In the garden with Nell Carr

DECEMBER 2017 | Nell Carr

CISTUS X PURPUREUS (pictured) is one of the most striking plants in the early summer garden.

It is one of the largest of the Cistaceae, a sun loving family of plants from the Mediterranean countries. They range from the ground hugging Helianthemum, Sun Roses,to shrubs of more than 2metres in height.

Cistus incanus growing in the Commonwealth Bank garden in Deloraine has commercial value in its native country because of the aromatic gum in its leaf tips.  This is used as a fixative for perfumes in the manufacture of cosmetics.  According to a 1972 gardening book, Flowers of the World, the method of collection was to drive goats through the shrubs to collect the gum from the leaf tips in their hair.  The animals’ hair was then clipped, and boiled in water.  The gum was skimmed from the cooled liquid.  It is possible that a more sophisticated method of collection is employed nowadays.

In the vegie garden

Some frost, strong winds, and lack of rainfall have not made the planting season easy.  If dwarf beans i.e., French or butter beans, are sown in very moist soil, they should not require watering until germination, around 10 days.  Picked while still tender, 8 weeks from sowing beans are a nutritious addition to the menu in late summer.  Any surplus can be frozen.

Photo | Mike Moores