Larry Smith and the Riverside Gardens team talk all things pots, plants and pruning in their weekly gardening column.
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It was great to see so many people out and about here last Sunday celebrating Father’s Day.
There were so many families taking up the offer of free mini golf for all fathers, and I can tell you, there was not too much of letting dad win for Father’s Day going on either.
A lot of others were just enjoying a stroll around the golf gardens, picnicking on the lawns, or wandering through the nursery just taking in the beauty spring brings to the gardens.
The Garden Centre alone is lovely to walk around with the spring blossom coming into colour.
Some people are losing track of time as they stroll about out there.
The standout blossom trees at the moment, the ones getting all the comments, are the cercis trees, and they certainly deserve the recognition.
All the varieties of these have been looking amazing over the last few weeks.
Cercis trees are commonly known as redbuds and, in some cases, Judas trees.
They are a small group of deciduous trees and shrubs that flower along their bare branches before their distinctive, heart-shaped leaves appear in spring.
They are hardy and thrive across a wide range of growing conditions.
Cercis Forest Pansy is probably the best-known cercis variety.
Since becoming widely recognised about 15 years ago, it has remained a favourite for its compact habit, dramatic foliage and seasonal colour.
This attractive small tree grows to around six metres high and six metres wide, developing a graceful, umbrella-shaped canopy.
In spring, bright pink flowers appear along the bare branches before the deep purple, heart-shaped leaves emerge.
Through summer, the foliage softens to a purplish green before finishing the season with a rich autumn display of red, apricot and gold.
Cercis Faerie Queen is one of the earliest flowering varieties of Cercis.
It’s rose pink-purple-coloured flowers form tight heads that resemble coral all along the branches before their green leaves appear.
Cercis Faerie Queen is a smaller growing variety reaching around 3m high and wide at maturity.
Like the other ‘cercis’, their heart-shaped leaves tend to fold over slightly like butterfly wings during times of extreme heat and dryness helping them limit their water loss.
Another smaller growing variety is Cercis Merlot, which is similar to the Forest Pansy, but only growing to 3m high with glossier, darker leaves that hold their colour through summer.
Cercis Aurelian is a taller variety to around 5m high with rose pink to lavender pink pea-type flowers and golden foliage tending to lime green as the season progresses.
Its golden foliage makes a great contrast in the garden, but it should be noted that it can suffer some heat scorch on the leaf in extremely exposed full sun positions.
All the flowering prunus are just starting to come into blossom in the Garden Centre as well, and will be in full bloom over the next few weeks.
These include prunus blireiana with its rich pink, slightly scented, double blooms and reddish-purple tinged leaves which turn green as the season progresses.
Prunus cerasifera nigra has single pink flowers with dark purple foliage that hold their colour right through summer.
Prunus oakfield crimson spire is a narrower form of prunus cerasifera, which has become popular for its tight narrow form.
Its dense upright growth works well as a screening plant or a feature in smaller gardens and can make a very showy avenue of trees or even a street tree in larger spaces.
This attractive flowering plum has reddish-bronze foliage when young which turns darker as they mature with blossom that starts off-white tinges off to pale pink.
The weeping cherries are also almost in flower with the odd one or two breaking bud just this week.
Available in pink and white blossom in single and double flowers, they can make a stunning feature plant in a garden if you have the room to show off their graceful habit.
These come as short standards on a 1m trunk or taller standard on a 1.8m trunk in either semi weeping or weeping forms.
It is not only the deciduous blossom trees putting on a show, some of our native plants are looking just as stunning.
The Chamelaucium native wax flowers from Western Australia are looking beautiful with the pink, white and purple varieties all flowering together.
Along with the purple native hibiscus in full flower with the other colours not far behind.
The long-leafed wax flower, Philotheca myoporoides, are not only looking good, but smelling beautiful with their small starry white flowers and their refreshing citrusy, eucalyptus scented foliage.
It is easy to see how people can lose all sense of time when they are out among the plants in spring.
With blossom, colour, fragrance and fresh growth everywhere, the garden is a pleasure for all the senses, and the beautiful spring weather certainly makes it even more enjoyable.