What's Inspiring This Season?

Martin Boettel visits Down2Earth Gift and Garden Centre, Nelson.

Ruffles a riot
A thorny, dense, pyramidal pepino, Solanum muricatum ‘El Camino’ flowers during spring and summer and fruits heavily in summer and early autumn. When ripe, the medium to large, egg-shaped fruit is yellow with purple stripes and like a rock melon in flavour. It is ideal for fresh fruit salads, juicing or eating straight off the plant. This pepino is a good container plant for patios and decks where it will flower and fruit heavily. It needs sun, good drainage, a frost-free spot and shelter from strong winds. Evergreen, 1m x 1m.

Red alert
Upright and arching Loropetalum chinense ‘Firedance’ has red new growth that matures to a muted wine purple. It has striking pink flowers in spring, likes fertile, freedraining soil, grows well in a container and will handle full sun or part shade. It tolerates moderate frosts. Evergreen, 1.5m x 1.5m

Autumn charm
Coreopsis ‘Snowberry’ produces its pretty flowers from early summer to right through autumn. It needs sun and good drainage, especially in the winter and especially in cooler areas where it may be dormant then. It is evergreen in mild climates and can be cut back to tidy it up during the growing season and to encourage a new flush of growth and blooms. 0.5m x 0.75m.

Make it malus
A very popular New Zealand variety of crabapple, Malus ‘Jack Humm’ has large crops of big, glossy fruit that birds tend to leave alone until well into winter. It forms an erect, robust, small tree with masses of single white flowers in spring. Frost hardy, deciduous, about 2.5m x 2.5m, with height depending on the stock used for grafting.



Good oil
An Italian selection of olive, Olea europaeum ‘Pendolino’ is used extensively as a pollinator for other varieties and for oil production. It is also ornamental with an attractive drooping habit and long thin grey-green leaves. It needs sun and reasonably free-draining soil. Frost hardy, evergreen, drought tolerant once established, 5m x 5m.



Cut above
An upright-growing member of the protea family and South African native, Mimetes cucullatus produces white flowers nestled in attractive terminal yellow leaves with bright red tips. This durable, colourful growth is ideal for floral arrangements. This shrub needs a well-drained sandy soil and frost-free situation. It suits coastal conditions. Evergreen, 1.5m x 1.5m.





Mexican marvel
A small evergreen shrub from Mexico, Bouvardia longiflora (syn B. humboldtii) has masses of perfumed, white longtubed flowers in summer and autumn. Prune it in spring to keep plants bushy and to encourage flowers. It tolerates only light frost, likes part or light shade and needs a warm situation and well-drained soil to flower well. 0.9m x 0.9m.



New cordyline
A recently released cultivar of the New Zealand cabbage tree, Cordyline australis ‘Goldie’ has leaves with irregular, longitudinal stripes of lime yellow and green. This striking variety would make a good container or garden specimen or could be planted in a group. Because it is a new cultivar, its degree of frost hardiness is not established. Evergreen.



Scarlet stunner
Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’ is an English selection of the American sweetgum or liquidambar that can be relied on for good colouring in autumn when its long, finely-divided leaves turn yellow, orange and scarlet before falling. It forms an upright spreading pyramid. Frost hardy, 15m.



Wholly smoke
This large shrub Cotinus coggygria has big, misty, fawn flower heads in late spring that mature to a smoky purple, hence the common name smoke bush. This frost-hardy deciduous shrub bush ends the season with a magnificent display of autumn foliage. Responds well to pruning. 3m x3m.

Courtesy of Weekend Gardener
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