Garden Colours and Textures for Year round interest ..

… in the frost free coastal Cool Subtropics

Long gone are the ignominious few, relegated to a ‘cactus section’ at Plant Brokerages dear colleagues … these next 5 featured plants from Troy Southwood, Master Grower at Empire Nursery, 7 Moores Road, Glenorie will bring colour and textures for year round interest.

Ask for him by calling Nursery Manager Tim Porter 0404 477 834

Empire Nursery https://empirewholesale.com.au and sign up for their Trade A/c

Plants with succulence have risen to prominence, not only for their self storing ‘water-wise’ capacities but also interesting habits, textures and foliage colour, to earn them year round interest and feature in the design industry.

Mangave ‘Pineapple Express’

Especially conspicuous among the new intergeneric hybrid Mangaves, borrow desirable attributes from both parents. All Mangave hybrids shown 165mm $14.50 + gst

Mangave ‘Pineapple Express’ has a tidier form that it’s Manfreda parent but has kept a faster growth rate than the Agave side. Manfreda’s leopard spots have also transferred, together with a blue green rosette. In tougher conditions majority colour with recede, approaching a more neutral beige and this emphasises its freckly appeal by allowing the spots to ‘read’ more clearly.

Manfreda ‘Pineapple Express’ showing higher colour contrasts with less water & fertiliser

Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’ a finer rosette of amethyst hues

Another stand out is Mangave ‘Lavender Lady’, a radial of amethyst perfection and just as water-wise in high contrast with micro-fines like many of the ornamental grasses like Carex buchananii

Carex buchananii – Brown Sedge

Manfreda ‘Redwing’ is a more recent addition to this tribe …

Mangave ‘Redwing’

… and easy textural contrasts using this scallop shaped Ajuga, with a high top rosette form like Manfreda ‘Redwing’ also brings year round interest. Exposure to minimum half day sun and avoiding the low light condition of a southern aspect, will ensure good colour development away from inside the drip line of large low hanging trees.

Senicio candicans ‘Angel Wings’

This raised the brow of many last year during wetter conditions of La Niña. Being a silver leaf plant, my inclination was to see how these did in the garden before making selection in designs – as silver leafed plants are often martyred to prolonged wet conditions.

Senicio candicans ‘Angel Wings’

Surprisingly, higher than usual rainfall appears to have been less of a set back than High Summer humidity. Providing northerly growing conditions are ensured .. and save the worst prevailing wind, ‘Angel Wings’ faired rather well despite the rain. Suggestion as a sunny container plant for patio star performances or outside the front door approach for sense of arrival. Available in July.

And finally another portulaca variegate, so useful elevated into long troughs on first floor terraces facing the street as ‘foam-over’. Portulacca Retro Variegata is also a self striker across steep falls, where grip of a loose surface is required against erosion. Views through windows from inside, to sudden steep grades close to the house with at least half day sun as a high frequency ‘look to’ and ‘walk-by’.

Portulacca ‘Retro Variegata’ 160mm $7.50 + gst

Stars of the Bright Shade Garden

Planting space within the drip line of trees with elevated, scant canopies make bright shade. Surface soil in places like these is often obstructed by the tree’s feeder roots and unless rain is prolonged, is also DRY.

All 5 plants following are the work of Bright Shade Master Keith Tollis, whose impressive range of ever expanding, exciting non-general line planting I could only hope to show a small part of …

4greatgardens@westnet.com.au or call him 0409 302 304

Neoregelia carolinae in Spring amethyst cup halo 200mm $25 + gst

Bright shade loving neorgelia can suffer a bad wrap for turning an homogeneous green and stretch badly in gloomy corners of the Cool Subtrops Garden.

However, many like N. carolinae are good garden bromeliads, living easily as they do, above the impenetrable tree root ridden surface quite happily. Add to this variegate forms and a welcome ‘lift’ against surrounding mid green garden is easy. Water storing and changes to bright cochineal in the High Summer garden.

Neoregelia carolinae in red summer cup

Aroids from the Araceae continue to pull focus coming into ’23 market places, chief among them an undying interest in Anthurium.

One of the toughest and most durable from exposed headlands to quite heavy shade and within full overhang in the built environment is Anthurium coriaceum has a wide frost free range.

Anthurium coriaceum – Birds Nest Anthurium

The plant shown above grows in an otherwise harsh western aspect here at ‘Sea-Changer’ in Forresters Beach Central Coast, that in winter months remains fairly sunless, followed in high summer by direct afternoon heat. No matter and receives constant neglect from myself … regardless and still manages an effortlessly lush appearance. Keith Tollis has beautiful semi advanced and super advanced plants that have been well hardened in 200mm @ $35 & 300mm @ $65 + gst

Keith Tollis beautifully grown Anthurium coriaceum

Paint Brush Lily – Scadoxus puniceus

There are few more arresting sights in the late August cool subtrops garden than Paint Brush lilies, thrusting their proud torches skyward. Keith has selected for a particularly robust taller form around 1m, with superior staminate brushes into early September.

Scadoxus puniceus – large hybrid Paint Brush Lily 200mm $25 + gst
Keith’s superior larger plant & flowering hybrid

Keith Tollis will have all these beauties and many other non-general line stars of the dry shade Cool Subtropics Garden, at Collectors Plant Fair Clarendon 15- 16th April ’23 near Richmond just one short month or so away. Look for the stall bannered Andy’s Rare Plants that will also have standout offerings from Andy Harvey and Colin Hunt.

Amarygia ‘Bozandycol’ from Keith Tollis, Andy Harvey & Colin Hunt

Departing from the shade garden ..

..for hot sun and not more than half day shade, is an intergeneric hybrid between Amaryllis and Brunsvigia named for Keith (Boz) Tollis, Any Harvie and Colin Hunt … take a look beneath and watch out for these stall side @ CPF ’23 !!

xAmarygia ‘Bozandycol’

From time to time I’ve received good referral from colleagues who are in the Media, Growers or other parts of the industry, to clients looking for Garden Design and or Project management.

If you want to refer with confidence so your referral will be a happy one, please refer your inquirer client to myself –

Peter Nixon – Paradisus Garden Design 0418 161513 info@peternixon.com.au and www.peternixon.com.au – Garden Lovers Blog www.paradisusgl.peternixon.com.au

Facebook – Paradisus Garden Design and Insta handle – paradisus_sea_changer

Better Homes and Gardens TV will feature a special garden in Willoughby made from plants like those shown in this send. Channel 7, Friday 7.30pm 19th May and on 7Plus !

Peter Nixon’s ‘Sea-Changer’ open & PLF ’19 Kariong in less than 3 weeks !

‘Sea-Changer’ mirror deck greenwalls, opens for Gosford Open Gardens SUNDAY ONLY 29th September 10am – 3pm $5 gate

Garden Lovers, did you know its only 3 weeks till Plant Lovers Fair Kariong !

Springtime is here with a warm rush and a gazillion stall holders with tempting treasures will be on offer, come Saturday & Sunday 28th & 29th September at PLF ’19 so get your tix now to avoid the entry cue !!!  

Plant Lovers Fair Kariong

Gosford Open Gardens is on all weekend of the Fair with more than 10 gardens on offer. My home studio garden ‘Sea-Changer’ ONLY opens on Sunday 29th September,  

10am – 3pm  $5 gate.

‘Springtime ‘Sea-Changer’ style …

Sunday of the Fair is always a more relaxed day, so treat yourself to some of the best cool subtrops planting available in Australia in the one place !! Then its only a 20 minute drive from the fairground at Kariong Mountains Highschool 

to ‘Sea-Changer’ at 21 Lavinia Street, Forresters Beach 

‘Sea-Changer’ relaxing shade hut

Come to ‘Sea-Changer’ and many of the other 9 gardens, for new ideas on how you can make an even better home garden 🙂 

‘Sea-Changer’s’ 8 pages in Better Homes & Gardens Mag, August issue out now !

 

Garden Lovers, if you haven’t been able to make it up for one of ‘Sea-Changer’s’ opens here at Forresters Beach on the Central Coast, grab yourself a copy of Better Homes and Gardens mag August issue OUT NOW. This was a mid May shoot and shows how you can extend interest well into late Autumn for your cool subtropics garden at home.

Love Your Garden … 🙂      

‘Sea-Changer’ THIS Fri 12th July, 7pm Channel 7 Better Homes & Gardens

Graham Ross at ‘Sea-Changer’ on BH&G’s shoot day in mid May this year

Getting a chance to spread cool subtropics love here at ‘Sea-Changer’ .. that’s what you’ll see 7pm on THIS Friday’s 12th July episode of Channel 7’s BH&G program.
Graham and I get to show you a species hippeastrum for late Autumn, so useful for a blast of scarlet fire in the semi shade garden. Tune in to see pretty sub-shrubs like barlaria and ruellias that can bring your garden welcome long flowering interest. He’ll also show how climbing bromeliads like Neoregelia x macwilliamsii and N. compacta are covering slat panels here, to bring lush low maintenance green cover to walls and fencing for your garden and much, much more ..

THIS Friday’s episode of Channel 7’s Better Homes & Gardens you can see my ‘Sea-Changer’ garden, for ideas to make an even better garden at home….
See you ‘Sea-Changer’ – side !!!
 

Shoot day at ‘Sea-Changer’ from the Mirror Deck

https://youtu.be/KptyjETDwXw

CLICK ON ABOVE VIDEO for a ‘Sea-Changer’ taster on what you’ll see on BH&G tomorrow (Friday 12th July) night.. !! 

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