Colour blasts against lush foils of broad matt and gloss leaves, with the constant drone of pulsing cicadas … the East Coast Cool Subtropics High Summer is here Garden Lovers … Mmmmmm
There’s no other time of year like it is there….
..when the garden turns richer shades, that only the sultry breath of Queensland can bring us, as it travels slowly down the coast. I’ll be showing you such a Sydney garden on the next send, when I join Graham Ross on Better Homes & Gardens at a Paradisus design in Willoughby. Until then, here are a few exciting suggestions from ‘Sea-Changer’ my studio garden, to inspire planting to make your home gardens even better.
Swamp Hibiscus – Hibiscus moscheutos
Perfect under an open sky aspect where past planting has struggled with a damp spot. These are semi aquatic and winter herbaceous, so if you can point the hose at them coming up to Xmas a few times, you’ll be rewarded by a rush of big red flowers in the January garden.
Take a look at the above YouTube taken here at ‘Sea-Changer’.. to see how these exciting plants could easily grow in your home garden.. !
Fireball Lilies
Scadoxus multiflorus is the Fireball Lily and like clivea and hippeastrum, are in the same Family Amaryllidaceae. In this case has been crossed with Scadoxus pole-evansii, making a slightly shorter clump of mini banana palms in Summer to around half a meter. After the January flowers that look a bit like a coral coloured agapanthus, there is a brief collapse of the clump in late September or so, that surges again by November, with new inflorescence bearing stems after Xmas.
Take a look in the above video !
The White Summer Tulip – Crinum jagas
Another Cool Subtropics beauty, Crinum jagus also from Tropical Africa, is another star of the morning sun or bright shade garden.
Tulip-like flowers rise slightly above a lush clump after Xmas, then burst overnight with sweet scente. A morning walk by while the summer air is still fresh, heavily infused with the perfume of Christopher Lilies is a memorable experience. Extra water up to Xmas and doesn’t wake up from its winter hiatus till November. Take a look at the YouTube beneath to see what these exciting look like open.
.. last but not least for your Summer Garden is Impatiens auricoma x bicaudata, a useful star of the dry shade garden.
Trying to get a dry shade garden going can be a challenge, especially where there’s competition for moisture from within the drip line of larger trees.
That’s why the Impatiens Tribe are so useful, being able to succeed within dry, shallow surface soil by storing moisture in their juicy thickened stems. Take a look at the YouTube beneath to see how they would grow so well for you too ..
Let me know if there are parts of the garden you still struggle with ..Or you’re emerging from the rigours of a major renovation or new home build..
.. maybe I can help you with a design brief or garden design, with planting roll-outs of the actual plants that will grow into your exciting new home garden.
And don’t forget your 20 years long work colleague, your daughter or your bestie from primary school ..
… if they are struggling too, please ask them to make contact at info@peternixon.com.au or call me 0418 161513 www.peternixon.com.au
More inspiration at FB – Paradisus Garden Design and Insta paradisus_sea_changer
LIVE your garden …
