With the help of Ashraf our garden-hand, Wilson our driver and Jeevan our housekeeper, I’ve been putting on the garden tree bark chips.
These will serve to shade the plants’ roots keeping them cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
They will also help to hold in moisture and veil the most unsightly drip pipes and suppress the weeds, therefore, vastly reducing labour. I obtained the chips from Jassim’s Garden Centre.
Years ago, I put on the beds pine bark, but with the wind, it travelled all over the garden and became an utter menace, so I dug it into the soil, which improved its texture.
This tree bark is heavy and stays put, behaving as it is supposed to.
Not only does the bark serve several purposes, it looks extremely handsome and lifts the plants, which all appear lit-up.
It smells utterly delicious, of all the forest’s trees, and mirrors a forest’s carpet.
But take heed. It is essential to open the bags and leave them standing for a while to allow the gases to dissipate otherwise the lower leaves of the plants will faint and shrivel.
I have also just procured a number of treasures from Al Bader Garden Nursery on Janabiya Highway, which arrived from India.
These include Ipomoea learii, Mussenda phillippica (Rosea), Scuttellaria variegata, Clerodendron wallichii, Clerodendron thomsonea, Passiflora coccinea, Callistemon citrinus (Little John), and best of all Pyrostegia venusta, which Al Bader is selling under its other botanical name, Bignonia venusta.
Ipomoea learii is a perennial climber with ovate entire leaves and bugle-shaped flowers, with a white tube and a sky-blue limb, turning purple and pink.
I’ve planted one on the west-facing wall against a trellis and another up a tall bamboo stick against a Saraca indica tree from which it will cascade. The purple flowers will flatter the fiery-orange spidery umbels of the Saraca.
I have planted several of the Mussenda in the borders and on the banks of the lagoon’s waterfall. This will bear small sunny-yellow, star-shaped flowers and silky hairy soft leaves.
It has odd, ovate, glitzy sepals, which will be either frothy-egg-white pink or vermillion-red, and will cover the shrub almost entirely by their masses. The plant will mature into a delightful spreading plant.
I have tried growing Mussenda for years, always bringing them home from Thailand – bear-rooted. But they just hate root-shock and have never made it, for even a moment.
These new procurements are as perky as can be, and I have great faith in them surviving the summer, for they relish heat and full sun and don’t suffer root disturbance – all with a perfectly developed root-ball.
Scuttellaria variegata has lovely variegated leaves and four-angled racemes of long tubed flowers of a magnificent red colour.
It is a shrub that does just as well in light shade or full sun. It is planted in full sun in several borders and on the banks of the lagoon.
Clerodendron wallichii is an alluring, large vigorous shrub, with weeping branches. It has glossy and leathery leaves, which are a rich, forest-green almost a foot-long. The fabulous flower panicles are as much as 45cm long and are pendant in style.
The flower stalks are a delightful coral-red as are the small calyces.
It will shower eight-centimetre-wide immaculate white flowers, the petals form a semi-circle, with generously extended curled stamens that sweep down imitating a sixth petal and consist of white silky filaments and gleaming orange-red anthers – undeniably a magnificent bower.
This I have planted on a north-facing wall, up a frangipani tree (Plumeria obtusa) up a large post and another up a Spathodia campanulata.
I already had a Clerodendron thomsonea, but I wanted two others, one to ascend a blue flowering tree that we bought three years ago from Thailand and have misplaced its name.
Anyway, when it flowers, which it may well do this year, it will look simply gorgeous dressed in the white-granny-bonnets of thomsonea dripping blood-red hearts.
Passiflora coccinea has leaves representing splayed fingers and bravura flowers of a crimson colour. This loveliness I have planted on the front corner of the north-facing wall of the house.
It will look simply divine when it travels to meet Allamanda Jamaican “Sunset” and then travels on to caress the Baumantia with flowers of spotless-white.
Together, the trio will take on a most picturesque-look.
The darling miniature, rich-red brushes gifted on callistemon “Little John” are simply gorgeous. This dwarf form takes up little space and adores full sun.
When we were, years ago, in Mombassa, Kenya, we saw a house roof in flames. It was the blaze of Pyrostegia venusta (Bignonia venusta) covering the entire roof.
This must be one of the most celestial plants in the plant kingdom, for when it detonates its flame orange bloom, you can see its fire from afar.
This native of southern Brazil and Paraguay grows at a phenomenal rate to over 10 metres. Give it sun, sun, sun and it will repay you with a most exciting fireworks display.
I have planted several. One is planted on top of each of the two banks of the waterfall to gush down, representing glowing, orange rivers. Another is planted with a Clerodendron thomsonea on the front of the house, what a picture that promises to be.
Yet another is planted up a trellis, in a circular bed in front of our indoor swimming pool, and is surrounded by Hawaiian Hibiscus and Scuttellaria variegata what a portrait they will make.
Keep in mind that these plants have come from shade houses and will require, except Pyrostegia venusta (Bignonia venusta), some initial shade.
Use three bamboo sticks form a wigwam and cover it with 75 per cent shade netting. The skirt of the netting should be held in place with bent pieces of wire or simply cover it with soil.
Elizabeth Shaheen – GDN – 3 June, ’07