Camellia update
Floating Camellia flowers
This morning I opened my inbox and my heart sang! A long email with lots of photographs from Marion Whitehead at the Blue Mountain Botanical Gardens. I felt as though I had received a good old fashioned letter full of news and to do it full justice, made a cup of tea so I could sit down to read and enjoy it!
If you haven’t caught up with Marion’s plant story about Camellias can I recommend you put the kettle on and take half an hour to hear her passion for the new landscape at the botanical gardens. ` You can listen here, as she sits on site in the early morning sunlight, describing the scene and then talks about incredible journeys across Australia collecting Camellias. Her conversation with Geraldine King from RHS Rosemore in Devon, is hilarious, as they both describe some of the things they have done to gather and care for these special plants.
The email contained photographs of the build which is the biggest they have done on the site in 13 years with the Camellia Garden being part of a three stage garden build. “Each area of the Camellia garden will have a place to float Camellia flowers, which is an ancient tradition for meditation and allows you to stop and reflect on their beauty.”
The landscape will be made up of different collections of Camellias including a collection of Higos and a canopy of Camellia reticulatas. If you listen to the episode you can hear how some of these incredible collections of Camellias were amassed and cared for by growers all over the country. The Camellia Ark was a project to find and save what was often a lifetimes work and ensure that the Camellias would have a permanent home so future generations could enjoy them. I can sense the excitement as this project begins to take shape 200 years after the first Camellia arrived at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney. You can also find tips on how to grow Camellias on the episode page here.
In other news I have begun Project Leaflet! I should perhaps start with a little bit of history. I distinctly remember being in the bank. I think Mum must have been doing something at the counter. The plastic container of leaflets was just out of reach but if I stood on tiptoes I could probably reach one. The next moment about 500 leaflets floated across the counter and scattered at my feet.
To my knowledge this is the only occasion that brought a brief pause to my ‘leaflet habit’. Since childhood I have collected leaflets wherever I go. Big, small, black and white or colour, I would stuff them in coat pockets or bags. I just can’t resist them.
I was looking around my office the other day and realising that there are quite a few piles of gardening leaflets. Whether they be from flower shows or garden visits, I’ve kept them, thinking I’ll read them when I have a moment and I can’t quite bring myself to throw them away until I have least glanced at them and checked I might never need that piece of information.
But then I had an idea. All these leaflets have a gardening connection. What if I were to do a ‘reverse’ leaflet drop and write to the people whose leaflets I have collected? I can let them know about Our Plant Stories in the hope that they might try an episode and then share it with other planty people.
I did the first 3 leaflets today. Of course it takes a bit longer than expected because I find myself reading each one and then googling their website. It may take sometime to work through all the piles! I will let you know how I get on and whether I get any replies!
In book news, I am enjoying “Good Soil” - there is much talk of manure and learning to recognise the signs of nutrient deficiency or excess and quite a bit of chemistry. Lots to learn!