A charming little flower that gives garden colour in winter is the Christmas rose (helleborus niger).
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It grows naturally in the shade of trees and shrubs in southern Europe, a latitude the same as Tasmania’s.
It grows best in a shaded place where the soil is deep and contains much humus and moisture.
Plant it in deciduous shade where you might grow ferns and protect it from strong winter winds.
This can be achieved simply by planting on the off-wind side of evergreen shrubs and trees.
The best time to plant Christmas roses is from now until winter and in early spring before much growth has been made.
Be careful not to damage the roots. Plant them so that the crown is no more than 2.5 centimetres below the soil surface.
Prepare the soil well with humus because the plant can stay there for decades.
Leaf mould and peat moss are good for further enriching the soil. Avoid using new manure.
Although they are woodland plants, Christmas roses don’t like very acid soils. The pH should be neutral. Add some lime if necessary.
Because they need so little attention once established, and because they flower when little else does, Christmas roses deserve a place in your garden.
Dare to be a little different
Sometimes it’s good to step outside our gardening comfort zone.
We can lift our gardens above the average and get a great feeling of satisfaction by growing some unusual things.
Albucas are a species of bulb which are easy to grow.
Albuca altissima can grow to about a metre and loves that forgotten dry spot under the eaves.
It produces white, waxy bells striped green on the back, on a tall, sturdy stalk.
The bulb, which sits on the soil rather than below it, doesn’t like moisture, strangely enough.
It swells to a large size and divides, forming a clump.
Albuca canadensis is smaller and has striking white or yellow bells striped green.
It is commonly called sentry in the box.
The miniature albuca humilis has open white flowers with inner petals tipped with yellow.
Arisaemas praecox has striking marbled leaves and burgundy-, brown-, green- and white-striped flowers. It is known as jack in the pulpit or the cobra plant.
It is easily grown in moist, shaded positions and does well in containers.
Brodiaea coccinea, the firecracker flower, has pendant bells of scarlet tubular flowers tipped with green.
Caring for Mums
Chrysanthemums are almost as bountiful as dahlias in providing colour during long periods with thousands of varieties and a multitude of colours.
They flower for months, thrive in a variety of soils and provide long-lasting cut flowers.
If you plant different varieties right through spring, you will have flowers from March well into winter.
Some chrysanthemums are annuals and others are perennials.
The annuals are grown from seed each year and the perennials are grown from cuttings or root division.
Choose an open, sunny spot and make sure it has plenty of sunshine and good air circulation.
Chrysanthemums like a neutral soil, so if it is at all acid, dig in some lime.
Mix plenty of well-rotted organic material into the soil before planting, or add a complete fertiliser high in phosphorus and potassium.
There are short, medium and tall varieties and most varieties will flower twice if cut back after first flowering.
The twice-flowering varieties should be planted before the end of winter.
After the first flowering, cut off all branches at ground level. New shoots should have already started growing, and these will produce a second crop of flowers in early autumn.