Just a small group of these magnificent trees made a golden halo over our heads. From a distance, I thought it was a Callistemon, but the arching, almost horn-like flower structure confirmed it as a Grevillea. Maybe a Grevillea Robusta. I have never experienced an extended period of acquaintance with a botanical category garden before. The chance to watch and wait as shrubs and trees emerge and bloom is really fabulous. Can you watch an overture?
Not in musical terms, but you can in a garden. Although maybe calling Spring in Morocco an overture, probably the best season of all before the real heat and dry kicks in, is a real misnomer.
But never mind, the general idea still works. Of course, in my own garden, the watching and waiting is precisely the great joy of it all, but in another space, where you have had no hand in making it, it is a real pleasure and surprise. And, as well, the surprise is really surprising!
What follows is my inventory of surprise over the last week or so. Here is another 20m high flowering wonder. To the casual eye, these immense plants, from a distance seemed almost banana-like. But hiding high in the canopy were these surreal white and blue flowerheads, which gave the game away as a Strelitzia of giant proportions. For those with a giant conservatory or greenhouse in the UK, Strelitzia augusta would be a show-stopper. The Stelitzia more commonly known to gardeners is the Strelitzia regina, below.
Growing to a good metre tall and wide in the warmth it needs, it is also the mascot flower for the city of Los Angeles, it is a striking and colourful plant. My mum adored them. And, in my favourite historical vein of finding the hidden women in horticulture, there is a significant connection between both these plants and the House of Hanover in the UK.
