FLORIST’S flowers can be a great source of inspiration for gardeners.
I love seeing flower stalls in markets when I’m travelling, and always stop to admire a florist’s window if I spot one on a shopping outing.
A friend recently gave me a bunch of pinky-purple cabbages with elongated stems that had been grown to look like large artificial roses and I thought what a marvellous display they would make in a flower bed.
There are several varieties of ornamental cabbage, all variants of the common Brassica oleracea that the family vegie gardener grows for the kitchen.
Colours include pink, purple and variegated cream and green. Smooth edged leaves are generally sold as cabbage and ruffled leaves as kale but they are the same species.
Growing ornamental cabbages to resemble roses starts at the seed sowing stage, as they need to be planted close together to encourage the stems to elongate as they search for light.
Growing ornamental cabbages to resemble roses starts at the seed sowing stage, as they need to be planted close together to encourage the stems to elongate as they search for light.
Many plants also elongate their stems when grown at a high temperature, so if you’re planning to grow the creamy variegated form you can start them off in spring.
However, the red and purple forms won’t begin to colour until temperatures drop to 10 degrees Celsius, so these you’ll need to sow in autumn.
Cabbages are fairly frost hardy but will succumb to a hard freeze and also snow, but this isn’t a major consideration in most parts of NSW.
They need full sun and well drained, fertile soil, enriched with rotted manure if possible. Regular irrigation is essential.
Watch for pests.
The green caterpillar of the cabbage white butterfly will chew the outside leaves and the sneakier cabbage moth will nibble its way into the plant’s heart.
There are several natural controls: Nature’s Way Derris Dust is easy to apply from a shaker.
For the giant cabbage rose look, start pruning when your plants are 15 centimetres tall by removing a round or two of the bottom leaves.
They can be tough and you may need a sharp knife rather than fingers. Keep removing leaves as the plants grow, stopping when you have about 25 centimetres of clear stem.
It can take at least four weeks for the cabbage to reach its full colour and height. My florist’s cabbages lasted for a couple of weeks although they begin to smell somewhat cabbagey after a few days.
This can be fixed by chopping a few centimetres from the base of the stems, as this is the source of the aroma, or adding a teaspoon of bleach to the water.
If you want to grow ornamental cabbages as part of a flower border, you are in good company – cottage gardeners have been doing it for centuries and you can still see cottage gardens in England where fruit, flowers and vegetables jostle against each other and look lovely.
Most garden centres offer cabbage seed year round and several companies sell ornamental varieties by mail order. Try Australian Seed (www.australianseed.com/) or New Gippsland Seeds and Bulbs (www.newgipps.com.au/).