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  • Dichelachne
    • crinita   CAG02518

      (Longhair plume grass)
      Dichelachne crinita
      $12.00earn 60 points

      A cool season grass (C3) with highly kinetic rose tinted plumes in spring that age to become slim, pale and stiffly vertical, lasting on into the following winter when they can be cut and brought inside. As stunning as the seed heads may be its true value lies in its loose clumps of insignificant foliage and genteel root system which allow it to be grown amongst other plants without suppressing them as most grasses tend to do, this makes for the creation of more complex designs, mingling and matrices, even in the confined rootspace of a container, possible.

      I'd never see any point of using it on its own, as showy as it might be when massed, when you can at least double your return by planting it with something else that may be of only seasonal interest, bulbs, succulents, orchids, sub-shrubs, ground covers and perennials are all potential companions. As a monoculture I expect it would simply succumb to weed encroachment in the long term without a destructive amount of labour.

      Native to all states of Australia, New Zealand and other southern hemisphere islands, it is highly adaptable, tolerant of most soil types, wet feet and some shade. It's not a plant of dry baking places though so will need at least some water over a Perth summer but is very tolerant of dry summer conditions during which it sheds foliage and photosynthesises through the flowering stems. Don't cut it back too early, wait until new growth emerges in autumn/winter.

  • Dracunculus
    • canariensis   CAG02357

      (Canary Island Dragon Arum)
      Dracunculus canariensis
      $12.00earn 60 points

      A more subtle Dragon Arum from the Canary Islands with a tapering white spathe that ensorcells a stiff creamy spadix atop a fleshy stalk of palmate foliage. Elegant, lush and not stinky, it forms loose colonies in shaded sites, perhaps at its best emerging from a sea of suitable woodland groundcover, Pelargonium tomentosum, Cyclamen hederifolium, Parochetus africanus, Cosmos diversifolius or Viola banksii are some suggestions. Or have it peeking out between bold shrubs, like Echium candicans and Aeonium, which can offer it protection.

      Easily grown in any soil, summer deciduous and then no water is necessary.

      As with many drought loving geophytes these are decidedly unsuited to life in a pot, plants sold are two years old and need to get in the ground ASAP.

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