78 Great Northern Hwy, Midland, WA, 6056               Ph: (08) 9250 3682               Shop Hours:   10am   >>   6pm

SHOP

DATABASE

JOURNAL

INDESTRUCTIBLE

Postage : Seeds only $4 / Plants $20

Page
12>
of 2
  • Agave
    • potatorum   CAG02362
      Agave potatorum
      $12.00earn 60 points

      A mid sized species forming a sphere of stiff, very blue, glaucous leaves, short and broad with prominent, red-black, sharks teeth around the margin and a wavy terminal spine.

      Its globular form is a stunning counterpoint to modern architecture and coupled with an ironclad constitution and impressive armament it is an ideal candidate for municipal and commercial gardens, rooftops or in a pot on the deck. Otherwise plant a few in a sea of gravel with Freesia in your choice of colours for a cheap and stunning, irrigation free, permanent lawn substitute.
      Doesn't run, pups are borne clustered around the base and if left attached form attractive clumps. I would expect it to be cold hardy in 99% of Australian gardens.

      Flowers are limey green and in clusters on a giant asparagus like stalk, more graceful than some of the larger species but less grand.

  • Artemisia
    • ludoviciana ‘Valerie Finnis’   CAG00925

      (Prairie sage, White sagebrush)
      $12.00earn 60 points

      A staple of gardens the world over though indigenous through most of North America. A suckering carpet of silver, broadly lance shaped leaves for borders and edgings or combined with other vigorous perennials, Bearded Iris maybe, in drifts or clumps. Cut down regularly to maintain broadest foliage and low growth or if left unchecked it will eventually form a dense mound of wiry, branching stems bearing irrelevant, small, pale yellow, button-like flowers, quite an effective silver shrub in wilder parts of the garden or fence line.

      Very vigorous and perfectly drought tolerant on well drained soils, struggling in heavy clay though more successful in lower rainfall regions. Impervious to any heat and cold experienced in this country but, as with most of the genus, unlikely to tolerate the summer humidity of more tropical climes. Dead easy and indestructible.

      Might work as a silver, water efficient lawn when mown routinely.

      Broader, more simple leaved than A. ‘Silver Queen’ and perhaps better when kept low.

  • Pancratium
    • maritimum   CAG01666

      (Sea daffodil)
      Pancratium maritimum
      $12.00earn 60 points

      A dramatic bulb, the umbels of pure white, perfumed, daffodil-like flowers appear as if by magic after the first autumn rain, on naked, very glaucous 60cm stems. Such delicate and exuberant beauty seemingly incongruous in the exposed and baking environ it prefers.

      The strappy, glaucous winter leaves die down with the onset of summer drought, if they remain evergreen you are providing too much water and any chance of flowering is likely to be non-existent. In a warm autumn repeat blooms are not uncommon.

      Found on coastal dunes in hotter parts of the Mediterranean it is ideally suited to growing in hot barren sand, though mine do fine in clay, and should be indifferent to salt spray. Self seeds if your lucky, though it will be at least several years before the seedlings are large enough to flower. Newly planted bulbs will usually need a year or two to settle in as well before they will resume flowering.

      Mass plant for best effect, either densely or as scattered individuals.

  • Agave
    • vivipara var. marginata   CAG02018
      Agave vivipara var. marginata
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A quick growing variety, small enough for a large pot but large enough to make a statement, with a stiff almost harsh demeanour, useful for stark architectural style or high contrast with softer forms, especially so in groups.

      Sparse, slightly taller than spherical rosettes of very rigid, long, tapering, glaucous green leaves, generously edged with cream variegation, short, dark, marginal teeth and terminating in a short black spine.

      Spreads moderately by underground stolons and such colonies are particularly attractive but need appropriate space.

      Individual rosettes produce after many (10+) years a spectacular tree like inflorescence, the remains of which are often used in floral art, bearing thousands of erect, yellow green, tubular flowers, in tight clusters, which are much loved by nectar feeding birds and insects, and then rapidly decline and die to be succeeded by younger offsets or bulbils.

  • Amaryllis
    • belladonna   CAG01045

      (Easter lily, Naked lady)
      Amaryllis belladonna
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A super tough South African that should need little introduction, though, where once its autumn spectacle was taken for granted through the South West it is now being increasingly displaced by fleeting makeover starlets.

      Clusters of large. flaring, funnel shaped flowers, pale pink and deepening with age, are carried atop sturdy, fleshy stems. The strappy, dark green leaves emerge after flowering from the necks of large, papery, brown bulbs that are typically somewhat exposed, adjusting to their preferred depth with the aid of contractile roots. Becoming deciduous with rising temperatures in spring and then requiring zero water over summer.

      Infallible in any soil, in any position except the densest shade. Usually takes several years to settle in and commence flowering for perpetuity.

      For me, nothing heralds more the imminent return of cooler weather and rain than the sight of fat buds thrusting naked from parched ground. I imagine it is the same joy that gardeners in cold regions feel on seeing the first hint of spring in a shoot emerging from snow.

  • Arctotis
  • Artemisia
    • ludoviciana ‘Silver Queen’   CAG01724

      (Prairie sage, White sagebrush)
      CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE

      A staple of gardens the world over though indigenous through most of North America. Suckering clumps of slender, upright, silver stems and narrow, incised leaves for pairing with other designer and mediterraneanesque plants. Cut down regularly to maintain verticality and boldest foliage or if left unchecked it will eventually form a dense mound of wiry, branching stems bearing irrelevant, small, pale yellow, button-like flowers, quite an effective silver shrub in wilder parts of the garden or fence line.

      Very vigorous and perfectly drought tolerant on well drained soils, struggling in heavy clay though more successful in lower rainfall regions. Impervious to any heat and cold experienced in this country but, as with most of the genus, unlikely to tolerate the summer humidity of more tropical zones. Dead easy and indestructible.

      Finer and more divided foliage than A. ‘Valerie Finnis’ and perhaps better for the vertical.

Page
12>
of 2