Newsletter: May 2004
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN IRIS SOCIETY Inc.
New meeting venue: Goodwood Community Centre 32 Rosa St Goodwood.
Editorial
The colder weather has arrived although many parts of the state are still waiting hopefully for rain. In the irrigated beds the soursobs are growing happily and this gardener is madly pulling them out to give the irises some sunshine. A couple of hard frosts recently are a sign of a good bloom season to come and produced some magnificent autumn colours on the fruit trees and vines. A vineyard in the early morning with the sun shining through the orange and red leaves is a sight to remember.
New members: we welcome Evelin Canney from Glynde as a new member and welcome back Jules DeBrenni from Angaston after a break in membership.
Future speakers: June 10th Pauline and Neil Smith on their stay in Japan.
July 8th Mike Moore – Butterflies in your garden
Last newsletter: if you who have not renewed your membership you will not receive any more newsletters until the membership has been paid. If you wish to continue as a member of the Iris Society please send your cheque or money order to The Treasurer, South Australian Iris Society, PO Box 441, Strathalbyn SA 5255 as soon as possible. Fees are $20.00 family, $15.00 single and $5.00 junior if not included in a family membership.
Newsletter by email: if you have an email address please let me know at gramark@senet.com.au and help to cut the expense of photocopying and postage.
AAIS Minutes May 13 2004
Apologies: Pam and Trevor Hilton, Robert Swinbourne, Jules De Brenni
Minutes from April Meeting were passed as distributed.
Correspondence in:
Leura Garden Festival
Tanglewood
Garden Clubs of Australia notice of AGM
Adelaide Zoo
Gardening Australia Live coming to SA March 2005
Inland Region Iris Society Newsletter
West Australian Iris Society Newsletter
Garden Clubs of Australia Magazine
Business
Thankyou: Julia thanked all members who gave up their time for the Iris Planting at Hahndorf and in the Pennington Gardens near the Adelaide Cricket Ground.
Meeting venue: Meetings will now be held in the Goodwood Community Centre, 32 Rosa St., Goodwood starting from our next meeting on June 10. The hire of hall is $40.00 per meeting from 7pm to 11pm.
AIS Year Book: A letter to be sent to Delma and Maurie to congratulate them on a terrific presentation of the 2003 Year Book.
2005 Convention Committee Report:
April meeting: Deposits of $500 each have been paid to Adelaide International Hotel and The Shores Function Centre.
May meeting: Invitations are currently being prepared inviting South Australian garden clubs and floral art clubs to participate in the 2005 show by entering a display representing their club and including iris in the design.
Post Convention tour: It was decided to book the Goolwa Coach Line for the tour of the Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island.
Gardens to visit: The committee would still like to hear from any member who is willing to open their garden for a visit during the convention. The 2005 committee will visit all gardens offered at the end of October this year to assess the suitability.
There are definite requirements that must be met for your garden to be suitable for a visit. These are:-
· Suitable access for large coaches
· Disability friendly
· Access to toilet facilities
· The garden must be well maintained
· Irises should featured
Contact Julia Jacobs 8339 3601, Nell Tanner (home) 8535 8218 or Marg Kuchel 8537 3276 if you are willing to open your garden.
May guest speaker: Sophie Thompson.
Those of you who were not at the May meeting missed an excellent talk by Sophie Thompson.
Sophie’s talk was about having a good looking garden all year round. Most people when planting a garden go to a nursery and buy plants that look good at that time. This often results in a garden that is colourful only at one time of the year. By choosing ‘value plants’ it is possible to have colour for longer periods and several seasons from one plant.
Value plants often cost more to purchase but when a tree has flowers for several months, attractive leaves in spring and summer which give autumn colour and interesting bark in winter the tree adds impact to the garden all year round and is worth the extra expense. The same applies to shrubs and ground cover plants. Crepe myrtle ‘Indian summer’ is top of Sophie’s value trees list. It is also drought tolerant once established, has non invasive roots and grows 3-6 metres, ideal for a smaller garden.
Another drought tolerant tree is the ornamental pear which flowers for 3 weeks in spring, has attractive summer leaves and autumn colour followed by fat grey buds all winter, 7 metres tall and non invasive roots.
‘Sceenmaster’ Pittosporum is a compact denser variety than the James Stirling and makes a good screen or hedge. Viburnum linus, (laurestinus) has white flowers for 3 months in winter and spring and can be pruned as a hedge. For frost free areas Murraya (Orange Jessamine) has scented flowers 6 -9 months but needs humidity.
For smaller plants, Plumbago can get feral but the new cultivar ‘Royal Cape’ is more subdued with deeper blue flowers which don’t fade. ‘MacDonalds plant’ is a tough dwarf Nandina which has a nice colour foliage all year round. Silver bush convolvulus with white flowers makes a nice bush 2 to 3 feet wide. French lavender, which flowers for 9 months and smells wonderful, only needs trimming once a year. Federation daisies don’t stop flowering, are compact and bushy. Prune them in early autumn for winter blooms.
Roses flower for 9 months and fit all places in the garden, under plant them with Catmint ‘Walkers Blue’ for flowers from November to May and silver foliage. Erigeron or Seaside daisy is a quick growing short term filler and good in a dry garden. Agapanthus ‘Snowstorm’ is a mini white variety which flowers excessively with up to 100 flower stems per plant. Multiply by division only as seedlings may not be true to type and size. Alstroemeria in pots produce flowers for cutting 6 – 9 months of the year and can be grown in the garden and split into several plants.
Succulents are colourful all year round and require very little water, can be divided or struck from leaves. A good climber is Chinese Star Jasmine which has fragrant flowers most of the year and foliage right to ground level, it will grow in shade or sun. Non running varieties of Arctotis make a bright groundcover.
Mulch is essential (except for iris). Pea straw 6” deep suppresses weeds and retains moisture. Group plants according to their water needs and water deeply less often. Pots require more water, water retaining crystals mixed with potting soil and watered before planting are great in pots.
Feeding: well fed and nourished plants are less likely to get diseases and withstand heat stress better. ‘Sudden Impact’ for roses and special plants has extra potash which helps keep pests and diseases at bay and gives heat stress resistance. ‘Rapid Raiser’ and ‘Bounce back’ are suitable to use on native plants. Chemical fertilizers give a rapid boost then the plants flag, organic fertilizers are slow release and feed the soil as well.
An information sheet from Neutrog was handed to all present and everyone left with a sample bag of all Neutrog products.
