Download This article - Montessori Children`s House

Notes from the garden – September 2016
The child should live in an environment of beauty—Maria Montessori
Greetings to all in this first week of Spring. Throughout the grounds of the MCH, different
plants are in bloom for the children to enjoy, including the parsley and rocket in the Kitchen
Garden. It is high time for the final harvest to make way for new season plantings. At the
same time, the children have been able to see the full life cycle of these edible plants. And
both parsley and rocket put on a surprising floral display, much to the enjoyment of our
native bees and other beneficial insects in the garden. During August, the children also
picked and collected the seeds from one of the lettuce which was left to flower and go to
seed.
The
In the Secret Garden, the Grevillea ‘Elegance’ just
keeps on blooming. It has been in flower since
late June! And over the last fortnight, the
Leptospermum flavescens ‘Cardwell’ has joined
the show. This shrub (a member of the Tea Tree
genus) has a lovely weeping habit. It has fine
leaves which are intensely aromatic when
crushed, and produces sprays of small, creamy
white, cup-shaped flowers along its branches
from late winter to summer. New plantings of
natives are planned for Spring to fill in a few
areas of the Secret Garden but the seedlings will
need to be protected from the attention of a
scrub turkey.
In the Seasonal Garden, the bed of Dianthus and
Statice are in full bloom. In the corner of the bed,
one lemon-yellow Snapdragon is also in flower,
self-sown from last year! Thanks again to Majella
Jackwitz for planting this garden bed.
Also, don’t miss the delicate lilac and yellow
flowers of the native Dianella caerulea,
commonly known as the Blue Flax-Lily, which is
planted to the left of the MCH entrance stairs.
Over time the flowers produce small, edible
indigo-blue coloured berries. On the other side of
the steps, the yellow-flowered Hibbertia
Scandens ‘Snake Vine’ is in bloom. Both of these
native plants are favourites of our native stingless
bees.
Until next time, I hope you enjoy the gardens at MCH.
—Chris Daly