Re: Planting something native

Glenn Breayley wrote:
I think you're touching on a real problem here. - namely, the vast
> majority of plants adapted to a Mediterranean climate don't actually look  the greatest for most of the year. The period of summer dormancy leaves a  lot of it looking dry & not attractive. This is especially true of a lot of  South African natives.> 

> >The same happens in Australia - but quite often because people would not >buy them if they knew they were native. 

This does not seem to be such a problem in NZ, where native plants have
been well promoted in the last few years, (to the extent that some
nurseries can make a good living by selling natives only) and where
several genera, such as Phormium, Coryline, Pittosporum and Hebe have
been extensively improved by breeding. A couple of years ago at our
national flower show in Auckland there was an entire garden planted with
natives, which was as colourful as anything you could achieve with
exotic plants. Around Wellington at least I know of landscapers who
specialize in gardening largely or exclusively with native plants. I
certainly know of no prejudice against our natives as such among local
gardeners, most of whom would value them for their toughness and
resistance to our high winds and very variable rainfall.

We are lucky not only to have a number of showy native flowering shrubs
and trees, but quite a few of the shrubby genera have produced forms
with very colourful leaves, which lighten the scene when they are out of
flower.

In answer to Glenn I would just like to put in a plug for proteas as
garden shrubs. Not all look shabby when out of flower. The two I grow
(PP cynaroids and aristata). are handsome at any time, cynaroides with
its shiny leathery leaves and aristata with its needle-like ones.(I have
several times foxed people over the latter when not in flower as it
looks so like a little pinetree.)  Of the other proteaceae, many
leucadendrons have a long flowering season and also have foliage which
is attractive in its own right and at least one of the larger cultivars
grown here actually has foliage variegated with pink and cream, making
it extremely colourful without any benefit of flowers.

I must admit fewer of the Australian members of the genus are attractive
out of flower, in particular the Waratas (Telopea) have foliage of a
curiously somber and "dead-looking" green which I feel needs to able to
blend back into  a more colourful background when not bearing its
magnificent blooms.

Moira

Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
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