Let’s welcome our visitors to the 2010 Soccer World Cup by making our gardens as colourful as possible.
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With the wealth of plant material available to South African gardeners, now’s the time to make our gardens as colourful as possible for the visitors that will be flocking to our country for the Soccer World Cup.
Colour for the winter garden can come from a myriad plants. The tubular waxy red, orange and yellow flowers of aloes attract iridescent-coloured sunbirds, while berries on bushes and hedges provide pantries for seed-eating birds. Another favourite of birds are the bright orange or cream flowers of the lion’s ear (Leonotis leonurus) carried in whorls along the stems.
The warmth of orange and red is particularly welcome in winter, and many striking plants come in these shades, including winter-flowering red-hot pokers (kniphofia). Their green strap-like leaves and bold torches of colour make dramatic statements alongside ponds and water features. Clivia miniata, with umbels of orange-red blooms, flowers from midwinter to spring in dappled shade.
In frost-free regions, where there is less noticeable change in seasons, it is the scarlet, orange and salmon flowers of the coral tree (erythrina) and the red, peach and yellow bracts of the Mexican poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) that put on a show.
Namaqualand daisies open wide their cream, yellow, apricot and orange flowers on sunny days, and vygies (mesembryanthemum) glisten in the sunshine as they spread their jewel-like colours of pink, orange and purple over banks and in rockeries. The daisy family is also represented by drought-resistant gazanias with flowers of red, orange, pink, yellow, cream and bronze that are suitable for growing on banks, as ground covers, in containers and as edgings.
The euryops daisy is indigenous and thrives in sunshine at the coast and inland. Euryops pectinatus, with deeply lobed grey-green leaves and golden yellow daises, flowers in early spring and during the year, and E. virgineus, with more upright growth, finely divided green leaves and small yellow daises, flowers in late winter and early spring.
Cotyledon orbiculata has succulent leaves and clusters of pendant apricot-orange blooms. Low-growing fairy crassula, C. multicava, has dainty pink flowers in winter and makes an attractive ground cover for sun or shade, provided the soil is well-drained.
As well as our indigenous flora, many of the plants we grow in our gardens come from other lands, and, provided they do not pose a threat to our environment, they bring welcome colour to our gardens. Early narcissi, with their clusters of white and cream blooms and single flowered jonquils stand tall among carpets of blue forget-me-nots, alyssum and dainty mauve primulas, and pots on patios are colourful with pansies, violas and frilly ornamental kale.
The hardy hellebores begin to flower in early winter. These long-lived, evergreen perennials have fan-shaped leaves and slightly pendant green, pink, wine or white flowers, many with delicate spotting. Hellebores need rich, but well-drained soil, and a position where they get dappled shade in summer.
Sweet violets (Viola odorata) and early-flowering stocks scent the winter garden, orange calendulas and the brilliant and pastel colours of Iceland poppies add splashes of colour in flower borders, and dwarf varieties of sweet peas spill over rockeries and raised beds.
Camellia japonica hybrids are the showgirls of winter gardens, their rosettes of white, pink and red flowers framed by their glossy green leaves. Grow these camellias in dappled shade, water regularly in autumn and winter, and spread a thick mulch of pine needles or bark around the root area to retain moisture.
By Joan Wright
