Author Archives: mike

The rain garden area will get a Cape Rush (Chondropetalum tectorum), a large, bold grass-like plant from South Africa. This plant supposedly likes wet conditions during the rainy season that dry out as the year progresses. The plant gets over six feet tall – definitely a bold, focal point.

The hummingbird garden will get a Grevillea ‘Coastal Gem’, a compact gray shrub with numerous interesting red flowers in early spring. There will also be an Aloe ‘Pink Blush’, a compact succulent with – as the name says – a pink blush to the leaves. It has red, tubular flowers that should also please theContinue reading “Grevillea ‘Coastal Gem’”

Another distinctive South African plant, Leucadendron salignum ‘Golden Tip’ will contrast with an existing large bronze New Zealand flax. The cut stems and flowers are very interesting in cut flower arrangements, the plant is evergreen and attractive year round. It takes very little water once established. The only drawback is that it can be trickyContinue reading “Leucadendron salignum ‘Golden Tip’”

A couple of medium sized New Zealand flaxes will join the collection as well. ‘Sundowner’ has stiffly held red-bronze leaves and grows to five feet tall. ‘Tricolor’ has yellow and green variegated leaves that droop, with a distinct red band at the edges. By coincidence, the yellow in the leaves is similar to the yellowContinue reading “New New Zealand Flaxes (Phormium)”

A Helleborus orientalis ‘Blue Lady’ will go in a shaded area, with columbine and coral bells. The flowers are a solid deep maroon-magenta color on plants about a foot and a half high. It’s a great flower color, but the blue name is misleading, since neither the flowers nor the leaves has a blue cast.Continue reading “Helleborus orientalis ‘Blue Lady’”

A variegated lily of the Nile, Agapanthus ‘Little White Bird’ will mingle with Purple Three Awn (Aristida purpurea). The flowers are supposed to grow up to around three feet tall, so the base will be a mix of the grass and the Agapanthus, while the aggie’s flowers will float above the purplish flower heads ofContinue reading “Agapanthus ‘Little White Bird’”