with Brownie
I HAVE been looking from my office window for the past two weeks trying to decide what I’d write about for this edition.
Maybe gardening gifts for Christmas … maybe Christmas tree ideas … or maybe gardening jokes to tell at Christmas (The neighbour’s dog poo’ed in our garden, so my wife told me to get a shovel and throw it over the fence. I don’t see what that solved. We’ve still got dog poo in our garden and the neighbour has my shovel).
But then my attention was caught by a striking red colour popping out from the mulch from under some bushes.
It was the flower of the Blood Lily or Red Ball Lily (Scadoxus multiflorus) and it makes a surprise appearance this time every year … and every year it’s just as big a surprise as the last.
It’s a surprise because the flower bursts from the ground before the leaves do.
The Blood Lily is a bulb originating from Africa and is one of the best you can grow for our area. Best in that it needs very little care and maintenance, and it doesn’t take up much space.
It’s really one of these’ set and forget’ types of plants. You just have to remember where it’s planted as for half the year, you’ll see nothing. Then in early summer, up pops the big red ball of flowers on a stalk, followed by the leaves.
They can be bought as established plants in pots from nurseries, or you can ask someone who has them to dig up a few bulbs from the clump.
Once they flower, they set fleshy berries containing black seeds which are pretty easy to germinate if sown fresh into a seedling tray. But seedlings grown like this will take a few years to grow a bulb big enough to be able to create a flower.
Grow them in large pots or in a prepared garden bed … but make sure they are protected from the sun. They really do prefer a fairly shaded spot – but not dark shade – under a tree or bush.
If you have children – or pets that like to chew plants – take care as all parts of the plant contain a fairly strong toxin. In their native range they were used to make poison for arrows and spears to hunt animals.
Just for laughs
A gardener purchased an old, run-down, abandoned lot with plans to turn it into a thriving show garden. The beds were grown over with weeds, the greenhouse was falling apart, and the irrigation was broken down. During his first day of work, the town priest stops by to bless the man’s work, saying, “May you and God work together to make this the garden of your dreams!”
A few months later, the priest stops by again to call on the man. Lo and behold, it’s a completely different place.
The greenhouse is completely rebuilt and in excellent condition; the lawns are green and lush; the sprinkler system is working a treat; and the gardens are filled with blossoming flowers, abundant vegetables and fruit falling from the trees.
“Amazing!” the priest says. “Look what God and you have accomplished together!” “Yes,” says the gardener, “but I don’t think God knows much about gardening.” “Why do you say that my son?” The gardener replies …“Do you not remember father, what the gardens were like when God was working alone!”
