I am not sure whether or not this summer is any better than others over the past few years. It has certainly been a little cooler. We have had a lot of luck to with the watering system. The roses have been receiving a lot more water this year and the bushes are taller and produce lots more flowers.
I decided to buy my partner a few bushes for Christmas and chose, for one, a Dipladenia Sanderi-Rosea or Brazilian Jasmine This is a hardy woody climber with firm dark glossy green leaves and large pink funnel shaped flowers. It is a good plant for shady or sunny positions and flowers most of the year. It is now in a large pot outside the back door and is doing very well.
Another good purchase was a Sweet Petite, or a Brunfelsia latifolia. They tell me this is a compact form of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. It is an evergreen shrub and can become semi-deciduous in cooler areas. Sweet and Petite exudes splashes of beautiful flowers, beginning purple, fading to mauve and then white through the spring, summer and autumnal seasons. It can be an excellent feature plant in the garden or in a tub on a patio, veranda, courtyard or a balcony. The plant will grow in full sun or in shade. It likes good rich, well-drained soil. It should be fertilised at regular intervals, while flowering with a slow release fertiliser. Not much pruning is needed as it grows densely, however, tip pruning can be done to shape the plant. Premium potting mix is a necessity if planted in a container or tub.
I came across a very pleasant looking grevillea sericea in its mauve form the other week. This evergreen small shrub has small leaves and very good-looking mauve flowers that grow for most of the year. It will attract the small birds and provide a dense screen. Grevilleas grow in most soils always providing the soils are well drained.
Almost waiting for the summer to end already, although, as I mentioned above, the weather has been extraordinary cool for this part of the world. It looks as though we are not going to have any more water restrictions - everybody must have done as they were told and used water wisely. Looking forward to writing my next article in the last month of summer, February.
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