New mantra for a beanificent season

PATRICIA SOPER/The Southland Times

STRINGS OF PEARLS: The Garrya elliptica, sometimes known as the silk-tassel bush, is a harbinger of spring. The dense hardy shrub can reach heights of 3m but in cold climates tends to be slow growing. The pendant green-grey catkins look particularly beautiful when viewed from below.

PATRICIA SOPER/The Southland Times

HARDY FAVOURITE: Hellebores are widely grown here in the south. Free-seeding and tough, they can highlight a shady corner right through until early summer. If you want to control seeding remove the flowers in late spring before the seed heads open.

PATRICIA SOPER/The Southland Times

FIRST AND FOREMOST: The first primrose is a heartening sight. This specimen grows under trees in deep leaf mulch. Easy to propagate by division, they prefer some shade and ample moisture.

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We all have our own markers that signal the onset of spring.

For me they are the daffodils that fringe the north wall of The Store at Centre Bush, a japonica that was once part of a prized garden in our village, and a huge and never disappointing Garrya elliptica in the grounds of the former Fisherman's Rest tearooms, originally the Parawa Hotel. Hellebores and primroses are also part of the spring mix.

I look for these welcome early indicators and to date they have rarely failed me.

This year, due in part to a milder than average winter hereabouts, they have arrived at least two weeks early.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to gauge the beginning and end of winter.

I prefer to think of this sometimes imprecise seasonal division as simply part of a cycle of change that is occurring in my lifetime.

However, there is no disputing the premature flowering of some daffodils in my young garden and the growth of the lawn. I actually heard a lawnmower yesterday, which must be something of a record here.

The temptation is to believe that winter has done with us, a trap I have fallen into many times.

You would think that that particular lesson had been well and truly learned, but there is a gambler in most gardeners, says one who never even buys a lottery ticket.

Seeds daringly planted a couple of weeks ago have germinated; spinach, sugar-snap peas and some brassicas have done well in the glasshouse. Their beds await them, enriched with compost and well-rotted manure, assuming of course that the seedlings are not ambushed by a sudden cold snap.

It is far too early for runner beans, which have a preference for warmer days and are very frost-tender. Last year, we planted a dwarf variety that was affected by late frost. Despite our best efforts they never recovered, whereas neighbour Dave Raynes planted his in mid-November and enjoyed a cracking crop.

I have been doing some bean investigation, not only because beans happen to be a favourite of ours but because varieties, hitherto unknown to me are now being used by chefs on TV cooking shows.

Borlotti are a type of kidney bean that produces pink-purple pods.

Like most beans they are frost-tender, so plant seed in punnets in late spring and transplant after the danger of frost has passed.

Because space is at a premium here this season we intend to grow this beautiful bean on a willow obelisk in the flower garden. Growing flowers and vegetables together is our new mantra: no wasted space and, more important, maximising sun.

Albenga is another bean worthy of consideration. A dwarf or bush variety, it has stringless variegated pods of green and brown, is touted as having a fine flavour and produces well in suitable conditions.

The last bean in my "beanificent" column is Purple King, an easily cultivated variety that can grow to 2m, so good support is essential.

They like damp (not wet) soil and do better in warm weather. I won't be planting mine until November and I've chosen a sheltered warm spot against the house. As the name suggests, the pods are deep purple but turn green when cooked. Food for thought.

In the meantime, and while the weather holds, weeding is to the fore, as is fertilising our young fruit trees and anything about to bud.

As for the winter sweet, the bone of contention in my last column, I can report that a compromise has been reached and I "sort of" got my way. It is positioned in front of the dining room window, but off to one side, with Himself vowing to keep it "in trim". We'll see about that.

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