It’s
the first day of winter and I’ve just been for a walk around my garden.
The last of the brilliantly hued leaves from the smokebush, berberis and
weeping apricot were fluttering to the ground. The currawongs were
calling from the trees and the scent of woodsmoke was in the chilly air.
As some of the plants prepare to bed down for the coming season, others
are just stirring to life. Winter shouldn’t mean a drab and colourless
garden if you plan it properly.
Red Garden
It was with great delight I discovered an emerging flowerbud in my
red garden on Aloe arborescens X ferox. I have planted this in a
very dry area where many plants have succumbed over the last 10 years.
It should be in full majestic flower by about July. Also starting to
flower was Salvia gesneriflora which produces tall (20cm) spikes
of fire-engine red flowers during the cooler months. My nandina cultivar
called ‘Richmond’ has a good crop of berries which are just starting to
develop their full colour; they make a great show for months because the
birds never touch them. The leaves of Cordyline ‘Red Fountain’
look terrific too in a tall conical pot as do the leaves of a glossy
red/bronze coprosma called ‘Walter Brockie’. As the cannas die back for
winter the stems of the ruby chard grow taller to make a vibrant
addition to the garden. The mounds of Cotyledon macrantha are
sending up flower stems which will produce bunches of red/orange
bell-shaped flowers that the honeyeaters adore. In this part of the
garden I used to enjoy the red stems of the dogwood Cornus siberica
and the coral bark maple Acer ‘Sango Kaku’ until they died due to
the increasing soil dryness. I looked upon their removal as an
opportunity to try new (and hopefully tougher) plants.
White/Silver/Green
Garden
There is not a lot in flower here over winter, but the foliage of
Cotyledon orbiculata continues to be a silvery delight contrasting
with a strappy green dietes, a mounding cistus and a leafy butchers
broom (Ruscus hypoglossum). The Cape snow bush Eriocephalus
africanus has a few white flowers and lots of buds so it will
continue to provide some interest. The older alyssums are still
producing a few white flowers and the new crop of seedlings has just
come up.
Yellow/Blue Garden
A
large plant of Aeonium arboreum is starting to produce its large
conical flowerheads. These yellow flowers will open in a few weeks time
when they will be visited by a range of insects seeking their nectar.
The only other yellow flowers are to be seen on Tagetes lemmonii
but yellow highlights are visible on the variegated leaves of Yucca
‘Golden Sword’ and Euonymus japonica aureus marginata. I have
a few blue salvias which are flowering and I hope will continue to do so
for a few more weeks – maybe even a month.
These
are the cultivars ‘Anthony Parker’ and ‘Cookie’ and the species
chamaedryoides. A summer deciduous clematis species called
napaulensis is beginning to produce leaves and it will be flowering
by July. Its flowers are a strange purple-green. The new growth of
Euphorbia rigida is a lovely glaucous blue and contrasts nicely
against the strappy green leaves of Dietes bicolour. A wonderful
unknown rosemary cultivar has been producing deep blue flowers for a few
weeks and will continue to do so for a few weeks more.
Pastel Garden
The
tall stems of a tree dahlia soar overhead and my fingers are crossed
that their lilac flowers will open before they are cut down by a hard
frost. Some years they make it and some years they don’t. Its Dahlia
imperialis and I recently planted Dahlia excelsa because I
was told it flowered a few weeks earlier. Since I moved Phymosea
rosea and watered it with (grey) water over summer, the bush has
doubled in size and has been flowering for weeks. Its small crimson
flowers don’t open all the way, but the plant is still worth having in
the garden. The purple flowered form of Salvia leucantha doesn’t
look like anything will stop its flowering and Salvia oxyphora is
also continuing to produce its furry hot-pink flowers. The candy striped
leaves of Phormium ‘Jester’ come into their own over winter when
they don’t get scorched by the sun. Many of my hebes are budding up and
should be flowering in a few weeks time. These include ‘Tui Spears’,
‘Wiri Blush’, ‘Wiri Joy’ and ‘Dobbies Delight’.
Australian Native Garden
Since
some autumn rain fell (not enough – never enough) the plants in the
Australian native garden have begun to stir into life. My possum banksia,
Banksia baueri, has produced two huge furry flower spikes and a
few more are on the way. The pincushion hakea Hakea laurina has
been flowering for a few weeks and will continue for another few weeks.
A variety of correas sometimes called native fuchsias are flowering
profusely – they are such a great plant. I have yellow, pink, red, and
white ones in my garden. Some of my emu bushes will be coming out soon
particularly Eremophila ‘Winter Gold’ which will keep going
almost until summer! I have a prostrate form of Acacia iteaphylla
that is flowering now and in a pot I have a diminutive bush called
Acmadenia tetragona which has just started to produce its tiny pink
flowers. The native heath Epacris impressa and the happy wanderer
Hardenbergia violacea will also be flowering in a few weeks time
– something to look forward to.
So now is a really good time to see what is looking good in the
nurseries, public parks, botanic gardens and in other people’s gardens;
then you will know what might provide colour throughout winter for you
in your garden.
Illustrations from top to
bottom:
1.The bright red flowers of winter flowering
Salvia gesneriflora.
2. The Cape snow bush (Eriocephalus africanus) is
covered in a myriad of small white flowers in winter.
3. The strange purple stamened green blooms of Clematis napaulensis.
4. The bright egg-yolk yellow flowers of Tagetes lemmonii
sometimes known as the Mexican bush marigold.
5. The tactile pink blooms of Salvia oxyphora.
5. A newly released Correa cultivar called ‘White
Tips’.