Quake weed - Ranunculus sceleratus

The celery-leaved buttercup, Ranunculus sceleratus, on a quake site on 

Colombo St, Beckenham, Christchurch

When I was shopping at Opawaho Organics in Beckenham two weeks ago the proprietor Susan Turnbull mentioned that a weed she had never seen before had sprung up on the site of the row of old shops which had been demolished following the damage they suffered in the February 22 earthquake. Presumably the seed had been lying dormant under the buildings all those years.

She took me over the road so that I could see for myself, and it was one I had never seen before either. Susan had researched it and found it was the celery-leaved buttercup, Ranunculus sceleratus.

R. sceleratus is one of the more poisonous plants of North America and Eurasia, causing blisters is applied to the skin and inflammation of the tongue if chewed fresh. It does have some traditional medicinal uses in Europe and in America it was used as an arrow-tip poison.

I stopped to look at a quake site some 2 km away from Beckenham and saw the weed growing there as well. If anyone reading this lives in Christchurch and has or knows children who might be playing on quake sites, please warn them not to touch this weed.

Spring says forget me not

 The Chatham Islands forget-me-not surrounded by 

self-sown blue and white field forget-me-nots.

I was weeding the flowerbeds yesterday, and the sticky seed capsules of the common field forget-me-not, Mysotis arvensis, kept attaching themselves to the backs of my gardening gloves and the tail of my T-shirt. I am very partial to forget-me-nots because they make a very pretty groundcover in spring, one which does not need to be planted as they sow themselves freely. If they sow themselves where they are not wanted they are very easily weeded out, even when fully grown. The seeding plants can then be left to rot down wherever you want forget-me-nots next year. If only all plants were so obliging!

The standard forget-me-not colour of light blue blends with everything, and the white version makes a lovely frothy neutral base from which bright daffodils or tulips can emerge. Myosotis species belong to the Boraginaceae family, which has lots of other lovely forget-me-not like flowers, including the perennials Brunnera macrophylla (aka Siberian bugloss) and Omphalodes cappadocica (aka navel wort or navel seed). These dainty plants are happy in semi-shade (under deciduous trees is good). Both like a reasonably moist soil, but Omphalodes can tolerate more dryness than Brunnera. In favourable conditions they will naturalise and spread by themselves. Gardeners can help this happen by dividing the clumping plants and replanting the divisions where required.

Omphalodes cappadocica

'Starry Eyes'

 Brunnera macrophylla

'Jack Frost', and lily-of-the-valley.

These northern hemisphere forget-me-nots are lovely but modest plants, whereas the Chatham Island forget-me-not, Myosotidium hortensia, is a big, bold plant of an intense blue which adds some drama to the spring garden. It likes a mild, moist climate. It is found near the beach in nature, and loves seaweed-based fertilisers. It has big, shiny leaves, which look attractive when the plant is not flowering. I think a combination of this forget-me-not and the field forget-me-nots is a winner – but you look at the picture above and be the judge.

Spring Garden Workshop in the Eco Garden November 19

 

The 'classroom' and 'dining room' for the Spring Garden Workshop, in October.

From 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturday November 19 I will be running my first ever garden workshop in the Eco Garden. As it is spring time the emphasis will be on successful seed raising and caring for young plants, but there will also be lots of time for learning by looking at what I am growing, and asking questions about it.

After three hours of experiential learning we will consolidate what has been learned over an organic vegetarian lunch. All for only $30! For more details on the workshop go to the Spring Garden Workshop page here - and please spread the word to your Canterbury friends who might be interested.