Australia burns

While in the Northern states of the USA and Europe we suffer ever more freezing weather, down-under in Australia the weather is just as extreme. The states of South Australia and Victoria recorded temperatures above 109F (43C) on Friday.

As the mercury rose, bushfires raged across eastern Victoria, fuelled by bone dry conditions and sweeping winds. The "brutal" weather broke records in the city of Melbourne, which for the first time experienced three consecutive days above 109F (43C). At the hottest part of the day, the city suffered 113F (45.1C). And the temperatures failed to fall at night, with residents attempting to sleep through 100F (38C) 107F heat.

Sweltering temperatures also hit the usually-temperate island of Tasmania, which had its hottest day on record, reaching 107F (42.2C).

The soaring heat took its toll on the elderly and infirm, with police and ambulance crews in Adelaide, where temperatures hit 109F (43.1C), reporting a sharp rise in the number of sudden deaths, with at least 19 people in the city believed to have died as a direct result of the heat wave.

There was chaos in Melbourne, where rising temperatures caused power outages, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of trains. Commuters, described as "cooking in the heat", were stuck on trains and trams for hours. Some benevolent companies offered to let their employees leave early, but in a rare exhibition of presenteeism in January, workers decided to linger in their air-conditioned offices rather than take their chances on the baking streets below. Children were sent home from school and hotels reported a spike in bookings as hot home-owners sought out fully-air-conditioned rooms.

At least 400,000 homes across Victoria remained without power and the state's government is convening to consider limiting electricity use to prevent further blackouts. But there is little respite in sight. Adelaide is preparing for its longest hot spell since 1908, with forecasters tipping temperatures above 107F (38C) for the next seven days.

In the meantime in the UK, snow is coming our way from Russia and a long freeze is forecast. And still some people are saying that there is no global weather change?

Is this agro-forestry?

Sheep grazing Dales Canna stock beds

Dale McDonnell has recently recounted a tale of her current problems growing Cannas in rural Australia.

Due to having limited mobility for the past 11 months, the weeds in her stock beds were out of control, particularly the clover. There was also an issue that those of us in Northern Europe do not have to contend with, that of disturbing snakes hidden in this overgrowth!

In desperation, Dale turned their small flock of Wiltshire Horn ewes and lambs into the area. In just a few days they have done a wonderful job and now she can feel confident of getting on top of things, and is also much happier about toddling down the rows and not stepping on an unseen snake.

As usual, Dale is an observant journalist and concluded that:-

• Most sheep do not like the taste of cannas.
  
• One lamb adores them but is very fussy as to which varieties he munches. 'Lilian Cole' Italia' and 'Roma' are his favourites. Burgundy and variegated foliage is not to his taste.
  
• 'King Humbert' makes a cool, inviting mattress to lay on when the temperature soars to blast furnace proportions. Result - flattened!
  
• All sheep love to eat Daylilies.

Dale concluded that the damage done by the sheep was minimal, and on the whole it was a successful exercise.

Thanks Dale, we love your personal stories of life in Australia, and I will be less resentful of weeding our own beds when I remember that I don't have to contend with snakes, just the occasional toad!

Revisiting Canna 'Australia'

A tall Italian Group cultivar; bronze foliage, ovoid shaped, maroon margin, upright habit; flowers are open, self-coloured red-orange, staminodes are large, edges frilled, petals purple with farina, fully self-cleaning, average bloomer; seed is sterile, pollen is low fertile; rhizomes are thick, up to 3 cm in diameter, coloured purple; tillering is average.

Introduced by C. Sprenger, Dammann & Co., Naples, Italy, EU in 1906.

Star of the Day. 'Salmon Gladdy'

The Canna blooming season is well under way in the Southern Hemisphere so to cheer up those Canna enthusiasts who are now in the grip of winter, I'll regularly share photos of those cannas that are looking particularly outstanding right now in my garden in south eastern Australia.

'Canna X 'Salmon Gladdy' is a recent hybrid created by Bernard Yorke of Queensland, Australia. For a couple of seasons Bernard was experimenting with using 'Red Stripe' and even Canna indica as seed parents and crossing them with pollen from various large flowered hybrids including 'Pretoria' and 'Wyoming' and others of his own sumptuous hybrids. The aim was to produce very tall growing cannas with spectacular foliage AND good large flowers. The result was his "Gladdy Series".

Most of the successes came from the 'Red Stripe' crosses but 'Salmon Gladdy' was an exception as its seed parent is surprisingly Canna indica and it is a very spectacular Canna. Bernard has now abandoned the use of C. indica as a parent as useful offspring were almost non-existent save for this one. I have not yet extricated the name of the pollen parent from Bernard. Perhaps he might post the answer in the comments section of this blog?

This hybrid is very tall with wonderful dusty, purple blushed, widely lanceolate foliage. Flowers are a delicate flesh apricot-pink, with picotee edges to the staminodes and about 7-8 cms (3-4") in diameter, held aloft of strong stems.

These tall foliage cannas are in great demand here in Australia. They are used to dress swimming pool surrounds in our warm temperate areas to impart that lush, tropical atmosphere. Cannas are far more accommodating than other tropicals in the range of climates in which they thrive.