Two days of violent storms were a sharp reminder of what life can be like in Dorothea Mackellar’s land of droughts and flooding rains – flickering lightning, rumbling thunder, increasingly black skies, stifling heat.
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Then down comes torrential rain, hail crashes onto the iron roof and finally a massive thunderclap strikes and the lights go out.
A few hours later the drive is awash, dams are full, my garden’s ponds are overflowing and the power’s back on – a big thank you to emergency service workers at Essential Energy who brave often dangerous conditions to keep us all fully functional.
Luckily the damage in the garden could have been far worse. The lawn is covered in shredded leaves but walnuts, grapes and stone fruit were hardly marked and, astonishingly, all my cannas were flourishing.
The hail must have been like Macbeth’s gloomy take on life, full of sound and fury but signifying nothing – we were lucky.
Cannas (C. indica hybrids) are a great standby in January and are happy in moderately dry soil if it’s well mulched, but they do love an occasional drenching.
Big leaves are always eye-catching and canna flowers are big and gorgeous too, in a range of colours. I especially love medium height ‘J.B. Van der Schoot’ with yellow flowers speckled red.
I’ve grown cannas for many years despite winter frosts to -8C. The trick is to cut down the foliage in autumn and heap it over the crowns.
The storms did me one big favour, they brought down the dead remains of my sweet peas that were clinging to the garage wall in a desiccated and unsightly tangle.
I’d removed enough pods to save seeds but then run out of puff in the heatwave. I’ve now pulled them all out and, tempted by the damp soil, sown sunflower seeds in their place. I’ll be lucky if they flower before our first frost but you never know.
I’ve grown cannas for many years despite winter frosts to -8C. The trick is to cut down the foliage in autumn and heap it over the crowns.
- Fiona Ogilvie
The rain has also done wonders for shrubs that were struggling in the heat. Purple and red buddleias (B. davidii), Physocarpus ‘Diabolo’ and oak leaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia).
All have sprung miraculously back to life although I cut back a recently-planted buddleia that had become straggly – I’m hoping to encourage a bushier shape and stronger branches.
Plants that loved the recent heatwave included evergreen ceanothus ‘Blue Pacific’, two pomegranates (Punica granatum) and a white flowering crepe myrtle.
Lagerstroemia ‘Natchez’ is a lovely small tree that has bloomed since Christmas and luckily didn’t suffer much storm damage.
I went against my strict rule of autumn planting with ‘Blue Pacific’ and installed it last spring – I had a gap and we were opening the garden in November. It has done brilliantly, hardly faltering, unworried by heat and drought.
My latest treasure to surprise me by flourishing through a heatwave is a beautiful dahlia, Bishop of Llandaff, knee height with burgundy leaves and scarlet flowers. Like the cannas, I’ll have to remember to protect its tubers this winter.
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