It’s just my cup of tea
tural shape. It is undemanding, is often used in exotic-style gardens and will occasionally provide additional drama by throwing up a large flower spike which looks really unusual.
They are also good for injecting bold colour as different varieties have vibrant colour variegations.
For example ‘Sundowner’ has leaf margins tinted with the rose-pink of a tropical sunset. ‘Chocomint’ has a rich brown band running down the centre of green leaves and ‘Blondie’ is a cheerful yellow striped version.
If you need to prune damaged leaves, remove the leaf completely from the
base. Chopping back halfway just ruins the shape of the plant and the leaves will not regrow from this point.
There are also some really useful coastal plants that hail from Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand which translates as the land of the long white cloud.
Hebe is one, an easygoing, evergreen low maintenance plant that is often overlooked. The flowers come in white, blue and pink and the leaves vary from small round to elongated.
‘Nicola’s Blush’ has pretty white and pink flowers that are good pollinators for butterflies, bees and moths. The green
foliage of ‘Pascal’ will turn a deep burgundy in winter and it’s a compact shrub suitable for smaller gardens with delicate lilac flowers in summer.
Then there’s Parahebe, related to hebe, which is a mat-forming evergreen shrub with really delicate flowers. For example, the variety ‘Avalanche’ has pure white flowers with a purple ring encircling a green eye at the centre. This will grace a rockery or container in full sunshine.
Regular readers will be familiar with my enduring passion for tree ferns. The ones I grow are Tasmanian tree ferns, Dicksonia antarctica.
I think it may be time to attempt the New Zealand tree fern – this is Dicksonia squarrosa and is considerably more tender than those I grow. It has a tall, slender, dark trunk which dries out easily so would need daily moisture in summer and probably a good wrapping up in winter. I’ll let you know how I get on!