I am sitting here smugly, looking at about 15 camellia trees that were spindly camellia bushes 20 years ago, now all in glorious extravagant bloom - and with almost no work from me. Subscribe now for unlimited access . Login or signup to continue reading $ 0 / $ NaN /year All articles from our website & app The digital version of Today's Paper Breaking news alerts direct to your inbox Interactive Crosswords, Sudoku and Trivia All articles from the other regional websites in your area Continue Each bush was well watered when it was planted, and maybe two or three times after that, though I chose years with a good expectation of rain to plant them.
Gardening can be of the "instant" or "slow" method, or anything in between. A camellia can double its size in a good year. Picture Shutterstock I wait for a good weather forecast to plant, not necessarily a forecast from the weather bureau, but from the more accurate various flowerings of the bush plants around us.
Eucalyptus smithii, for example, blooms a few weeks before good and probably prolonged rain - or at least they do in our valley, where the smithii grow on dry ridges and need several moist months for their seeds to mature. If the Acacia melanoxyn have set masses of seed, then next summer will be hot and dry. I've fed those camelias maybe four times; mulched them with autumn leaves now and then.
.. and waited.
The waiting is the most important part of gardening. Plants (mostly) pretty much grow themselves. They don't grow mu.