Kapiti Coast
Julian Matthews’ new and old favourite summer blooms.
Some gardeners adore this colour; others loathe it. For me, this is a colour of optimism, reminiscent of beautiful summer mornings or unfurling spring foliage, which is why Hydrangea ‘Goldie’ is such a hit here.
This is a hydrangea to grow for its foliage rather than its flowers which I simply pinch out as they develop, as it’s all about the leaves. It’s all about the level of light with this shrub too – in excess shade it turns an uninspiring light green, but give it morning sun or dappled all-day light and the glossy leaves will be a lime-yellow colour throughout summer.
We grow it next to a Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’ – pruned to remove some of the branches so there’s less shade beneath it – and among shade-loving Hosta ‘Late Frost’, a beauty with blue-grey and rich yellow foliage that tones well with the hydrangea colour. Hydrangea ‘Goldie’ came from Harrisons Gardenworld here on the Kapiti Coast.
One of the nicest surprises of the recent summers has been Bidens ‘Fireburst’.
Shrubs with light yellow foliage can be a highlight of summer gardens, or a low point, depending on one’s point of view.
It is a little ground-covering plant with dark green foliage and masses of small, burnt orange daisy flowers. The flowering performance is spectacular – a non-stop show for month after month during warm weather.
I grow my plant in one of the few sunny areas in the garden here, where the soil is good but stony and the excellent drainage is obviously to the bidens’ liking.
It’s part of an eclectic collection of ground-covering herbs, red foliage, sun-loving bromeliads ( Alcantarea vinicolor) and dwarf orange-toned alstroemerias, but it’s as a container plant that ‘Fireburst’ really comes into its own, as I realised when I saw a pot of this orange stunner at Te Horo Garden Centre where it is used to entice customers into buying a plant.
Podophyllum ‘Kaleidoscope’ is an attention-grabber when it is growing happily.
In the garden, it can be hard to get the most out of this bold perennial, but when it’s grown in a good size pot, it tends to perform very well indeed. A combination of good drainage, well-aerated soil, and the wide and balanced range of nutrients in the better quality potting mixes provide the podophyllum with all it needs to put on a great show.
This is a cold hardy plant despite its lush appearance which fools some into thinking it needs a warm spot. It is happiest in cool, shady situations and a pot of it makes an interesting combination with hostas and other lovers of low light situations.
Plants which flower for a prolonged period over summer are to be welcomed.
It’s no wonder that the new breed of alstroemerias have become so popular with gardeners here and abroad with their floriferous nature and, unlike the old varieties, their non-running habit. But there’s a concern that when a new range of plants become popular that some other worthwhile ones slip from favour.
I’m thinking here of the small-growing, evergreen, hybrid salvias. I have some of these in the same sunny, well-drained, slightly stony area where the orange ‘Fireburst’ is growing. They make a lovely statement with the slender stems held well above the small leaves and their colourful small flowers which are glowing colours and just keep on opening for months on end from early summer. These plants can be hard to find in garden centres but Geoff Genge at Marshwood Gardens in Invercargill thankfully has a good selection of the best varieties on his website catalogue at marshwood.co.nz.
I like the reds, such as ‘Brighton’ and ‘Royal Bumble’ as they are so cheerful but this summer, I was amazed by the glowing pink ‘Hoya Grande’ and the salmon tones of ‘Penny’s Smile’ and ‘Salmon Queen’, and yellow ‘Golden Bay’.
When it comes to tall salvias, the relatively new ‘Amistad’ has really caught on, as can be seen by the number of plants for sale in garden centres. With me, it grows more than 2m tall, reaching that height quickly and proving useful for filling gaps or creating privacy while keeping the neighbours happy at the same time.
It flowers almost year round in our mild climate. One of my ‘Amistads’ combines pleasingly with a dark red abutilon and the wine-red foliage colourings of Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’. An added bonus with this salvia is that the flowers attract wax-eyes and the occasional tu¯i¯.