Northland
Wendy Laurenson’s summer blooms.
The Persian shield ( Strobilanthes auriculatus var. dyeriana) is so striking that it doesn’t look real. For this reason, when I first saw its metallic-looking striped purple leaves in the garden centre, I wasn’t sure I liked it. However, it came home with me last summer. I re-potted it, nursed it through the winter, and when it burst into life again this summer, it stole my heart.
This exotic beauty has its origins in Myanmar, so is a tropical rather than subtropical plant and is happiest in a humid, protected, frost-free site with morning sun or semi-shade. Some literature suggests the deep purple of the leaves fades out in intense sunlight but my plant seemed to naturally fade as the leaves matured and the season progressed, despite being in constant semi-shade. When the plant looked a bit jaded and leggy at the end of last summer, I pruned it by about half and the stems remained green stick stubs in the pot on the deck until this summer’s heat tickled them back into a fresh explosion of purple foliage.
In warm enough conditions, this purple beauty will grow into a small shrub of just over a metre. The purple striped leaves are the striking feature of the plant but it occasionally has spikes of tiny funnelshaped violet flowers. And here lies a curiosity: Strobilanthes dyeriana is a cousin to a landscapers’ favourite, Strobilanthes
gossypinus, which doesn’t flower often but when it does the entire species flowers simultaneously then dies.
After the massive flowering, new seedlings germinate as the parents die. This happened a few years ago, resulting in sad-looking gaps in landscaped gardens and in a slowdown of supply in the nursery industry. My guess is that the purple
Strobilanthese dyeriana has the same allor-nothing flowering characteristic which would explain why it is rarely seen in flower.
Giant apostles’ iris is another late summer stunner that I had underestimated. Neomarica caerulea
‘Regina’ plants are messy and greedy for space in a garden I maintain every week, so I repeatedly prune them to keep them in their place. The plant is clumping and takes up an area similar to that of a mature flax plant. Every summer I notice it has blue iris-looking flowers but not enough to redeem it and I’ve been threatening to take it out – until this summer.
When I recently visited a plant-loving friend, she showed me her newest botanical pride and joy. It was a baby version of this strappy nuisance plant and she was treating it as a subtropical treasure. It originates from Brazil.
The very next time I returned to the garden with the mature Regina iris, it stopped me in my tracks. It was topped with a crown of more flowers than ever before and I looked more closely at them than ever before. They are like painted masterpieces. Each blue-purple flower has three iris-like outer petals guarding three blue and white striped lobes, and an inner sanctum of ripples of cream and burgundy anchored with a lavender centrepiece. Each flower is shortlived, but the plant has a mass of flowers for a few weeks in summer with flushes on each stem. The common name of giant apostles’ iris apparently relates to the fact that the plant needs to grow 12 leaves before it flowers.
An additional intrigue is that the flowers are atop a flat stem that looks just like one of its blade-shaped leaves.
This giant iris thrives in full sun or part shade, is drought tolerant, and copes with light frosts though some literature suggests it may be even more cold-hardy than that.
The plant now has my attention and my respect… and my apology. I’ll ensure it has the space it needs to shine as the star it’s always been.
Stromanthe sanguinea is also from Brazil.
I’ve seen specimens in several subtropical gardens but they usually look scruffy, meagre and burnt. I’ve watched the young plant at home begin to flourish this year and realise it is because it’s in conditions it loves.
It is an evergreen tropical rainforest plant with bold blade-shaped leaves (burgundy undersides) growing in a fan form on top of long stems. It grows to just over a metre tall and gradually spreads from rhizomes to create a striking architectural clump with small clusters of fire-red bracts that reveal tiny white flowers.
Part of the Marantaceae species, the plant is happiest in warm, moist, shady areas with high humidity and temperatures mostly above 15°C. In New Zealand they are popular as houseplants. I now realise that most Stromanthe
sanguinea plants are simply in too much sun. Dry air, cool temperatures, lack of water or hot sun will cause the leaves to turn brown or drop. The happy young plant at home is in dappled shade all day, and with consistent watering this summer, it has the humid environment it loves.