By Beatrice Hawkins
I have always loved frangipani but until now have never lived in a climate that would let me be indulgent. I now have a healthy cream-flowered bush growing really well in a large pot and performing beautifully. I have another that I purchased for next to nothing at a market about 3 years ago that, although flourishing in its large pot, had not flowered. This week it exploded into flower and is a really spectacular bright pink. I am totally delighted with both and will be looking for even larger pots during the winter.
I had always thought of them as being fairly delicate and not able to be transplanted readily. I knew that to strike a cutting it was a good idea to leave it a few weeks before putting it into a pot as they needed to dry out. However I have recently read and seen of some very large and old trees transplanted very successfully. Certainly it was in the right climate in a seaside area of Perth, but even so I was amazed. 2 were very roughly removed from right beside a house before demolition and, with very little soil adhering to the roots, unceremoniously plonked onto a tabletop truck and taken some distance to the new position. The hole was dug deep and wide, all the necessary fertiliser, good soil and products to minimise transplant shock were used and the 10 foot high tree flourished.
Another that I saw was a 75 (!) year-old specimen. Considerably more care was taken with this removal and planting and it was nurtured in a 1000 litre bulks bag for 2 years before being given its final planting also in a Perth suburb. Apparently, as with most things, fertiliser and water were the magic ingredients.
One of my first memories of both frangipani and professionally made wedding bouquets, was when a neighbour was married. The bouquets were cream frangipani with a tiny, pale pink, Cecile Brunner rose bud inserted in the centre of each cream blossom…60 plus years on it is still one of the prettiest and unique bouquets I have ever seen.
I am not a rose grower but could be convinced to try that particular rose in my garden. There was a beautiful bush at each of 2 properties that we have owned and they seemed to be extremely easy care – a definite prerequisite for me!
Another one I would love to grow is the thornless yellow banksia rose that grew prolifically over the front porch of my grandparents’ house in Mudgee. I have grown this one on properties also and it was easy care and once established almost indestructible!
The original rose is still growing on the house where my mother was raised – it must be at least 120 years old now. Both these roses are sentimental favourites. 2 others are the beautiful “Peace”, the only rose my mum grew, and the pale pink single blooms of “Dainty Bess”, released when our queen was born. It was grown by a wonderful neighbour many years ago when I was an inquisitive small girl who was told and remembers the name.
On a different track now I have been enjoying the cool crisp watermelons that are available now and also the wonderful Black Muscat grapes that I have found in some specialist fruit shops. I am not a great fan of seedless watermelons or grapes.
As many of you may have realised I show my age by my preference for many of the older style fruits and vegetables and watermelons and rock melons both come into this category. Seedless watermelons really took over the market when I was working as a food services supervisor not that many years ago and they were ideal for serving to the elderly residents. The flavour though, was never as good in my estimation. The old Klondike Special, Sugar Baby and Warpaint were spectacular but I do understand the need for uniformity and all the other advantages of the new varieties for transporting and selling in supermarkets. Maybe next season, if water restrictions have been eased, I can grow some of the older varieties in my garden.
Similarly with grapes. The development of the Menindee irrigation area was the beginning of the population’s love affair with seedless grapes. A seedless green grape was developed, “Menindee Seedless” by name and flooded the market about 45 years ago about the time my son was born. Now it is unusual to find grapes with seeds for sale in supermarkets and I am led to believe child care centres are not able to serve grapes with seeds to young children and also have to cut grapes length ways to prevent them being a choking hazard… maybe there is another column in this sometime in the future.
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
