By Beatrice Hawkins
October is really garden month in Warwick. Tomorrow the garden competition entries close, and will be picked up and collated, with a plan of attack formulated for the judge who will commence his duties on Monday morning.
Then St Mark’s Women’s Guild 55th Annual Rose Show will be held on Friday 13 October.
The following week, Wednesday and Thursday 18 and 19 October, the Warwick Horticultural Society will hold the Annual Spring Flower Show in St Mary’s Hall in Wood Street. Last year, this was the largest flower show in Queensland, and we are hoping for good entries this year despite the atrocious gardening weather we have been experiencing.
The society is 109 years old this year, and with few exceptions have held a Spring Flower Show and Garden Competition annually. The Garden Competition winners will be announced on the Thursday afternoon of the flower show and prizes and trophies given for both competitions.
Annette Russell will have her magnificent garden in Killarney open to the public for all of October. If you like roses, put a visit on your list of “to do” things. The roses are all named and the perfume is wonderful! I admire roses, but am not a rose grower. I love their perfume and variety, but am not dedicated enough to provide the attention they need.
Lastly for the Rodeo Weekend, there is the Floral Competitions to be judged on Friday 27 October on design, creativity and condition of materials. So come up with a theme, enter and advertise you club, business or school to all the visitors that will be in town for the rodeo and campdraft.
The roses in the main street and town parks are pruned and fertilised annually by the staff so that they will be in full flower for this event. I am away as I am writing this and so have no idea how the Palmerin Street roses are looking, but know that the parks and gardens people will have done their best to have a great show for Rodeo Week.
At the moment, lavender is blooming everywhere. What a hardy and useful plant this is. There are a good many varieties and a really wide range of flower types and colours. It is a fragrant shrub from the Mediterranean area and has a long history of use as a sleep aid, an antiseptic and a tonic. Egyptians used it for embalming, ancient Greeks used the oil for medicine, Roman soldiers carried it as a wound dressing and to stop infection while monks and nuns in the middle ages in England grew it. It is still used for the majority of these uses today and also increasingly as a culinary herb.
The Royal Connection with Queen Victoria caused a peak in its popularity as a perfume during her reign as it was a favourite with her.
There are three varieties, English, French and Italian/Spanish. We are seeing a lot of the Italian varieties in a wide range of colours at the moment. They are easily recognised by the two brightly coloured wings on the top of each flower. The French Lavender has serrated leaves and the English lavender is considered the true lavender by many gardeners. Its strongly perfumed flowers bloom on square stems above aromatic grey-green foliage from winter through spring. This is the one flowering in my garden at present.
They like an open, sunny position but not where they have to suffer strong winds, good drainage is essential and they will tolerate light frosts. Mulching helps with water use and protects a little from frosts.
They grow well in pots, particularly terracotta pots, as they are porous and dry out quickly. Wet feet will make the plants susceptible to root rot and too much humidity can cause mould problems. Potted lavender placed near vegies is a good companion plant and lavender planted beneath standard white iceberg roses looks spectacular.
Prune the plants back in spring after flowering to keep them compact, but be careful not to go too hard as old wood will not regenerate.
Lavender makes a great hedge and is wonderful for attracting bees and butterflies to the garden…another reason to put a pot full near a vegie bed.. attracts the pollinators!
*This is an old article that has been digitised so our readers have access to our full catalogue.
