Compact creativity in the garden

As one of the participants remarked, “It is so nice to see how roses can be used on a smaller scale; we aren’t all millionaires!” That didn’t mean the small gardens lacked roses and the effect was still breathtaking.

The first of the smaller gardens that our bus visited last week was in Hyde Park. A garden of extremes, half the garden fell into deep shade and the other half into full sun.

The sunny section exploded with colour; consisting mainly of roses in the sunset shades and offset by a border of golden leaved Cuphea “Lemon Splash”.

Perfectly clipped balls of Duranta “Sheena’s Gold” were interspersed among the roses and acted as a contrast, both in colour and texture.

The strong form of the clipped shrubs effortlessly drew the eye which could then rest leisurely on the roses.

Another nice feature of the garden was the raised plant boxes on either side of the patio filled with a mix of creamy “Fay’s Folly”, bright pink “Garden Queen” (for fragrance and picking) and underplanted with “Amarula Profusion” and ” Rosafrica”.

The shady section was a serene counterpart, and used different shades of green to provide subtle colour, accented by cleverly placed Cymbidium orchids, fuchsias and a golden leaved plectranthus.

The garden was designed and is maintained by Karen Gardelli of Creative Containers. The other small garden was in Morningside Manor and this garden showed how colour could pull everything together.

The main colour scheme of the roses was soft pink, apricot and cream. It was a dreamy combination but could have been bland without the intense blue of the delphiniums. The rosy effect was further accentuated by a border of miniature roses planted in front of the taller roses.

The cushion groundcover rose, “My Granny” was also used to lead the eye down the border that ended with a dense planting of “Flower Power”, a medium sized salmon pink floribunda.

Big pots of “Simply Samantha” and “Jennifer Joy” underplanted with honey-scented alyssum, made bold statements at the back of the rose bed as well as at the pool.

An interesting feature was the Perspex or glass or similar see-through material that was used to fence off the pool. It allowed one to look through to the rest of the garden and wasn’t as dominating as a solid fence.

The garden that was the overwhelming favourite on the tour was a larger garden in Fourways Gardens.

However, the four distinct sections could easily be replicated in a smaller garden. Designed by Shirley Wallington, and planted by Lizette Nieman, the garden is vintage Wallington; with rose-covered archways as well as roses in sumptuous mixed borders.

A mixed border filled with strong warm colours swept one into the garden, and as one approached the home, Wallington calmed it down with soft pink, peach and cream roses.

The archway linking the two sections of garden featured climbing roses and star jasmine, so that in winter there would still be a framework of green leaves from the jasmine.

The roses were showcased in two ways. In the mixed border, medium-high shrubby roses were used to stand out above the surrounding annuals and perennials.

In the dedicated rose beds, specimen roses planted closer together provided the rose “wow” with space for planting poppies in winter and with perennials around the edge to soften it.

The final section consisted of a spectacular bed with standard and bush “Iceberg” roses set against a white picket fence and gateway leading to a woodland section.

The white sparkled in combination with pink “Iceberg” and dianthus, white snapdragons, and blue statice and salvia.