Karin's Garden

This is a succulent Aloe that can grow in to a small tree, as much as 5M tall. Bright orange tubular flowers on impressive flower spikes, usually in early spring.

Flowering in the wild is triggered by autumn/winter rainfall in the Western Cape. In the Auckland Botanic Gardens ten days ago, their collection of Aloes was in full flower – completely astonishing, if you have the chance to visit. In Karin’s garden the flowering time seems to be a little more variable, with the mild frosts sometimes delaying flowering until springtime.

Click here to view the Aloe plicatilis page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a classic woodland bulb, growing to about 40cm, putting up leaves and flowering before the tree canopy has come into leaf. Spikes of bright blue flowers rise above strap-like leaves in spring.

Whilst gardeners often seem to wish for the English Bluebell, the Spanish Bluebell is a much better garden plant. Indeed there are named hybrids if you can get them, with “Excelsior” being probably the pick of the bunch. There are also pink and white forms of the Spanish Bluebell as there are of the English.

Click here to view the Hyacinthoides hispanica page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a bushy shrub growing 2M tall, flowering on one or two year old growth. Bright yellow flowers, about 4cm across, cover the bush and arrive before the leaves.

There are a range of Forsythia varieties available and Karl Sax is one of the very best. Flowering along with the shrub Rhododendrons, Forsythia are one of the earliest flowering shrubs. Robust, reliable, and always eye-catching, this is a popular plant in Karin’s Garden.

Click here to view the Forsythia x intermedia “Karl Sax” page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a compact, densely branched, evergreen shrub, up to 1½m in height, with finely divided grey-green leaves. Bright yellow daisy-like flowers cover this bush for many months.

This wonderful plant is found all through coastal Tasman, where the light winter frosts do not seem to trouble it. Though, strictly speaking this is only half-hardy, it keeps flowering nearly year-round.

Click here to view the Euryops chrysanthemoides page in Karin’s Garden.

This cactus will grow up to 3M tall, though they are only some 6cm across.
Slender, erect, grey-green columns, with burgundy flowers in spring.

This is not a common plant in Karin’s Garden. This specimen is in our personal garden and we inherited it when we moved there. It is very striking and visitors often comment on it. Probably not a good plant if there are often small children about.

Click here to view the Cleistocactus strausii page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a large, deciduous tree, growing to 10M in Karin’s Garden. Purple/white flowers cover this tree in early spring, before the leaves emerge.

There are many  beautiful Magnolias around in Karin’s Garden at this time of year. This is one of the larger ones in a garden on Poole Street in Motueka.

Click here to view the Magnolia x soulangeana page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a statuesque evergreen sub-shrub which makes an eye-catching focal point, growing to about 1.2M tall. Masses of extravagant, long-lasting, lime green flowers atop lush foliage.

This is a popular plant in Karin’s garden and rightly so. Some people are never going to be convinced by plants with green flowers, but this one is extremely low maintenance and produces masses of flowers that last for two to three months. As well as being eye-catching at a distance, the intricate geometry of the flowers merits close-up examination as well.

Click here to view the Euphorbia characias subsp. Wulfenii page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a compact, evergreen shrub that grows to a  maximum of 1.0M. It has semi-succulent leaves, covered in vibrant purple, pea-like flowers from September through to November.

Polygala is a huge family and you will often be offered varieties of straight P. myrtifolia by garden centres and nurseries. All are free flowering from spring into early summer. Particularly in smaller gardens the compact growth habit of “Little Bibi” makes it a better choice.

Click here to view the Polygala x “Little Bibi” page in Karin’s Garden.

Colchicum agrippinum – Autumn Crocus

This plant grows from corms and the leaves grow up to up to 25 cm; arising in spring. Star-shaped petals with distinctive pink and white tesselation arise in late summer, long before the foliage.

Other species and varieties of Colchicum are available. However, they tend to have longer stems and goblet shaped flowers that collect rain. C. agrippinum flowers almost directly from the soil and the star-shaped flowers shed rain, making them much more resilient to any wind and rain. If you are choosing your first autumn Crocus to grow, this is a good choice.

Click here to view the Colchicum agrippinum page in Karin’s Garden.

An evergreen shrub growing to 2M, whose foliage develops attractive purple colouration in winter.  Spikes of purple flowers with terracotta stamens  cover this bush in late summer.

Above all others, Hebe is the plant genus that New Zealand gave to gardens around the world. A variety of sizes and forms, combined with hardiness, vigour and colour have justly made these a range of plants that find their way into almost all ornamental gardens. Sapphire is a particular favourite, flowering a little later than most Hebes, and providing a two-tone effect as the flowers fade from purple when they open to white/pink before they fade. I do not particularly value their being evergreen, but the purple leaves in winter are definitely another reason to favour Sapphire.

Click here to view the Hebe “Sapphire” page in Karin’s Garden.