ORGANIC FLWES
E
ach garden, each person, each grower
undoubtedly has a style, a personality.
When it comes to ornamentals, mine is
a mixture between the emulation of a fi eld of
wildfl owers and the joy in growing ordered
rows of cultivated fl owers. I love both. It
seems I may be a person of extremes.
Along with farming and gardening
in Australia, I now live part-time in Italy
reconnecting with family. Bulk sunfl owers in
summer in Italy among olive trees, and spring
fi elds of wild mixed Mediterranean fl owers,
contrast with my 60m rows of dahlias in
Australia. Each with a different experience,
different learning. Both bring me equal joy.
I keep a small notebook with seasonal notes
and timings, to remind me of the seasons before.
Things I have observed, fl ower varieties I loved.
If you never pick one fl ower, the joy of growing
them is enough. If you feel as I do at times that
the winter cold will never end, here is some
motivation, a journal of your own, to get out
and plant for summer – you will thank your
past self when summer fi nally arrives.
Spring, a time when the winds change and
leaves pop. For us, when in Victoria, it’s the ash
trees that are often the marker. When they begin
to grow their new leaves, it’s also time for us
to wake up from our winter dormancy and get
planting; and when they start to fl ower, we
know we’re running out of time to get everything
in the ground. It is a fl urry of planting from
late September to early November.
Here are a few fl ower profi les, to inspire your
planting during this time. Most of these are not
frost hardy, so make sure to plant them out into
your garden only after the risk of frost has passed!Treatyourself toagarden fullofdazzlinganddelicate flowers
withthesespring-plantedfavouritesfromLentilPurbrick.Pic o t bunc