By Beatrice Hawkins
One of the beautiful shrubs I’ve seen about in gardens and parks lately is the pink variety of Indian Hawthorn. A beautiful, perfumed addition to any garden as a hedging plant or even in a pot, it is extremely hardy being drought tolerant as well as frost tolerant to -10 degrees!! I didn’t know about it when I lived at Walcha where we regularly had those temperatures in winter… it would have been a very useful addition to the landscape.
The only hawthorn I was aware if those days was definitely a pest although very beautiful in full flower. It had been introduced as a thorny “fence” or hedge and grew into large, almost tree sized, shrubs with beautiful flowers and clusters of red berries that birds loved. Consequently it soon spread from its intended site via droppings and became a real nuisance in grazing paddocks. The site of a hedge in full flower was a delight though if you weren’t aware of the potential problems it caused. As with so many things the old adage rings true “a weed is only a plant out of place” and the common hawthorn certainly fits the “weed” category in many areas of the country.
This common hawthorn is crataegus monogyma of the family rosaceae while the Indian hawthorn, of the same family rosaceae, is rhaphiolepis indica, which would seem to indicate that it is native to India, while in fact it comes from southern China.
While the Indian hawthorn is of the same family “rosaceae” it is not as rampant or prickly and is more easily contained in a garden but does have the potential to become a problem and is interesting in that it is listed in the top 200 most invasive plant species in the southern Queensland region. The blue berries that follow the flowers are very attractive to birds of all varieties and this is why it can become a problem.
Despite all of this, it is a very beautiful and common shrub in our parks and gardens and comes in a variety of colours and sizes from white through to deep pink and from about 40 cm high to 2 metres high and wide so there is a colour and size to fit most applications. Read the label carefully and ask your trusted nursery person before buying to make sure you have what you really want!
So many introduced plants, while beautiful and desirable in a garden, do have the potential to become a problem in our beautiful bush and this is why I do tend towards growing natives.
At the moment many grevilleas are in full flower and come in all sizes, shapes and colours from prostrate forms to large shrubs, from reds and pinks, to whites, yellows, orange and greenish hues. They are certainly bird attracting and provide havens for small native birds, like finches and blue wrens, a welcome addition to any garden, as well as nectar for our many larger parrots.
Bottle brush in many colours and sizes are also in full flower around town at the moment and providing a wonderful display.
How I look forward to the easing of water restrictions in our area, when we get rain and water in the dams and I am able to develop the garden area I have ready as my native garden.
The shrubs planted around the Lighthouse and the Uniting church are mostly natives and provide interest and colour for most of the year. At present eremophilas (emu bush) are putting on a display, some with silver grey foliage and mauve flowers and others in a wide range of colours from creamy white through red and burgundy to a mushroom shade with tiny brown speckles in their throat. Grevilleas in many shades and forms are flowering well and I as fortunate to see the amazing pots of rock lily orchids in bloom in the foyer.
In this pandemic it is very important for mental health to be able to be involved in either growing or looking at a garden. Even the chore of mowing a lawn is very beneficial to both physical and mental health! The huge crowds attracted to the “Carnival of Flowers” in Toowoomba over the last weeks is evidence of this. With our water restrictions though it is very hard to keep even treasured plants alive let alone expand a flower or vegetable garden.
Recycling shower and washing water helps but requires dedication and muscle – it is a tiring job bucketing water on to plants!! I have a hose connected to my washing machine and, as my block has a good slope, I am able to reticulate that water onto some of my garden. This is limited as one person doing the washing once a week does not use a lot of water! Prayers for good soaking rain to end this continuing drought, provide subsoil moisture and then run off into our water storages, are still a priority and happen every day.
Indoor plants are a good option but I have never had huge success with any of them – probably because I am away visiting family so much and the plants get neglected!!
Mulching our gardens is also a priority as the weather warms to help retain the moisture we do have and reduce evaporation.
Don’t forget the Garden Competition that will be judged on Monday October 5th. As we go to print it is not too late to enter. If you think your garden is not good enough enter anyway – you never know your luck and all entries help to keep the competition that I believe is the longest running in Queensland and maybe Australia, alive. Without your entries we don’t have a competition!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
