Time for a plant giveaway
Hinterland Homesteading with Racheal Pascoe
Spring time has been just beautiful around Nambour and the Hinterland. Each year I notice the colours of nature even more so. The beautiful Jacarandas announce the spring for us. They are plain trees all year, kind of hiding out… then boom, they reveal where they are with a canopy of lavender, which becomes petals of mauve coloured rain and then an amazing carpet of colour underneath the tree. They really are special. The Jacaranda is native to South America, but I am glad we have it here to brighten up our streets.
Another special flower we enjoy here is wisteria. It is a vine and is not much to look at all year and then it explodes with purple sprigs of the most amazing flowers that bounce around in the breeze. I have planted a few of these at home here and incredibly after only 2 years in the ground, they have rewarded me with heaps of super flowers this spring.
After marvelling at the Jacarandas and Wisteria… we come to the humble Agapanthus to round out the purple colour for the later part of the year.
Agapanthus flowers are my absolute favourite. They flower each year for my birthday in late November, what a treat! They are an evergreen perennial, so all year they are green and look lovely, then when you aren’t looking, they send up their first flower heads on metre long stems. We have a long driveway here at home and we have aggies planted along each side. When they are in flower, it is just so beautiful. My husband Gavin and I have a little competition each year, to see who can notice the first flower head popping up (Gav won again this year!).
The best part about aggies is that they are so easy to propagate. Each big plant is made up of many stalks that have a rhizome at the bottom. The large plant can be divided and planted again. I went to an agapanthus farm a long time ago and the farmer there showed me how propagate them. Dig out the big plant, and with a big kitchen knife, cut between each stalk, making sure to leave some roots on each one. Cut most of the green leaves off each plant. That is, you want to cut all the leaves quite short, don’t leave any long ones. This will help the plant to recover and grow again. You will end up with what looks like an oversized shallot. This is ready to plant. Keep it watered, mulch well and in no time, you will see some growth. In a year or two your plant will be big enough to flower.
There are lots of different colours of aggies from white and light lavenders through to dark purples. We have Guilfoyle Agapanthus at our place, which are dark in colour and seem almost iridescent at times. I would love to share some with you! Homesteading is all about sharing what we have, which includes produce, ideas and plants. After the aggies have flowered, I will be sure to share some with you in the New Year.
Happy gardening everyone!
