This has to be one of the best large shrubs for autumn colour with its large leaves that can be entire with a heart shape, have one lobe looking like a mitten or a lobe on both sides. So it is a great conversation piece as well as a great plant. It comes from Asia …
I have only met this plant recently as a struck cutting I bought at the AGM auction of Plant Trust an important organisation that registers plant collections. I have only had it a couple of years and it has been a winner in every respect as far as I am concerned. It is a neotropical …
This has to be one of the most indestructible plants that I grow and although it is common it the U.S. and Europe is for some reason rarely offered in Australia. It is evergreen and its foliage will turn fabulous colours in winter if it is in enough cold and even if it doesn’t colour …
This slow growing evergreen plant from South West Asia to Iran has long been on my want list and over the last few years it has come my way as it should come yours! It is called Poet’s Laurel or Alexandrian Laurel and is in fact the plant used to make the wreaths that crowned …
An oldie but a goodie! Over the years more and more cultivars of this species have hit the market and many are great plants in their own right. However I don’t think any are an improvement on this the Japanese Snowball. This is a deciduous shrub to 2metres with branches in flat layers that alway …
The Chinese Quince that was until recently called Pseudocydonia has to be one of the best small trees you could have! It has attractive deep pink flowers in mid spring followed by large oblong yellow fruit in summer that is by the way edible, then the foliage turns stunning colours in autumn and as if that wasn’t …
I love the autumn because the winter growing Oxalis suddenly start to erupt out of the ground and yes I know that includes the weedy ones but with so many species in the Genus (some hundreds apparently) they can’t all be weeds obviously. One of the early ones is this lovely yellow flowered African species …
A very useful evergrey ground cover shrub to about 60cms. tall by 1.5metres wide for a sunny well drained aspect. It comes from the Mediterranean area and so is ideally suited for our climate in southern Australia. In spring it is covered with bright yellow Cistus type flowers (it may well end up being a …
The Mexican pine has to be one of the most elegant species that you could grow as a specimen tree in a fair sized lawn and it is cold hardy (at least in Australia) and heat and drought tolerant as well. It will quickly grow to 20metres or so and its tassel like needles hanging …
Euonymus fortunei from Asia is a remarkably hardy and incredibly diverse species including trailing ground covers, climbers and even quite large shrubs. In the case of variety radicans it is a bit of a trailing ground cover that will also climb up any suitable surface and in both instances it is a light open plant …
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