My earliest gardening efforts were inspired by the cottage gardening fashion in the 1980s, when many books were published looking back to this traditional form of horticulture in England. One of its aspects that appealed to me above all was the tall spires of flowers that seemed to abound in the photographs in these books: hollyhocks, foxgloves, Eremurus, delphiniums, lupins and campanulas, rising above a froth of flowers and foliage, and it was this vertical form that I craved in my first garden.
Alas, the Sydney climate is not terribly conducive to the majority of the quintessential English garden perennials, including many of the spired plants. I did try them all, and they would survive for maybe one season, only to perish during our humid, wet summers. Our lack of a truly cold winter also meant that they didn't achieve the same magnificence that they did in the gardening book photos! However, over the intervening years I have managed to experiment to discover what plant do perform well in our region to provide the same dramatic and uplifting effect, which still gives me the same thrill, even after 30 years! A couple of them are indeed classic English cottage perennials; others are warm-climate substitutes. Mid to late spring seems to be the time of the year here when many of them are in bloom.
Campanula rapunculusOne of the prettiest of the classics is Linaria purpurea (sometimes known as toadflax), which I grew from seed many years ago. Hundreds of them pop up in my garden each year, and individual plants will live for a couple of years. It has dainty tapers of tiny, clustered pink, white or purple flowers, and blooms from mid-spring until autumn. The plants don't take up too much space and squeeze themselves in amongst other plants. They seem to be very tough, not needing special soil or treatment. They will even grow in cracks in paving or on walls.
Another favourite is a Campanula - the only spired one I have ever had success with in Sydney. I know that many people in Sydney grow Campanula rapunculoides well here; mine was grown from seed marked Campanula rapunculus (pictured at the start of the blog) - it may be the same plant. In any case, it sends up spires of mauve-blue bells and blooms from mid-spring to the end of summer. It runs a little at the root but I have never found it to be a nuisance. It is one of the plants that really reminds me of my love of cottage gardens.
Gaura lindheimeriI also like Gaura lindheimeri as a plant for vertical form, though I know it is a naughty self-seeder and was banned from sale in nurseries for a few years. Those of us who have it will never be without it in our gardens due to its self-seeding ways and I still like it very much for its wands of wiry stems, bearing white or pink butterfly-like blooms all through summer. Its origins are in Louisiana and Texas in Northern America, so it enjoys our summer heat. It dies back to a woody base in winter.
Hedge of Lavandula dentata in the garden of Kerrie Babian in SydneyLavender is also a favourite cottage garden plant with massed spikes of bloom. There are many species and cultivars but not all do well in our climate, and even those which flourish need to be replaced every few years. One of the best for Sydney is the so-called French lavender: Lavandula dentata. It should be clipped back regularly, but never into old wood.
Acanthus mollis Bendigo SpiresOn a bolder note, various forms of Acanthus mollis are producing their chubby spires of flowers at the moment. My latest form, 'Bendigo Spires', has particularly tall stems and is a making an impact. The many cultivars of Kniphofia are also in flower around this time - breeding in recent years has seen the colour range expand beyond the original 'red-hot poker' look to encompass sophisticated pastels and lime greens.
Salvia DesleyHowever, the bulk of my spires come from my ever-expanding collection of Salvia. Over 20 years ago, I concluded that these plants offered me a substitute for the spired plants that were denied to me by the constraints of climate. Over those two decades, more and more Salvia species and cultivars have been introduced to gardeners and we are so fortunate that the vast majority of them adore the heat and warmth of Sydney summers, and can tolerate the lowest winter temperatures that most suburbs experience. My garden is filled with their spires from mid-spring until the end of autumn - not bad at all for what was a stand-in for the English classics!
You are absolutely right about the timing of these plants with the spires. My Acanthus mollis are sending up their attractive flowering spikes and already (as it seems early, but Christmas is not that far off) the mulleins or Verbascum are showing their cheerful yellow spikes of flowers.
I like Verbascum but they don't grow too well here. They would be great spires in the garden. Deirdre
Im about to make a new garden from scratch in memory of my little Italian Greyhound, Jessica.It will be a blue,white & silver garden and I need spires toward the centre. Thank you for your ideas. At Whitley near Moss Vale, open last week, there are some beautiful borders with spires.
I visited that lovely garden many years ago. Hope your new garden turns out well. Deirdre
I discovered Rudbeckia maxima a few months ago and it is now growing upwards. I am waiting to see if its 2 metre spires of yellow flowers eventuate. I now have several species of rudbeckia in the garden and I enjpy their bright yellow spires in the summer.
Hope that Rudbeckia grows well. It is a very striking specimen. Deirdre
Dreaming spires - have you thought about Penstemons? In my Mid North oast cottage garden I had a floppy red one. In October I planted two new beauties - an apricot/white and a mauve/white, tall spires that added to and enhanced my precious foxgloves and will probably last longer.
I do love Penstemon but they are one of the many perennials that don't really like our Sydney climate. I have grown them in the past but they don't flower very well. I think it is the lack of a cold winter that is one of the causes. You are lucky to be able to do well with them! Deirdre
l forgot about tall, slender yellow spring-flowering pokers (Kniphofia cv ) and lovely purple Salvia farinacea, both dreaming and gleaming, and if you are careful about suckers the brightest of blues in tall Saliva uliginosa.
Yes one has to be careful about Salvia uliginosa - it is beautiful but does like to sucker. Deirdre
Thanks, Deirdre. My garden is also spiralling away, wth a growing collection of salvias. Intense colours with contrasting delicacy blooms. Luverly.
It's a beautiful time of year. Deirdre
Deirdre my Salvia Costa Rica Blue hasnt stopped flowering for months now and my new Salvia African Skies is flowering now on long spikes and is such a lovely delicate sky blue.
They are two of my favourites, Mark. African Skies is such a good one - and it apparently grows well even in very hot, dry positions and in places with cold winters, as well as in Sydney. Deirdre
A spire like plant that does well in my Eastwood garden is larkspur. It self seeds and just keeps coming back each year. A few years ago I tried to grow delphiniums but they did not well for me in Sydney and I have found that larkspur is a very good substitute.
Thanks for that suggestion, Glennis! I know my parents used to grow them and I would like to try them some day. Deirdre
And one from the south where foxgloves and delphiniums are at their peak. I noted the warning about salvia uliginosa - my most feral plant is salvia patens - Cambridge Blue - I doubt I shall ever get it out.
Thanks, Jill. Definitely in Victoria you can grow many of these classics. I was amazed to hear of Salvia patens being a pest - I have never been able to keep it alive in my Sydney garden! Deirdre
Thank you for your blog Im new to this sight and enjoy reading the informative gardeing tips and wonderfull pictures that go along with it.Living in the wheatbelt of WA is quite a challange to even the keenest of gardeners; days! of 40 and above. Keep up the good work and come on Autum. Deb
I have just returned from Newcastle visiting friends where I found five small Gaura cuttings popped in 5 weeks before were flowering!! Have always envied my friend"s luck with popping cuttings in with no special treatment. Have oft said she could put a pencil in and a gum tree would grow!! Have brought a couple of rooted pieces back from her main plant and London to a Brick failure probably faces me!! Hope the plants strike, Maureen. I do like gaura. Deirdre
I love gaura so much, I forgive its reseeding habit. Funny, but my mother mentioned to me a while ago that once she would see gaura everywhere, but now she rarely sees it. Now I know why - it went off the market for a while. I have a verbena bonariensis which I love, and I still grow Queen Anne"s Lace. Both of these are tall. Hollyhocks too, although they tend to loll around, but I don"t care. I am afraid of planting acanthus in case I change my mind. What about eupatorium? I like the verbena and the Queen Anne"s lace, which is flowering well at the moment. You do have to be careful with Acanthus mollis but it can look spectacular under trees. Deirdre
I absolutely agree with you Deidre on Salvia in Sydney gardens. Mine are all thriving in Dural and give me constant colour until late Autumn replacing the blue delphiniums I too adored but had no luck with in Sydney. Gaura is a weed in my garden but I use it in the wild areas effectively and only the pink hybrids in my borders. I love the structure of foxgloves, Acanthus and the lime Kniphofias all tone so well with the deep Salvias. I cant imagine a garden without Salvias!!! Yes salvias are wonderful and I don"t know how we ever did without all the wonderful ones that we have available to us now! Deirdre
November climbers
17 Nov 24
Explore some of the vines in flower now.
Hydrangea buddies
10 Nov 24
Good companions for Hydrangea shrubs
Fuchsia time
03 Nov 24
November sees fuchsias come into their own.
Self-sown surprises in spring
27 Oct 24
It's fun to discover new plants in the garden.
Silver in the shade
20 Oct 24
Some beautiful silver-foliage plants thrive in shade.