The pros and cons of self seeding plants

Self seeding plants

This summer I've noticed several self seeding plants popping up in the garden at home and at work.

Self seeding weeds

In some cases self seeding plants are seen as a nuisance. The definition of a weed is 'a plant out of place'. This means anything that self seeds that you think of as being a nuisance can be classified as a weed. The trick to managing self seeding weeds it to remove them before they grow seed thereby eliminating their method of reproduction (easier said than done). Examples of notorious self seeding weeds are dandelions, plantains, clover and many others.

Desirable self seeding plants

If a self seeding plant that has miraculously grown all by itself is desirable then there is nothing more magical than watching a plant you love materializing all own its own. One of the best things about a desirable self seeder (apart from the fact that you have had to do nothing to grow it) is that they are sometimes superior to plants you have sown yourself.

Examples of desirable self seeding plants

One example of this is an echinacea plant that sowed itself at my work garden. The funny thing is that we were trying to grow this particular form of echinacea but it only grew very small. We couldn't keep the poor little thing alive and forgot all about it. The next season a massive Echinacea plant sprouted up less than one metre away from the original one on the opposite side of a path that separates the two locations. The self sown plant is huge (almost twice the size of the original). Another example is a massive sunflower that self seeded also at work. It has to be the biggest sunflower that I've ever seen. The plant grew without any help whatsoever and the single flower head was huge (see the picture below). The other very popular example of self seeding is that of self seeding edible plants (parsley, chives, chard, lettuce and many others).

Annual flowers are by nature great self seeders. Annuals (lasting only one year) obviously need to be good self seeders to keep propagating themselves. Annuals I have at home that have done this include amaranthus, pansies, sunflowers and hollyhocks. Hopefully next year I can add poppies and calendula to that list.

This is the seed head from the self seeded sunflower. Unfortunately it was in bloom when I was on leave from work so I couldn't get a picture of it in its full glory. I'll save all those seeds and plant them at home next spring.

Amaranthus that grew itself in my home garden. Note all the annuals in the background that I've purposely left to run to seed. They should add to next years warm season annual display.

Below is the humble pansy. These little troopers keep reproducing themselves year after year. Heaps of them sprouted in my annual bed of my Macedon home last spring.

Spring has sprung in my Macedon garden 2013

Things have been really busy on the garden front this spring (hence the lack of October blog entries). My private weekend gardening jobs have really picked up due to the change of seasons and I've been cutting down jungle thick front / backyards almost every weekend. My first weekend with no jobs was one which I planned to do my own lawns and other garden jobs but I was feeling burnt out garden wise and the garden has suffered as a result. The lawn is getting quite long with plantain weeds sending up their flower spikes everywhere. The weeds in the garden beds have started to grow steadily but luckily they are not as bad as they could be due to some really early spring weeding that I completed.

That said, I have kept on top of a few other garden goals at home other than the mowing and weeding. So far I have made sure that I plant some seeds every weekend and it is starting to pay off with lots of veggies and flowers shooting up. The veggies done from seed have been bush beans, climbing beans (blue lake), loose leaf lettuce and Galangal (well technically not a seed but a planting nonetheless). All have sprouted bar the Galangal and I am really hoping that it does grow because I have never grown or tasted it. On the flower side of things I have lots of sunflowers popping up from seed I collected from last years flowers that I planted in Parkville (click on this link to see them when in flower http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/lillies-echinacea-and-sunflowers.html). I've also been nurturing the herb garden at home and finally have a good selection of herbs at hand for cooking. Another really pleasing sight in my garden are flowers that have self seeded from last years annuals including black Pansies and Hollyhocks! I really hope the Hollyhocks take off and tower above the rest of the flowers come summer. My Garlic crop looks almost ready so I should be harvesting in a few weeks or so. Unfortunately some animal nipped the tops off a  quarter of my Garlic crop (looking at the animal tracks I think it may have been a Wombat). Whatever it was it came back 3 times at night but since then has not returned.

All in all this spring has seen many successes in terms of growing new plants and a few inevitable failures along the way but I guess that is part of the learning experience. I think this weekend maintenance on my home garden is a must or things will really start getting crazy. Time to start pushing the old mower :)

A mass of cottage flower goodness

This picture of the Kniphofia flowers was taken early spring (maybe the first week). I'm really glad this plant flowered as it was a bit of a gamble as I've never seen any growing in the colder Macedon climate. The good thing is that I had these flowers showing for much longer than the Kniphofias in Melbourne. The down side is that the foliage of the plant looked a little stressed due to winter frost. 

Another early spring picture of my Tulips with Aquilegias in the background. These Tulips were planted last year and came back with a vengeance. 

The Garlic is looking really strong this year. I have been eating the small bulbs and planting the bigger ones for the last 3 years in the hope of producing a better crop.

Polyanthus flowers are still going strong.

I planted lots of Violas this year and this one is my favorite. I love the colouring it reminds me of fire.

Heaps of yellow and also orange Calendula flowers are starting to burst.

One of the big success stories are my Snow Peas. They are really heavy croppers. One of my daughters rushes out to pick them every morning and there are still lots left over when I get home from work. Here is a link to when they started out http://aggregata.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/snow-pea-climbing-frame-construction.html. There is also Broccoli, Broad Beans and Bush Beans in there.

This unassuming little fellow is one of many pansies that self seeded from last years flowers. 

Not sure what this beautiful plant with the pink flowers is called. It must be something incredibly common as it grew from a 'cottage garden mix' of seeds. Unfortunately I lost the packet so I can't identify it. I'm sure one of my fellow gardeners will know its name....... Several months later I was told this goes by the common name of 'Corncockle'.

Below are Aquilegias that have been going strong for 2 years now. I got them when I was working at Stephen Ryan's nursery 'Dicksonia Rare Plants' on Mount Macedon. They were growing in the path like a weed and a fellow employee suggested I take them home and plant them.

Icelandic Poppies that I grew from seed are still popping open. They really are an awesome flower and keep opening up one after the other for a long time.

My better half loves planting Australian natives in the front yard and the Grevilleas are on show right now. 

This is the very first rose from the David Austin rose bush that I won in a competition earlier in the year. It is not much to look at now as it is just unfurling but in a few days it should be in all its glory. I never used to like roses but since after winning this and another in a competition I have become quite obsessed by them.

My 'herb boat' the SS Herbsman is fully loaded with Lettuce, Coriander, Continental Parsley, Curly Parsley, Oregano, Chives, Rocket and for some strange reason Brocolli. The frame in the background is for my climbing beans. My god look at the length of the lawn. Its as though the boat is sailing on a sea of grass.

There it is, my favorite pocket of the garden in its entirety. Rambling, out of control and absolutely packed with plants both edible and ornamental. Just the way I like it.

Parkville garden spring update

As the saying goes 'spring has finally sprung' in Melbourne and the garden I work in at Parkville is showing signs of new growth everywhere. It is so nice to be working outside with the sun shining on my back. We have had some fairly serious spring weather of late including winds that ripped through the garden at over 100km per hour! There has also been a few days where we experienced really heavy rainfall. Despite the weather the garden is still looking chirpy with new growth popping up everywhere and in another month or so it should start to look its best with most of the warm weather plants in bloom or just starting to pop open. My current favorite garden bed (the annual bed) is finally showing all of the flowers on the plants I planted there in winter. I have sown seeds including giant Hollyhocks and Zinnias in tubes ready to restock the annual bed for later in the year. I will post another update on the Parkville garden in a month or two when everything is firing at its peak.

The annual bed as it was a couple of months ago

 The annual bed as it is now. This time I planted Kale, Pansies, Violas, Cinerarias and Stocks

These Cinerarias look so much more blue in real life than in these photos. They were at their best about a week ago and are now starting to show some signs of old age.

These next two pictures are of the beds at the entrance. The Echium simplex flowers are almost all open. Also visible in the first picture is are some tree Euphorbias (Euphorbia lambii). In the second shot you can see the Hellebore flowers are still hanging on for dear life in the warm weather and behind them is a Salvia leucantha bush we pruned in the winter.

 

Below is a plant called a Sonchus (not sure of the species). Before this plant flowered I thought it was quite boring but now it has opened it sure is a head turner. It reminds me of a giant dandelion and is nudging 2 metres in height.

We have lots of bluebells in various locations in the gardens and they are all open at the moment.

 

One of the classic Melbourne plants, an Azalea.

This spring the Clivias are putting on a much better show than last year. They must have just the right conditions.

I really like this last plant. It is an Alyogyne which believe it or not is a plant indigenous to Australia. I occasionally  come across plants such as this that seem to look anything but Australian and it surprises me. I love the huge purple flowers. 

Winter flowering plants in Parkville

It's a common misconception that plants do not flower in winter. In Melbourne this is definitely not the case and I am a great believer in winter flowering plants they provide attractive colour  in the garden when the deciduous trees have lost their leaves. Although we are now approaching the middle of winter there are lots of beautiful plants in bloom at my work. Strangely the weather has been unseasonably warm lately with several days approaching 20 Celsius after frosty mornings. The warmer temperature makes gardening a lot more comfortably and to be honest I haven't hated the frosty mornings because, in Parkville, I have had lots of physical morning tasks that keep me warm. Of all the winter flowering plants my favorite has to be the Magnolia trees. There is one large specimen in Parkville that, so far, has not lost its buds to hungry possums. Last year it only had a handful of flowers due to bud loss but its looks as though it will fully flower this year.

Magnolia soulangiana. This could be my favorite tree and the flowers are just starting to pop.

The same tree as above. You can see how many flowers have already opened. This time last year we only had about half of what is shown here across the whole tree. Notice the sunny blue winter sky.

Hellebores are also starting to open. We have several different types in the Parkville garden.

Another Hellebore. Not sure of the variety but I'm fairly sure we sourced them from 'post office farm nursery' which is a grower up in Woodend near my home. They have open days on Sundays this time of the year. A link to their website is below.

http://www.postofficefarmnursery.com.au/

The annual bed is loaded with new plants. I planted Kale, Violas, Pansies, Cinerarias and Stocks. I also cannot bring myself to remove that small bunch of violets that have self seeded in the front of the bed. In a mont or so this bed should look fantastic.

I discovered this plant in flower whilst pruning some nearby Wisteria. It is called Luculia and its perfume smells amazing. 

The good old Salvia plant keeps flowering year round not just in winter.

Several bulbs have popped up out of the ground and this Jonquil seems to have beaten them all and flowering first.

Below is a Strelitzia or 'bird of paradise'. These plants are a common sight in many Melbourne gardens. They are tough plants which do not need much water.

Another one of my favs is the Kniphofia plant pictured below. The ones I propagated and planted at home have still not flowered but the ones in Parkville are in full bloom.

What's in the Macedon garden December 2012?

Summer update on my garden in Macedon. The lawn has lost its green lustre and is now a shade of straw which although unsightly means I don't have to mow as often, thank god! I planted lots of annuals and had mixed success with them. Lots were taken out by my own chickens when they were seedlings. I really did the annuals on the cheap and they were all the bargain basement seedlings from the local nursery (not that the nursery has a basement). The pansies however, were all from seed. I refer to them as my Grandma annuals because they are the old fashion favorite annuals and quite common. I bought half a metre of mushroom compost and dug it through some really poor soil to rejuvenate it and spread the rest as a mulch. The plants have really responded to it so I will definitely do it again next year.

The Marigolds took quite a hammering from the chickens and only a few survived.

The Snapdragons were untouched by both chicken and snail and all survived and thrived as the one below.

Below is the giant Ullswater blue pansy

Blackjack pansies.

My pride and joy this year giant Hollyhocks. I've been on a mission to grow these for a couple of years and have failed until this year. Even this lot has come close to being lost. First they contracted celery mosaic virus and had to be nursed back to health so they adapted and managed to overcome the symptoms of the virus. Secondly they came under attack from cabbage butterfly caterpillars (which I had to spray to clear). Thirdly they were smashed by really strong winds one night and a couple were on the ground the next day. I had to stake the wind damaged ones but they are looking good now. They haven't flowered yet but look ready to pop. I'll get some more photos when they bloom.

Awww a small Hollyhock bud.

This perennial is a Kniphofia (unsure of the species though). Its now much to look at now but it has a wonderful flower head in winter. It goes by the common name of 'red hot poker'. I propagated this by division last autumn and it looks ready to flower next winter.

Hydrangea macrophylla is an old fashioned favorite. These existed on the property when we bought it. They are an extremely common plant here in Victoria but i can't bring myself to get rid of them. I must have the acidic (low PH) soil here as the flowers are always blue.

My daughter planted these Impatiens and as with all the things she plants they have somehow thrived even with minimal intervention.

Below are some blueberries from my only blueberry bush. There seem to be lots on the bush this year so if the birds don't get to them I should harvest enough for a couple of punnets.

The ever reliable chives

The broadbeans have been really successful. They are nearing the end now but I've harvest heaps. Almost every day I pick some and eat them raw.

One of six sunflower seedlings. Fingers crossed some will grow to maturity. The bloody snails love these things.