When indigenous lilies become an alien weed
Portugal shares many similarities with the Cape. It has a long coastline adjoining the Atlantic. It has a Mediterranean climate and a mountainous terrain. But by and large the soil of Portugal is far more fertile than the bleached sands of the Cape.
As a result arums there grow spectacularly. In fact, in parts, our Cape arums have become an invasive weed. They often attain twice the height and girth of their ancestors in the Cape and the flowers are also much larger. Suddenly the common old arum becomes quite a breathtaking feature. Not unlike a low clump of bright green banana trees with massive blooms.
Toby, my mother-in-law, has a small patch of self-sown arum lilies which I have subsequently begun to feed. I stuck a few slow-release organic tables around them and they have responded with luxurious and abundant growth.
They may be more vulnerable to disease or need twice the amount of water, I am not sure, but if the arums in Portugal are anything to go by they will just become giant versions of the plant we take so much for granted.
The loquat fruits of Portugal are immense and very desirable to look at. Glossy, juicy, tangy, sweet and voluptuous, the trees and the fruits are barely recognisable as being related to what we call loquats here in the Cape.
Again the difference is caused by their vastly superior soil. I imagine that a loquat tree in the Cape can perform in the same manner if given mulchings, feedings and water during the summer months.
In fact I am certain of it.
Just this morning I stole a loquat off a tree leaning over a garden wall. The fruit tasted sour and was mingy in the flesh department.
The leaves of a happy loquat make a very attractive feature, whereas the loquats of the Cape are so dowdy they become virtually invisible. Glossy on the surface and fur-lined below, the leaves can form a striking canopy when healthy. Not so the emaciated specimens of our regions.
Gazanias have begun to bloom and they are another plant that freshens my fading memories of Portugal in spring.
The gardeners of that land love gazanias and I saw varieties that I have never seen here in the native land of the gazania. Again the good soil has the effect of turning the plants into giants, or perhaps they were hybrids not known to me.
I suspect that if gazanias grew as vigorously and voluptuously here in the Cape we would use them more often. As gazanias are an indigenous plant most gardeners stuff them in the sand and leave them much to their own devices.
Gazanias that are planted in a well-composted bed and given the occasional sprinkling of general fertiliser would look far more appealing than the stunted version most gardeners, in their ignorance, seem happy to live with.
I have been informed that a few new varieties of gazania will be released this spring.
Remember that a gazania planted with the usual meagre treatment we tend to give them will flower for a paltry eight weeks and the foliage will not be terribly exciting, whereas gazanias planted in soil that has been generously composted and given a monthly general feeding will flower for up to five months if you dead-head the fading blooms.
If you have a forlorn patch of gazanias living in your garden, why not shove some compost over them and water until it has been washed under the leaves, and then feed them once a month.
They will reward you in kind with a long and fabulous display of vibrant colour.
Published on the Web by IOL on 2000-08-11 08:27:00
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