Author: Stephen Ryan
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Puya alpestris
This Genus of cold hardy plants in the pineapple family from South America are plants that I have become attached to, in more ways than one! They are tough as guts drought tolerant bold foliage plants ideal in tubs or a centre piece for a rock garden that will let you put your hand in
Stephen Ryan
Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Diabolo’
Bronze and purple foliage plants are so useful in the garden that I find it hard to stop and unless you are a gardening Goth you do need to hold back. After all they are great with hot colours and will tone them down and they are equally at home with soft pinks and other
Stephen Ryan
Callicarpa bodinieri var.giraldii
There are masses of plants with red, yellow or orange berries and i love them all but isn’t it fun to have something completely different? The plant in question Callicarpa ( which translates as Beauty berry which doubles as its common name) is one such. It is a deciduous shrub to 2metres or so with
Stephen Ryan
Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda
This is the Chinese walking stick bamboo and is also sometimes seen listed as Qiongzhuea tumidinoda which is a wonderful name although I’m not sure how one should pronounce it! It only found its way into Western horticulture in 1987 but had long been used in China to make said walking sticks. Be warned it
Stephen Ryan
Malus ‘Pioneer Rose’
There can’t be a more useful group of small deciduous trees than the Crabapples. They will happily grow in almost any soil (not water logged) in a very wide range of climates coping well with summer heat and drought as well as winter frosts and cold. Many can be grown as specimen trees or as
Stephen Ryan
Rubus phoenicolasius
The Japanese wine berry is a close relative to the ubiquitous Blackberry and as the common name would suggest is Asian. It makes a suckering clump with arching stems to 2metres or so long, which when the plant is bare in winter are covered with masses of tiny bright red bristles. For me this is
Stephen Ryan
Crataegus mexicana
There has been some dispute over the name of this small extremely hardy tree but there can be no dispute over its ornamental value! You may see it listed as C. stipulacea or C. pubescens or even a mixture of any of the afore mentioned. It can of course be called the Mexican Hawthorn and
Stephen Ryan
Griselinia scandens
I first saw this South American arching shrub at the Mt. Tomah Botanic gardens and immediately knew I had to have it. It has elegant long arching branches clothed with stemless glossy apple-green leaves and in winter it produces open clusters of tiny chocolate flowers. It is however its habit and leaves that it should
Stephen Ryan
Maesa montana
This odd shrub came my way quite some time ago and didn’t initially make much impact. The leaves are large and a bright green but not of a particularly interesting shape so I plonked it in the garden to see what if anything interesting it could do. It has now made a shrub of about
Stephen Ryan
Miscanthus ‘Giganteus’
Tis the season to jolly fa la la la la la. If you want a different festive look for your garden you need to start early. First buy a plant of this impressive ornamental grass and let it rip. When it becomes dormant in winter instead of cutting down its 3metre stems just remove all
Stephen Ryan