GARDENING: CANNA COMEBACK

Published March 6, 2022
Mesembryanthemums
Mesembryanthemums

It was a morning of bright birdsong, gentle sunshine and a world waking new and fresh as I drifted along my street, only to be horrified to see a neighbour studiously digging up a glorious bed of brilliant yellow canna lilies.

True, they had become overcrowded and needed thinning, but they weren’t being thinned. Instead, clump after clump of tightly packed roots were being unceremoniously tossed into a pick-up truck for disposal. The look on my face must have spoken louder than words.

The neighbour paused in his work, and asked if I would like some. Having filled the folded-up canvas shopping bag in my handbag (for emergency use), I headed home with my booty.

Later, as I stood them in a bucket of water, to soften up the mass and make them easier to divide without causing any damage, I realised that I wanted something tall, evergreen, fast-growing, and preferably floriferous, to screen out the inquisitive eyes of an immediate neighbour.

Yellow canna lily in bloom | Photos by the writer
Yellow canna lily in bloom | Photos by the writer

In a large, deep, oblong-shaped clay planter, a central, single line of canna roots would quickly send up a dense mass of four-to-five feet tall, sword-shaped leaves, dotted with glorious, spiky, golden flowers in their season, ensuring my pleasant return to privacy.

Replanting canna plants is a great way to continually enjoy them, by creating dramatic backdrops, borders or privacy screens

I shared the extra roots of the safely rescued cannas amongst friends. One person’s rubbish really can be someone else’s treasure!

Seed sowing ideas for this month

The flower garden: Seeds for glorious, long-lasting, summer colour should be sown now, and over the next few weeks. Sow lots of them if you want to make an exuberant splash. Amaranthu/cockscomb, so weird and wonderful that they would be quite at home outdoor, top the list, closely followed by their close cousin, celosia/plume flower, with heads of bloom resembling brightly dyed feather dusters. Both should be started off in seed trays and planted out when about three-to-four inches tall, and nicely established.

Then we have zinnias, in a variety of heights and an absolutely outrageous palette of vibrant colour — although there are pastel shades and even green ones too. Tagetes/French marigolds and much larger African marigolds are other summer delights, as are quick-to-grow-and-bloom rudbekia and gaillardia.

The latter two are hardy perennials, and provide colour to your garden and pots for quite a few years to come. Petunias, especially the old-fashioned, single ones, can be had in bloom all summer long, as long as they are kept in dappled shade. Simple to grow, portulaca thrives in full sun.

Fruit tree of the month: mango
Fruit tree of the month: mango

Coreopsis, gazanias, mesembryanthe­mums, gomphrena and cosmos are among other options. Don’t forget the statement-making sunflower, from dwarf to gigantic, and in shades of yellow, bronze and reds, for the ultimate summer shout-out.

The vegetable garden: Homegrown, chemical-free, summer salad ingredients are an absolute must, with soft-leaved ones, such as lettuce, being given a spot in partial shade, so that they don’t burn up in the heat to come.

Other salad greens to sow include endive, radicchio, chicory, Swiss chard/leaf beet, summer cabbage and bok choy, French radish, crisp white radish and tomatoes — especially cherry tomatoes, as these take the heat far better than larger fruiting varieties.

Capsicums, pimentos, cucumbers, cucamelons, green onions, chillies, aubergines, salsify, bush beans, climbing beans, dwarf beans, and both purple and white summer cauliflowers are also recommended.

Towards the end of the month, you can make a start on sowing courgettes/zucchini, bottle gourds, tinda, lauki, kakrri, snake gourds, pumpkins and others members of the squash family, as well as potatoes and sweet potatoes.

The herb garden: Basil and lots of varieties of this essential herb, coriander, chives, garlic chives, rocket/arugula, borage, calendulas, nasturtiums, lemon balm, lemon grass, summer savoury, chamomile, plecanthrus/Cuban thyme, agastache, marjoram, thyme and oregano can be sown now. Ginger and turmeric — pre-sprouted is preferable — should be planted in light shade and in rich, well drained, sandy soil.

The fruit garden: After the middle of the month, make a start on sowing melons, watermelons and Chinese gooseberries. You can have a go at rooting fresh pineapple tops and, providing they thrive, you may be rewarded with fruit in a couple of years’ time.

Fruit tree of the month: Mango. This medium-to-large tree, size varying from variety to variety, loves sunshine and well-drained, very fertile soil. Good drainage is essential, otherwise the tree is liable to suffer a range of illnessess, some of which have the capacity to be lethal. Mango trees are best purchased as grafted saplings of named varieties so that, after five-to-seven years, the fruit it bears is worth eating.

Growing mango trees from seed is fun, of course, but after 10 years or so, when the tree finally bears fruit, it may or may not be worth eating. A mango tree needs lots of room to stretch out and grow, so is not recommended for small gardens.

Please continue sending your gardening queries to zahrahnasir@hotmail.com. Remember to include your location. The writer does not respond directly by email. Emails with attachments will not be opened

Published in Dawn, EOS, March 6th, 2022

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