Top ten list of garden plants

  • Abutilons of all kinds
  • Buddlejas old and new
  • Epiphytic orchids and ferns
  • Gordonia species
  • Heliotrope, Lemon verbena, Fennel and herbs
  • Michelias of all sorts
  • Perennial Salvias large and small
  • Species Camellias
  • Tea and China Roses
  • Weigela of all types

Montville Rose

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Gardening up to Christmas

picture: Clerodendrum bungeii

Summer this year seems to be like 2010 with cooler cloudy days , showers or rain and ideal growing conditions for the garden. The damp soil is ideal for weed growth such as the tropical chick weed, but also ideal for pulling them out.
All of our juvenile heritage roses are doubling in size (with only one or two casualties). Newly acquired Salvias such as 'indigo Spires', 'Megans Magic' and several unnamed Salvia microphylla cultivars are growing well.
A bit of insect protection has meant that our various Hibiscus syriacus, Hibiscus mutabilis and Hibiscus insularis cultivars are flowering and look much better than last year.
Kyleigh has estabilshed healthy cuttings specimens of all manner of perennials to sell at our Open garden in Easter 2012 or to offer to Bus trip visitors in the new year. Some of the cuttings such as Ruscus, Hypericum and Iochroma warscewiczii we will keep for ourselves.
Even tough our days are sometmes quite dark and cloudy it is still quite relaxing to sit in the garden, listening to the birds. Oh! just remembered we saw a Richmond Bird Wing Butterfly head through the garden the other day.
New Cordyllines added today, along with replacements for our Salvia discolor . Cuttings of old roses 'La Marne' and 'Peace 1902' also planred out in south rose garden.
We hope Christmas is a fine day for all of us
Michael Simpson

Sunday, November 13, 2011

New England and Mount Wilson

Alpine garden at The Boulevard, Armidale.

During November our Queensland branch of 'Heritage Roses in Australia' (HRIA) toured gardens at Warwick, Glen Innes, Tamworth and then enjoyed the St.Peters garden weekend in Armidale where 10 gardens were on display.
Once again hanks goes to Barbara and Vic Beerling for the research and organization which made this trip so successful. For our part after an extra night at Armidale we travelled on to Mt Wilson via the Upper hunter and Bylong Valley to Mt. Wilson in the Blue Mountains.
For Queenslanders the European trees in New England and the Blue Mountains, the Acers, Oaks, Elms, Liriodendron, copper Beech, Poplars, Willows and conifers such as Norwegian Spruce are are visual contrast to what we see around us at home. Shrubs such as the Rhododendrons, Kolwitzias, Laurels, Crabapples and Peonies are also new experiences for Queensland eyes.
The exuberant growth of so many fabulous roses reinforced how difficult our aspiration for rose growing is in the sub-tropics. However, I did notice a conspicuous lack of the sort of old tea, china and noisette roses which grow in our climate.
The heritage rose garden established at 'Pringle Cottage' at Warwick is a credit to the society who manages this historic precinct. We stayed at 'Guy House' with some beautiful gardens in Warwick.
At Glen Innes we visited the beautiful country gardens of Eileen Landers and her son next door.
In cattle country near Tamworth we visited an extraordinary garden of Evelyn Loseby with collections of all sorts including roses, iris, pelargonium and elegantly displayed large cacti of all sorts.
The tour was a marvellous and varied experience, in perfect weather. Unexpected pleasures came from our visit to Nundle with its working woolen mill and the wonderful hospitality of Sue and Rob Bedford and their neighbours with a bar-b-que for the HRIA group at their beautiful garden in Armidale.
We hired a car while the others travelled in a hired bus and at Armidale we stayed at Lindsay House overlooking the beautiful park and cathedral precinct. Our car enabled us to enjoy a wonderful afternoon at the house and garden of Saumarez Homestead at Armidale and visit Booloominbah House in the grounds of the New England University.
It is quite a long step to Mt.Wilson from Armidale (and home again) but the roadside scenery was dramatic and always wonderful to see. Towns such as Scone, Murrurundi and Rylstone on the way there and back, including Tenterfield of course, had some surprisingly good cafes. The industrial landscape around Lithgow is dramatic in itself.
At Mount Wilson we stayed at the old teachers cottage and met Tim Gow who had agreed to show us around. Luckily for us the bush was full of wild flowers including both red and white waratah and the beautiful Mountain Ash. The large 19th century hill station gardens at Mt.Wilson are so special as to defy description. Very few people actually seem to live there, there are no shops , cafes and almost no one around. The silence is deafening.
We visited 'Bebeah' (Tim Gow was staying at Bebeah Cottage) with 12 acres of manicured garden rooms, century old oaks, a large ornamental lake and collections of Rhododendron, Maple, Azaleas (including Mollis Azaleas) and much more. The owner Barry Byrne was apparently away.
Next we went to 'Withycombe' yet another extraordinary collection of fine old, European trees ornamental shrubs, lawns and terraces around a beautiful house encircled by verandahs. Yet again the owners were not home sadly.
At 'Merry Garth' yet another garden, the result of 30 years of expert plant collecting, where, this time, Keith Raines but sadly not Libby Raines was at home. With views to the valleys far below 'Merry Garth' contains an enormous variety in many genus including alpine species, Rhododendrons, Maples and the remarkable Kalmias.
Storm damage, which was not so obvious to us had dramatically affected some residents such as the owner of 'Wynstay'. Mt. Wilson had lost part of its historic avenue of Elms. We visted St.Georges Church and yard with its ancient tree ferns and the dramatic stony Wynnes lookout.
We visited 'Sefton Cottage' with its stone walls and may beautiful shrubs and perennials. With a camera each our collection of photographs was expanding by this stage.
At 'Windyridge' the beautifully diverse terraces, steps, ponds and paths contained a wild variety of ornamental plants in excellent condition. As always no owner around but we did find a gardener to speak to.
Now we love our quiet at Montville but the degree of isolation and even loneliness at Mount Wilson made it quite a relief to visit Mt.Victoria and then on to Katoomba and the unmissable view from Echo point. At Leura we even found a present for our grandson Leo.
In spite of all the diverse beauty we saw in those elevated cold climate gardens we are so glad to live and garden at Montville in Queensland.
Michael Simpson

Monday, October 31, 2011

The Rain returns

Picture. Our rustic fountain of coral and shells.
With a return to rainy weather a number of gardening chores become easier. We have added yet more plants of course, transplanted yet more and added more succulents (Bulbophyllum, Echieveria etc) to the from embankment.

Salvia microphylla "Penny's Smile", Salvia microphylla "Miss Scarlet" Salvia unidentified cultivar resembles s.microphylla red flower black calyx Cuphea purpurea (Batplant) Stokesia Blue Parasols and Tagetes patula Marigold "Vanilla' cream flowers

Kyleigh has prepared and labelled hundreds of pots with cuttings of many of our best and most reliable perennials for our Open garden in April 2012. Although our solar founain pump did not last more is expected from our solar outdoor lighting.

We have completed a makeover at the Montville Village Hall including adding new plants (A Gardenia, Cuphea compacta, Salvia microphylla cv red flowers/black calyx, Parsley, Fennel, Thai and Greek Basil). Roses were all sprayed and all plants fertilized. Very tall Hibiscus were extensively pruned as were many perennials.

Michael Simpson

Monday, September 26, 2011

Open garden new plantings


One of the exciting things about having an open garden and a birthday close together is the number of new plants which come into the garden. Here is a list of our latest additions

Plant additions sept 2011

all from Kate Stock at Hunchy as cuttings

Salvia x hybrid 'Phyllis Fancy", mauve and white from "Waverly"

Salvia x hybrid "Waverley"

Salvia involucrata hybrid "Romantic Rose"

Salvia hybrid (S. longispicata and S. farinacea) "Indigo Spires"

Tradescantia andersonia hybrid (purple flower)

Penstemon hybrid

Tea Roses from cutting "Lady Hillingdon" South garden

" Rubens" “Hay Valley Tea ROR” probably same as "Rose sold as Mme Hoste ROR". ... (usually sold as 'Rubens' or 'Mme Laurette Messimy', sometimes as “Octavus Weld" East Garden

"Parks Yellow Tea Scented" Wisteria trellis

Other roses from cutting "Safrano' Uniting Church

"Carabella" Uniting Church

" Weeping Pink China" Montville Hall

Plants as birthday gifts

Leptospermum "Naoko" L. flavescens 'Cardwell' x L.scoparium nana

Rhododendron indica "Alba magnifica' from Montville Surgery

Rhododendron indica "Mrs Kint" from Eleanor , both Azaleas near

Cassia fistula

Camellia japonica "Emperor of Russia" variegated Chris and Ed Donlen, near drive

Magnolia grandiflora "Kay Parris" from Margaret and Jon Outridge, placed near Wisteria trellis

Dipladenia sanderi red, from Mum and Dad near East boundary

Rhaphealepis indica "Springtime" from Mum and Dad near the stone circle

Calceolaria x hybrid yellow from Paula and James, Hydrangea walk

Ornithogalum thyrsoides hybrid "Chesapeake Starlight", one from Mum and Dad, one from Tracy and Chris Collie, East Garden

Shrub roses "Make a Wish" Floribunda, Treloar Michelle and Michael Johnston, path garden

"Paul Bocuse" Guillot, France Ruth and Tom Moroney , south garden

"Lili Marlene" Floribunda Kordes 1959 Germany, from Eleanor, path garden.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Open Garden

Thankyou to everyone who came along to our Open Garden on the weekend. We were very fortunate with the weather and it was the complete opposite to last year being beautifully sunny and warm.
Thanks to the local Hunchy Association there were hundreds of plants including heritage roses on sale and many people were walking out the gate laden with plants.
There were also two classic cars in addition to our fords and we thank the owners for having them on display.
I particularly enjoyed talking to the visitors and watching the many children exploring the garden.
Visitors came from far and wide and everyone seemed to enjoy their time here. It is always nice to see people have an extended visit to the garden and to see them relax and take their time because there is a lot to see.
So many people asked if I had made the scones that we served for Devonshire and Maroochyshire teas. No ,I didn't make the scones but I did prepare the garden.
Once again we asked ourselves why we open the garden ?
It is a great deal of work and we decided to do several new projects in preparation so having a date to work to certainly makes you get things done.
We always enjoy meeting visitors to the garden and talking about plants.
We like seeing local organisations benifit from the day through the plant stalls.
We like sharing the garden with others.
Most of all we hope that visitors will go away with ideas for their own gardens.
Our next Garden Opening with Open Gardens Australia is in April 2012 on the Easter Weekend.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Open garden Countdown


With our Open garden fast approaching on the 17th and 18th September we are finally approaching the end of some projects and some of the preparation.
The 'plough Inn' , our old packing shed has been renovated or at least brought back to a safe condition with the help of friends. Our rustic garden feature/fountain has reached a satidfactory stage although I have not really identified the various ferns which we have planted to decorate it. some i can identify such as the Doodia, Pteris and Adiantum species. Other identifications will be a job for the future.

Our 'Gatehouse' has been erected near the front gate to greet visitor in shelter. The gatepost nearest had to be removed and will need replacing this weekend.

Showers and rain continue and all that we can hope is that he weather will be fine for the day

Dendrobium moschatum yellow flowering orchid, South America

Pedilanthus tithymaloides syn Euphorbia tithymalacoides (zig zag plant, devils backbone)

Euchomis comosa var. "Chocolate pineapple lily' South Africa Garden hybrid

Hibiscus mutabilis var. "Tony" single crimson

Hydrangea macrophylla 'maiko'

Hydrangea macrophylla variegatum

Osteospermum varieties

Otocanthus caeruleus (Little Blue Boy, Brazilian Snapdragon)

Pelargonium hortorum "Big red", also a single pink

Pandorea jasminoides variegatum

Pandorea pandorana var. 'Golden Showers'

Pandorea pandorana

Camellia japonica 'Helenor'

Camellia japonica 'Tabb'

Camellia japonica 'Fimbriata'

Camellia japonica 'Great Eastern'

Trees removed or heavily reduced

Anona (Custard Apple) , overshaded in an area dominated by Red cedars and other trees

Delonix regia (Poinciana) , very tall, brittle and has not flowered in 15 years. In an area already fully occupied by Brachychiton acerfolius, Bolly gum, Red cedar.

Tibouchina 'Noelene' An area to be redeveloped to illustrate Michelia and very old fashion Camelias with variegated or mottled flower patterns.

June 2011 In a cleared area where a Custard Apple tree was removed.

Rhoeo, Bromeliads and 3 x slowly recovering Sygygium spp

Cordylline fruticosa rubra x3

Deiffenbachia var. x1

Pleomele reflexa 'variegated' Song of India India

Codiaeum var. x2

Begonia rhizomatous

Cycas revoluta (Sago cycad) x3 Southern Japan

transplanted small non thriving Cordyllines x3

From Mount Tambourine and Sunray Nursery Nambour

Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill'

Magnolia x soulangeana unknown hybrid

In renovated gardens both front and back of house

Echium candicans x3

Felicia amelloides x2

Artemisia pontica Roman Wormwood Southern Europe

Artemisia arborescens Tree Wormwood Middle east

Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa French Tarragon Caspian, Siberia

Tagetes lucida Mexican Tarragon

Dorotheanthus bellidiformis Livingstone Daisy South Africa

Osteospermum var. 'Serenity Sunburst'

Pachyveria glauca hybrid Mexico

Pachyphytum oviferum Mexico

Echeveria hybrid Mexico

Rhoeo spathacia central America

In Northern gardens

Abrophyllum ornans Native hydrangea

Randia benthamiana syn Atractocarpus benthamianus Narrow leaved Gardenia

Alocasia brisbanensis formerly A. macrorrhizos Cunjevoi

Anopterus macleayanus Macleay Laurel

Seedlings and seeds sewn during June/ July/ August 2011

Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla Rainbow chard

Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia Cos or Romaine lettuce

Borago officinalis Borage

Helianthus annuus Sunflower

Viola X Wittrockiana Patiola violet Pansy

Viola tricolor

Petunia x hybrida

Pisum sativum garden Pea

Oenethera missouriensis Evening Primrose

Cleome hasslerianan

Antirrhinum majus Snapdragon

Brassica oleacea var.sabellica Kale

Capsicum annuum

Cucurbita pepo Zucchini

Dianthus barbutus Sweet William

Gypsophila panniculata Babys breath

Limomium tataricum Statice

Petroselinum crispum Parsley small and large leaf varieties.

Daucus carota Queens Annes Lace


Dendrobium moschatum yellow flowering orchid, South America

Pedilanthus tithymaloides syn Euphorbia tithymalacoides (zig zag plant, devils backbone)

Euchomis comosa var. "Chocolate pineapple lily' South Africa Garden hybrid

Hibiscus mutabilis var. "Tony" single crimson

Hydrangea macrophylla 'maiko'

Hydrangea macrophylla variegatum

Osteospermum varieties

Otocanthus caeruleus (Little Blue Boy, Brazilian Snapdragon)

Pelargonium hortorum "Big red", also a single pink

Pandorea jasminoides variegatum

Pandorea pandorana var. 'Golden Showers'

Pandorea pandorana

Kays Apricot china rose may be Mme Jules Thibaud

Camellia japonica 'Helenor'

Camellia japonica 'Tabb'

Camellia japonica 'Fimbriata'

Camellia japonica 'Great Eastern'

Trees removed or heavily reduced

Anona (Custard Apple) , overshaded in an area dominated by Red cedars and other trees

Delonix regia (Poinciana) , very tall, brittle and has not flowered in 15 years. In an area already fully occupied by Brachychiton acerfolius, Bolly gum, Red cedar.

Tibouchina 'Noelene' An area to be redeveloped to illustrate Michelia and very old fashion Camelias with variegated or mottled flower patterns.

June 2011 In a cleared area where a Custard Apple tree was removed.

Cordylline fruticosa rubra x3

Deiffenbachia var. x1

Pleomele reflexa 'variegated' Song of India India

Codiaeum var. x2

Begonia rhizomatous

Cycas revoluta (Sago cycad) x3 Southern Japan

transplanted small non thriving Cordyllines x3

From mount tambourine

Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill'

Magnolia x soulangeana unknown hybrid

In front gardens

Echium candicans x3

Felicia amelloides x2

Artemisia pontica Roman Wormwood Southern Europe

Artemisia arborescens Tree Wormwood Middle east

Artemisia dracunculus var. sativa French Tarragon Caspian, Siberia

Tagetes lucida Mexican Tarragon

Dorotheanthus bellidiformis Livingstone Daisy South Africa

Osteospermum var. 'Serenity Sunburst'

Pachyveria glauca hybrid Mexico

Pachyphytum oviferum Mexico

Echeveria hybrid Mexico

Rhoeo spathacia central America

Abrophyllum ornans Native hydrangea

Randia benthamiana syn Atractocarpus benthamianus Narrow leaved Gardenia

Alocasia brisbanensis formerly A. macrorrhizos Cunjevoi

Anopterus macleayanus Macleay Laurel

seedlings and seeds sewn during June/ July/ August 2011

Beta vulgaris subsp. cicla Rainbow chard

Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia Cos or Romaine lettuce

Borago officinalis Borage

Helianthus annuus Sunflower

Viola X Wittrockiana Patiola violet Pansy

Viola tricolor

Petunia x hybrida

Pisum sativum garden Pea

Oenethera missouriensis Evening Primrose

Cleome hasslerianan

Antirrhinum majus Snapdragon

Brassica oleacea var.sabellica Kale

Capsicum annuum

Cucurbita pepo Zucchini

Dianthus barbutus Sweet William

Gypsophila panniculata Babys breath

Limomium tataricum Statice

Petroselinum crispum Parsley small and large leaf varieties.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Garden history and garden inventories






August 2011 we spent the weekend at Maryborough discussing garden history. The following draft was presented on Sunday on the topic of Garden plant inventories.

Our preparations for our open garden have been put on hold but for a very pleasant reason. Heavy rain after 8 weeks of dry has given our seedlings and new plantings a guaranteed lease on life. New additions include (from Mt Tambourine) Magnolia x loebneri 'Merrill', and Pelargonium 'Big Red' among others.

Our rustic coral and shell fountain structure is coming on well and enhanced by the planting of different fern species which I ave not catalogued.



Draft of Garden History and the vital Role of Garden Plant Inventories in Conservation.

Dr Michael Simpson

Australian Garden History Conference

Maryborough, August, 2011


Picture: Kyleigh at "Baddow House" , Queens Street, Maryborough


Any of us who has visited a large old garden and seen the twisted remnant shrubs and big old trees in it may wonder about their past and worry about their future. The lumps and bumps on the ground and half buried lines of stone may reveal mysterious clues to previous garden beds and structures. Old photographs may show a house in a luxuriant setting where we see only remnant trees and shrubs or a place telling a story of many phases of rise and decline.

The study of a mature garden is inexorably linked to the study of the plants grown within it as much as an understanding of the people who made the garden and those who altered it and recorded it in successive generations.

Even though Queensland's European settlement and therefore its oldest remaining gardens only go back about one hundred and seventy years a wealth of maturing gardens and plant populations has been lost in the pressure to subdivide urban land with little or no protection on the basis of "heritage value". Queensland's remaining garden heritage rests in mature gardens which should have plant inventories made for them. The fashionable plants going into newly built gardens in new suburbs today will be the historic gardens of the future and therefore should have their plant catalogue documented. Gardeners lucky enough to live with an old garden and those of us who make gardens now should be recording the plants in them for future researchers of garden history as well as for historical, genealogical, horticultural and conservation purposes. For completeness and rigour a garden plant catalogue should include everything from the bulbs and rhizomes under the ground, grasses, shrubs, perennials, vines, water plants, trees and all things ornamental and productive

The topic of conservation of gardens perhaps using plant inventories is not just an academic one, based on the evidence and data possessed and understood by a few. Beautiful gardens touch us all because they decay, are revived and evolve, sometimes over generations, to become a work of art. Seeing bulldozers rip through a mature garden to create a new development, a common event in Queensland, is no different to seeing someone throw acid over a painting by Fred McCubbin. Whereas we all expect that the painting is protected and secure the garden as a work of art has almost no enforceable protection but survives on good will and luck alone.

Therefore it seemed to us that every tool available, including garden plant inventories, should be used when creating the evidence planners require when arguing for the conservation of important gardens and landscapes. Publishing the evidence, including inventories, widely and especially online, may enrol popular support when a conservation issue may become a political one.

The membership of the Australian Garden History Society, when surveyed, "strongly endorsed our continuing advocacy role-after 25 years, this is still a key objective of the society" (1). Detailed garden plant inventories should be seen as a standard tool in this advocacy for the conservation of gardens and landscapes.

Are plant inventories being made? Are they widely available? The answers are maybe and no! The Garden Plant Conservation Association of Australia (GPCAA) registers collections of garden plants and these collections are the subject of updated plant inventories (refer www.rbg.vic.gov.au/garden-plant-conservation-gpcaa) .The journal of the Australian Garden History Society contains a few reports which include detailed garden plans accompanied by printed or online plant lists (2) (3). Branches of the Australian Garden History Society in Victoria and ACT-Monaro have prepared booklets which include a garden plan and a plant list for sites such as "Belmont", "Buda", "Bishopscourt", "Turkeith" and "Mooleric" and a few others (4). Australia's botanical garden curators of course maintain inventories of the changing plant populations within their gardens for example the Brisbane Botanic Gardens plant Census 2010 which lists plants systematically without description or notes (5). This census describes a collection of 15,000 plants representing 3988 taxa (5). Commercial nursery catalogues form an ongoing source of record of the plants grown in Australian Gardens. Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra, has been recognised for its role in development of the cities tree lined streets and gardenscape by being placed on the register of the National estate (6). Yarralumla Nursery like many other nurseries has its plant catalogue published online (6).

Historical references such as 19th century plant catalogues of Australia's Botanic gardens and plant Nurseries are not only of research interest but speak of evolving domestic garden fashion and the role of plant inventories in the development of colonial commerce and development (7),(8),(9). They may also illustrate how many garden plants we use today have been popular in gardens throughout European history in Australia. They may also be used as reference material when planning the replanting of an historic garden in keeping with a nominated period such as the 1870s for example.

As for frequently visited gardens it may be possible to request inspection of the current plant list, for example at "Everglades" at Leura and at "Alton" at Mt. Macedon there is a tree survey from the 1990s available on their website if you go looking.

A visitor or researcher may ask to see the 1997 Garden and Grounds conservation Plan for the magnificent garden at "Runnymede" at Hobart (extract, appendix 1.) but you'd have to be aware that this document existed.

The 1997 "Runnymede" garden conservation plan only mentions two plants by name and only one of those is the binomial. There was no plant inventory included in the plan to objectively describe the garden and assist the recommendation to plant specimens "in common use" during the period of significance. This latter recommendation seemed at odds with the 19th century ambition to acquire new plants very much not in "common use". Overall the conservation planning for the garden at "Runnymede" as in other important gardens would be very much enhanced by the wide publication of the gardens plant inventory today, as it would have been in 1997 (appendix 1.).

On visiting the open garden "Tallaringa" on Mount Tambourine the owners Christine and John Youngman keep a card system with the binomial at the top of a card for each plant and a picture plants label or a photograph. This is a large garden with extensive collections of exotic shrubs going back to the 1920s. At "Tallaringa" a rain forest area has been the subject of a formal report by a botanist identifying species within it. Only by asking would anyone see this private record of the collections of plants at "Tallaringa".

Some well known and historical gardens may have privately or officially compiled garden plans and plant inventories which are not available to the public. However, I would contend that most of Australia's private gardens, even those of historical importance may not have a current plant inventory or any systematic record of plants grown throughout their development.

A few gardens do have well researched and detailed photographic and descriptive accounts of the plants within them due to the energy and devotion of a literary occupant.

The renovation of the garden and the development of plant collections at "Forest Hall" in Tasmania has been described beautifully in a book by Susan Irvine (10). Another 2002 book by Leo Schofield described plantings in detail, including plant lists, in his renovation of "Bronte House" in Sydney (11).

Conservation of these latter gardens is greatly assisted by having a permanent readable record for interested citizens and Government organizations to use as evidence.

The Walling survey report of 2003 sponsored by Victorian Heritage attempted to list and make recommendations about extant gardens with plans by the garden designer Edna Walling (12). This report did not include plant inventories, except in listing natural landscape vegetation in areas advocated by the designer. However Edna Walling's labelled plant schemes have been widely published and comparing these to what remains of these plantings, for example at certain properties at Bickleigh Vale, would demonstrate the evolution of those gardens (12) (13). A brochure by the Victorian heritage register for an Open garden Scheme day in 2005 lists Indigenous trees, conifers and Edna Walling 'signature' plants at Bickleigh Vale (Heritage Victoria 11/10/05). Accuracy still depends heavily on the plans of the original designer rather than modern record keeping.

The 19th century inventory of the plants in a large private garden, written in the hand of the owner, such as the extensive plant ledger of East Talgai Homestead on the Darling Downs, is a rare and valuable document (14).

Although the garden is very much altered and much of the planting has disappeared one can point to trees and shrubs in the garden and using photographs for comparison know when they were planted and whose hand recorded the event (14). However, there is no published modern catalogue of the plants in the garden at Talgai Homestead and no planting information is mentioned in conservation documents such as the listing on the Queensland Heritage Register (www.epa.qld.gov.au/chims place ID 600006 21/8/1992). The website for heritage NSW lists quite a number of gardens and named gardens without any access to plant lists if they exist (www.heritage.nsw.gov.au).

The lack of an accessible plant catalogue, accompanying notes and plans is a common situation for many of Australia's historic gardens.

Without an inventory of plants and the collation of previous inventories there is no evidence of what plants survive from an historic period in a garden and what plants, if any left to see, are new.

Without old planting records it is difficult to interpret historic garden plantings today.

Without new plant catalogues being created there may be no evidence to pass on to future generations for the care and protection of important new or renovated gardens.

Without the evidence provided by planting inventories it is more difficult to construct a case for conservation on the basis of heritage value or horticultural gene pool.

Sadly, the conservation of beautiful and historic gardens and landscapes requires this evidence to be available and maintained to manage the threat of destruction through inappropriate development.

As a members of the Australian Garden History Society and as builders of a complicated garden over twenty years my wife Kyleigh and I undertook a project to revise and record our own garden plant catalogue of "The Shambles" at Montville (15). The plant inventory of our garden had already been published in two previous books and illustrated in a garden DVD film (16), (17), (18). The plant catalogue is also published and updated online at our website www.montvillegarden.com

In order to answer the question, "Was this grown in the 'old days' in Queensland?", we used the revised version of our own plant inventory to research and record evidence for the 'heritage plant' label attached to many of the plants grown in our modern garden. To this end we selected a number of references, including the oldest available botanical and acclimatization garden, nursery and garden catalogues and annotated each plant in our list. The inference we drew was similar to that made using stratigraphy in geology.

We inferred that if, for example, Agapanthus praecox was grown in the Brisbane Botanical gardens, as recorded in Walter Hill's Catalogue of 1875 (7) then it may well be found in private gardens from 1875 if not earlier and therefore, in current parlance, may be termed a 'heritage plant'.

Overall, the aims of writing and publishing "Australian Gardens Making History, the Vital Role of Making and Keeping Gardens Inventories" and presenting this garden inventory to the Australian Garden History Society conference were threefold

1. Create a discussion around what we see as an important tool, namely, Plant catalogues, labelled planting schemes and photographs in garden history research, which may guide conservation and even legislated protection of historic gardens and landscapes. For a modern gardener the creation of a plant inventory may inform future researchers and conservation planning for gardens of our time.

2. To propose for debate a model for cataloguing a garden which may include plant lists, interesting descriptions, horticultural notes and reproducible evidence for the use of certain plants at earlier stages of European settlement. In our model references to specialist plant societies, including web references, are made when recording particular species where there are large numbers of plant varieties and specialist study of them.

3. To contend that garden plant inventories should be made readable, interesting and available by publication in printed format and distributed as widely and freely as possible via websites and social media. Long plant lists may be collected by a few researchers but a more readable, frequently updated document may survive the test of time if supported by plans, photography and written evidence.

A more readable document may help the reader understand the context of the garden and the aspirations of the people who made it and therefore be a better tool for conservation.

Already we have received comment and online suggestions for corrections to plant names and other data in our own garden inventory which I have reprinted as an 'erratum' page included in the print version of "Australian Gardens Making History, the vital Role of Making and Keeping Garden inventories" (15) and on our website www.montvillegarden.com .

Lastly we presented a seven step suggested guide for commencing a garden inventory in language which would be suited to the non professional gardener (15) & Appendix 2. The task of creating a garden inventory de novo is quite challenging and time consuming but at the same time can be very absorbing.

Many of Australia's important gardens are in private hands and not all keen gardeners have been interested in cataloguing bulbs, vines, trees shrubs and perennials etc. except perhaps in their own memory.

Hopefully, our project will stimulate debate about the role of inventories in preserving the knowledge of these gardeners and providing evidence to assist the evolution and conservation of their gardens and those of historic places for future generations.

Perhaps a project of the Australian Garden History Society could be to collect, collate and publish online, via the AGHS website, as many modern inventories of gardens great and small, as can be gathered with web links to those inventories published online by other organizations. Perhaps gardens, including the inventory of plants within them could be registered with the AGHS in the same way that plant collections may be registered with the Garden Plant Conservation association of Australia (refer www.rbg.vic.gov.au/garden-plant-conservation-gpcaa )

One of the main challenges that confronts the goal of conservation of mature and historic gardens in Australia is the loss that may occur when the garden changes hands by sale or when maintenance fails due to inheritance by less interested family members. Succession planning for the ongoing care of a mature garden, using updated garden plant inventories and a formal guidance and advice role through the AGHS could be used to manage this issue. Farmers and other businesses recognise the need for succession planning. Gardeners such as ourselves may do well to plan to preserve the gardens name or title, important structures and living plant inventory in our gardens by recording these and nominating a successor, succession timeframe and training. A role for development of specific and legally binding conservation protection with advice from the AGHS could be modelled on the documents developed by the Garden History Society in the UK (refer conservation@gardenhistorysociety.org)

Legally binding codicils protecting the garden when making a will or placing protective restrictions on a gardens real estate title might be an avenue for conservation which would be assisted by updated garden plant inventories. As a lawyer would perhaps say in this context , "If it isn't written down, then it never happened".

References.

1. Colleen Morris, Visions & Voices, The Australian Garden History Society 1980-2005: Foreword, page 1.

2. Wendy Joyner and Cas Middlemis An Adelaide Garden: Dulwich House, Australian Garden History, Vol.15 No.5 2004 pages 9-14

3. Volkhard Wehner Genesis of a Historic Garden Part 1-edna Walling at Folly farm Australian Garden History, Vol.16 No.2 2004 pages 8-14

4. Helen Page, Visions and Voices , The Australian Garden History Society 1980-2005: Helping Hands: Many Willing Hands, page 14.

5. R.D. McKinnon, P.M. Cameron and B.H. Cooney Brisbane Botanic Gardens (Mt.Coot-tha) Plant census 2010, Brisbane City Council, Brisbane 2010

6. Yarralumla Nursery Plant catalogue www.tams.act.gov.au/live/yarralumla_nursery

7. Walter Hill Catalogue of the Plants in the Queensland Botanic Gardens, Government Printer, Brisbane 1875.

8. Frederick Manson Bailey, Colonial Botanist, Catalogue of Plants in the two Metropolitan Gardens, The Brisbane Botanic Garden and Bowen Park (The Garden of the Queensland Acclimatization Society), Government Printer, Brisbane 1885

9. Catalogue of Plants for Sale by Michael Guilfoyle” Exotic Nursery, Double bay, Sydney 1851

10. Susan Irvine, The Garden of Forest Hall, Viking ,Australia, 2002

11. Leo Schofield, The Garden at Bronte House , Viking Australia, 2002.

12. Karen Olsen, Walling Survey Report, Heritage Council of Victoria, Australia, 2003.

13. Edna Walling, The Edna Walling Book of Australian Garden Design, Anne O'Donovan Publisher, Australia, 1980.

14. Talgai Homestead, Plant Ledger, commenced 1868-1907 Ellen and George Clark. Additions after 1907-1942 George Carr Clark, 1945-1965 Bardwell

15. Kyleigh and Dr. Michael Simpson, Australian Gardens Making History, the Vital Role of Making and Keeping Garden Inventories, self published 2010

17 Kyleigh and Dr. Michael Simpson, The Shambles, the Story of a Montville Garden, self published, Australia, 2007

18. Kyleigh and Michael Simpson, Over the Fence and Overlooked, Traditional Plants In Queensland’s Gardening Heritage. Copyright publishing, Brisbane, Australia 2009

19. A Garden in the Rain, The Shambles DVD film, Producer Robert Simpson, Director Michael Simpson, Montville Australia 2009

Appendix 1

Extract from: Runnymede Garden and Grounds Conservation Plan

Prepared for the National Trust of Australia (Tasmania)

Nigel Lewis Richard Aitken Pty Ltd. November 1997

Summary of Major Recommendations

Conservation of the garden should include a combination of retention of existing plantings, some new plantings, and some removal and replacement of existing plantings. The framework of the garden should reflect the period of primary significance (i.e. Pitcairn and Nixon) but in general the detail planting and layout should reflect the period of contributory significance (Bayley and Bayly families, especially to 1941), especially where there is considerable interpretive potential in later plantings.

Where new trees are required these should be drawn from plants known to have been widely available in the period of primary significance to ensure that the property overall retains its mid-Victorian character.

Any trees not in common use during the period of significance should be progressively removed and replaced.

Existing shrubberies and garden beds should be progressively reworked to remove modern hybrids and plants not in common use during the period of significance.

Selection of appropriate plants should be based on documentary sic.(such as early photographs) supplemented by information from early plant and seed catalogues. (references page 54-55)

Detailed planting plans based on this conservation plan should be prepared by the Runnymede House Committee in consultation with the head gardener, House Manager, garden volunteers and outside consultation as deemed appropriate. (page 54)

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Back yards

Even since I was a child I have loved to look at gardens. Usually over the fence as I walked home from school or even from the train as I travelled on the Shorncliffe line to Brisbane.
Looking over the fences you could see the plants and so much more. Many people went to great lengths to make their gardens useful and there were vegetable gardens, flowers, bbq areas, car ports ,clothes lines , pathways and low chain wire fences. Every home seemed to have a point of difference and there were people who obviously took great pride in their garden spaces.
Naturally there were others who couldn't care less and cursory lawn mowing may be all that was done or not.
The garden is a reflection of the owner and making a home can extend into the outdoor space.
Roy Strong in his book ,'The Lasket' states,"Gardens are not created in limbo. How few books I have read on particular gardens have ever spelt out the social,political and economic climate against which they were conceived."
When I think of those suburban Brisbane gardens in the late 60's and 70's there was a definate mend and make do aspect to gardens suggesting the economic restraints. I remember one garden right near the Sandgate station that was quite flash because it had so much concrete and fancy balustrading. It all seemed to be home made and someone obviously put time and money into that garden. People didn't seem to spend money on gardens when we lived. There might be one or two people who had lovely lawns and a sense of design. Often the arrangements looked like the Yates Garden Guide cover and the fashion for gerbras and low brick fences reminds me of that time.
Most people had gardens that were grown from cuttings . Plants that were shared over the fence mean't that certain hardy plants became the common staples of everyones garden.
When you were riding home on the afternoon train during summer the sea breeze would get into full swing at about Nudgee. The wind would rush through the carriage and you would forget the heat of Brisbane and the stillness of the inner city suburbs.
The houses with their back yards up against the rail line would begin to become shady and the dry clothes flapped wildly on rotary hills hoists. The green lawns looked subdued and welcoming. Sometimes there would be children and dogs playing there. Waving hands stretched up at the train and gone in a flash.
I love that domestic garden space and I like that there are people doing diffent things in every garden. Someone might be building a boat, fixing a car, arriving home from work, someone is watering the garden, mowing the lawn, bringing in the washing. It is that the space outdoors has a use that intrigues me. It may be the home made trellis , uneven paving, obviously repaired fences and repainted letter boxes that make the space unique. It may not be a work of art or classic garden but it tells of the social and economic time.
Kyleigh