By Beatrice Hawkins
As many of you would realise I am only a relatively recent Queenslander by adoption and not a fan of big cities, so consequently had not been to the centre of Brisbane until recently. I needed to accompany a friend to an appointment and we took the train in from Ipswich. Near Roma street station in a park I found a great sculpture of a single Poinsettia bloom – what a spectacular sight and how appropriate for a park.
It is called Poinsettia Riverfire and is 10.5 metres high and apparently has integrated lighting so would look wonderful at night. It was designed by Luke Roberts, who took his inspiration from the adjacent Roma Street gardens and celebrates the annual Riverfire Festival and other fireworks displays held on the river throughout the year.
I’ve discovered also that the poinsettia is the floral emblem of Brisbane and was adopted as such in 1930 after a public ballot that offered a choice of 10 different plants. Only two of the 10 were Australian natives and not necessarily Queensland natives. How horticulture has changed in the intervening years with the huge popularity and availability of natives now.
The 10 plants proposed by the Queensland Horticultural Society at this time were: bauhinia, bougainvillea, callistemon, gerbera, hibiscus, jacaranda, lagerstroemia, poinciana, poinsettia, and sterculia acerifolia (flame tree).
The selection criteria suggested to the public were published in the newspaper as follows:
• It should be easily propagated and therefore cheap.
• It should lend itself to illustration and reproduction.
• It should be small enough to be easily grown in a small allotment.
• It should be striking and arresting. Showy.
• It should be hardy and able to withstand the vagaries of the weather and climate.
• It would be an advantage if it was stock repellent.
• It would be an advantage if it was a thornless plant.
• It is of much importance to select a plant that excels itself here.
• A plant that flowers during the tourist season might receive extra consideration.
The ballot was close, with the poinsettia receiving 1294 votes and the bougainvillea 1275. It was adopted as the floral emblem at a ceremony at the recently-opened Brisbane City Hall on 16th June 1930.
The sculpture that inspired my research was unveiled in May 2016.
As a flower seen in Brisbane streets and gardens that I’ve noticed, I’d have to say the poinsettia has been eclipsed by both the bougainvillea and the poinciana, so maybe it’s time it was planted en masse in public parks and gardens to revive its popularity.
While this is not particularly applicable to our town I like trivia, and if you have a spot protected from frost they will grow in Warwick and are very showy. I’ve been seeing them for sale in nurseries lately and this is a more appropriate time for them to be in flower than at Christmas but still a bit early to be flowering without intervention and manipulation as they require more hours of cold and darkness than we have at the moment.
Another point I find interesting is that the poinsettia flower is in reality a very insignificant and unassuming creamy white blossom that does not attract pollinators. The beautiful red ‘flower’ that we associate with the shrub is, in fact, the leaves that surround the blossoms. In recent times these have been manipulated and now can be obtained in a range of colours from cream through pink to the original bright red.
Certainly our city flower, the rose, is to be seen in many private gardens and the council has over 2000 planted in the parks and town gardens. Warwick adopted the rose as its emblem in 1964 after the idea had first been proposed by the Warwick Horticultural Society in 1961. The ‘City of Warwick’ rose was created in 1991 after an approach to Swane’s Nurseries. It was, however, created by Bear Creek Nurseries in the US and funded by our council. It is a high-centred red bloom on long strong stems and apparently has become very popular around the world.
Finally – two ‘must remember’ dates! Wednesday 30th May at 7pm in the CWA rooms for a free night out with Brian Sams – and the bus trip to the Esk Garden and Lifestyle Fair on Saturday June 16th.
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue
