This was our annual general meeting at which the following committee was appointed:
President: Don Kay, Vice-President: Phil Parry, Secretary: Bill Morrison, Treasurer: Margaret Eedle, Newsletter Editor: Noel Main, Librarian: Shirley Faull, Plant Sales: Ilse Beulke, Pots Sales: Doug Youren, Supper: Andrea and Deanne Walker and Vi Monk, Web Editor: Mark Moravec, Committee Members: Richard Cain, Ted Beulke, Bev Youren
There will be a committee meeting at 7pm on Friday, 13 June, prior to the monthly meeting. Please be prompt.
A comprehensive text of Ron Lycette's talk at the May meeting can be found further into the News- letter. He gave us a great deal to think about and we are probably looking at our plants through fresh eyes.
The speaker will be Bob Stephenson and his topic "Crassulaceae" -more information later in the Newsietter.
Please remember to bring your special plant for the competition and also any plants which you may wish to sell. (The Club takes a small percentage from these sales).
Can you please begin to have ideas for our winter display which will be in the Conservatory from mid-September to early October? We shall need both ideas and plants.
A special talk on carnivorous plants by Patrick Jones. Patrick, from suburban Doveton, runs Xanrdu Gardens and is a regular exhibitor at Murrumbidgee Farm Fair.
Originally given in Canberra Easter 2001.Our appreciation to Ron and also our members for the mass of plant material, which made this night so very interesting. Ron mentioned also Fibonacci numbers more on this in a future newsletter .
Read your Plants by Ron Lycette
© Copyright 2001/2003 by Ron Lycette
If plants could talk!
They surely would have a lot to say to us. I am strongly of the opinion that not too much would be complimentary. Likewise, if they could write we would be receiving endless texts, probably in much the same vein.
Here I am, asking the gardening fraternity, "to read their plants', when they know full well, that plants cannot put pen to paper. But they do have messages, embodied in their shape and form. What we have to do is to better understand and interpret these messages.
Look hard! Look intensely ,read the messages and this key to growing better plants may be yours.
This is Not a New Idea
Reading plants or identifying needs with shape and form is not strictly a new idea. People having been trying to interpret plant form with human need for a very long time, probably even as long ago as the pre-Neolithic era when most were hunters and gatherers. Not until the first 'herbals' were produced however, are there any records which show such interest.
In 1588, Giambattista Porta published his herbal known as the Phytognomonica in Naples and included an account of the 'Doctrine of Signatures'; a theory developed around the belief that each plant bore a visible mark that revealed its intended value to mankind.
Plants which had sharply cut leaves or thorns could be used in the treatment of insect and animal bites, while others with heart shaped leaves, bulbs or fruit, such as the peach or citron were to proclaimed as remedies for heart troubles. Furthermore, species with overlapping scales such as pine cones, lily bulbs and the flower heads of scabiosa, could be employed in treating conditions characterised by scaly skin. The kernels of walnuts, with their resemblance to the brain, naturally enough were associated with that organ and used in its treatment.
Although this theory and its variants had supporters up until the nineteenth century , it naturally enough was gradually disproved as the sciences of botany and medicine parted ways: botanical literature tended more and more to ignore the medicinal properties of plants, and medical books included less material on plants.
'Reading the Leaf'
Leaf shape and form generally gives an indication to the gardener about a plant's ideal cultural and siting requirements. Sunlight is the all Important Influence.
Sunlight, through its intensity or weakness within the natural environment, has the greatest influence on plant form. Plants require a measure of light to carry out photosynthesis.
Plants can be divided into two groups, sun plants and shade plants, the difference being decided by the level of light intensity required to saturate their photosynthetic needs. Shade tolerant plants are species which naturally grow under the canopy of others. Their photosynthesis can function with levels of light one tenth the intensity of full sunlight. Sun plants, on the other hand cannot perform their normal functions in the shade but do usually have means to modify the high intensitiy of full sunlight. Higher light values than necessary for the photosynthetis needs of plants occur in many natural environments and plants have modified their form and functions to meet these circumstances.
The different levels of leaves on trees can tolerate variations in light intensity, the upper most leaves cope with higher values than those beneath. (Prune a leafy tree in the season of full sun and you will readily see 'sun scorch').
On a bright cloudless day, with temperatures within a moderate range photosynthesis is at optimum level. The amount of Carbon dioxide removed from the air by a photosynthesising plant, crop, forest or garden can be substantial, since normal air contains little of the gas. There is little wonder that a walk in the garden can be so invigorating!
Plants with expansive leaves generally occur in locations where the intensity of the suns rays are in some way lessened by incessant cloud cover, or natural shade, while the opposite is true of narrow leafed plants.
Many of the xerophytic plants including many desert species which are incorporated in gardens, exhibit fascinating modifications to cope with the high light values and extreme temperature variations common to their natural environment.
It is these modifications which often prove attractive and interesting to gardeners particularly if the surface of the leaves are pigmented with red or grey, or covered in a waxy cuticle or downy hair. The pigmentation is sometimes found to be more intense in either the new or older growth, the fonner when the young developing leaf is vulnerable, the latter can be linked sometimes to leaf maturity and the deposit of toxins.
Coloured, waxy or hairy leaves on non-deciduous plants frequently indicates preference for an open sunny situation, as does the presence of succulent leaves or stems.
Cool temperate climate deciduous trees cope with seasonal variation in temperature and light values by reverting to dormancy in winter. Some tropical plants exhibit leaf drop during the periods of high light and high temperature. Neither of these types will grow particularly well under reverse weather conditions.
Leaf shape and presentation both singularly and collectively, on a branch or stem is not only linked to light values, but does have a role in directing water to wherever in the plant it is needed.
Carefully observe how a leaf deals with water and apply it appropriately to the plant.
The prevalence and type of precipitation and humidity together with the modifying role of co-habiting plants in any specie's natural environment will effect leaf shape. Expansive leaf blades collect or direct water effectively. Fine wispy leaves allow water to pass whereas channelled leaves direct it downwards to a centralised root region
Reading the flowers
Flowers are just not "pretty, pretty for our sakes. The dictionary describes them as the "coloured part of a plant from which the fruit or seed is later developed". This reproductive role is the primary role of the flower, the generally pleasing appearance to us humans is our oood fortune. Their general shape, form, colour and scent, if they have any, has evolved more because of their close partnership members of the animal kingdom and in particular insects. For the necessary pollination of their flowers, plants cannot take the initiative as they are fixed to one spot. Over the hundred million years or more they have been evolving the flower have developed great diversity in making themselves both attractive and necessary to life forms with mobility. The display of colour,texture, form and brightness in flowers has worked wonders!
Colour which is usually one of our primary interests is dictated to us by the range of colours visible to humans. Red a popular colour with most people is not seen by bees, yellow, blue and ultraviolet are the bees' most appealing colours.
Most flowers are borne on a reproductive shoot or inflorescence, it is often composed of a system of branches, a primary axis and branches from which ultimately further flowers may arise. The layout of the inflorescence combined with the shape and texture of the individual blooms is one of the chief devices developed by plants to successfully advertise pollination needs.
One of the cherished desires of every gardener is to plant a garden full of year round interest. The principal requirement for this is to have frequent and regular displays of coloured flowers. Sometimes we achieve this by initiating a pruning program to encourage flowering, by lifting and drying bulbs, or by planting short-lived ephemerals such as the wonderful array of Cape annuals. This muster of "flower power' will prove a valuable draw-card to the myriad of insect and bird pollinators which adds dramatically to the overall interest of any garden.
"Read your flowering plants" to best understand the true reason why they are flowering prolifically, study which pollinators are their preference and site the plants where best they might meet up with them. As useful guide is full or partial sun for bees, flies and butterflies, shade for. moths and open sun for nectar birds.
Wind pollination is important for grasses, sedges and rushes and many trees.Because of the extravagant production of pollen from most of these plants it is not nonnally necessary to be concerned over siting.
Reading the Roots and Stems
Other signs are to be found in the roots. In each species of plant the appearance of these organs is relatively consistent among all the individuals hence we are able to predict patterns and habits of growth readily. Most of the evergreen shrubs and annuals have a fibrous rooting system while the deciduous shrubs and trees, biennials and perennial herbaceous plants have tap roots.
A great many plants have modified roots and stems which form into asexually reproductive organs, the root tubers from roots and the bulbs, corms and rhizomes from buds and stems. If a plant has such a modified organ it is a strong indication that it originally came from a natural habitat subject to seasonal dry periods and invariably prefers the same conditions from our gardens. Should it be difficult to reproduce these conditions in one way or another, the plant may fail to flower, reproduce or indeed survive.
Most aerial stems are cylindrical. The young shoots of many plants are tender and vulnerable to damage and can change in shape and strength with maturity .This tender growth period is usually closely allied to seasonal changes. Should these seasonal conditions be uncharacteristic the growth can be damaged. In nature the plant has in built mechanisms to modify or replicate the growth, at home, in the garden, the same may happen but under the prevailing modified domestic conditions. By "reading" the stem and predicting its growth spurts and development it is possible to better position plants in the garden to meet erratic weather conditions.
The modified stems of many of our garden plants provide us with horticultural interest , replacing the leaves as phyllocades in butchers broom,Ruscus aculeatus and in the cacti or forming stem tendrils, Passiflora spp. and the spines of plants such as "amatungulu" Carissa spp. All these modifications indicate strongly the growth and habitat requirements of the specific plant.
The climbing or scrambling habits of a plant are indicated clearly by its generally weak supporting stem and its climbing spines, hooks or tendrils.
Stolons and runners as found in strawberrles,are stems which grow along the substrate surface fanning out from the parent plant. They usually extend the territory of a plant very effectively and indicate that under ideal growing conditions the spe.cies can be naturally invasive.
A stem extending horizontally below ground level is known as a rhizome. They tend to be thick and fleshy and can usually bear simplified scale leaves. Rhizomatous plants may tend to be weedy under optimum conditions.
The adventurous gardener can hone the skills associated with good plant husbandry and use these in conjunction with the knowledge gained from research, discovery and investigation in the successful cultivation of a wide range of plants. The process of gaining this experience and knowledge can truly be an adventure adding a great deal to the recreational and therapeutic aspects of the craft. Natural curiosity and well conditioned powers of observation are truly essential if the best use of the natural elements is to be achieved in any landscape, whether at home, in your own garden, or in the world at large.
As did Giambattista Porta develop his Doctrine of Signatures, gardeners should look for their own 'signatures' but rather than accept fanciful ones seek out the signs which best indicate something definite about the plant's original habitat.
The signatures are not always clear and are often misleading, but they are there and can be a very Ireat addition to a gardener's accrued knowledge.
Water Requirements
All plants must have access to water, in one form or another. For the plant to remain turgid and healthy water must be balanced between gain and loss through the various mechanisms available to the plant. Naturally enough all species have different water requirements and in the natural environment this water is provided by the interplay between meteorological and geographical influences. In the home garden there are an established set of the same influences which are however unlikely to replicate exactly the environmental conditions associated with any particular species in its habitat.
This is where the skill of the gardener is paramount, for to succeed with any plant and bring it to the point of maturation he or she must, firstly know the plant, understand its requirements and reproduce them to the best ability .
Drought- Can Kill and Stunt Growth
Under drought conditions it is easy to recognise plants under stress. Generally the leafy ones are the first to show the signs while others with the capacity to slow down their transpiration, or draw on stored resources, survive longer. The woody plants frequently hide their stressed condition for a longer time and only show damage symptoms in the following season. On noting these issues it becomes very clear to an observant gardener, that the supply of water is a key factor in the health and survival of his or her plants.
Some plants, such as cacti and succulents are drought resistant; these are known as xerophytes. The water loving aquatic plants or hydrophytes, are confined to gardens with ponds and lakes. It is the third group, the mesophytes, which are unable to live under the extreme conditions of the foregoing groups. These comprise most of the plants found in our gardens.
Growing plants from either end of the 'water spectrum' need not be difficult. In fact, when the requirements are well understood they are very worthwhile additions to any garden. Failure with these plants usually results from a lack of knowledge or an inability to provide the appropriate environment.
A Modern Approach
The modem world looks for other 'signatures' in plants. Those which tell us something of the original habitat and of the wild plant's fornl of evolution and adaptation. The recognition of these signatures is dependant on the extent of the gardener's knowledge about plant fornl or shape and how it might be 'read' to help towards a better understanding of its cultural needs.
No matter how developed and hybridised our garden plants are they all have wild relatives or progenitors. Tracing arid finding out about these is initially important. Of equal importance is an understanding of the wild plant's habitat and the environmental conditions that influence it.
The Habitat Factors of Plants
The surroundings or environment of any individual wild plant or its community is complex and subjected to the inter-action of a number of external factors. These are the habitat factors and are based on the influences of climate, soil and cohabiting plants and animals. They naturally interact in numerous ways and because of the infinite number of combinations have resulted in the vast range of plants we know today.
The climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall, humidity, light and wind are very much major influences. Temperature depends more or less directly on the sun and is varied by seasonal patterns; rainfall to, often follows a pattern. Atmospheric humidity is important because it has a direct influence on the rate of evaporation from the soil and the rate of transpiration from plants. Vegetation also controls humidity by the transpiration of leaves and by protecting from drying winds.
Photos by Mark Moravec
Present collection and growing conditions.
The couple have a large double block overlooking Daylesford and have adapted to the extremes of that climate with extensive use of cactus and succulents. Currently, level four water restrictions are in force, but a small water tank suffices for this area. Much of their collection began as part of the market stock, kept because "they might come in handy". They certainly have!
Outdoors, experimentation has shown what will thrive where. An area under the eaves with easterly aspect contains many small pots and hanging baskets of rat-tails. Shade cloth is hung like curtains (stitched with durable fishing line) and thus easily adjusted to give protection in both summer and winter. (This even allows for several months of absence for mid-winter holidays. )
An enclosed hallway facing west is a pleasant entrance area with a lovely display of beautiful plants including Crassula hummel's sunset, kedrestis africana (the "sleeping pet"plant we all admired at the Begonia Festival), numerous decorative gasterias and aloes. Hanging baskets complete the scene. (Apparently their current tenant is a little too tall to allow the full display.)
Yuccas do well outside. One cutting from Jim Kinnersley about eight eight years ago has now grown into a bush which is thriving in a very difficult NW corner. (Thirteen flower heads this year.) Numerous plants have been propagated from this one, with an attractive hedge now developing along the fenceline. A large outdoor bed displays many fine plants: opuntias, crassulas, yuccas, various cereus, oreocereus, notocactus, trichocereus and cleistocactus (Silver Candle). A couple of neat tricks bring frost protection. Many of the plants are actually in pots and can be easily moved for winter. Ted also allows long grass to grow around the bed, which offers some insulating protection.
Trial and error also affects the choice of plants. Another bed, under the shelter of trees, has healthy aloes and sempervivum, while gasterias have not prospered and will be removed. Similar protection will not be enough for a large bench of epiphylums, so plastic sheeting will be erected for winter. Nearby, an experimental Selenicereus grandijflorus (Queen of the night, acquired in Queensland) is growing up the trunk of a eucalypt. Its fate will be clear with the frosts.
Special tips
Ted speaks of how he began by thinking that succulents were easy to look after, but now he "knows better". He has taken considerable steps to understand the needs of each plant and enjoyed the challenge of adapting conditions accordingly. It can be complicated, as when providing shelter for plants creates good conditions for mealy bugs, scale and occasional rot. Persistence with metho and a sharp eye keep these at bay. Overall, though, hard work (physical and mental) has brought results.
Ted's philosophy seems to be a very balanced one for any gardener. He likes to try things out and working out solutions to problems. If it doesn't work, he tries something else. Most of all, he enjoys his garden and loves to see his favourites thriving.
The fourth of a series by Shirley Faull
