Karin's Garden

This is an Iris, not a lily as the English name suggests, growing to about 60cm. Outlandish pink flowers rise from pleated iris foliage making an eye-catching tropical statement.

Tigridia deserve to be much more common in Karin’s garden than they are. “Liliacea” seems to come true from seed, and self-seeds reliably once established. The garden that let me have my plants routinely mows them in the lawn.

Click here to go to the  Tigridia pavonia “Liliacea” page in Karin’s Garden.

Alternatively the white variety, which I take to be T. pavonia “Alba Grandiflora” is also striking.

Yucca filamentosa – Adam’s Needle and Thread

The flower spike is up to 2.0m tall raising above leaves that lend to fold, so they never rise above about 60cm. Spikes of bell-shaped, green-white flowers rise from a basal rosette of sword-like leaves with filaments along their margins.

This stemless Yucca (it does not develop a trunk) deserves to be much more common in Karin’s Garden than it is. A highly reliable and trouble free plant that comes in non-variegated forms as well as the variegated form shown below. The eye-catching flower spikes provide interest for at least a couple of months. Normally I would expect these to flower in Autumn, so maybe these young plants in our personal garden are unusual in flowering this early.

Click here to go to the Yucca filamentosa page in Karin’s Garden.

This is an evergreen shrub, with an open form, growing to about 2M tall. Masses of large, bright orange flowers throughout spring against glossy, mid-green foliage.

Vireyas are not fully hardy. However, they do seem to survive in coastal Tasman. The

Click here to go to the Rhododendron Sect. Vireya “Tropic Glow” page in Karin’s Garden.

Zantedeschia “Purple Haze” – Calla Lily

This is a herbaceous plant, growing to about 40cm; with purple, spathe shaped flowers for a prolonged period from early summer. Dramatic rich purple spathes rise above spotted, arrow-shaped leaves.

Whilst the large white Zantedeschia aethiopica is common in coastal Tasman, and there are some of the larger golden hybrids, there are few of the smaller, usually purple, hybrids. They are not easy to come by, so you have to snap up any rather unpromissing rhizomes that you come across, and some of those offered for sale can be miserably small. They bulk up quickly – the plant pictured here is in its second year.

Click here to go to the Zantedeschia “Purple Haze” page in Karin’s Garden.

Kalmia latifolia “Minuet” – Dwarf Mountain Laurel

This is a medium sized evergreen shrub (up to 1.5m high), flowering in late spring. Pink buds open from icing piping shaped buds, to gorgeous flowers with a striking maroon-red band around the inside edge.

This is a dwarf version of the usual Kalmia latifolia. It seems to thrive in the soil and climate of Karin’s Garden. The flower buds are the usual icing piping shape of a Kalmia, but the flowers are flatter and less bell-shaped than other Kalmias when fully open. The purple band inside the petals is an unusual and distinguishing feature.

Click here to go to the Kalmia latifolia “Minuet” page in Karin’s Garden.

Gladiolus cardinalis x – Waterfall Gladiolus

This is a small Gladiolus, and the plant grows to a little over ½M, with stiff upright leaves. Spikes of vibrant red flowers white markings and silvered backing to the petals rise above sword shaped leaves in spring.

This is an outrageous plant. Whereas other delightful small gladioli have white petals with attractive markings, this one goes for tomato sauce red petals with white markings. And attractive silvered backing to the petals. This is an unusual plant that you have to snap up if you ever come across it.

Click here to go to the Gladiolus cardinalis x page in Karin’s Garden.

This is an evergreen shrub with an open habit that benefits from pruning, growing to about 2½M. Gorgeous clusters of 8cm long tubular flowers, orange at the base and flared pink at the tip.

Cantua buxifolia seems to be rather hardier than is generally reported, and provides an eye-catching spectacle in spring. There are several of these around Motueka.

Click here to view the Cantua buxifolia page in Karin’s Garden.

Pratia pedunculata “Country Park” – Blue Star Creeper

A mass of tiny star-shaped blue flowers cover this mat forming ground cover in spring. This is a vigorous prostrate, evergreen, herbaceous, mat-forming perennial with rooting stems.

This can be invasive for some people, but as dense, very low-growing, free-draining tolerant, flowering ground cover there is nothing else quite like it.

Click here to go to the Pratia pedunculata “Country Park” page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a stemless succulent to 1.0m tall when in flower, with Pannicles of bright orange flowers in spring.

Aloes of all sorts are fairly common in coastal parts of Tasman, adding striking colour in springtime. Amongst Aloes, A. striata has particularly bright and attractive flower spikes.

Click here to go to the Aloe striata page in Karin’s Garden.

This is a clump forming member of the Iris family (Iridaceae) that grows to about 0.8M. Lipstick pink flowers, darker at their centre, rise on stiff, slender stems that wave in the wind.

Ixia “Venus” is a relatively common plant in Karin’s Garden. And no wonder. It provides eye-popping colour – it is the sort of colour that a TV or computer screen does not properly convey – and is a robust and reliable plant. The picture below shows something of the range of colours available – there are also white and yellow Ixias. Venus is the one on the extreme left in this collage.
Click here to view the Ixia “Venus” page in Karin’s Garden.