Twist of Lemon

What is an Australian garden without a lemon tree? In some cases, it’s the only plant in a neglected backyard, uncared-for and forlorn, yet battling on year after year. From a simple dressing for fish and chips to Greek tzatziki dips, the lemon has been the acid juice of choice since early settlement.

Lemon (Citrus limon) is the number one fruit tree grown in gardens and for all but the coldest parts of the country there are excellent varieties that are suitable for home use. Lemons have an obscure genetic history and may have been hybridized in Europe and the Middle East through crossing several older south-east Asian citrus parents. Evidence of its long European lineage can be seen in images of lemons that appear in wall paintings in Pompeii and several other Classical period sites.

Lemons grow well in most of Australia apart from the true tropics, areas with hard winter frosts or the dry unirrigated interior. The two main varieties of 'true' lemon available in Australia are 'Eureka' and 'Lisbon'. Other varieties of lemon are often faux lemons crossed with other citrus, such as 'Lemonade' (a cross between a lemon and an orange).

The North American raised cultivar 'Eureka' is the most common lemon grown in home gardens as it’s a prolific fruiter and bears few thorns. Its main downside is that it dislikes frost. One of the oldest varieties of lemon in Australia is Lisbon which was available in the country by the mid-1850s. This variety is far more cold-tolerant than Eureka, but has the disadvantage of being much thornier and a less prolific plant. Despite this, 'Lisbon' is the fruit of choice for most commercial growers.

A healthy Lisbon lemon tree

What ever they claim on labels lemons don't make great pot plants as they easilly stress during warm periods. If you are keen to have a container specimen of citrus try growing cumquats.

Perhaps due to its popularity with home gardeners, citrus is the most asked-about plant in garden phone-in sessions. These queries relate more to the fruit’s popularity than to any reputation for being problem prone. Typical queries relate to lack of fruit, pests and diseases and correct times to fertilise. Fertilising confuses many gardeners. Simply, lemons (and most citrus) require plenty of high-nitrogen fertiliser to produce good fruits, ideally applied in early spring and around mid-summer. An ideal liquid feed is human urine such as that left in a child's potty.  Make sure the mix is applied to wet soil and water in well after application. I like to mulch my trees with hay or straw mixed with some chicken manure. Make sure you keep the collar of the plant away from the mulch to avoid collar rot.

The sweet perfume of lemon flowers 

Lemons demand full sun to flower and fruit well, and require regular deep watering during hot weather.  Major pests are scales, beetles and bugs. These can be treated by various means, but require proper identification before attempting a cure (something I will mention in the future). A great reference is Judy McMaugh’s, What Garden Pest of Disease is That?

When selecting a new lemon it's a good idea to select a plant grown on a named rootstock. These are often named on the plant label. Despite their many pests, lemons are easy ornamental plants to grow and make a satisfying low-maintenance fruit tree for the home garden.

Garden Poems: Nurseryman's Lament

Will it survive they ask?
Will it thrive they ask?
What about the frost?
What about the snow?
How does this plant grow?

Is it white or is it blue?
Perhaps the pink will do.
Does it like the sun?
Does it like the shade?
Thank goodness at last
A decision is made.

What about the insects and the bugs?
What about the snails and slugs?
Can I, should I prune it?
Can I, should I move it?
Fertiliser, which is best?
Those questions put me to the test.

As if this is not enough
Nature starts to do her stuff.
Hail, rain, snow and ice.
No, it isn't very nice.
Winds and gales, droughts and sun,
What a relief when the day is done.

How many times I ask
Why do I set myself this task?
Well, when you can look with pride
On customers well satisfied,
Then you would know this job's the best
If you can pass the customer test.

Nurseryman's lament was written by Jean Simmons and was originally published in the New Zealand Gardener in 1996

Old sages

One group of plants which came into its own in the perennial revival boom of the late 20th century was the ornamental flowering sages of the Salvia genus. Today there are over 150 different salvias available in Australian plant nurseries. Most of these have been imported over the last 25 years, but there are some which have been grown in our gardens for nearly two centuries.

Salvia patens as illustrated in
Edwards' Ornamental Flower Garden (1854)

For many the best known salvias are the common culinary sage (Salvia officinalis) and the scarlet red bedding sage (Salvia splendens) both of which were growing in Australia by the middle of the nineteenth century. The culinary herb may have been the first sage imported into the colony while the red bedding sage probably came here in the 1840s, although it was not listed on plant catalogues until the early 1850s. 

Another early import was the red flowered tropical sage (Salvia cocinnea). This plant is much gentler on the eye than the red bedding sage and also comes in a white flowered form. Its self-seeding habit has made it a weed in tropical areas of the world so it is hard to find on local seed lists. Despite this it can be found in old gardens and grows easily from seed sown in spring or early summer.

The most popular blue flowered salvia was the gentian sage (Salvia patens). This beautiful plant appears in almost all nursery catalogues from the 1850s and seems to be one of the most popular perennials used in nineteenth century gardens. Being hardy to light frost it is an ideal plant for most temperate climates although it has a tendency to spread by vegetative growth.


Apart from Salvia splendens (which was used in mass plantings), most nineteenth century salvias were used simply as filler plants in large garden beds. Although they never enjoyed the popularity of fuchsias, carnations, or geraniums, the salvias’ long flowering habit and ease of propagation would have made them a hard plant to ignore in the nineteenth century Australian garden. Perhaps owners, gardeners and designers of heritage gardens will review their planting selections to include some of these much-loved early perennial favourites.

Salvias commonly found in nineteenth century Australia gardens

Salvia africana-lutea* (syn: Salvia aurea) available from 1850s

Salvia azurea - prairie sage – available from 1850s

Salvia coccinea – commonly available by 1850

Salvia farinacea - mealy sage – appears on nursery lists by late 1880s

Salvia microphylla ‘Kew Red’ – (syn: Salvia grahamii) – available from 1880s

Salvia officinalis* - common sage - probably the first imported sage

Salvia patens  - gentian sage – appears on many local nursery lists from 1850s

Salvia splendens – tall growing red cultivars available in Australia by 1850s 

* denotes a frost hardy species

While a limited range of salvias are available from most nurseries the best range is available from Sue Tempteton's Unlimited Perennials nursery at 369 Boomerang Drive, Lavington 2641, NSW. Tel 02 - 6025 4585. Sue has a mail order service and website http://www.salviaspecialist.com/

Salvia illustration courtesy of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, Library

Nurseries: Living Horticulture

Gardeners best know Judy McMaugh for her classic horticultural reference book, What garden pest and disease is that? A more recent title is her ambitious history of the New South Wales nursery trade titled, Living Horticulture: The lives of men and women in the New South Wales nursery industry. At over 600 pages long, this is the first major account of the New South Wales nursery trade.

Beginning her research in 2000, McMaugh soon discovered that it was beyond her ability to document the entire history of the local nursery trade especially the early developmental period in the nineteenth century. She therefore limited her scope of study to nurseries active after 1900.

The book includes studies on a broad range of nurseries. These include general production nurseries, specialist plant growers as well as general retailers. Most of the 160 plant nurseries listed were active in the period following WW2 and are linked in some way to the publishers industry association. This nursery industry association connection may explain why a number of important nurseries are not mentioned in the book. Living Horticulture is well laid out but has the most atrocious cover I have seen in ages and I’m sure this will be a turn off many potential readers.

One of the highlights of the book are the many photographs used to illustrate the work. There are dozens of shots of nurseries showing displays, production sheds, shop fronts and nursery staff. I especially loved the images of the old Rast Brothers from Turramurra, Paul Sorensen’s Leura nursery in 1932, and the modern Baulkham Hills Garden Centre in c.1959.

The Rast Brothers

Judy McMaugh should be congratulated for her work in uncovering the lost history of so many local nurseries. This book will be popular reference with garden historians and should be included in every NSW public library collection.

Living Horticulture: The lives of men and women in the New South Wales nursery industry by Judy McMaugh, Nursery & Garden Industry NSW & ACT, Rouse Hill, NSW 2155. ISBN 0-646-44782-3 

politics in the garden

Several years ago while on a visit to Vietnam I discovered a distinctive looking annual bed in a Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) park. While the plants used in this formal bed were far from unusual - red bedding sage and golden marigolds - the design was certainly eye-catching.  At the centre of the planting was the hammer and sickle, the best known symbol of the international communist movement. While I had seen images of the hammer and sickle on my travels in the past I had never seen the emblem replicated in flowers. What made the planting scheme even more bizarre was that above the annual bed was a hoarding advertising Samsung electronic consumer goods; perhaps, a fitting image for contemporary Vietnam.

A bold design for an annual bed 

Reflecting on the hammer and sickle image I thought about other political signs or slogans which had been replicated in nature. One that quickly came to mind was the amazing discovery found in a pine plantation near Berlin in the early 1990s. During a low-level aerial survey a swastika patten was visible in the forest below. It is believed that the trees were planted in the late 1930s by local Nazi Party sympathisers. The golden colour was formed by larch trees - a deciduous conifer - during their brief autumn colouring prior to needle-drop. Shocked by the discovery local authorities removed most of larches in fear of the forest becoming a Nazi pilgrimage site.

While idological symbols in gardens are certainly unusual, politics is never far away from how we live. While nearly all garden writers choose to ignore politics and ideology in their work, British garden writer Martin Hoyles has embraced the theme from a socialist viewpoint. Hoyles has written several books on garden history where political perspectives have been central, most notably in his 1991 Story of Gardening (Journeyman Press, London). While most standard garden histories eulogize the journeys and adventures of plant collectors, Hoyles believes that these developments reflect the plunder of the natural world to serve the interests of colonial expansion and elite western collecting tastes.

An alternative view on garden history

Hoyles' books are highly recommended as they make us challenge our standard views on the history of gardening. Although hard to find they can be sourced at Floreligium (Australia's specialist garden bookshop) in Sydney or (dare I say it) via the internet.

Tools of the trade: Secateurs

As a working gardener I love the tools of my trade especially my secateurs. Several years ago I organised a couple of collectors fairs at historic Experiment Farm Cottage in Sydney for the National Trust and the Australian Garden History Society. The fairs in 2003 and 2005 were known as the Heritage Garden Tool Show and both events received much positive media attention. For the first fair I researched the history of secateurs for a give-away factsheet.

Some of the pruners on display at the Heritage Garden Tool Show

History of Secateurs

Secateurs were invented by the Marquis Bertrand de Moleville. He was a French aristocrat and politician who had to flee his homeland for exile in Britain during the revolution of 1789. Unlike many of his class he escaped the guillotine blade and this may have inspired him to invent the ‘cutters’ known in French as secateurs in 1815.

Prior to Bonville’s invention European gardeners had used scissors, pruning knives, bill hooks and shears to cut and trim foliage and small branches. De Moleville's new secateurs were a versatile and efficient hand tool and quickly became popular throughout continental Europe. English speaking male gardeners were less taken by this new French invention which was marketed in Britain as suitable only for ladies. This changed later in the 19th century when influential garden writers such as William Robinson promoted their use.

Three 19th century secateurs from my collection

Padua Botanic Garden

I'm sometimes asked for a list of my favourite gardens to visit in Europe. One that quickly comes to mind is the Padua Botanic Garden in northern Italy, near Venice. Although I have only visited the Orto Botanico di Padova twice - once in high summer and once in deep winter - this institution ticks all my garden history boxes.

An aerial view of the Orto Botanico 

While the botanic garden at Padua was not the first to be established (Pisa is one year older), it is recognised as the oldest in the world set in its original location. A fine example of the High Renaissance interest in science the garden was set up by Padua University to teach medical students about therapeutic plants used in healing. At the time the study of botany was an essential part of medical training, a coexistence that continued up to the middle years of the 20th century.

I found this early photographic view
of the gardens in a Padua antique shop

Another early view of the gardens this time showing 
the glasshouse surrounding the 'Goethe palm' 

The oldest plant in the garden is a Chamaerops humilis var. arborescens, planted in 1585, commonly known as the 'Goethe Palm', because the German poet and philosopher mentioned it in his essay The Metamorphoses of Plants (1790). This semi-hardy palm is situated in a purpose built glasshouse (see above). Many other trees in the Arboretum date from the 18th,19th and 20th centuries.

During the warmer months of the year
many of the frost tender plants - such
as these succulents - are moved outside

In 1997 the institution was listed as a UNESCO World heritage Site on the following grounds: 'The Botanical Garden of Padua is the original of all botanical gardens in the world, and represents the birth of science, of scientific exchanges, and understanding of the relationship between nature and culture. It has made a profound contribution to the development of many modern scientific, notably botany, medicine, chemistry, ecology and pharmacy.'

Within easy reach of Venice Padua is well worth a visit. Although badly damaged by bombing in World War II the city is filled with many wonderful historic buildings. Personal favourites are the Scrovegni Chapel (also known as the Apollo Chapel) decorated by Giotto, and the 13th century Baptistery decorated with frescoes by Giusto de Menabuoi.

I would love to hear from readers who share my enthusiasm for this garden and city.


Further reading in English: The Botanical Garden of Padua 1545-1995, edited by Alessandro Minelli, Marsilio, Venice, 1995