Abelia x grandiflora

                   Abelia x grandiflora

 Abelia has come to my notice because it is flowering so late this year. Normally it is covered in sweetly scented flowers at the end of January but this year it waited for some good soaking rain to perform at its best, though the rain has diminished the scent somewhat. I really like Abelia because it behaves as a near perfect shrub. Undemanding as to growing conditions it eventually forms a naturally rounded shaped bush to 2 metres, despite an infancy of throwing out lax and arching branches. Lightly pruned specimens may resemble a shaggy plum pudding with the bunches of flowers loosely covering the end of stems. 

I leave mine unpruned and growing up close to some big Yuccas which are noted for their extensive hungry root system. Abelia is not fazed by this competition. There are some interesting forms of this shrub such as the dwarf 'Nana', one with variegated foliage and a burnished leaf one called 'Keat's Gold'.

 

Acalypha wilkesiana cv.

             Acalypha wilkesiana cv. (Euphorbiaceae)

This is a new one for me which I bought last week and as it came unlabelled I could take a wild guess and say this is the variety 'Sunset Hue' which it matches from photos I have looked at.

As coloured foliage plants go Acalyphas are more hardy than Crotons for growing outside the sub-tropic regions. Being in the Euphorbia family they have all the requirements for adapting to low water and less favourable growing conditions including windy salt spray coastal ones. 

This one adds to my small collection of varieties some of which I will have available for sale in the near future. 

Pittosporum tenuifolium 'James Stirling'

 Pittosporum tenuifolium 'James Stirling' (Pittosporaceae)

The down side of a quick growing screening plant like this one is that it may end up being short lived and you are back to square one after just a few years. This plant has the reputation of suddenly turning up its toes especially in warm humid climates or when grown in heavy soils. One by one in a row they will go down without a fight. Of course the appeal of this shrub is the very fine foliage of silvery green clothing the black stems, though this is best when the plants are just a couple of metres tall, as mature specimens, of five metres or more, often become sparse of leaves and reveal a grey trunk and a tarnished sheen. 

A newer cultivar called 'Golf Ball', with its self explanatory name, is worth growing for those who like that touch of glossy silver in the garden on a neat compact plant. It makes an ideal container specimen or as a substitute for Buxus as a low border hedge, though, again, in warm climates it is probably better planted in a raised garden bed or planter box.
2017 update: Evidence suggests that cultivar 'Golf Ball' may revert to being a tall grower.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Tiny Tina'

 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Tiny Tina'

Tiny Tina has been annoying the hell out of me for months. The buds were forming and not opening or dropping off before opening, and then I discovered what she was waiting for; a warm day, 90% humidity, with light drizzle to showery conditions. In actual fact she was responding to the conditions of her place of origin namely Malaysia. The cerise pink flowers and dense foliage that resembles a cut-leaf birch add up to what is really a hedging plant of great versatility. It can be kept as a low hedge or border plant to a metre or allowed to grow taller to 2.5 metres.

 It makes a perfectly good standard as pictured here or can be trained as a bonsai, more of a kind of cheat's bonsai as the flowers are already miniature and the growth is rapid. 

 Hibiscus flowers of Malaysia with 'Tiny Tina' top right

photo : Shail Mohan

Hibiscus is the national flower of Malaysia and has been since 1960. It is known as bunga raya.

Hibiscus Fountain

Perdana Botanical Garden

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Apple Blossom'

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis 'Apple Blossom'

If you have a coastal garden with pure sand to work with this is the perfect Hibiscus to grow, particularly if you want a tall growing, screening, or hedging variety. It can be left unpruned as it is naturally dense in habit while the single rose pink flowers are produced in great numbers even if they only last a day. Perhaps the only down side to growing it is that chewing insects seem to favour the soft leaves, though unless you are a garden perfectionist this should not be an issue. What's a few chewed leaves between friends. A safe plant based spray will give the critters a bad headache and perhaps they will move on to another food source.
2017 update: I am currently out of stock.

Sarcococca confusa, Sweet Box

  Sweet Box

Sarcococoa confusa

 This plant is ideal to fill that niche of plants to grow in dry shade which have a nice perfume and that can be trimmed to a topiary or hedge shape. Sweet box will also grow across a range of climates from cold to warm temperate. I only planted one underneath a Brugmansia which is well known for its suckering habit and vigorous root system. I probably should have planted about 5 together so that they formed a good dense rounded mass of green to about 1.5 metres high. The flowers appear in winter and last into spring and though they are fairly insignificant they pack quite a punch from something so small. This shrub which belongs to the plant family Buxaceae originates from western China and is a worthwhile addition to any garden. I sold out of the last batch I grew so its popularity seems to be increasing.
2017 update: I am currently out of stock.

Camellia japonica 'Nicky Crisp'

This Camellia is following the trend of developing shrubs for smaller gardens and ones which can be used either as stand alone specimen plants or used as a hedge. It grows to about 2 metres and is quite bushy making it an easy care hedge plant. The flowers are well formed and about 10cm across. I quite like the arrangement pictured here where the flowers have been floated in a bowl with some nasturtium leaves.

Duranta erecta 'Sheena's Gold'

left to right: Salvia mexicana 'Limelight', Acanthus 'Hollard's Gold', Duranta 'Sheena's Gold'

Duranta 'Sheena's Gold' is one of the most widely grown golden foliaged plants and is used as both a large 3 metre topiary specimen (as pictured here) or pruned hard and kept as a low hedge plant, often in combination with the dark purple leafed Alternanthera dentata. Apart from needing some pruning or shearing over summer, it is a really low maintenance plant and is undemanding as to soil type and watering.This may account for its use in traffic roundabouts and roadside plantings. My local fire station has a hedge of it in combination with Anigozanthos, a tall yellow flowered 'Kangaroo Paw' which looks very effective.

At this time of year. especially in cold districts, the foliage turns dark inky black and if light frost occurs these leaves may drop off entirely. However new growth returns in spring with leaves coloured bright yellow and soon after the plant quickly returns to normal growth. Pale lavender coloured flowers appear in high summer and these contrast well with the foliage. This is a great plant for beginner gardeners to grow if they are after a quick growing screen plant to hide a fence or provide privacy. It can be cut back hard if it becomes too tall or unmanageable and will re-grow without any fear of having done it any drastic damage.

Crenellated pruning

Crenellated parapet pruned Euonymus japonicus 'Aureo Marginatus' with background unidentified shrub wearing a brown autumn coat.

I get the feeling that an under-gardener grew tired of endless 'cloud pruning' and shaping of shrubs into nice round shapes and decided to go for a more medieval castle look, perhaps being influenced by a computer game involving dungeons and dragons.

This Euonymus or Japanese Spindle bush has never been a favourite shrub of mine as it always tends to look a little stiff and the colour is a very harsh shade of yellow. Hey big bird canary look at me kind of thing. It also more often than not reverts back to green in places as can be seen in the left section. Maybe this is not an issue if you want to show the Aussie colours of green and gold however. Growth can also be uneven if you plant it as a proper hedge with some sections racing ahead while others sulk and fail to grow properly. I pass a hedge like this where the individual plants look like sullen lumps and have never met up properly. Otherwise it is a very cold and drought hardy shrub with few pest and disease problems.

Crenellated parapet illustration from the Dictionary of French Architecture,11th to 16th Century (1856) by Euguene Viollet-le-Duc (1814-1879)

Tecomaria capensis 'Aurea'

Tecomaria capensis 'Aurea'
 Yellow Cape Honeysuckle

The brassy orange flowering form of this South African shrub was once a popular hedge plant here on the South Coast particularly with dairy farmers as it formed a sheltered barrier in the milking yards to calm the cows down before they went into the sheds. It can form a huge densely packed hedge sometimes reaching 7 metres or more and in the warmer months it is never without a flower. Tolerating moist salt laden winds, cold down to -2C and drought, it is easy to see why it was once a popular plant. Its fall from grace in suburban gardens has more to do with it being a difficult plant to manage as it has the habit of sending out long horizontal cane like stems which send roots down whenever they find a piece of fresh ground. This yellow flowering form has a more subdued nature and is less vigorous in growth and can be kept under control with comparative ease. It flowers from now till late autumn and is not particular about soil or aspect.