Gift of Green Fire and Other Strange Encounters

by Linda Talbot

  Rub amber with a cloth and it will become electrically charged, light it with a match and it will burn. No wonder it was thought magical.

  Pyrite - “Fool’s Gold” - because it is easily mistaken for gold, is an iron sulphide - you may like to buy a chunk for your golden garden. Its name is again from Greek - meaning “fire” as it sparks when knocked. The Incas used pyrite for mirrors. Chalcopyrite - known as copper pyrite, is a similar mineral if you can find it. This has a more iridescent play of colours.

  Add interesting brown pebbles and place round brown pots or in specially prepared beds.

  For your spring display, all nurtured in well fed soil, you could have Yellow Freesias (freesia x kewensis), planted as bulbs in the autumn. Water well before flowering. They have a delicate freshness synonymous with spring and an intoxicating scent. Remove bulblets when they rest.

  Peruvian Lily (alstroemeria versicolor) grows fast in well drained fertile soil, with organic manure and some slow-release minerals. Its white petals surround a beautiful centre of three yellow petals striped with brown, although the colour varies, so try to find the yellow and white variety.

  This only needs water if there is no rain and is grown by seed in the spring. But water often after planting in a light, sheltered position - one reason for having a pot placed in semi-shade. And if you are planting in the garden, keep one site semi-shaded or overshadowed by greenery, for those plants unhappy with full exposure to the southern sun.

  Your showpiece in this group could be Parrot Tulip (tulipa x gesneriana), an irrepressible bloom; more bizarre than beautiful and a cultivated hybrid. It comes in various colours. Look for the one that is bright yellow, streaked with red. This flower likes sun or partial shade and moderate watering. Remove the leaves when they become dry after flowering and propagate by removing bulblets when the plant rests. Temper all this colour with a plant grown for foliage.

  As spring moves into summer, consider growing canna x generalis, a lovely gold bloom speckled with deep red. This likes a rich moist soil and plenty of organic manure. Water well and in autumn cut dead leaves and stems back to just above ground level, or you can lift the rhizomes to sprout in the spring and then divide them.

  Add gazania nivea, a perennial, often grown as an annual or biennial, according to the climate. This pert yellow daisy-like bloom has distinctive whitish-grey leaves. It prefers sandy, humus rich soil. Water regularly, but this plant withstands the dry well. Remove old stems and leaves when it has finished flowering. Propagate by clump division in spring or autumn or sow seed in early spring.

  A third plant might be Dwarf Pomegranate (punica granatum) with its orange trumpet-shaped blooms and bright green leaves. This likes the sun and any kind of moist soil with an occasional feed of general organic/mineral fertiliser and regular watering. If you grow from seed though, you will have to wait because after sowing in pots, the plant will take two years to flower. The foliage, however, would be a fine contrast with the colourful flowers.

  You can continue your display in autumn with Chrysanthemums (chrysanthemum x indicum), like an inspiring assertion of the sun before winter. When I moved into my London house, the garden was rife with enormous yellow blooms. I picked armfuls and put them all over the house which was bare, since I had little furniture - only a few sticks bought from the previous owners! My spirits instantly rose.

  The wild Chrysanthemum came from China where it was grown as long ago as 500 BC. It was another 1,000 years before it became the native flower of Japan. The Chinese and Japanese are still the best growers of this flower, producing numerous huge blooms on a single plant. Today it is almost unknown in the wild but is widely cultivated for cutting.

  These plants are classified according to the shape of the flower but unfortunately the classifications vary from one country to another.

  Plant yellow or orange chrysanthemums in rich soil in the sun. They like liquid feed, needing much nitrogen. They are “short-day” plants - light sensitive and producing buds only as the days grow shorter. But growers produce them all year by artificially controlling the temperature and light.

  If you want to grow large flowers - up to 15 centimetres in diameter, pinch out four to six pairs of leaves by removing the growing tip when the plant has produced about 10 pairs of leaves in May. Then lateral shoots appear and these will give you the flowers. You must select the number you need, in equal lengths from the sturdiest shoots, removing the rest. All subsequent lateral shoots, apart from those you want to flower, must be removed.

  Tiny buds will appear on the selected stems. Leave only the main ones in the middle. This is known as “disbudding”. Propagate by cuttings from shoots springing from the roots when they have produced four or five leaves. Root these in sand in late winter. This is a hard plant to grow, so you may prefer to buy it ready grown, but most gardeners I know enjoy a challenge!

  In London I grew African Marigolds (tagetes erecta) from seed in the spring, in my apology for a conservatory. It was always a thrill to see the seedlings appear and eventually the large resplendently yellow flowers.

  This annual is not the sweetest smelling, but it is compact and impressive. It needs the sun and will grow in any soil, appreciating a feed of organic material, as well as liquid fertiliser during the early stages of growth. Water well.

  For the orange glow that will enrich your display the French Marigold (tagetes patula) is prolific and long flowering. Its needs are similar to those of the African Marigold and the plants should be removed after flowering.

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  THE ROCK GARDEN

  By this, I do not mean that you have to build the rocks into a conventional rock garden, although this is always rewarding. But you may simply place selected rocks, as in the Quartz and Golden Gardens, around pots or plants grown in beds.

  How you obtain your rocks is another matter. Garden specialists can no doubt find those most commonly used for rockeries and in Crete we have a variety of decorative rocks and stone facings, whose offcuts may be gleaned from building sites or specially ordered.

  There are three types of rock: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling of molten rock, which was liquefied by heat and pressure deep in Earth’s mantle. Below the surface it is known as magma and above, lava. Igneous rocks have various textures, from crystalline and glassy to a bubbly appearance. They often contain mineral crystals, such as clear green olivine.

  Metamorphic rocks have been physically and perhaps chemically changed due to intense heat, pressure, or the action of hot fluids. So in these rocks you find fractures, folds and various faults. Sometimes stretched or crushed fossils are trapped and they may contain garnet, tourmaline or serpentine.

  Sedimentary rocks are formed by “lithification” which is the hardening of loose, fragmented materials or by “precipitation” which produces crystals in water that collect in aggregates. So most of these rocks are layered. Some, including the stalactites in caves, are layered aggregates of crystals.

  If you can find it, or perhaps have a geologist friend - Breccia is a particularly attractive sedimentary rock, made mainly of poorly sorted gravel (grains larger than sand) which, if mixed with limestone and calcite, has a speckled blue-brown surface.

  Arkose is a lovely sandstone, another sedimentary rock, that might be scattered with feldspar grains from pre-existing rocks. If made from potassium these will be pink - a wonderful rock among flowers.

  Some rock - such as Conglomerate - another sedimentary rock - can be found as large pebbles on the beach. This rock is mostly rounded gravel that is poorly sorted. The gravel may be cemented with hematite - an oxide of iron with a red-brown streak. This is known too as Bloodstone - the name yet again from the Greek, alluding to “blood”, reflecting its colour when cut. Not surprisingly, hematite was used as an amulet against bleeding.

  Basalt is another dramatic rock - ideal as a foil for bright colour. I brought a black lump back
from the volcano on Santorini. This igneous rock - solidified lava - is dark grey to black, riddled with holes and much evidence of having suffered the violence of the volcano. As the lava cooled too quickly for it to crystallise completely, the tiny crystals in the rock can only be seen under a microscope. This is a very hard, compact rock. Rub it down and you will feel its smoothness. Sometimes, as it is cooling, it forms hexagonal columns. It will not grind down from a boulder to a pebble, but will break into fragments.

  Obsidian is another black igneous rock composed of volcanic glass. This forms when lava cools very suddenly or is quenched. Some obsidian contains feldspar crystals, giving it a glittery reflection - known as “golden sheen” obsidian.

  I have made summer selections for flowers that will complement these distinctive rocks and you can of course experiment with spring and winter colour too.

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  THE BASALT GARDEN

  Among your volcanic rocks plant the vivid red African Daisy (arctotis x hybrida) in a sunny spot. This is a perennial usually treated as an annual. Give it rich damp soil and organic feed in the spring as it grows, with plenty of water. Sow by seed in the spring.

  I usually have a yellow Begonia (begonia x tuberhybrida) on my terrace from early summer onwards. And one of these would stand out well against the black rock. This is a perennial that prefers partial shade and a well drained light, rich soil and plenty of water. When it stops flowering, let it die back and keep its tubers in dry peat indoors through the winter.

  A third choice is the incomparable blue of the Gentian (gentiana acaulis), a small, shade-loving perennial which would look best in a rockery of basalt. It is fond of a moist woodland type soil and ample water. You can propagate by late summer sowing in woodland mould enriched with humus.

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  THE CONGLOMERATE GARDEN

  To accompany this particularly textural rock, plant Verbena x hybrida , a perennial grown as an annual, with clustered heads of flowers in a soft red that enjoy the sun and a light soil and liquid fertiliser now and then before flowering. Sow seed in late winter or spring.

  Choose white Sweet Alyssum (lobularia maritima) to break up bright colour. Plant in full sun or partial shade, in dry lime-rich soil. This perennial plant also likes crevices, so could be placed in a pot on a small rockery built from the conglomerate. Do not water. Remove flower heads after each flowering to encourage continuous blooms. Sow by seed in the spring.

  Pale pink gladiolus x gandavensis could be your third flower, the colour of this showy, upright bloom, reflecting the sometimes pinkish element in the conglomerate. Plant in full sun by cormels sown in the spring or by seed to discover new varieties. This will grow in any soil that is slightly acid, rich and moist. Water well. Lift the corms in autumn and allow them to dry out.

  You may like to make a mosaic in a tray to place among your rocks and stones, with small beach pebbles and bought semi-precious stones. Pebble mosaics appeared on the floors of Greek houses about 400 BC. The compositions were somewhat linear until the techniques of shading and basic perspective were mastered. But they had the appeal of intricate workmanship. Subjects were usually classical such as Bellerophon on Pegasus attacking the Chimaera, made in the 4thcentury BC at a house in Olynthus, northern Greece. I am not suggesting you produce a full scale classic, but simple abstract designs or the images of flowers are not difficult to depict.

  There are numerous semi-precious and natural stones suggesting a garden of coalescing colour. Experiment and change arrangements according to your mood and the needs of your plants. And disclose the beauty of simple beach stones among those polished for posterity.

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  A PALETTE OF PLANTS

  We crave colour in our garden and a confusion of flowers will provide it. But how much more we may achieve with experiment and a look at how artists use colour to stunning effect

  You have only to look at an Impressionist painting to enjoy the light coalescence of colour. Or consider the vivid combinations, unrelated to reality created by the Fauvists (Wild Beasts), led by Henri Matisse.

  Buy a simple box of water colours - if you do not already have one - and, on a thick piece of paper, dab a selection of shades you would like to see in the garden. Try mixing colours too. Decide on combinations and contrasts, then choose the plants that will reflect them and draw a plan of what you will plant where.

  Late in life Matisse used plant shapes in elemental liaison, mixing red, blue, gold, yellow, green and black; proving that even harsh relationships can visually entice.

  You may like such positive combinations by instinct or you may have seasonal moods and radically change the effect throughout the year. With the distinction of spring versus summer flowers, it is simple to move through succeeding whims. Colour can become a game and a constantly changing means of visual delight. Even representational paintings may be turned to merging colour and fresh form if you look at them with half closed eyes. Artists - especially those using geometric concepts - can also suggest shapes, which you may echo when you dig flower beds or place pots.

  With strong colours in mind, there is the daring of Emile Nolde in his painting The Lemon Grove of 1933. There is nothing reminiscent here of our Cretan groves, but a rich deviation from the mundane; a green-faced woman wearing white with flaming hair and above her, the scintillating yellow of lemons. Her consort is brown as the earth, while a hint of mauve hovers behind the woman’s head.

  What colours for the garden! Imagine the orange perennial canarina canaries against perhaps an actual lemon tree. Its veined, bell-shaped flowers appear in late winter and spring. This plant likes partial shade, sheltered from the wind and rain and a light rich permeable compost. Remove the stems when they dry out. If supported, it is suitable for a pot plant. Sow seed in late summer and later divide the clumps.

  If you have no lemon tree, plant Dusty Miller (senecio cineraria) which flowers in the spring and summer. This has a silvery down on leaves and stems and likes the sun. It is happy near the sea and grows in any well aerated soil that is moist and fertile. But it survives dryness well. Dead and exhausted growth should be removed after flowering. Take cuttings in spring or summer and clump divide in autumn.

  A plant with pale green foliage would complement the flame and yellow and, with the brown earth, echo Nolde’s picture.

  Or use the airily potent colours of Kasimir Malevich; a marriage of deep blue, gold, green, pink, purple and red in his Supremist Composition of 1915. He scatters decisive yet buoyant squares, oblongs and elongated rectangles; happy variations, whose shapes could be echoed in flower beds. You might grow Spiderwort (tradescantia x andersoniana), a short-lived perennial, with its three broad blue petals and yellow tipped stamens in a square bed set at an angle to a long rectangle planted with several shrubs of streptosolen jamesonii.

  Spiderwort is a perennial that likes a bright, partially shaded spot. It grows in almost any soil that is open, humus rich and very moist. Water well and give it some organic dressing. It is also suitable for a pot plant. Propagate by clump division or seed sowing in the spring.

  Streptosolen jamesonii is a bushy evergreen shrub with clusters of pale orange blooms. It is fond of warm coastal areas and ishor climates the south long flowering in summer and autumn. Grow it in the sun in rich soil and water regularly. Propagate by half ripe cuttings in the summer.

  You may decide on strong yet subtly muted tones, as in one of the many paintings of Mount Saint Victoire by Paul Cezanne. Here a quiet green and soft gold co-exist with tender brown; as though the countryside sleeps. The leaves of your plants will provide the green among blooms of pensive gold with perhaps dark-leaved Painted Nettle (coleus blumei).

  This is a perennial but is often grown as an annual and has a remarkable range of coloured foliage. The bronzy variety would look well here. Nip out any flowers because these drain its strength, although I had a bronze nettle on which I lef
t the pale blue flowers because they were such a pleasing contrast.

  It thrives best in summer, in sun or light shade, but I keep some all year in pots by moving them to the south side of the house. This plant likes well aerated, moist, sandy soil that is well manured. Water well. Sow seed in late winter and take cuttings in summer or autumn to root in a warm place.

  The orangey gold of the painting may come from the splendour of Crown Imperial (fritillaria imperialis) grown from a large bulb. It flowers in spring and early summer with dramatic groups of petals at the base of generous foliage on a stem that may grow more than a metre high. It likes slight shade and any fertile, moist well-drained garden soil. Plant the bulb at a depth of 20 centimetres and feed with bone meal. Water regularly and after flowering cut down the stems. You can remove and re-plant bulblets when the plants rests. It is rather demanding to grow.

  Forget-me-nots (myosotis alpestris), on the other hand, are simple and could provide the blue of Cezanne’s mountain and sky. Small blooms cluster among the leaves of this perennial plant, flowering in spring and summer. This too likes moderate shade and any moist, fertile soil. Water well and take up the plants after flowering. You can sow the seed where it is to grow in the spring and it self sows freely. This plant can also be grown in pots.

  Raoul Dufy was decorative with a sound sense of colour. The Artist and his Model in the Studio painted in 1929 is a seductive image of scarlet, pale and deeper blues, gold and green; an effect between the brash and the retiring.

  Reflecting this in your garden, arresting red Geraniums (pelargonium zonale) could nestle between sky-blue Cornflowers (centaurea cyanus), grown annually, Pot Marigolds (calendula officinalis), a bushy annual and the green of a plant not in flower or grown primarily for foliage.

  The geranium is the gardener’s loyal stand-by, cheerfully suffering almost any privation and often flowering from spring to autumn. In the south this period is even longer - it is even happiest during the rain of winter. This is a perennial usually grown as an annual, but mine go on for years. Many hybrids have come from the original species. Grow in the sun in fertile soil, although the geranium will tolerate more kinds than most. Water regularly in summer, less often in autumn and winter.