THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 24879, 20 October 1942, Page 6

THE GARDEN

NATIVE FLOWERS By RIWHI October is a month during which many native plants are in bloom, and whether we look for them in the garden or in their native habitats they are both becoming and bright. Only to be found under cultivation is the brightest of them all, Clianthus Puniceus or Kaka beak. This scarlet-flowered shrub comes from the Bay of Plenty area, but there it has disappeared as a result of the depredations of stock. So it is now confined to gardens in coastal localities where frosts are not too severe. Clianthus is a comparatively short-lived shrub, it is easily propagated from seed so that it is best to keep young plants which flower much more profusely than older woody specimens. Against a warm wall or in a sheltered corner in the shrubbery it makes itself very much at home. Recently I have observed one against a fence in a very pretty setting intermixing its growth and its scarlet flowers with the young shoots of Cotoneaster Waterii. To make a trio of it a honeysuckle seems to be very much at home with the other two and not over rampant as it might have been. Many of our native trees are at their best when growing in the company of others, but the Kowhai makes a splendid specimen on its own. It is unfortunate that the South Island Kowhai goes through that twiggy juvenile stage before coming to blossom—a period of anything up to six or eight years; Its North Island counterpart, however, can be relied on to bloom within several years of planting; and so it has become deservedly more popular as a garden specimen. The gold of the Kowhai can be seen along the banks of most Southland streams at the present time. Kowhai can be raised from seed if care is taken to chip and soak the seeds before sowing them. ATTRACTIVE CLIMBER As a foil to the sombre greens of the forest are the festoons of starry white Clematis indivisa. This climber deserves much more attention at the hands of gardeners than it gets, although it must be conceded that its cousin “montana” excels it in growth and in profusion of blossom. The native clematis can be established in any cool, moist site where it has something to climb upon, and if it finds the place to its liking a few years will see it as rampant as any of its kind. Several good specimens can be seen about the city at the present time, and a trip to Thomson’s Bush at the north end of the town will reveal the clematis at its best in the native trees. Very soon another climber the white Parsonsia or native jasmine will be in full bloom; to its beautiful white masses it adds the attraction of a sweet scent. Among the small trees in bloom are

the Pittosporums Eugenoides—the lemon wood and tenuifolium—the kohuhu or black maple. Both of these are scented. Most attractive especially in its young stages is the Carpodetus or New Zealand may, also known as marble leaf. Its flowers have some semblance to the hawthorn and the trees bloom during the next few weeks. October also sees the main display of celmesias commencing. A border of these in an attractive setting flanks Elies road south of Yarrow street.