in warm water overnight and then plant them, about half to one inch deep in good quality compost which should be kept moist at all times.
Germination can take quite a few months so lots of patience is required. The pots of seeds benefit from being kept in a partially shaded location. Once the seedlings sprout, keep them in the same place and same pot until they have established four to six leaves. You can then transplant them, very carefully, into larger pots to grow on. Do not put them in full sun until the plants are approximately one foot tall and growing strongly.
Well established frangipani shrubs enjoy full sun, even in Jeddah. I have seen them flourishing in Oman which also gets incredibly hot. Water them no more than three times a week during the height of summer and once or twice a week in winter depending on night-time temperatures.
Q: I live in Oslo, Norway where the climate is very cold with long and harsh winters. I don’t have a garden but a terrace where I usually plant different things and have tried various fragrant plants but haven’t been successful. Can you tell me what I can plant outside and inside the house, particularly nice smelling plants.
A: For your terrace in the short Norwegian summer I would suggest that, if you have space, heavily scented roses may be a good idea and, in smaller pots you could try very fast growing and fragrant annuals such as day and night scented stocks, 10-week stocks, dwarf sweet peas, nicotiana, sweet alyssum, mignonette, sweet sultan and verbena. Inside your home, presuming that it is centrally heated, you can grow perfumed flowering bulbs such as freesias and Dutch hyacinths for spring flowers. Depending on the level of heating and amount of light you may also like to try stephanotis and gardenias in pots on a window sill.
Q: We live in Kuwait where it is not easy to establish gardens due to the harsh desert environment though we have managed to grow most of the annuals that we used to plant in Islamabad. We would like to know the procedure for preserving dahlia tubers for use in the next season. We have tried all methods including leaving them in the ground and removing them to dry storage but nothing has worked.
What steps should be taken to protect our roses during the summer months when the temperature crosses 50ºC?We have a cactus which is about eight feet high and also some round cacti. Please advise us on how to take care of these plants including their feeding requirements.
A: I would suggest storing your dahlia tubers in dry compost instead of sand as sand leaches all of the moisture out of the tubers and causes them to die off. If this doesn’t work then why not try growing dahlias from seed each season as this is low cost, fast and extremely rewarding. You can even collect seed from your existing dahlia plants in order to perpetuate your favourites. Alternatively, take cuttings before the plants die back, pot these up and keep them in an air conditioned room out of direct draught and out of direct sunlight. You may find that this works.
Your roses should be pruned back and heavily mulched for the summer months.
Cacti only need to be fed a couple of times a year at the most. Liquid fertiliser is the most beneficial. A little drink of water, at the roots not on the plants themselves, once a month is more than adequate and even less than this is fine as cacti store liquid in their fleshy parts in order to survive during times of what can be very long droughts. Over watering causes cacti to rot and die.
Q: I live near London in the UK and have a problem with my Hollyhocks. The lower leaves and stems turn an orange-brownish colour and go rotten. Then the plants always die off. I have tried different varieties of Hollyhocks each year for five years but the same problem always arises, even though I plant them in different parts of the garden and even some in large pots. I love Hollyhocks and really do want to have the pleasure of seeing them grow and bloom in my garden. Is there anything that I can do?
A: It sounds like your hollyhocks suffer from a disease called ‘rust’ which is very common in the UK due to the climate. You need to get hold of seeds which are of a rust resistant variety. Fig-leaved hollyhocks are more resistant than the more common varieties.
Q: I live in Chicago and have been trying to establish a natural, kind of wild looking garden with lots of flowering bulbs but many of them, particularly tulips, do not come back to life in the spring. Does the winter cold and frost kill them or is there some other reason for this. What varieties of bulb are best for this climate?A: Rodents may be eating your bulbs during the winter. Tulips are one of their favourite snacks. If this is the case then you need to deal with this problem before planting more bulbs. Try planting snowdrops, grape hyacinths, crocus, daffodils, narcissus, bluebells, iris and anemones all of which naturalise well –– once you have dealt with the rodents!
Q: I want to establish a medicinal herb garden at my beachfront home outside Sydney in Australia. What varieties of plants would be best for this purpose here and also tolerate the sea breeze? They should also need very little water since it is a major problem in this part of the world.
A: Why not plant Spanish lavender, rosemary, lots of different species of thyme, broad leafed sage, house leeks and aloe vera for starters and see how you get on.
Send your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Answers to selected questions will appear in a future issue of ‘The Review’.
|
|
|
|
