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The Crown of Thorns
Oct
A few years before the covid pandemic the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne, Dr Philip Freier, and his wife Joy visited the Lambley garden alongside a few of the volunteer gardeners from Bishops Court, the official residence of the Archbishop in East Melbourne.
Acanthus sennii
I was showing the group the orange-red flowered, very prickly, holly leaved Ethiopean endemic, Acanthus sennii, when the Archbishop asked me if I knew of a way to be rid of Acanthus mollis, that bane of many an old garden. The latter species, a native of the Mediterranean area, was the inspiration for the capital, the top of Corinthian columns. It is a magnificent garden plant when grown in other people’s gardens. During its very long life it can become a pernicious, nigh on impossible to eradicate weed. The Archbishop and I talked about this problem for a while. A few minutes later Mrs Freier said that she and the Archbishop had recently visited Egypt. Whilst there she was told by Coptic Christians that the crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus, just before his crucifixion, was made with Acanthus leaves.
In that case, I was able to say, the crown of thorns must have been woven from Acanthus syriacus leaves which are long and narrow, flexible and incredibly spiny. More than a little pleased with myself I pointed out the clump of Acanthus syriacus growing in my garden.
As to the Archbishops original question this is how we controlled a patch of Acanthus mollis in our own garden. The plants were first cut to the ground. As soon as new leaves appeared they were dabbed with full strength glyphosate with an applicator brush attached to a weed wand. It took at least three years of assiduous dabbing to finally eliminate all traces of the Acanthus.
As it happened the very day the Anglican Primate of Australia was visiting my garden my eldest son, Ric Glenn, was visiting the garden of the Anglican Primate of all England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth Palace. At the time Ric was the head gardener on the Chelsea estate of Earl Cadogan. The head gardeners of aristocratic estates often mixed with the head gardeners of other aristocratic estates. Thus the invitation to visit the Lambeth Palace gardens. Ric is now Grounds and Gardens Manager at the Chelsea Royal Hospital, the home of the Chelsea Pensioners and the Chelsea Flower show.