Postage : Seeds only $4 / Plants $20
A dramatic bulb, the umbels of pure white, perfumed, daffodil-like flowers appear as if by magic after the first autumn rain, on naked, very glaucous 60cm stems. Such delicate and exuberant beauty seemingly incongruous in the exposed and baking environ it prefers.
The strappy, glaucous winter leaves die down with the onset of summer drought, if they remain evergreen you are providing too much water and any chance of flowering is likely to be non-existent. In a warm autumn repeat blooms are not uncommon.
Found on coastal dunes in hotter parts of the Mediterranean it is ideally suited to growing in hot barren sand, though mine do fine in clay, and should be indifferent to salt spray. Self seeds if your lucky, though it will be at least several years before the seedlings are large enough to flower. Newly planted bulbs will usually need a year or two to settle in as well before they will resume flowering.
Mass plant for best effect, either densely or as scattered individuals.
A lovely low growing hybrid between P. cortusifolium and P. echinatum bearing small clusters of sugary pink flowers, each petal of which bears a small dark blotch, over a long period from mid winter until it eventually sheds its silvery, lobed leaves with the onset of summer heat. Does very well in a large pot where its cushion of bare, succulent, spiny looking stems can be shown off to best effect during summer dormancy, when it should be watered sparingly or if established in a sharply drained spot in the garden, not at all.
Elsewhere it might be a delicate hothouse flower, oh so desirable, here it is just another hardy garden plant well suited to a life on the road verge. Our favourable climate at work.
Highly recommended.
One of the toughest clumping perennials available. Open thickets of hairy toothed foliage and rough stems are topped with dense clusters of unique violet and blue flowers throughout the warmer months. Very tolerant of dry conditions.
Appearing more like a succulent from exotic climes than a threatened native of the Perth hills. Vertical stems divide into many powdery blue tapering twigs that knit together to form a vase shaped shrub, studded in spring with small, yellow, spherical, powder puff flowers. As its common name suggests it is entirely without leaves though young seedlings briefly bear a few.
Easy and fast growing in well drained poor soil. Summer irrigation is unnecessary but tolerated. Try surrounding it with a sea of the orange coloured sedge Carex testacea and add a few brightly coloured succulents to imitate a coral reef.
Responds well to hard pruning when it accumulates too much old growth and starts to loose its charm.
Rosettes of huge, glossy, dark green, sharply serrated leaves thrust from the soil with the onset of autumn rain. In spring sceptres of mauve and white shell like flowers stand sentry over the brooding mounds of foliage.
Found throughout the Meditteranean it's at its best with no summer water but plenty of winter moisture and is tolerant of any soil that isn't waterlogged.
Extremely architectural if given the space or as contrast to other boldly leaved plants such as Melianthus major.
Representations of the leaves are commonly found in ancient roman architecture and are often still encountered in classical designs of today.
Small mounds of elliptical, waxy blue leaves smother in clusters of palest pink flowers followed by attractive papery seed pods.
Essentially a small, shrubby, ridiculously drought hardy, self seeding, perennial Alyssum. What more could you want.
For any baking well drained position.
Trim hard when desired to remove spent stems.
A super tough South African that should need little introduction, though, where once its autumn spectacle was taken for granted through the South West it is now being increasingly displaced by fleeting makeover starlets.
Clusters of large. flaring, funnel shaped flowers, pale pink and deepening with age, are carried atop sturdy, fleshy stems. The strappy, dark green leaves emerge after flowering from the necks of large, papery, brown bulbs that are typically somewhat exposed, adjusting to their preferred depth with the aid of contractile roots. Becoming deciduous with rising temperatures in spring and then requiring zero water over summer.
Infallible in any soil, in any position except the densest shade. Usually takes several years to settle in and commence flowering for perpetuity.
For me, nothing heralds more the imminent return of cooler weather and rain than the sight of fat buds thrusting naked from parched ground. I imagine it is the same joy that gardeners in cold regions feel on seeing the first hint of spring in a shoot emerging from snow.
A drought hardy groundcover for sunny exposed positions and poor sandy soils. Ideal for road verges, carparks, driveways and anywhere else normal plants struggle to survive. Large, 10cm, strawberry pink, black centred, daisy-like flowers smother the silver, crinkled foliage until January or longer given water.
Mow after flowering.
Bright lilac flowers over almost lacy, silvery foliage. Not as vigorous or as spreading as some, which can be either good or bad depending on your persuasion or intent. Huge drifts provide ultimate spring colour and weed suppressing groundcover.
Indestructibly hardy in any well drained, sunny site, and especially so in sand. A light annual trim after flowering, to remove spent flower stalks, will keep it neat through the dry summer rest.