Always use resistant rootstock

Every Christmas I go to gatherings of dear friends. I have travelled to nearly all comers of the globe and I can tell you that there is nothing, absolutely nothing quite like a Guyanese party anywhere in the world. Of course there are always liberal quantities local elixir masked slightly with ginger, or coke or coconut water. If the weather is good then everybody starts to spill out into the garden. I have a particular friend who gives me a personal and extremely good natured tour after which we retire to the side of his raised swimming pool for more liquid.

It is plants that first bought us together, and I hope will ever cement our relationship. Tony has a voracious appetite for plants, and has over the years developed a collection of plants second to none. He is also second to none in his generosity with them, and there are many gardens that bear witness to this.

Christmas trees are not all that common in Guyana − not Norfolk Spruce the USA produces and sends to the Caribbean. The main tree which rejoices in the title of Christmas tree in Guyana is the Norfolk Island pine − a close relative of the Monkey Puzzle tree from Chile and very well suited to growing in Guyana. Young plants of the Norfolk Pine are easily obtained and can be grown on to a height of 50 or 60ft. Large specimens are a common enough sight all over Georgetown. Dear friends of ours, Clarence and Cristabel always hold a carol service at the base of theirs every year to celebrate Christmas, which is followed by a splendid party.

Seedlings of the dwarf French Marigold usually sown two weeks ago will have geminated by now and have been pricked out into small pots and along our northern border. Seed of the tall African Marigold, mainly ‘Crackerjack’ are also sown in early December; all give great colour to the garden. When I lived in Zambia marigolds were always used for funerals because they were cheap and easy to grow.

In his herbal of 1597 John Gerrard thought that marigolds were likely to be full of poison as their smell was very unpleasant. There is still a persistent belief amongst many people that when marigolds are planted and allowed to seed they prevent or inhibit the development of a chronic soil pest called the ‘stem and root eelworm.’ One of my oldest friends in Barbados used to fill her hibiscus beds with marigolds of all kinds in the belief that they got rid of this eelworm.

Although the beds were always a riot of colour, the marigolds did not do the job she thought they would, and the hibiscus collection eventually died out. Stem and root eelworm is a particularly bad soil pest of grafted hibiscus which, once infected never do well and really should be grubbed out and burned. Infected roots become gnarled and misshapen and the plants aren’t able to take up water and nutrients properly.

There is no cure for plants already infected and grounds have to be rested for ten years or more. Infected ground can be treated with a chemical called Furedan, which has to be used with great care and kept away from pets, and if possible from birds.

Always use resistant rootstock. Take care and may your God go with you.