Salvia chameleagnea
If you want to have flowers
that put on such a stunning
show that no-one will believe you aren’t always in
your garden, you need this
plant! It produces tall
branches loaded with blueand-white flowers and looks
absolutely spectacular.
You’ll get blooms from midsummer onwards until the
weather gets cold. To keep
it neat, prune the old flowering branches back to
where the main cushion of
foliage is, either after flowering, or in spring.
Asystasia bella
If you’ve got room for a
shrub in a shady, frost-free
area, then Asystasia bella
(formerly Mackaya bella) is
a must-have. The big, trumpet shaped flowers are absolutely stunning, and the
glossy, dark green leaves
are pretty all year round. If
panted near other plants,
they tend to scramble up
them, almost like climbers –
and they grow very fast.
Salvia chamaeleagnea
Halleria elliptica
We all love the tree fuchsia, Halleria lucida, but it carries its
flowers right on the old wood
where you can’t really see them
well, and it does get a bit big. If
you’d like something smaller
that still has the bright orange,
Fuchsia-like flowers, Halleria elliptica fits the bill. It won’t do
well in very cold areas, but it’s
worth looking for a frost-free
corner of your garden for this
colourful shrub.
Halleria elliptica looking healthy
Plumbago auriculata
Plumbagos may be common, but that’s because they’re such easygoing garden plants. Choose between dark-blue, pale-blue or white
and enjoy flowers all summer long. They sulk a bit in cold weather,
and might frost back in very cold areas, but they’re pretty tough. I
like planting them next to ugly fences, allowing them to scramble
up and cascade over the top.
Plumbago Cape Dark blue
Plumbago White