A Japanese Garden Exclusive: Stroll a wooden bridge among autumn foliage and a stone lantern—discover Zen Living’s Japanese garden collection, now up to 50% off.

Zen Living Japanese Garden Exclusive- Up to 50% Off!

Written by coldev on 02/03/2026. Posted in Garden Ideas, News, Plant Sales & Plant Specials, Plants, Top 10 Lists.

Zen Living – Japanese Garden Exclusive Sale

Up to 50% Off!!

Step into calm, balance, and timeless beauty with our Zen Living – Japanese Garden Exclusive Sale.

This carefully curated collection brings the elegance of Japanese garden design into Australian homes. Discover sculptural feature trees, tranquil greenery, and statement plants chosen for their harmony, structure, and seasonal beauty.

Inspired by the principles of traditional Japanese gardens, each plant has been selected to help create an outdoor space that feels peaceful, balanced, and naturally refined.

Create Your Own Zen Space

Here is the same text rewritten with no hyphens and smoother flow:

A Japanese garden is more than landscaping. It is an atmosphere.
It invites stillness, reflection, and a deeper connection with nature.

This collection offers the opportunity to transform your outdoor or indoor space into something truly special, calm, intentional, and beautifully timeless.

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Feature Trees

Our Featured Trees collection showcases a curated selection of Japanese garden favourites, perfect for creating structure, colour, and seasonal beauty.

Ginkgo Mariken ‘Dwarf Maidenhair’ 10″ Pot

The Mariken Dwarf Japanese Ginkgo brings timeless elegance to any Japanese-inspired garden.

With its naturally rounded, almost sculptural form, this compact tree creates beautiful structure without overwhelming the space, a key principle in traditional Japanese design.

Its distinctive fan-shaped leaves offer soft texture throughout the seasons before transforming into a brilliant golden display in autumn, symbolising change and reflection.

Perfect for large statement pots, courtyards, or carefully composed garden beds, this miniature ginkgo delivers refined beauty, balance, and year-round architectural charm.

Buy Ginkgo mariken ‘Dwarf Maidenhair’ 10″ Pot

Buy Acer ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese Maple 8″ Pot

Acer ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese Maple 8″ Pot

The Bloodgood Japanese Maple is a classic feature tree, admired for its strong upright form and deeply coloured crimson foliage that remains rich from spring through autumn.

In Japanese garden design, maples are treasured for their seasonal movement and refined presence, and Bloodgood delivers both with quiet confidence.

Whether positioned as a statement tree in a large pot or anchored within a tranquil garden bed, it creates depth, contrast, and architectural balance.

As autumn approaches, its red tones intensify, bringing dramatic seasonal beauty while maintaining the calm sophistication essential to a Japanese-inspired landscape.

Prunus ‘First Blush’ Flowering Cherry 13″ Pot

The First Blush Flowering Cherry captures the delicate romance of traditional Japanese springtime.

In early season, it becomes completely adorned in abundant soft pink blossoms, creating a breathtaking cloud of colour that symbolises renewal and fleeting beauty, a cherished theme in Japanese garden culture.

Its compact form makes it perfectly suited to feature pots, courtyards, or smaller garden spaces where structure and elegance matter.

When in bloom, it transforms the landscape into a serene, contemplative setting, bringing softness, grace, and timeless seasonal charm to any Japanese-inspired garden.

Buy Prunus ‘First Blush®’ Flowering Cherry 13″ Pot

Buy Pinus ‘Yatsubusa’ Black Pine 8″ Pot

Buy Pinus ‘Yatsubusa’ Black Pine 13″ Pot

Pinus ‘Yatsubusa’ Black Pine 8″ Pot & 13″ Pot

Pinus ‘Yatsubusa’ Black Pine is a refined dwarf form of the traditional Japanese Black Pine, celebrated for its dense, compact growth and naturally sculptural character.

In Japanese garden design, black pines represent strength, resilience, and enduring beauty, and this miniature variety captures that essence in a perfectly contained form.

Its rich green needles and tight branching structure make it ideal for bonsai-inspired styling, feature pots, or carefully curated garden beds.

With its strong architectural presence and timeless symbolism, Yatsubusa brings balance, structure, and authentic Japanese character to any Zen-inspired landscape.

Acer ‘Senkaki/Coral Bark’ Japanese Maple 20″ Pot

Acer ‘Senkaki’, commonly known as the Coral Bark Japanese Maple, is treasured for its brilliant seasonal contrast and graceful structure.

While its soft green foliage provides delicate texture through spring and summer, it is the luminous coral-red bark that becomes the true feature in winter, glowing against cooler landscapes and embodying the Japanese appreciation of year-round beauty.

This elegant maple adds vertical refinement and vibrant colour without overwhelming a space, making it perfect for feature planting in pots or serene garden beds.

With its striking bark and refined form, Senkaki delivers both subtlety and statement within a Japanese-inspired setting.

Buy Acer ‘Senkaki/Coral Bark’ Japanese Maple 20″ Pot

Buy Acer ‘Orangeola’ Japanese Maple 13″ Pot

Acer ‘Orangeola’ Japanese Maple 13″ Pot

Acer ‘Orangeola’ is a beautifully cascading Japanese Maple, admired for its elegant weeping form and ever-changing seasonal colour.

In traditional Japanese garden design, layered foliage and movement are essential elements, and Orangeola delivers this effortlessly with its finely cut leaves that drape softly like a living waterfall.

Emerging in rich red tones in spring, transitioning through warm summer hues, and finishing in brilliant orange-red autumn colour, it offers continuous visual interest.

Perfect for raised garden beds, feature pots, or positioned near stone pathways and mossed groundcovers, this refined maple brings softness, flow, and vibrant seasonal artistry to any Japanese-inspired landscape.

Acer ‘Osakazuki’ Japanese Maple 10″ Pot

Acer ‘Osakazuki’ is one of the most celebrated Japanese Maples, renowned for delivering some of the most brilliant autumn colour of all varieties.

Its elegant upright form provides gentle structure throughout the growing season with fresh green foliage, before transforming into a breathtaking display of intense scarlet-red in autumn, a moment that perfectly reflects the Japanese appreciation of seasonal change.

In a Zen-inspired garden, Osakazuki creates a powerful focal point while maintaining balance and harmony within the landscape. Ideal as a feature tree in a statement pot or thoughtfully placed within layered planting, it brings timeless beauty, refinement, and unforgettable seasonal drama.

Buy Acer ‘Osakazuki’ Japanese Maple 10″ Pot

Buy Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’ 6″ Pot

Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’ 6″ Pot

Acer palmatum, the classic Japanese Maple, is the heart of traditional Japanese garden design.

Admired for its graceful branching and delicately shaped leaves, it creates a sense of softness, movement, and natural balance within the landscape.

Throughout spring and summer, its elegant green foliage provides a calming canopy, before transitioning into warm autumn tones that celebrate the beauty of seasonal change.

Whether planted as a serene focal point in a garden bed or styled in a feature pot, this timeless maple embodies harmony, refinement, and the quiet artistry that defines a Japanese-inspired garden.

Borders Shrubs and Screens

Create structure, contrast, and year-round interest with our curated range of shrubs and edging plants, perfect for Japanese-inspired gardens and modern landscapes alike.

Camellia sasanqua ‘Marge Miller’ 6″ Pot

Camellia ‘Marge Miller’ brings soft romance and refined structure to a Japanese-inspired garden.

Its graceful, slightly spreading habit is adorned with delicate blush-pink blooms that appear in abundance, creating a serene and contemplative atmosphere.

In traditional garden design, camellias symbolise quiet elegance and seasonal rhythm, flowering when much of the garden rests.

With glossy evergreen foliage providing year-round structure, this variety adds depth, softness, and timeless beauty to layered plantings or feature spaces.

Buy Camellia sasanqua ‘Marge Miller’ 6″ Pot

Buy Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ (Glossy Abelia) 8″ Pot

Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ 8″ Pot

Abelia ‘Kaleidoscope’ introduces luminous colour and gentle contrast to the Japanese garden palette.

Its vibrant golden foliage shifts with the seasons, warming to soft orange and red tones as temperatures cool, reflecting the Japanese appreciation of subtle seasonal transitions.

The naturally neat, mounded form provides balance and structure, while delicate white flowers add lightness and movement.

It works beautifully as a low border or layered beneath feature trees to create harmony and visual flow.

Carex ‘Frosted Curls’ 6″ Pot

Carex ‘Frosted Curls’ brings softness and movement, echoing the flowing textures often found in traditional Zen landscapes.

Its fine, arching foliage creates a gentle cascading effect, offering contrast against stone, timber, or structured planting.

The silvery-green tones catch the light beautifully, enhancing the calm and reflective mood of a Japanese garden.

Ideal for layering around feature trees or softening pathways, it introduces texture and balance without overpowering surrounding elements.

Buy Carex ‘Frosted Curls’ 6″ Pot

Buy Cephalotaxus ‘Japanese Plum Yew’ 8″ Po

Cephalotaxus ‘Japanese Plum Yew’ 8″ Pot

Cephalotaxus, known as Japanese Plum Yew, delivers elegant vertical structure and deep evergreen presence.

In Japanese garden design, strong architectural plants anchor the landscape, and this refined conifer performs that role with quiet strength.

Its rich green foliage and upright form create a sense of permanence and stability, beautifully complementing softer maples and flowering plants.

It thrives in both sun and shade, making it a versatile and timeless addition to structured plantings.

Liriope ‘Stripey White’ 6″ Pot

Liriope ‘Stripey White’ offers bright, variegated foliage that brings subtle contrast and light into shaded garden spaces.

Its clean striped leaves provide definition and rhythm, while seasonal flower spikes add delicate vertical interest.

In a Japanese-inspired setting, it works effortlessly as a ground layer beneath feature trees, enhancing depth and cohesion.

The structured yet soft appearance helps tie planting schemes together while maintaining a calm, balanced aesthetic.

Buy Liriope ‘Stripey White’ 6″ Pot

Buy Buxus ‘Korean Box’ 8″ Pot

Buxus ‘Korean Box’ 8″ Pot

Buxus ‘Korean Box’ is prized for its naturally dense, rounded form, making it ideal for structured planting within Japanese-style landscapes.

Its fine evergreen foliage creates clean lines and a sense of order, essential elements in traditional garden design.

Whether shaped into subtle domes or left to form gentle mounds, it provides year-round structure and contrast against softer, more fluid plantings.

Korean Box brings discipline, balance, and enduring greenery to a serene garden composition.

Groundcovers

Add softness, texture, and contrast to your garden with these versatile ground covers and feature accents, perfect for Japanese and Zen-inspired planting.

Scleranthus ‘Zen Moss’ 12″ Pot

Scleranthus ‘Zen Moss’ forms a vibrant, cushion-like carpet that perfectly captures the tranquil essence of traditional Japanese gardens.

Its soft, rolling mounds create the illusion of living moss, bringing depth and serenity to pathways, stone features, and open spaces.

In Zen design, ground layers are just as important as feature trees, and this plant delivers a calming, seamless foundation that enhances balance and visual harmony throughout the landscape.

Buy Scleranthus ‘Zen Moss’ 12″ Pot

Buy Sagina ‘Green Irish Moss’ 3″ Pot

Sagina ‘Green Irish Moss’ 3″ Pot

Sagina ‘Green Irish Moss’ creates a lush, fine-textured carpet that softens hard edges and enhances the contemplative mood of a Japanese-inspired garden.

Its dense, velvety foliage spreads gently, weaving between stepping stones and garden borders with natural elegance.

The fresh green tones add brightness and cohesion, reinforcing the layered, grounded feel essential in tranquil garden design.

Scleranthus biflorus ‘Lime Lava’ 16″ Pot

Scleranthus ‘Lime Lava’ introduces luminous colour and sculptural texture to the garden floor.

Its vivid lime-green mounds create striking contrast against darker foliage and stone elements, while still maintaining the soft, flowing form central to Japanese landscapes.

The rounded cushions evoke rolling terrain in miniature, offering movement and light without overpowering the calm composition of the space.

Buy Scleranthus biflorus ‘Lime Lava’ 16″ Pot

Buy Zoysia ‘No Mow Grass’ 7/8″ Pot

Zoysia ‘No Mow’ Grass 7/8

Zoysia ‘No Mow’ Grass provides a refined, low-growing ground layer that enhances the simplicity and restraint of Japanese garden design.

Its dense, uniform texture creates a smooth, uninterrupted surface that frames feature trees and architectural elements beautifully.

The subtle green tones promote a sense of openness and clarity, allowing surrounding plants and focal points to shine within a harmonious setting.

Ophiopogon ‘Dwarf’ Mondo Grass 3″ (Pack of 10)

Ophiopogon ‘Dwarf’ Mondo Grass offers fine, dark green foliage that forms a neat, textural carpet beneath feature trees and shrubs.

In Japanese garden design, contrast and layering are key, and this variety delivers understated elegance while enhancing depth and definition.

It pairs effortlessly with moss, stone, and maples, helping to create a cohesive, grounded landscape.

Buy Ophiopogon ‘Dwarf’ Mondo Grass 3″ (Pack of 10)

Buy Ophiopogon ‘Black’ Mondo Grass 6″ Pot

Ophiopogon ‘Black’ Mondo Grass 6″ Pot

Ophiopogon ‘Black’ Mondo Grass brings dramatic contrast and refined sophistication to the garden.

Its deep, almost charcoal-toned foliage provides a striking backdrop to lighter greens and flowering plants, embodying the Japanese principle of balance through contrast.

Used thoughtfully, it anchors planting schemes and adds a modern edge while maintaining the tranquil spirit of a Zen-inspired setting.

Delivery

FREE DELIVERY ON ALL ORDERS OVER $399 !!!

At Hello Hello Plants we operate our own delivery fleet, delivering plants around Melbourne and regional Victoria 7 days a week.

Get your plants delivered to your door, from $34.99, or FREE when you spend over $399

We deliver within Victoria only. No interstate shipping available. Alternatively, you can pick up in-store at 1477 Sydney Rd, Campbellfield VIC 3061.

Top 10 Tips for creating a Modern Garden

Written by coldev on 15/01/2026. Posted in Garden Advice, Top 10 Lists.

Smooth, sleek and contemporary is a top contender for the most coveted gardens style in Chris’ Free Garden Design service. This style can be adapted to any size garden, environmental conditions and can incorporate other garden styles in the design! We’re talking modern tropical, modern coastal or even modern cottage! But what elements actually make a modern or contemporary garden? This can be the part that makes designing your own modern garden tricky. So below we’ll go over some of the design elements Chris goes through in his contemporary garden designs.

Hello Hello Plants Nursery Campbellfield Melbourne Victoria Australia Andrew Stark Landscape Design Cloud pruned Acer palmatum Japanese Maple Lilly Pilly hedge Trachelospermum jasmine banner — Andrew Stark Landscape design with cloud pruned Japanese Maple that seem to float above a bed of Asiatic Groundcover Jasmine

Top 10 Tips for creating a Modern Garden

Simple lines and form
Geometry and Balance
Functional spaces – bringing indoor outdoor
Plain and pastel colours
Simplistic textures
Lighting
Architectural plants are a thing!
Garden features – sculptures, ornamental pots and water
Patterns and repetition
Avoid fads!

If you need more advice on how to create a modern garden, we can assist you with tips, tricks or even a full tailormade garden design with Chris. Book one here!

1. Simple lines and form

Seen here are pleached Aristocrat Ornamental Pears that act as a divider between rooms in the garden

Simplicity is key in a contemporary garden design. You don’t want to over crowd or clutter the garden, creating too much busy-ness. Modern gardens tend to have simple easy repetitive lines and shapes such as square, raised garden beds, all the same colour and texture and shape, the only variance being their height or length. Soft, rounded edges can also be used but it is paramount they are even, smooth and almost blend in with the surrounds.

2. Geometry and Balance

Beautiful table top pleached London Plane trees above a low growing groundcover with Buxus ‘English Box’ hedging and topiary

Geometric shapes and lines don’t work unless they are balanced with the surrounding spaces. Geometry is precision work and is what makes the garden as a whole pleasing to the human eye. We can often tell when the lines of a garden bed or wall are incorrect and it’s so distracting! This also applies to the placement of objects and shapes in a design. It can be too colour heavy on one side of the design or not enough of a certain texture, which makes the whole feel of the are feel weird. This is when balance is usually off!

3. Functional spaces – bringing indoor outdoor

Medium hedges help define spaces. Add a splash of colour and scent from some English Lavender

An element of the modern garden that isn’t considered until suggested by the designer is that of a functional space that joins the inside with the outdoors. This can be in the form of an outdoor living area or outdoor kitchen.

Retaining walls and planters can double as seats with carefully designed indented benches that meld seamlessly into the geometric design. Modern designs will generally have very deliberate and useful design elements, no questionable or confusing sections with unknown functions!

4. Plain and pastel colours

Classic example of mass planting or drift planting. Here we have Verbena bonariensis, Blue Fescue, Santolina Cotton Lavender, Salvia such as ‘Sensation Blue’ Salvia and Miscanthus grasses

Nothing says modern like soft stone colours, charcoals and very light pastels. The colours of retaining walls, pavers, steps and buildings are often subdued so they don’t distract or detract from the plants of the main feature. This is also applied to the plants used. Green & White is a very common colour scheme for a modern garden as it is subdued and simple, no one plant necessarily stealing the show with a mess of colour. When colour is used, it’s applied en-masse, large drifts or rows of the same colour planted together to great effect. Good examples of this are simple green hedges, large, swathes of green or silver groundcovers, and blocks of lavenders, fescues or salvias.

5. Simplistic textures

A wonderful use of grasses contrasting against modern planters. Here we have aStandard Acacia ‘Limelight’, Cycads at the top, Dianella ‘Cassa Blue’, Lomandra ‘Tanika’ , Acacia ‘Micro Matt’ and Gardenia florida on either side at the front.

Along with your simple colours, simple textures must also be used. Generally you won’t want any strongly patterned textures such as red brick or paisley confusing the area. The plants will usually create enough textural contrast and just require a simple backdrop or border to shine against. There’s no need to remove everything that might conflict with this tip! Bricks and tiles can easily be painted over to create a simplicity.

6. Lighting

Outdoor lighting not only brightens your backyard but can highlight a feature, draw your attention to elements of interest or set the mood. There are many outdoor lighting options available but remember to keep it simple so no leadlight lamps or spotlights!

7. Architectural plants are a thing!

The structural forms of the Blue Chalk Sticks

It’s no doubt about it, some plants have really striking foliage and form, becoming almost an architectural feature in themselves. Such plants as Agave, Senecio ‘Blue Chalk Stick’ or Gymea Lily have strong shapely foliage that draws the eye and contrasts against almost any other plant or building. Other, what you might call standard style foliage plants such as the hedging varieties (Buxus ‘English Box’ or Murraya ‘Orange Jessamine’), look almost nondescript by themselves. BUT! When trimmed into a strong box hedge with simple straight lines or perfectly symmetrical topiary balls, it makes them an eye-catching contrasting feature yet not to ‘out there’ for the contemporary garden. And if the geometric lines get too much, soften your edges with a mass planting of Poa ‘Tussock Grass‘ or Myoporum ‘Fine Leaf’ groundcovers.

8. Garden features – sculptures, ornamental pots and water

There is room for some of the standard garden ornaments but once again keep it simplistic, minimal and neat. This isn’t the garden to have a hoard of gnomes scattered about! A single large urn with a Topiary Buxus Ball or trailing Dichondra ‘Silver Falls’ groundcover can make a beautiful, timeless feature and breaks up the landscape. This is also the type of garden where the complementary geometric or fluid shapes of contemporary sculptural art really shine. Artists such as David Harber create works that reflect the environment in which they are placed and truly add a finishing touch to the garden space.

If ornaments and artwork aren’t you thing, then consider the sound, movement and tranquillity that a water feature can add to your garden. Dispel the dated ideas of the cottage fishpond or the Japanese Koi and gravitate toward the the sculptural forms of a spherical water feature or wall of water. Remember to keep your simple and timeless shapes!

9. Patterns and repetition

Reed grasses emerging from the water with topiary and border Buxus ‘English Box’ hedging.

Now we know we have said to stay away from strong patterns on your walls, pavements and garden features but patterns are still subtly prevalent in your planting and structural work. We’re not necessarily talking about planting a colourful alternating pattern of vibrant colours. Here we are referring to the repetition of the same colour and shape. Think of the pattern your hedges may create. Two layers of box hedging in a square shape is a simple yet effective pattern. The repetition of the same size and colour pavers as a walkway through a neat lawn is a subtle and well balanced pattern. A continual colour, texture or simple pattern that looks good in all seasons holds the garden together.

10. Avoid fads!

The tropical look created by the broad leaves ofCordyline ‘Rubra’, Cordyline ‘Early Morning Diamond’, Cordyline ‘Pink Diamond’ and Cordyline ‘Negra’, with the colourful foliage of the low growing, mass planted Rhoeo ‘Moses in the Cradle’

We all have the temptation to add a busty Greek goddess or a Tiki Bar into the garden because we’ve seen them in the latest magazines, reality TV show or the neighbours bragging about theirs. But remember – these fads age, badly! The key to the modern garden is to keep it modern! This garden style doesn’t age, instead it maintains its style and grace throughout the decades.

Plants to use in a modern, contemporary garden

Create a Floral Paradise in Your Garden

Written by coldev on 15/05/2025. Posted in Garden Ideas, Plants, Top 10 Lists.

Create a Floral Paradise in Your Garden With These Plants

We’ve heard from a little birdie that you’re in need of some more flowers in the garden and we just so happened to stumble upon a beautiful garden that is sure to inspire you. We even made a whole video about it!

You can watch that here, but read on to learn more about these flowers.

Grab a quick sneak peek, JUMP STRAIGHT TO the plants we’ll be discussing today:

1. Clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’
2. Salvia ‘Mexican Bush Sage’
3. Bartlettina ‘Purple Mist Flower’
4. ‘Princess Diana’ Peruvian Lily
5. Rose ‘Shady Lady
6. Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’
7. Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’
8. Tricyrtis ‘Blue Toad Lily’
9. Fuchsia Fuchsita® ‘Blush Violet’
10. Persicaria Fascination Red Bistort
+ 8 More

Maybe you’re creating a garden from scratch and feeling overwhelmed by all the plant choices you need to make. Maybe you already have a garden but it’s in need of some pops of colour. Maybe you just moved into a place that only has a balcony and you’re looking for some potted colour.

We got you. We’re going to be breaking down the 18 flowers from this wonderful garden, and telling you all about their individual strengths, applications and how to best take care of them.

Now a quick note before we get into it, not all of these will be blooming right now. If you are more interested in flowers you can have in autumn, then be sure to check out our article The 10 Best Plants For Autumn Flowering in Australia.

Clematis ‘Madame Julia Correvon’

We’re starting strong with an award winning flower that has both incredible beauty and is easy to grow. You will see quickly why it earned the Garden Merit of the Royal Horticultural Society.

The first thing you’ll notice is the intensity of colour and uniquely shaped petals on Madame Julia Correvon. We love how the petals come out flat but with some time they start to curve and twist in unusually beautiful ways. It’s like each petal has a life of their own, giving the whole flower a dynamic movement to it.

Madame Julia Correvon doesn’t skimp on flowers, with masses of those beautiful star shaped flowers creating an incredible show. It also blooms for a very long time, from early summer to early autumn, meaning you get to enjoy those gorgeous flowers for ages.

They also make for excellent cut flowers so you can bring a slice of that beauty indoors too.

This is a plant you choose when you want a flowering climber as they look best when trained to climb up a fence, trellis, wall or any surface. The vines are nice and strong, making it easy to grow up your preferred garden structure.

This particular variety of Clematis is more heat tolerant than others so can take more sun. They intermingle well with many plants, climbing up them in a wonderfully symbiotic way. You can even grow them along short hedges!

Please note that this plant is toxic to dogs, cats and horses so if you have one of these furry friends consider another plant on this list.

In terms of how to best take care of this wonderful plant, you want to make sure to do the following things:

Keep it in moist, well-drained soil
Keep it’s ‘head in the sun and feet in the shade’ meaning the roots should be in a cool and shaded area and the top part of the plant with the flowers in the sun.
Prune it in late winter or early spring making sure to cut back hard to a pair of strong buds.
Use a Rose Fertilizer every three months or so to make them absolutely thrive.

We unfortunately don’t stock this exact variety just yet, but are working hard to get it in.

In the meantime we can offer you another type of Clematis that is just as stunning. In fact, Clematis are just an incredible flower family that have a rich diversity of colours and tolerances.

The Clematis we recommend is Clematis montana ‘Rubens’ a light pink flower that is deliciously fragrant and is both drought and frost hardy. Learn more about it here.

Salvia ‘Mexican Bush Sage’

For our next option we’re going with a classic, the Mexican Bush Sage, which has been a garden favourite for many years. This is the plant you choose when you have a sunny spot and want something that’s hardy and long flowering.

It’s also a great choice for those needing a good medium sized hedge that can be planted at the front as a feature or used as a layering plant towards the back of a gardening bed.

Mexican Bush Sage is an evergreen shrub that bears tall erect flowers of either purple or white. The flowering period stretches from late summer/early spring to late autumn, and in the right climate it can actually flower all year round.

It grows to a height of 0.8 – 1.2metres tall and wide with grey-green foliage that contrasts nicely with other greenery in the garden. The flowers gracefully arch and bend in interesting ways above the foliage, creating a dynamic and interesting display.

Now although this is a hardy plant that can handle dry conditions, what you don’t want to do is put it in a shady area. A little bit of shade is fine, but extended periods of shade will leave the flowers scraggly and desperately trying to stretch towards the sun.

Mexican Sage Salvia prefers a deep watering once a week when hot but be mindful that hot and moist/wet conditions are not suitable. If you live in a tropical area, it’s best to choose another plant. It works in most soil types.

Although mild frosts can be tolerated by established plants, it’s best to protect young plants for the first few years. If you live in a particularly cold area, then it’s a good idea to plant it in a pot and you can even bring that inside if the weather gets particularly bad.

Pruning isn’t necessary but if you find the flowers are starting to sag and break off then a light prune may be required. Also general pruning can help promote bushiness if you want a fuller looking shrub.

Unlike other Sages, Mexican Bush is actually very good as a cut flower because of the way the fuzzy purple calyces stay on the plant even after the petals have fallen.

Bartlettina ‘Purple Mist Flower’

When you’re looking for something whimsical and fragrant, you can’t go past the Purple Mist Flower. The aroma is described as an intoxicating mix of lilac and honey that attracts bees and butterflies.

The large, veined leaves make for a beautiful display that gets elevated in spring when large clusters of flowers emerge. The flowers have a very distinctive fluffy look that is both playful and striking – they look quite like fluffy pom-poms!

If you are after a large shrub/bush and have dappled shaded area than this is the perfect plant for you. Purple Mist Flower reaches a size of 3 metres tall and 2.5 metres wide.

Purple Mist Flower can be used in a number of different ways, either as a focal feature in the middle of a garden bed, a layered piece underneath trees or mixed in with other plants to add vibrancy.

In terms of care you want to plant it in a spot that doesn’t receive hot afternoon sun, Purple Mist Flower instead thrives in light, dappled shade. The ideal soil is moist yet well-drained, a good tip to retain moisture is by applying a good layer of mulch.

If you want compact growth, then it’s best to prune it by about a third after flowering. If you live in a frost prone area, then it’s best to choose another plant.

Alstroemeria ‘Princess Diana’ Peruvian Lily

For a truly striking multi-coloured display consider the Princess Diana Peruvian Lily. They have the most delightful combination of orange, red, yellow and cream with brown markings that instantly draws the eye.

Princess Diana Peruvian Lily is an excellent choice for those needing a border plant that is long flowering and low maintenance. They produce flowers for almost 9 months! From mid spring to late autumn you can enjoy those stunning flowers. What’s amazing as well is how great they are as cut flowers – they last for over two weeks in a vase!

If you have a smaller sized garden, these are the perfect flowers for you as they only grow 20-30cm tall and 24-60cm wide. They also do very well in containers so you can have them out on your balcony or patio.

They are a reliable easy to grow plant that is drought tolerant, frost tolerant and generally disease free. Butterflies and bees love them, but they may get damaged by slugs.

To best care for your Princess Diana Peruvian Lily plant it in a full sun or light shade area with fertile, moist, well-drained soil. Make sure to avoid dry soils and choose a spot that is sheltered from the wind.

If you want to promote new blooms, then pull the stems from the base instead of cutting them. Just be careful with the flowers as they can cause skin irritants.

Rose ‘Shady Lady’

If you have a shady spot and you’re searching for something vibrantly coloured to brighten it up, here’s ‘Shady Lady’ Rose. It has gorgeous semi-double blooms of hot pink surrounded by glossy green foliage.

As you can see from this list there are quite a few flowers that can’t handle any shade, or only a little bit of shade. What makes Shady Lady so great is the fact that it can tolerate considerable shade.

Shady Lady flowers from early spring to early summer and has a mild fragrance. You can choose between the garden bed or a large pot, they look fantastic planted in a massed effect or a single specimen.

To take care of Shady Lady be sure to water it well in the hottest months of the year but avoid the foliage. The reason being that roses are prone to moisture loving fungus so don’t water from above.

Prune hard each winter to make way for new growth, cutting above an outward-pointing bud and cutting the stem on an angle.

Now we are currently working on trying to add this wonderful flower to our range but are unable to get it for the moment. What we can offer is the fantastic New Dawn, a blush pink semi-double rose that also tolerates shade well. Find out more about it here.

Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’

Mona Lavender is the plant to choose when you’re looking for a fast growing neat shrub that can be planted in a full sun to part shade location. Also funnily enough, Mona Lavender has also received the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticulture Society in the UK!

Those gorgeous spikes of bright purple flowers emerge in late summer and bloom through autumn. The dark green leaves perfectly compliment these beautiful flowers.

Mona Lavender can of course be planted in the garden but also does great in a container on sheltered patios. It’s a great solution for low light spaces in the garden such as under decks or trees. They also make for a great border plant!

To best take care of your Mona Lavender plant it in moist but well-draining soil and fertilise it will a slow release fertiliser during early spring. If you want a neat shape and dense foliage then give it a light pruning after flowering. Mona Lavender doesn’t tolerate frosts so be sure to give it protection if your area is susceptible to frosts.

Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’

Here’s a truly unusual, yet striking, choice. It’s also the plant to go for when you need something that is tough as nails. The flowers are vastly different to any on this list, or most flowers in general. Ascot Rainbow also provides you with year round colour through its variegated foliage.

Those strange flowers are small and tubular with a red eye and grow in colourful bracts above the foliage. They appear from late winter through spring.

Ascot Rainbow is very hardy with an extreme tolerance for hot and dry conditions, as well as a tolerance to frost and coastal conditions. It’s compact habit makes it perfect for any sized garden, or even in a pot on the balcony or patio.

Plant it in almost any type of soil with good drainage as Euphorbias don’t like wet feet. To make Ascot Rainbow thrive give it a slow release fertiliser in spring. You don’t need to prune it but if you would like a bushier habit then you can cut back spent flower stems to their base. If you do cut it, avoid skin contact with the milky sap as it can be irritating to some people.

Tricyrtis ‘Blue Toad Lily’

Here’s a beautiful rarity to add an exotic touch to your garden – the Blue Toad Lily. With orchid-like blooms that are speckled with soft blue and purple dots, Blue Toad Lily is truly a beautiful addition to any garden. We particularly love them in woodland gardens.

Those exquisite flowers appear from late summer into fall, adding colour at a time where most of your perennials are ending. Blue Toad Lily likes partial to full shade areas – even flowering in deep shade.

It reaches a height of about 45-60cm and don’t require much maintenance beyond regular watering to keep the soil moist.

Fuchsia Fuchsita® ‘Blush Violet’

For another intricately and multi-coloured flower consider the Blush Violet Fuchsia. The mix of coral pink and mauve make for a glamourous and striking show. You want to keep it out of the hot sun as it doesn’t do well in Aussie summers. Instead plant it in a half shade half sun area.

Blush Violet Fuchsia attracts butterflies and bees and flowers from early summer to autumn. It’s great for pots and baskets and grows to a max size of about 40cm in height and width. Keep the soil nice and moist, but don’t overwater it.

Persicaria Fascination Red Bistort

Fascination Red Bistort is a real tough plant that can grow in almost any location. It isn’t bothered by sun or shade, soil type, or exposed places. You just need to get it established and then you can pretty much just leave it be.

But for such little effort you get a gorgeous show of vibrant pink flowers surrounded by slender arrowhead leaves. Fascination Red Bistort starts flowering in summer through to the first frosts.

Plant it in sun or part shade and although it can grow in most soils, it will thrive the most in loamy rich moist soils. Fascination Red Bistort grows to a size of about 1.2 metres in height and 0.7 – 1 metre in width. Be sure to trim it for fresh new regrowth and an extended flowering season.

Unfortunately we currently don’t hold stock of this plant, which will hopefully change soon. In the meantime we recommend the wonderful Agastache ‘Orange’ – a perennial plant that is similar in appearance to Fascination Red Bistort. Learn more about it here.

The Eight Other Plants

Here are eight more plants we recommend listed below. We hope we’ve inspired you for all the wonderful flowering plants you can have in your garden!

Fuchsia ‘Coralle’
Angel Wing Begonia – Begonia ‘Pink Flowering Polka Dot’
Geranium ‘Big Red’
Plumbago auriculata
Lavandula ‘Silverado’ Lavender
Pompon Dahlia – Dahlia Lubega® Power ‘Red’
Japanese Anemone
Salvia Black and Bloom

Be sure to follow our socials and check out our other blog posts for more inspiration!

Feeling inspired to create your own garden, but want some expert advice? Try our one-on-one garden design service with Chris. Together you’ll come up with a selection of plants along with a layout plan that gives you the look you want, as well as being suitable for your local soil and conditions.

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Pink chrysanthemums with text overlay: "10 best plants for Autumn flowering in Australia." Perfect for solving garden design problems with vibrant colors and seasonal blooms.

The 10 Best Plants For Autumn Flowering in Australia

Written by coldev on 15/04/2025. Posted in Garden Ideas, Plants, Top 10 Lists.

We all know about beautiful autumn foliage, the fiery reds, deep purples, striking golds and vibrant oranges. We’ve written extensively about these plants, from the big, towering trees, to the small shrubs anyone can fit in their garden.

But what we haven’t written about yet is the beautiful plants that provide colour in different ways during autumn – with their flowers.

Jump straight to the 10 best plants for autumn flowering:

1. Japanese Anemone Windflowers
2. Sedum Autumn Joy
3. Camellia sasanqua
4. Dahlia
5. Mexican Bush Sage Salvia
6. Chrysanthemums
7. Hellebores Winter Roses
8. Begonia
9. Kangaroo Paw
10. Marigold

Now, you should definitely still have plants with stunning autumn foliage in the garden too. Here’s all the articles we’ve written about that to help you pick the best one for your tastes and needs:

Overall Best Plants For Autumn Colour
Top 10 Best Autumn Shrubs
Top 10 Autumn Trees

We’ve got a beautiful range here of autumn flowering plants so let’s jump right into it.

Japanese Anemone Windflowers

These delicate poppy-like flowers are perfect for someone looking to elevate the elegance in their garden for little effort.

Here are some of the things we love about Japanese Anemone Windflower:

Low maintenance and resistant to pests
Upright growing habit makes it perfect for any sized garden
Versatile and can be mass planted, grown in a pot or planted as a border
Can choose between pink, purple and white shades for suits your garden best
Can grow in full sun or part shade
Attracts bees and butterflies

Sedum Autumn Joy

With a name like that, how could this gorgeous succulent plant not be on our list? Sedum Autumn Joy is what you pick when you want something that is cottage style, you have a very sunny spot and not a lot of time to take care it.

Here are some of the positives about Autumn Joy:

Thrives even with minimal care
Drought tolerant and can grow in many soil types (but not soggy soils)
Large deep pink flowers that deepen into a bronze hue in autumn
Attracts bees and butterflies
Interesting type of foliage with fleshy green leaves

Camellia sasanqua

If you’re looking for a privacy screen that will add elegance to your home, look no further than Camellia sasanqua. You can also plant them as a tall feature.

Other reasons you should choose Camellia sasanqua are:

Range of colours you can choose from including pink, white, red and purple
Can grow it in a sunny or part shade position
Also flowers in winter giving you colour during the greyest times
Glossy lush foliage that looks great all year
Can grow up to 5 metres tall or pruned to keep smaller

Dahlia

These are some real show-stopping flowers with an extraordinary range of colourways and are perfect for those looking for something really striking in the garden.

Let us tell you a bit more about Dahlias:

Some varieties are multi-coloured which creates even more visual interest
Flowers are large in size
Grows best in full sun and well drained soils
Attracts birds, butterflies and bees.
Perfect for cut flowers
Regular deadheading and fertilising will prolong the flowering

Mexican Bush Sage Salvia

For those wanting a good sized hedge that is very easy to grow and has flowers for ages, Mexican Bush Sage Salvia is the plant for you.

Here are some other things we love about Mexican Bush Sage Salvia:

It is fast growing so you can save money and buy a small plant and let it grow big
It also flowers throughout winter so you can have those stunning purple flowers for months on end
It is drought resistant and thrives in full sun
Makes for fantastic cut flowers
Rabbits ignore it, but butterflies love it
Can be grown in containers, as a border, or a hedge
Are also other varieties of Salvia that bloom in autumn if you’re looking for something slightly different

Chrysanthemums

Get the classic autumn colours of yellows, reds and oranges with the stunning multi-petaled Chrysanthemums. This is the plant to choose when you want something that is truly striking and will solicit many compliments from others.

There are so many reasons we adore Chrysanthemums, here are some of them:

A huge range of colours to choose from including yellow, orange, red, pink, white or purple
Can choose between the garden bed or a pot to grow it in
Love full sun and well-drained soil
Wonderful as cut flowers
Pest and disease free
Are quite low maintenance

Hellebores Winter Roses

Now these may be called the Winter Rose, but they make for incredible autumn flowers. If you love the delicate beauty of Japanese Anemones but want slightly larger flowers, these are perfect for you.

Read on for more reasons to love Hellebores:

Choose between white, pink or purple shades
Cup shaped flowers that add a whimsical touch
Great for partially shady spots with moist rich soil
Perfect for mass planted under trees
Dark green glossy leaves

Begonia

When you have a partially-shady spot that needs filling and want flowers for ages in the garden, Begonia is a great choice for you.

Here are some more wonderful things about Begonias:

They flower from late summer through autumn
Can be grown in dappled light or partial shade
A wide range of colours available including pink, white, orange, red and yellow
Are quite low maintenance as long as they have well-drained soil
Great for pots on balconies or patios

Kangaroo Paw

Kangaroo Paw is the perfect plant for when you have a Native garden but still want stunning autumn flowers.

Even if you don’t have a native garden, here are some reasons to plant Kangaroo Paws:

Uniquely shaped fuzzy flowers
Vibrant colours to choose from in red, yellow, black and pink
Thrives in full sun and sandy, well-draining soil
Attracts birds
Hardy, vigorous and low maintenance
Great for cut flowers
Great mass planted – can even alternate different colours for greater visual interest

Marigold

Marigolds are such a cute addition to any garden but are particularly great for those wanting to add some warmth through vibrant yellow colour.

Here’s a bit more about Marigolds:

Great border plants
Low maintenance
Repels pests
Grows in full sun to part shade with well-draining soil

In Closing

There you have it! The top 10 best plants for autumn flowering in Australia. We believe autumn is a time of great colour in the garden – it can even be more colourful than your spring or summer garden!

We hope this blog has inspired you to think outside the box when creating your dream autumn garden.

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Top 16 Australian Natives

Written by coldev on 01/07/2024. Posted in Plants, Top 10 Lists.

We live in Australia, it only makes sense that we should be planting Australian native plants. But for most people, they think Native Garden, and images of overgrown jungle disasters pop up. And maybe back in the day that was the case, but with selective breeding, native plants are much more manageable, and look better too.

A close-up view of bright green grass blades densely packed together, reminiscent of plants known for incredible fragrance.

Close-up of a yellow flowering Grevillea plant with spiky green leaves, set against a blurred background of foliage and sky. Grevillea, one of the plants for incredible fragrance, adds an aromatic touch to any garden scene. Grevillea Sunkissed

Close-up of vibrant pink flowers blooming among dense green foliage, these are perfect plants for incredible fragrance.

It’s clear that many people love Natives now, one in three of our Garden Designs include Native plants. What’s so great about Natives is that they are optimally suitable to the Australian climate because, well, they’re from Australia. They also attract gorgeous birds and bees that add delight to your space – just the other day we shot a video of Banksia Honey Pots and the rainbow lorikeets visiting them.

But there’s such a plethora of native plants that it can be tricky knowing what to pick for your garden, which is why we’ve rounded up our top favourite sixteen just for you. These choices are based on maintenance, beauty and hardiness, so rest assured that picking one of these is an excellent choice for your garden.

Top 16 Australian Native Plants for your Garden Design:

1. Acacia ‘Lime Magik’
2. Banksia ‘Honey Pots’
3. Grevillea ‘Sunkissed’
4. Grevillea ‘Sunkissed’ Standard
5. Dodonaea ‘Mr Green Sheen’
6. Westringia fruticosa
7. Casuarina ‘Cousin It’
8. Veronica ‘Diggers Speedwell’
9. Correa alba
10. Leucophyta ‘Dwarf’ Cushion Bush
11. Chrysocephalum ‘Yellow Buttons’
12. Grevillea ‘Strawberry Smoothie’
13. Callistemon ‘Little John’
14. Lomandra ‘Tanika®’
15. Scleranthus biflorus ‘Lime Lava’
16. Leptospermum ‘Copper Glow’ Tea Tree

Also don’t feel that native plants are only relevant if you’re planting a Native Style Garden – Natives are so versatile that they would look wonderful in almost any Garden Style, such as Cottage, Japanese or Modern. Let’s jump right in:

Acacia ‘Lime Magik’

A row of lush, green weeping willow trees with long, drooping branches grows along the side of a yard, bordered by a small patch of green grass. These majestic plants for incredible fragrance add an enchanting aroma to the serene setting. Acacia cognata Lime Magik Trees

With a gorgeous lemon-green weeping foliage, it’s easy to see why Lime Magik is so popular. There are two things we love most about Lime Magik. Firstly, it is so easy to trim and keep to the shape you want. That means its perfect for gardens tight on space, or just situations where you only have a small area that needs filling. Secondly, it is very wind hardy and overall a tough plant. Then to top it off, Lime Magik makes for an excellent contrast to plants that are purple or deep green.

Banksia ‘Honey Pots’

Honey Pots is a beautiful spreading plants with yellow-orange cylindrical shaped flowers for most of the year. So alongside being very long flowering, it is excellent for use as a feature plant that won’t get too big. Overall, Honey Pots grows to about 1.5 metres wide and 80cm tall. As mentioned before, the birds absolutely love Honey Pots.

Grevillea ‘Sunkissed’

This is a lovely flowering groundcover that is very compact. So if you want the joy of having a Grevillea but only have a small garden, then Sunkissed is perfect. You’ll have gorgeous yellow flowers for three to four months of the year.

Grevillea ‘Sunkissed’ Standard

No we’re not repeating ourselves, don’t worry. This is the Grafted Standard version and it’s also so spectacular that we had to include it on the list too. So what’s so great about it? Well first of all, the foliage is an exquisite range of pinks, creams and greens with holly shaped leaves.

Next it has beautiful red flowers from late spring onwards. Then, say you have a tiny space in the garden, and wanted to have a tree that never grew taller than 1.6 metres, this is it. That stunning foliage will cascade down to the ground, giving you year round colour, and it will remain compact forever.

Dodonaea ‘Mr Green Sheen’

Mr Green Sheen is tough as tough gets. But it doesn’t look like it would be. With a beautiful, soft and lush appearance, this upright evergreen shrub is suitable for so many places. Sun, shade, frost, poor soil, heat – doesn’t matter. Once it’s established, it will hardly ever need water and still look a million bucks. If you have a narrow area where you want to create a wall of green, then consider Mr Green Sheen.

Westringia fruticosa

A beautiful hedge of blue-green foliage with little star shaped white flowers. Westringia fruticose can be clipped into a ball, square or box, and is very easy to shape. It is very versatile and useful in the garden.

Casuarina ‘Cousin It’

A bush, seemingly a jokester among its peers, is humorously decorated with a black hat and black sunglasses. Who knew even plants for incredible fragrance had a sense of style? Cousin It Sunglasses

This is one of our favourite native plants, now Cousin It is actually a deformed tree that doesn’t grow up and out with branches like a normal tree. Instead, it grows on the ground and sprawls everywhere with these little mounds of interesting green foliage. We use them all the time in our Garden Designs because they are an excellent support act for other feature plants. For example, in a Japanese Garden they look fantastic alongside Pittosporum ‘Miss Muffet’.
We also use it in situations where people have big embankments that need to be covered, or spots under big trees where its going to be both in hot sun and deep shade. Cousin It is great for covering ugly retaining walls, all you need to do is plant it along the top and it will cascade down. Whether it’s as a single specimen in the garden, mass planted for covering the ground or a wall, Cousin It is an all-purpose groundcover. We have never heard of someone having troubles with Cousin It, it’s probably one of the toughest things around.

Veronica ‘Diggers Speedwell’

Diggers Speedwell has very interesting foliage that looks like juvenile Eucalyptus, but it also has these beautiful purple flowers. So it has a more unique texture than other plants. It forms a mound of about 1.2 metres wide and 60cm tall. Diggers Speedwell is very hardy, and because of how thick and bushy it is, it’s fantastic to blanket out the weeds. They look particularly great with other spiky Native Grasses.

Correa alba

If you want a modern style landscape, you can’t go past Corre Alba. They are fantastic for clipping into balls and pair wonderfully with Cousin it or Lomandra ‘Tanika®’. The dark green-silver foliage and white starry flowers make for a beautiful appearance.

Leucophyta ‘Dwarf’ Cushion Bush

If you want some bright silver in the garden to provide contrast to the greenery, you can’t beat Cushion Bush. What we often do in our Garden Designs is plant four or five of these across the garden which gives our clients a lovely loose line of silver. You can clip it a bit too keep it to the shape you’d like. Cushion Bush is drought, frost, poor soil and heat hardy, so a very hardy plant. It stays nice and compact, and is perfect for small gardens.

Chrysocephalum ‘Yellow Buttons’

We use this in almost every Native Garden because it’s the perfect support act to your more exciting plants. This is plants like your Kangaroo Paws or Honey Pots. Yellow Buttons has lovely silver-green foliage and vibrant yellow flowers. It is a super tough plant that requires very little maintenance.

Grevillea ‘Strawberry Smoothie’

Between a groundcover and a bush, Strawberry Smoothie has the most exquisite pink coloured flowers. The shade of pink has dimension to it and best of all, will be present all winter long. So when your garden is looking the dullest, you still get a wonderful splash of pink. Strawberry Smoothie is fantastic mass planted or dotted around the garden and grows to about 40cm tall. It is very easy to grow in almost any conditions.

Callistemon ‘Little John’

Little John has been well loved for ages, it’s a very good support plant with bright green foliage and lovely red flowers. They flower for about six months of the year, so a very long flowering plant. If you never bothered to trim it, Little John will be about 1.2 metres, but with some trimming you can easily keep it to 70cm. The birds absolutely love it, and so do we. They are great for a tough low hedge that requires very little trimming to keep small.

Lomandra ‘Tanika®’

Green ornamental grasses, known for their incredible fragrance, grow along a sidewalk in a landscaped area. Lomandra longifolia Tanika

This is Australia’s number one selling ornamental plant. You’d think it be some sort of exceptional flowering plant, but well, it’s a bit plain looking if we’re honest. If we were to guesstimate the sales of Tanika, we reckon it would be around two to three million a year. So why is it so popular? Because it’s one of the toughest, most low maintenance plants you will find that still looks quite nice and lush. In the most hideous of soils with absolutely no care, they still thrive. On a windy day these move like a wave of greenness that can be quite mesmerising. So if you own a business or holiday house and want something that will look lush and beautiful with no care, Tanika is perfect for you.

Scleranthus biflorus ‘Lime Lava’

A landscape of lush, green moss with a large grey rock in the center and various plants for incredible fragrance in the background. Scleranthus biflorus lime lava

So many people absolutely adore Lime Lava, we’ve seen quite a few people in the nursery pat them like they were a dog. It’s an adorable plant that looks a bit like moss so you may be tricked into thinking it should be grown in the shade. However it hates the shade and definitely needs a sunny spot. You can grow it in a big bowl, or in the garden, and it makes for a fantastic feature when mass planted. Give it plenty of water and some Osmocote fertiliser. We love to use it in Japanese or Zen style gardens, and they look amazing with Ophiopogon ‘Black’ Mondo Grass.

Leptospermum ‘Copper Glow’ Tea Tree

A line of tall, dense shrubs with purple foliage in front of green and yellow trees, set against a grassy foreground with small yellow flowers, creates an enchanting scene. These are the perfect plants for incredible fragrance that will enhance your garden’s sensory experience.

When so many hedges around Melbourne are starting to look the same, Copper Glow is a hedge with a difference. The deep purple foliage makes for a stunning feature, and whether you keep it shaggy and natural, or trim it into a nice shape, your garden won’t look like every other one. You can even clip it into a ball. Now we love Natives (obviously, we just wrote an entire article about them), but the problem with Natives is that most of them are all just various shades of green. So we had to include Copper Glow for when your Native Garden is feeling a bit hungry for colour. Plus, in the springtime Copper Glow will have lovely white flowers.

In Closing

So there you have it, the top sixteen Native Plants. Choose a couple or plant all of them, mix it in with your cottage or modern style plants, or build an entire native garden. But most of all, sit back and relax, because you’ll barely have to do anything to keep these Native plants thriving and looking great.

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Aerial view of a dense forest with trees displaying vibrant autumn colors, overlay text reading "top indoor plants with the most spectacular autumn colour.

Plants with the Most Spectacular Autumn Colours

Written by coldev on 28/04/2024. Posted in Garden Advice, Plants, Top 10 Lists.

Normally when people talk about autumn colour, they mention the Fraxinus ‘Claret Ash’ Tree or Liriodendron ‘Tulip Tree’. They do have incredible autumn colours, only problem is they grow to about 8-12 metres tall. This would practically overtake a front or backyard of a normal suburban house and likely destroy the courtyard of a unit. A lot of people have smaller spaces, they’re working with balconies, pots, tiny garden beds, courtyards, limited front yard space, and so on. But this doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the brilliance of autumn.

Dense ivy, one of the top indoor plants, with vibrant red and purple leaves covering a wall.

Vibrant red and orange autumn leaves with clusters of black berries on a top indoor plant.

Close-up of vibrant red Japanese maple, one of the top indoor plants, with detailed veins and a blurred background, capturing the texture and color contrast. Acer ‘Shaina’ Japanese Maple leaf

These are the plants that you need to create a garden that is set alight with scarlets, golds, ambers and all those fiery shades during the months of autumn.

13 of the Most Spectacular Autumn Plant Colours

Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’

A vibrant red maple tree, one of the top indoor plants in full autumn color, surrounded by green trees in a peaceful forest setting. Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’

Also known as your Plain Japanese Maple, this is a great option for those who want a Japanese Maple, but don’t want to spend too much money on it. But this doesn’t mean it’s lacking when it comes to beauty. The fine foliage transforms into a striking red-pink shade that would stop anyone in their tracks to admire. When I was a kid, I actually used to cut big bunches of it and sell them on the side of the road, and people pulled up and bought it like crazy. I don’t know if that would still happen nowadays… but anyways, the great thing about your Japanese Maple is they’ve probably got one of the safest root systems of any plant.

So you can plant them close to the house or in a little courtyard and having nothing to worry about. They’re very versatile – you can cloud prune them, or you can bonsai them. They’re also a tree you can keep in a pot for years, as long as you properly take care of it. Water and fertilise it enough, with some Osmocote or Dolomite Lime, or it’s going to turn brown by the end of the season. A little tip, if you’re getting early autumn colour then this is actually not a good thing. It’s a sign of stress, dryness and perhaps a lack of nutrients. So just make sure you’re taking care of your Japanese Maple, and it will reward you with brilliant autumn colour.

Acer ‘Senkaki/Coral Bark’ Japanese Maple

Of course I’m going to include another Japanese Maple – they’re just too gorgeous in the autumn to not. In perfect conditions they only end up as a four-metre tree, and with a bit of a trim you can keep it down to two and half or three metres. I often tell people to Google Senkaki Maple, so go ahead and do it. A little bit confused? You’ve probably gotten a page of entirely different coloured foliage and you’re thinking whether it’s all the same tree, it is.

Basically Senkaki Maples move through a wide range of hues throughout the year. In winter they’re bare, with that crimson bark on display. In springtime, the softest green foliage comes through, where the crimson branches just peek through. Towards summer you start to get dashes of pink and orange tones that expand as summer goes on. Then by the end of summer and turn of autumn, you have an iridescent gold, with some touches of pink and orange. In the final stages of autumn you get red hues, before the leaves drop. Just magical. This is a tree that is going to provide delight and interest year-round. They also go with almost any style; modern, classical, Japanese, they always look incredible. So if you’ve got a tiny area with room for only one tree – then hands down you have to pick a Senkaki.

Cotinus ‘Grace’ Smoke Bush

Smoke Bushes are fabulous plants with a beautiful reddish/purple foliage most of the time. Then in autumn it shifts to orange, red and yellow shades. They love a hot sunny spot and with a bit of a trim can be kept down to one and half metres tall, or grown up to around two and half/ three metres tall. I wouldn’t put them in a pot, rather plant them in the garden bed. They’re a lovely thick bush that also flowers in summer. The flowers are a smoky grey and contrast beautifully with the foliage. What’s great about the Smoke Bush and Senkaki is that they’re not boring all year with only a show of colour in autumn. They give your garden colour for nine months and then have an amazing crescendo of autumn colour too.

Prunus ‘Kojo No Mai’ Ornamental Cherry

Kojo No Mai has a curly kind of foliage with beautiful tiny pink-white blossoms during the springtime. It’s grafted up on a standard and you can buy it as a low standard or a tall standard. It’s quite a compact plant that you can grow in a pot, making sure to water and fertilise it well. But you can also grow it in the garden. It looks beautiful year-round, in the summer it has green pine foliage and blossoms, in winter is has interesting curly branches, then come autumn you get magnificent burgundy autumn colour.

Berberis ‘Japanese Barberry’ Purple

There are all different types of Berberis with different autumn colours, but today I’m going to talk about the Purple one. You can plant it as a hedge and trim it into a square, or you can trim it into a ball. The Purple Berberis is the most common and popular of the Berberis. As you come into autumn it will be this bright purple that shifts into shades of orange, yellow and red. With a trim you can keep it under a metre, or let it grow to its full height of about two metres.

You can mass plant it for a beautiful splash of colour in your garden, or even plant different types of Berberis and have a wide array of shades. For example there is the Berberis ‘Little Favourite’ Barberry that has burgundy purple foliage which changes to a bright red and orange in autumn, with cream flowers during the springtime. I’ve never used them as a pot plant, but I don’t see why you couldn’t, as they’re a hearty and easy to grow plant.

Cornus florida ‘White Dogwood’

This is the Dogwood that most people know, with its beautiful white flowers and lovely red autumn colour. What’s great about White Dogwood is that it’s quite an exotic looking plant and its autumn colour is long-lasting. You don’t expect a plant that looks so incredible in the summer, with its riot of intricate flowers, to then give you such fabulous autumn colour. Your Dogwood is an understory tree, which means that it naturally grows in the forest underneath other trees. So if you have some great big trees or a two-story house towering over your place, then the White Dogwood will thrive in that shady spot. Just make sure you give it loose soil, bit of water and a bit of fertilizer.

Crepe Myrtle

Similar to the Senkaki maple, if there was only room for one tree than the Crepe Myrtle is a great option. Your first thought of the Crepe Myrtle is likely the beautiful pink-white flowers, which is quite magnificent. But not long after the flowering is finished, you get the most vibrant autumn colours that lingers for weeks. Some autumn colours are beautiful but fleeting, here today and then gone a few days later. But with the Crepe Myrtle, the autumn colour goes on and on. The different varieties of Crepe Myrtle all have slightly different shades. The Sioux is one of my favourites for its beautiful soft pink flowers and smaller size. Some Crepe Myrtles will grow to four or five metres, but Sioux doesn’t get much bigger than three metres. With a bit of pruning you can easily keep it to one or two metres.

Another great feature is that once they’ve matured, they get this beautiful pattern on their bark. With some flowering trees they’re only pretty in the springtime and boring for the rest of the year, but the Crepe Myrtle provides excitement year-round. If you do have the space, Crepe Myrtles are fantastic mass planted up a driveway or avenue, but even if you just have room for one tree, it’s still going to look fantastic. With beautiful bark, exquisite flowers, and brilliant autumn colours, the Crepe Myrtle really earns its keep as an ornamental tree.

Blueberry Bush

I never thought that the Blueberry Bush had good autumn colour until Carl, a great nurseryman, brought one of them. This was back when I had a nursery in Emerald, and he would grow a few plants for me. Carl brought in this beautiful bush, about half a metre tall and half a metre wide, and it had the most beautiful autumn colour. I asked him what it was, and he told me it was a Blueberry Bush. I was quite surprised. You can grow it in a pot, or a little corner of the garden, and it’s going to give you cute flowers then fantastic autumn colour. Not to mention you’re also getting blueberries!

Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Oakleaf’

A dense cluster of vibrant, red-veined leaves with clusters of dried, brown flowers, set against a background of green foliage from top indoor plants.

This is one of the most underrated plants for autumn colour. In spring and all throughout summer you have these fantastic flowers. But then with other types of hydrangeas, pretty much straight after Mother’s Day, the leaves would turn rotten and fall off. It would look like something from a horror movie. But your Oakleaf has intense autumn colour, a deep purple shade, and the leaves don’t drop off. They stay there until new bright leaves come in around middle of September, then you have this period of time where green leaves are appearing amongst purple leaves, creating a kaleidoscope of colour. Also compared to other hydrangeas it’s a bit lower and wider growing. They’re my favourite hydrangea because come winter, they don’t shapeshift into a creature from a horror film.

Viburnum ‘Snowball Bush’

A few decades ago these were the most popular bush in Melbourne and it’s easy to see why. With those clusters of creamy white blossoms, they truly look like snowballs or even clouds, covering the bush. Back then I never noticed how nice their autumn colour is, but I found a patch of them in the nursery today and they look incredible. You’re probably noticing that a lot of the plants on this list aren’t just great for their autumn colour, but rather give you beauty in so many other ways too. It’s because you don’t plant a garden just for one season, you plant a garden to give you eternal wonder and delight. Surprisingly, the Snowball Bush isn’t as common nowadays, so perhaps a resurgence like the ornamental grass is due (stay tuned for an article on ornamental grasses coming soon). They’re super compact so perfect for a tight space. The foliage starts out as a bright green, then with autumn it changes to a gorgeous reddish orange. Even the flowers themselves do some colour-shifting, beginning as an apple-green, morphing to white, and eventually fading to a rosy colour.

Acer ‘Shaina’ Japanese Maple

Look, we could do an entire list on Japanese Maples, but I’m trying to be very selective with which ones I put here, because not everyone wants a Japanese Maple. But the Shaina is really a standout because it’s a miniature Japanese Maple that is perfect for people tight on space. Shaina has very fine leaves and dense foliage which add to the intensity of its red colouring. It’s so small you can have it in a pot and keep it there forever. If you never trimmed it, Shaina would probably end up two metres tall in 10 or 15 years, but if you trimmed it a little bit you could easily keep it a metre tall.

Acer saccharum ‘Sugar’ Maple

The ‘Sugar’ Maple is one of my all-time favourite plants for autumn colour, so I wanted to include this too, however this is quite a large tree. In autumn it is a bright yellow with more subtle tones of orange, pink and red. It almost looks like it is glowing with soft flames. Because of this, it’s typically overlooked, but I love the subtlety.

Parthenocissus ‘Boston Ivy’

The autumn colour of Boston Ivy is unbelievable, not to mention how beautiful and luscious it looks in the summer. Use the right soil, bit of water and fertiliser, and keep it trimmed for the best look. Boston Ivy is a climber so it can really elevate a wall, fence, or the side of the house. Then in autumn the dark green foliage will turn crimson, standing out dramatically against the rest of your landscape.

In Closing

So there are some of the plants with the most brilliant autumn colour. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive, but I wanted to make this for those who want autumn colour, but are completely overwhelmed by all the choices. You’ve probably noticed here in Melbourne that summer is well and truly gone, the days are getting colder, and the sun is setting sooner. Autumn is officially here. Which means there is no better time to come down to Hello Hello and see for yourself the incredible autumn colour on these plants.

May your autumn be filled with fiery hues,

Chris

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Text overlay stating "top 10 best indoor plants for shady areas" on a background of a lush garden with various green plants and trees under dappled sunlight.

Top 10 Best Plants for Shady Areas

Written by coldev on 21/04/2024. Posted in Plants, Top 10 Lists.

There has never been more shade in Melbourne as there is now. Townhouses, units, and apartments are on the rise. Backyards are getting smaller. Sunlight is becoming more blocked. But everyone still wants a garden filled with plants. And you should have that.
I spent today going around my nursery and picking out a trolley of the ten best plants for shady areas. I was really intentional with my choices because what I keep hearing from my customers is how they want flowers and colours and beauty in their garden.

A close-up of white jasmine flowers in full bloom surrounded by lush green leaves, one of the top indoor plants.

Vibrant pink azalea flowers with dewdrops, one of the top indoor plants, surrounded by green foliage.

White bell-shaped flowers blooming on a top indoor plant with slender green leaves, set against a soft-focus background of dense foliage.

Close-up of a pink and purple hellebore flower, one of the top indoor plants, with a blurred green background. Winter Rose

A cluster of variegated spider plants, top indoor plants, with long, narrow green leaves striped in white, growing densely in garden soil.

White and pink hydrangea, one of the top indoor plants, blooms against a wooden backdrop.

Look, this list could’ve been just every type of Ajuga, but I doubt you’re going to want that. Instead, I’ve included a huge range of versatility in this list, because I understand that everyone has different needs. For some it’s a shaded wall that needs covering, for others it’s a spot in a garden bed that their neighbour’s two storey house casts a shadow over. Whatever it is, let’s bring lushness and colour into your shaded areas.

10 of the Most Fragrant Plants

Ligularia ‘Tractor Seat’

One of the most popular choices, the Tractor Seat Plant look spectacular with their dinner plate size leaves. They’re a powerful feature with modern architecture and would look great on a portico. Also they’re very handy if you have a south facing house. You can grow it in a pot or in the garden. Your Tractor Seat likes well drained soil, plenty of water and a little bit Osmocote fertiliser. They’re supper happy in deep shade, but they also do well in morning sun and afternoon shade.

Hydrangea ‘Candlelight’

Hydrangeas are actually another plant I could’ve filled the entire list with. But I’ve just picked the Candlelight for today as it’s one of your more modern Hydrangeas. Candlelight has gorgeous foliage and flowers, with an upright shape that is different to other Hydrangeas. They start out white in the spring and end up a lovely shade of pink. It’s a spectacular feature to have in a key spot in your garden, and you can grow Candlelight in a pot or in the ground. Don’t think that your shaded area has to be boring, you’ll be surprised at how many gorgeous plants are on this list.

Choisya ‘Mexican Orange Blossom’

The Mexican Orange Blossom is perfect if you are looking for a hedge, ball, or screen option. They grow to about two and a half metres tall, I actually used to trim a hedge of this for a lady when I was a young gardener. That hedge grew in deep shade underneath oak trees, probably never saw the sun, and it absolutely thrived there for year after year. Mexican Orange Blossom flowers late winter early spring and has a delicately fragrant white flower on it. The fragrance is quite gentle and if you are after something with a bit more of a kick to it you should check out my article on the Top 10 Best Plants for Incredible Fragrances. Don’t feel constrained to the shade with this plant, if you have other spots in mind too, Mexican Orange Blossom also grow well in the sun. The great thing about the Mexican Orange Blossom is you can keep it as a low hedge around 90cm tall, let it grow into a bigger hedge, or even trim it into a ball. I’ve seen many gardens with it as a ball, and it makes for quite a stunning feature with the luscious green foliage and white flowers. I’ve also seen where they were mass planted it in a big shady area under a corner of trees and it looked fantastic.

Liriope ‘Stripey White’

The Stripey White is one of my favourites to use in the shade because it’s a nice mid-size plant that fits in a lot of areas. The creamy white stripes and white flowers add brightness and colour, which so many shady spots need. It’s also really hardy and versatile, so if your spot gets some sunshine too, then that’s fine. Let’s say you have a hedge, the Stripey White is perfect to jazz up that space at the bottom and create a dynamic look. Also if you don’t love the look of the Stripey White, but still want a strappy grass, we have a Mondo Grass and Liriope Section at the Nursery which you should come check out. Pretty much all the Liriopes and Mondo Grass love the shade, just be cautious with sunlight because most of them don’t like the sun.

Trachelospermum ‘Chinese Star Jasmine’

I get a lot of clients that have a narrow strip of dirt between two houses, and they want to put up something tall and narrow that’s going to grow quickly. Chinese Star Jasmine is the solution. You can grow a lush, bushy wall of Chinese Star Jasmine that is just 30cm wide with some trimming and training. The downside is that you do need a structure for it to grow on, whether that be a trellis, wire mesh or some cables. Chinese Star Jasmine will not naturally grow on a fence by itself. If you want quick cover then you need to plant them quite close, about 80cm apart, and give them plenty of water and fertiliser. They are quite a fast-growing plant though. You’ll find that once they’re more established they start to grow these big, long arms. A smart idea is to buy some clips and you can actually position them as you please against the wall, as the plant is quite flexible. Do this for a couple years and once you’re happy with the coverage, you can start to shear those long arms off.

Camellia sasanqua

Okay let’s take that same problem I was talking about before and give another answer with different applications. Camellia sasanqua is an evergreen flowering shrub that you can keep quite narrow, about 50cm wide. They are a lovely thick hedge that are great if you don’t have a fence, or you’re not interested in building a trellis-type structure. They also flower for months of the year, during autumn and winter. Now you wouldn’t think that Camellias do well in the shade, I sure didn’t think so when I was a kid. But it was my dad that showed me otherwise. He used to run his own nursery growing business and he got me to plant a bunch of Camellias in this steep little gully that never got any sunshine. I was thinking, this poor old bugger, he has no idea what he’s doing. But lo’ and behold, a few years later and they were absolutely thriving. So Camellia sasanqua will grow really nice and bushy in a spot where the sun never shines.

Ajuga ‘Burgundy Glow’

What a gorgeous medley of colour! You’ve got greens, creams, dusky pinks and burgundy/rose in the leaves, then a splash of bright purple blue in the flowers. If that isn’t already great enough, what I love about Ajuga is that technically they’re actually a bugleweed. Now I’m a bit cheeky because I like things that have a little bit of weed in them because they grow so easily. Nothing crazy, it’s not going to spread through the neighbouring bush and kill the koala bears or anything. But if you have a big bare patch under your trees, the Burgandy Glow will take a bit of sun. I just love the mix of colours, the Burgandy Glow is so pretty and you don’t have to worry about any thorns or anything like that.

Arthropodium ‘Te Puna’ Rock Lily

I love the Te Puna because of its gorgeous big leaves. It’s an evergreen bulb and you’ll end up with a big clump quite quickly. Now they are a little bit expensive, but you can spread them out a fair bit. In the springtime they have beautiful sprays of white flowers, and they look really attractive through the summertime. They can take a bit of morning sun or speckled sun but keep them out of direct, all-day sunlight. They love full on shade with a little bit of water. Best of all, they are so easy to grow.

Azalea

Azalea flower beautifully in late winter early spring with a stunning show of big flowers. You can get them in all different colours, from white to red to a soft pink. These are perfect for that shady spot on the patio. Or you can plant them in the garden in a shady spot. No matter where you put them, they’re going to give you a gorgeous pop of colour.

Winter Rose

Lucky last is your Winter Rose. They have exquisite flowers that come in different shades such as white, dark purple and a brown-red. These will flower in the absolute dead of winter, giving you colour when you most need it. They also have beautiful foliage for when they’re not in bloom. They grow into a large and low bushy mound that look really good all year. People will often buy a large number of one colour and mass plant it for a cohesive look. It’s a hardy plant that grows in the deepest shade.

In Closing

So there you have it. We’ve looked at shrubs, ground covers, hedges, and climbers. Of course this list is not exhaustive of every plant that does well in the shade, so if you’re still looking for other options, come book a free garden design with me. With my garden design you can get a plan drawn up that is specifically tailored to your wants and the suitability of your garden. If you just want to have a look around, the best way to tell if you like a plant is to come in store and take a look at in person. I can’t wait to see all the gorgeous colourful gardens that persevere despite the shade.

See you next week,

Chris

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Top 10 best indoor plants for incredible fragrance" text over a background of blooming pink roses.

Top 10 Best Plants for Incredible Fragrance

Written by coldev on 07/04/2024. Posted in Plants, Top 10 Lists.

Want to step into your garden and feel like you’re in a perfume commercial? Well I’ve rounded up the 10 best plants for fragrance, because everyone should make time in their life to stop and smell the roses (or the nine other plants I have on this list).

Now let’s break down what I mean by the best fragrances. See some plants don’t give off much of a scent, and then there are some that do, but only for a short period. This is what I’m basing my rating off of:

How easy it is to grow.
How easy it is to find.
If it can be used in multiple ways.
Oh, and obviously whether it actually gives off a good amount of fragrance, for a long amount of time.

A vibrant magenta top indoor plant with prominent stamens surrounded by green leaves and budding flowers. Michelia figo Coco

A white magnolia flower in bloom with green leaves from one of the top indoor plants in the background.

Close-up of top indoor multi-colored roses in bloom. Peace Roses

A close-up of a cream-colored gardenia flower in bloom, one of the top indoor plants, surrounded by green leaves. Grdenia florida

Close-up of a white magnolia flower in bloom with green leaves in the background, one of the top indoor plants.

If you’re new here, hi, I’m Chris. I’ve been working in the horticulture industry for decades, and I own the Hello Hello Nursery, so I know a thing or two. Now I’m not going to bother with a 10-1 countdown, I’m just going to jump right into my favourite one. Let’s get started.

10 of the Most Fragrant Plants

Murraya ‘Orange Jessamine’

White flowers blooming on a lush green shrub, perfect as top indoor plants.

Coming in first is the Murraya ‘Orange Jessamine’. In my opinion, this is the best option. Why? Because it’s just such a useful and versatile plant. Here are some of the things you can do with Orange Jessamine:

Put it on a patio.
Put it in a tub.
Clip it into a ball, cone, or any shape you want.
Have it as a natural bush.
Grow it as a medium hedge.
Grow it as a specimen in the garden.
Have it as a tall screen (about two metres).

So this is a plant that is really flexible to your needs in the garden, and I’m not even at the best part. Starting from around late September to early October, it will start to flower and flower and flower. Your Orange Jessamine will be absolutely covered in these exquisite white blossoms. This is where that incredible fragrance comes from. You’ll have these flowers right up until April, when the weather starts to get cool again. That’s a HUGE amount of time. Even when there aren’t flowers, the Orange Jessamine still looks really nice.
So picture this: it’s a warm summer’s night, you’re having a drink in your courtyard, and with every inhale you get this rich floral scent. Heavenly.

Trachelospermum ‘Chinese Star Jasmine’

Moving on, we have the Trachelospermum ‘Chinese Star Jasmine’. This plant is almost just as useful as your Orange Jessamine. This will start flowering around mid-November and last up until mid-February. So not as long as the Orange Jessamine, but still a decent amount of time. What I love about Chinese Star Jasmine is that its applications are completely different to the Orange Jessamine. You can grow it as a ground cover, or grow it as a climber up a trellis or wall. You could even grow it as a screen if you have the proper structure to hold it up.
A lot of people with double storey houses or small blocks get big areas of shade and some plants don’t grow so well there. But the great thing about Chinese Star Jasmine is that it has no issues growing in deep shade or the hot sun. Also, if you’re allergic to jasmine, you’ll find that the Chinese Star Jasmine is actually okay for you. The reason for this is that in truth, it’s not actually a jasmine. It’s a Trachelospermum, which is an entirely different family of plant.

Jasminum ‘Common White Jasmine’

Now I am going to talk about an actual Jasmine now – Jasminum ‘Common White Jasmine’ to be exact. So your Common Jasmine is a ferocious grower, and it’s one of the fastest growing evergreen hedges. You can grow it on a fence, or up the side of the house, in a pot, or over anything you want. It’ll grow pretty much anywhere. This is a hardy plant that requires very little care or water, and it’s great in shade or sun.
Then in springtime, around late September, it will be covered in these gorgeous pink buds. Next thing, those pink buds start to open, and you get a lovely mix of pink and white blossoms that exude an incredible fragrance. Depending on the weather, you’re going to get beautiful fragrant flowers for four to six weeks. Think about how many perfumes use jasmine, and you could get the pure source right in your backyard.

Winter Daphne odora

The Winter Daphne has pink and white flowers that give off this delightful citrusy smell. People are addicted to this smell. I’m addicted to the smell, it’s really quite incredible. Your Winter Daphne will start flowering in early August for about six to seven weeks.
Listen, I’ve heard that many people have issues growing Winter Daphne, but I’m going to let you in on a secret. It needs really good soil – and a lot of it. Also, it likes morning sun and afternoon shade. So what you should do is you get half a wine barrel or some other pot and take the bottom out of it. Then dig a great big hole in the garden and fill it up with potty mix, compost, and good acidic soil. Put your barrel or pot on top and fill that up with top quality potty mix. Aim for about 80cm to a metre of good soil, and your Winter Daphne is going to flourish. All they need is that deep, beautiful soil to move their roots through. Also they love plenty of fertilizer, such as Osmocote. With just a bit of love, your Winter Daphne will grow quickly, grow big and give you a tremendous amount of flowers.

Roses

Obviously, I couldn’t leave roses out. But roses are actually pretty tricky, which is why they’re a bit further down on my list. With roses you’ll see on a label that it is beautifully fragrant but when you go to smell it, you can’t really smell anything. So tip for you, go buy your roses in the summer when you can actually see the flower, check the colour, and have a good whiff of it. The problem is too many breeders focus on getting a beautiful looking rose, and don’t focus too much on its scent.
So, I’m going to give you my top three favourite roses that have incredible fragrances:

Peace Roses

This rose has been wildly popular since the sixties. For good reason! Not only does it have an amazing fragrance, it’s also so beautiful.

Charles De Gaulle

A big flower in the most stunning shade of lilac purple. It’s really easy to grow and has a fragrance that’s like a punch in the nose. But a nice punch.

Double Delight

A very beautiful and unusual rose, but also has a fragrance like a wonderful punch to the nose. It has a creamy white centre and bright red tips. If you want a visual, go check out our website. You would think the rose has been painted!

Those are the roses I’d recommend, but really there’s hundred to choose from. If you’re feeling lost and don’t love these options, just come on down to our store and we can help you out.

Gardenia ‘Florida’

The next thing is Gardenia ‘Florida’. There are lots of different Gardenias, and many of them have a lovely scent too. But the thing about Florida is that it flowers for a much longer time. Which means it gives you more fragrance. You can use it as a hedge, a specimen in the garden or put it in a pot plant. If you’re looking to add some pots of nice bushy plants at your front door, then the Gardenia is perfect because it looks great all year round. What Gardenias need is good drainage, good soil, plenty of water, and plenty of fertiliser.

Michelia alba ‘White Jade Orchid Tree’

A row of top indoor plants with lush green foliage against a white wall. White Jade Orchid Tree

This is the first tree to come up and it’s considered by some people to be the best perfume in the world. When planted in the garden, Michelia alba flower for ages. For about five months of the year this gorgeous tree will be in bloom. On a warm night your whole backyard will be filled with the most delicious fragrance. They also have a very interesting foliage that is quite luminous. It’s a medium sized tree so should fit perfectly in most gardens.

Michelia figo ‘Coco’

Pink flower amidst green leaves with buds about to bloom, one of the top indoor plants.

Now Michelia figo has the most interesting smell, it’s sweet with a hint of bubble gum. Which sounds a bit crazy, but you should come down when they’re flowering and smell one. It’s really incredible. The Michelia figo flowers for about three months of the year. The flowers aren’t that showy and tend to be hidden in the foliage a bit, but the scent is incredibly strong. It’s a fairly unassuming, little evergreen bush so you wouldn’t expect it. You can use Michelia figo as a hedge that you trim up, grow it in a tub, or grow it as a specimen in the garden.

Magnolia ‘Exmouth’

Lush green top indoor plant with white flowers against a white background.

Here we got the Magnolia ‘Exmouth’ which are basically dotted with enormous flowers all summer long. Even without flowers, this evergreen tree makes for a beautiful sight with its dark green foliage and brown backs on the leaves. You’ll also find that they grow really well anywhere. So you don’t need to stress about soil or whether it needs to be placed perfectly to get a certain amount of sun or shade. Most importantly, the fragrance that comes from it is so lush, you’ll find yourself stepping outside just to have a big inhale of it.

Sarcococca ‘Sweet Box Hedge’

A dense, top indoor plant with glossy green leaves growing alongside a stone wall. Sweet Box Formal Hedge

The lucky last option – the Sweet Box. Now this is actually a great substitute for the English Box. It does need a bit of Dolomite Lime and plenty of fertiliser to keep it lush and green. But what’s unique about the Sweet Box is that it’s going to start blossoming around now in April and continue on through the winter. With a lot of the other options on this list, we see the opposite happening. It has very fine delicate flowers that give off a refreshing scent. The Sweet Box is also just a beautiful hedge with dark glossy green foliage.

In Closing

That’s a wrap folks! Here you have the top ten best plants for exceptional fragrances. If you’re interested in having a bit of a sniff test you should come down to Hello Hello. But make sure you come in quick because the weather is starting to turn. With the cold unfortunately comes the (brief) death of all those flowers that are giving us the incredible fragrances. Well, other than the Sweet Box of course.
Until next time,
Chris

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A vibrant living room adorned with lush indoor plants and a captivating assortment of books displayed on a stylish dresser.

How to Find the Top 10 Sexiest Indoor Plants

Written by coldev on 17/01/2024. Posted in Plants, Top 10 Lists.

In this article, I’m going to be telling you about the 10 sexiest indoor plants to have in your house. Now what happened is when I started thinking about this article, I thought, well, I’ll just pick out the 10 most fabulous ones and I’ll talk about them. But as I talked to different people all week about indoor plants, what I found is that there’s all different types of people and situations.

There are people who have never owned indoor plants and all of a sudden, they want to have an indoor plant. They’ve just rented a house or whatever, and they want to have a couple of indoor plants and they’re nervous. Indoor plants look expensive to them, they look like they’re fragile and they don’t know which ones to start out with. So they are what I would call beginners when it comes to indoor plants.

A monstera plant in a vibrant pink pot on a sleek white table.

A vibrant summer plant in a white pot on a wooden floor.

A colorful plant in a white pot adds a vibrant touch to the wooden door.

Of course, then there are people who buy indoor plants and they all die. Those people are interested in what’s a really tough indoor plant. So, they wanted me to talk all about which indoor plants are really, really tough. Then there are people who are just looking for a bargain. They want to buy a few plants for insider their house, but they don’t want to spend a fortune. They just want to know what indoor plants are cheap or value for money?

Then there are other people who have got dark spots in their home and need plants that will survive without much light. Then there are different people who have got a really beautiful home and they want plants that will put some real style into the house. So how do you get some real style from your indoor plants?

Well basically I am going to be talking about different plants that give you real style, plants that are great value for money and plants that are great for starting out.

Now if you take a look at a typical indoor plant display in a nursery like ours at Hello Hello, you’ll see it’s quite large. You’ve got lots of different plants to choose from. So in this article I’m going to help you choose the right plant, help you put it in the right spot, and then help you look after it and get the best out of it. And there are 10 plants I’ve chosen at the end to be the sexiest.

10 of the Sexiest Indoor Plants

Spider Grass

Spider plant grass, indoor plant, potted

Now to start off, for the first plant, I’ve chosen a modern version of the old Spider Grass. Now back in the late sixties and early seventies, Spider Grass, everybody owned one or two or three Spider Grasses and they grew in hanging baskets. But the new version of Spider Grass, instead of having a white stripe down the middle, has a white stripe on the edges, and it has big babies. I’ve seen them in hanging baskets or pots in a very, very classy restaurant. But these are like 10 bucks each. You put them in a hanging basket or a pot and they clean the air, they give you a bit of life, a bit of vitality and they are really, really good value for money. They’re cheap and you just can’t kill them.

Chinese Money Plant

Another one is the Pilea peperomioides, more commonly known as the Chinese Money Plant because the leaves sort of look like coins. It’s a great little plant, if you’re after something small to go on a table, maybe in your office or something like that. If you’re real estate salesman and you put one of these money plants, on your desk and it helps you make a fortune then great. The little ones are under $20.

Bangalow Palm

Now say you’re putting your house on the market and you need something big and lively to impress. Well you can get like a metre tall, Bangalow palm, with three or four in a pot for just over $30.

Now Bangalow palms love their water, so to keep it looking good, just keep a tray or saucer underneath it with a bit of water in it. So for low cost you can make your house look really lush with Bangalow palms. And if you keep the water up to them, they last really well.

THE TOUGHEST INDOOR PLANTS

Now let’s talk about what is the toughest indoor plant? If you’re the kind of person who always kills their indoor plants and you need some real tough indoor plants, let’s look at your options.

#1 TOUGHEST INDOOR PLANT
Rubber Plant

Your first choice is a rubber tree. Now, rubber trees are great. They come in all different colours – pinky green, green, etc Now rubber trees are incredibly tough and you can grow one as an indoor plant, then if it gets too big or it gets out of hand or you get sick of it, you can put it outside and it’ll grow in the garden. You can put it in your outdoor entertaining area and it will grow really big, but with beautiful big foliage. Rubber trees are almost impossible to kill, so they are one of the toughest indoor plants and are perfect for an office environment.

#2 TOUGHEST INDOOR PLANT
Aspidistra ‘Cast Iron Plant’

Another tough indoor plant variety is the Aspidistra, which has an old nickname of being the “Iron Plant”. It was called this back in Victorian times when houses were really, really dark because they had tiny little windows and everyone had their curtains pulled shut all the time, so this was about the only indoor plant that would grow in a house in Victorian times because it would actually grow with almost no light.

So the name iron plant should indicate just how tough it is. Now they throw up shoots and you put these in another pot and they’ll gradually fill up those pots. One of them can last you for years. And if you want to get a big result with these quickly, you put two or three of these into one pot. You can grow these in any shady spot outdoors, like your indoor/outdoor area, as long as they’re in the shade. You can grow them in the garden, grow them in a pot, they are really, really tough. They have this beautiful foliage that is really lovely and lush – it’s a nice refreshing sort of a plant, and like I said, very, very tough.

#3 TOUGHEST INDOOR PLANT
Lady Palm

Now another tough plant option is your Lady Palm. If you have trouble keeping palms alive or keeping them looking good, this palm is ideal. They look green and lush, are tough and easy to look after. They grow tall and unlike a lot of other palms they don’t spread out wide. So they can fit into a corner really well, even behind some furniture. Personally, I think they are very stylish and classy and they would not look out of place in an expensive hotel or upmarket home – they would look the part

Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

Now your next option is what is commonly called the Mother-in-law’s Tongue. And the most popular form of it is the one with the golden edge on it. They can be a little bit hard to get, but I remember giving one of these to my mom when I was just a kid and I reckon it stood near the entrance to our house for at least 15 years. So this definitely falls into the category of low maintenance and it almost seems that the more you neglect it, the better it will grow. They come in all different forms, like a plain green form and we also sell a little baby short one. Mother-in-law’s Tongue makes an ideal office plant.

Now the trick with these, and this applies to a lot of indoor plants, is when you do water them, give them a good soak. Put them in the laundry trough and soak them, literally drown them and let the water run through until it stops running through and then put them back where they belong. Do this maybe once every 3 weeks or something. A lot of people think that it’s better to give indoor plants small amounts of regular water but that can almost kill them. It’s better to give them a good soak, but not too often.

THE SMALL & CUTE INDOOR PLANTS

Now if you’re looking for something small and cute for say the bedroom or the home office or something, I’ll give you three options.

#1 SMALL & CUTE INDOOR PLANT
Elephant Ear

First is the Elephant Ears. My favourite is the burgundy variety which was a beautiful colour on the leaves. It’s gorgeous and a hardy little plant you can keep inside on your desk or something. It’s nice to look at every day.

#2 SMALL & CUTE INDOOR PLANT
Umbrella Plant

The next is a little Umbrella Tree. I have one that is growing on a rock sitting in a ceramic dish with water at the bottom so it can just take a drink whenever it needs to. I throw in a little fertiliser every now and then and it’s fine.

#3 SMALL & CUTE INDOOR PLANT
Wandering Jew

Your third option is a Wandering Jew. Now you might think that’s a bit of a racist name but it doesn’t mean anything bad. These were really popular in the sixties and seventies. Today they’ve bred them to be really, really cute and you can get like a tricolour Wandering Jew, which you could grow in a hanging basket or you could grow it as a little ground cover, underneath other plants. Now it can grow sort of like semi outdoors or it could grow indoors. It could be on your kitchen bench or your desk at work and it’s a really pretty little thing that is lovely to look at.

Happy Plant

Now a really pretty little plant I love, that’s really bright and lovely is very aptly named the Happy Plant. Now to keep a Happy Plant happy you don’t need to use antidepressants on them!!! They love a lovely bright spot and they like it to be warm, so they really don’t want to be much under about 20 degrees. So you’ve got to keep them in a warm bright room and you can keep them happy. Now with Happy Plants, like I said before give them a good big soak every now and then rather than giving them a tiny bit of water all the time. When you give them a soak, you can put in a little bit of fertiliser, like Thrive or something. Don’t let them get cold in winter and don’t put them in a dark shady corner and they will do well. Like a Lady Palm these grow tall but not wide so they sit well in a bright corner.

Now one of the reasons why it’s good to have indoor plants is that they purify the air. Some people wonder if some plants are better at purifying the air than others, and the reality is that they all are to some degree. The ones that grow really quickly are often the best at purifying the air.

Milk Cactus

Now if you’re looking for something more unusual for an indoor plant you might like to try a Milk Cactus. (They’ve got a sort of a white sap that pours out of them that can be toxic so just beware.) Your Milk Cactus comes in red or green. The red one needs a bit of light to maintain its red colour. These will grow up quite tall and they do really, really well as an indoor plant. So if you want to have that sort of Mexican or exotic flavour, there’s nothing like a beautiful big Milk Cactus. They’re very hardy and need very little attention. They will grow in the indoor/outdoor area and they don’t need to be out in the sun like a lot of cactuses.

Aralia Japonica

Another exotic looking plant is the Aralia Japonica, which comes in many different varieties. It’s very tough and tropical looking with big leaves that grow bigger and bigger as the plant grows. It comes from Japan. Now if you have an outdoor entertaining area that’s covered and it’s in the shade but gets very cold in the winter, this one here is fabulous. It’ll grow up to about two metres tall and it’ll have beautiful big foliage and look absolutely fabulous and take lots and lots of cold in the winter. You’ll find this to be one of the toughest indoor plants the Aralia Japonica.

Dragon Plant

Now another plant that comes in all different colours is the Dracaena Marginata or Dragon Plant. Now I get a lot of people come in wanting an indoor plant with a bit of height but not too wide and this is perfect because it stays very compact. It gives you beautiful colourful foliage. You can get it with variegated leaves or with green leaves and it’s incredibly hardy and really good value for money.

You’ll find the Dracaena Marginata is quite cheap and it’s the sort of thing that you’ll keep inside your home for years and years and years. And if you ever get sick of it, you can bung it out in the garden. If you put it in a sheltered spot out in the garden, it’ll grow fine.

SEXIEST INDOOR PLANTS

Now I’ve given you some ideas on what are the cheap indoor plants and what are the tough indoor plants and what are the easier indoor plants to look after. But what about the title of this article – What are the 10 sexiest indoor plants? Well here you go!

#1 SEXIEST

Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

Three Colour Choices

Let’s start off with your Mother-in-Law’s Tongue. If you’ve got a choice between your plain green and silver mother-in-law’s tongue and your gold, green and silver mother-in-law’s tongue I’d definitely choose the latter.

#2 SEXIEST

Lady Palm

Tall, Tough & Classy

Next comes your Lady Palm, I reckon you can’t beat it. It’s tall, tough and really classy. For toughness I’d say the rubber tree, anyone can grow one. Then you’ve got your iron plant. Now your iron plant can go absolutely anywhere indoors or outdoors undercover, not undercover, as long as it’s in the shade it’ll grow anywhere. It’s green and lush and it’ll last you for years. You really, really can’t kill it.

#3 SEXIEST

Milk Cactus

Add an Exotic Touch

Now I reckon your red and green Milk Cactus are sexy because they give you an exotic flavour and something different from a designer point of view.

#4 SEXIEST

Monstera Deliciosa

Lives a Long Life

Now something new in the mix of sexiest plants is the Monstera Deliciosa. This is very long lived, will grow very tall and is very, very hardy. Often called the Fruit Salad Plant it will actually produce edible fruit if you put it outside. I’ve seen some really enormous ones if you grow them in the right place.

#5 SEXIEST

Devil’s Ivy

Easy to Look After

Now another contender is the Devil’s Ivy. Back in the hippy days, if you went to a hippy household, they’d have these in water in a glass bottle, climbing up the wall and growing all over the place. Today you can grow them so easily. Wind them around a stake or grow them over a wall or something. They don’t need much light or care or anything really. You can snip the ends of them off and place them in a jug or bottle or water and they will grow just fine.

#6 SEXIEST

Bangalow Palm

Great Value for Money

Next is your Bangalow Palm. (Sometimes I joke with people and call it the Bungalow Palm!) It’s great value for money because you can get great big ones for the price of a bunch of flowers. If you want to jazz the house up, get a nice big 1 Metre tall one and it will make your house look green and exciting instantly. Just keep it nice and moist and it’ll keep looking good. If it gets a bit tatty, bang it out in the garden and it’ll grow up and shade your bungalow! (Lol!)

#7 SEXIEST

Spider Grass

Will Grow Anywhere Indoors

Another contender is the old Spider Grass which we already discussed. This is so easy to grow and it keeps producing new little baby plants. It’s very cheap and it will grow anywhere indoors. Now when I say anyone can grow Spider Grass, I mean it. My grandson is currently growing them, he’s propagating the little babies and selling them for $1 each! So hopefully he’ll end up in the nursery trade one day.

#8 SEXIEST

Dracaena Marginata

Height Without a Big Pot

But the final contender for sexiest indoor plant is the Dracaena Marginata. It comes in different colours and you can have one in quite a small pot and have it up six foot tall in quite a small pot. So if you need height without a big pot and without too much width, you’d choose Dracaena Marginata. It’s tough, economical and has a long life.

#9 SEXIEST

Rubber Plant

Large, Glossy Leaves & Very Hardy

There’s no surprise this is on my list of sexiest indoor plants. The Rubber Plant is a stunning plant that has very glossy leaves and comes in a variety of single and two-tone colours. It’s also an incredibly tough plant and you can grow one as an indoor plant, then if it gets too big or it gets out of hand or you get sick of it, you can put it outside and it’ll grow in the garden. They’re also very simple to take care of due to their hardiness.

#10 SEXIEST

Happy Plant

A Pretty & Bright Plant to Keep You Happy

And I thought it quite apt to end off with the Happy Plant for this list of Top 10 Sexiest Indoor Plants. Happy Plants produce glossy green foliage and highly fragrant pink flowers. They love a lovely bright spot and they like it to be warm. So you’ve got to keep them in a warm, bright room and you can keep them happy.

These plants are also considered to bring good luck and are even given as gifts during Chinese New Year!

In Closing

So there you go, we’ve talked about a lot of indoor plants but the last 10 are the sexiest for sure.

Now a couple of tips with indoor plants. I recommend you always grow them in plastic pots so you can repot them easily. And it’s best to put the plastic pot inside a nice terracotta pot or ceramic pot or some fancy pot so you don’t see it. But don’t forget a tray or something underneath to catch the water or rubber stoppers under the outer pot so as not to damage the carpet or floor.

And as I said before with watering, don’t just give them small amounts of water here and there. Best to take them out to laundry sink and give them a big soaking every couple of weeks or 3 weeks or so. Give them some liquid fertiliser rather than Osmocote because that needs to be “rained in” to work best.

And remember when it comes to choosing which plants, just head to our nursery or come and see me and say “Chris, look I’ve got a corner and it’s a bit dark or it’s light or there’s sun coming in through the window or whatever.” Just tell them, or me what the situation is and ask them what the best plant is. Look at the indoor plant display, explain your situation and ask them for advice on which plant is best for that location.

If you’ve still go any questions about indoor plants, don’t hesitate to come into Hello Hello Nursery and see me or my staff and we will happily answer all your questions, OK? Till next time!

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How to Fill your Summer Garden with Colour

Written by coldev on 08/01/2024. Posted in Garden Ideas, Top 10 Lists.

Hello, hello. When it gets past Christmas and well into the hot part of summer, it’s the time when people spend a lot of time out in their gardens, having barbecues or entertaining on their deck or outdoor entertaining area.

Now when I did my preview for this article, I was out in a garden that was just a typical Melbourne garden in summer and I have to say it was just dull. In fact, many Melbourne gardens can be really, really dull at this time of year, which I don’t understand. Particularly when I was out walking the dog the other day and I walked past this garden that was just alive with colour. It was so colourful even the dog stopped and took a look at it with me. (Not really!) But anyway, this garden was absolutely, positively alive with colour. So I thought that’s why I need to write this article which is all about getting colour into your garden in summer.

colourful plants flowers in hanging basket

Now in my experience most people don’t have enough colour in their garden. Maybe it’s because they don’t know how. So I went to a garden that was just brimming with colour and took a look at it. You know what I saw? The whole garden was just kind of playful and lots of fun. It was a beautiful 2-storey, fairly modern white home, with a portico out front. And they just had masses and masses of colour everywhere in their garden.

They had beautiful, Jade Red Mandevillas in hanging baskets and climbing up the walls all across the front of the house. In the middle of the lawn they had a lovely little topia with gorgeous Petunias all around it. Across the front they had Geraniums, real Geraniums, and Impatiens and Violas, just heaps and heaps of colour.

Now some people might say that the reason a lot of people’s gardens don’t look colourful in summer is because all the spring flowers have finished and given up by then, but there are at least 10 different flowering plants I can think of that will give you beautiful colour in the summer.

Plants for a Colourful Garden

Mandevilla

Let’s start with a Mandevilla shall we? They are so easy to grow, they love the sun and they will give you massive colourful flowers for weeks and weeks and weeks that start in around late November and will go on for weeks and weeks well into late January and early February. So they are a fabulous source of summer flowers.

Now they’re kind of a half climbing plant and a half bush. So you can have them growing as just a bush or give them something to climb on. If they climb they will put on the most fabulous show of absolutely brilliant flowers. They come in many different colours from soft pinks to real electric pinks to even whites and rich deep reds. Now they might get beaten up a bit by summer rain storms but give them a couple of hot days and they will be looking all beautiful again. You can grow them in pots forever, just make sure you keep up the fertiliser and give them a nice sunny spot.

Calibrachoa

Another simple and easy plant to grow is the Calibrachoa. They are cheap to buy and they just give you colour right through Summer to probably mid-May or end of May, depending whenever the weather turns really cold. Now you can get lots of different colours of Calibrachoa, like whites and yellow and pinks and reds, so what I often tell people to do is to multi-plant your pots and planters with them. If you put three different colours in together then when they flower, they just come alive with colour and it’s a lot of fun. Or if you’ve got something like a standard Ficus in a pot or something like that, if you pop these all around the base of it, you can bring something that’s a little bit boring really to life.

Obviously along this particular part of the garden bed which is outside windows, they wanted something low growing that wouldn’t block the view and they got that with both these plants that can be kept nice and low.

Impatiens

If you happen to have a shadier part of your garden then something like Impatiens are a perfect option. They are a great source of summer colour. They will flower like crazy right through until the cold weather comes. And you can get them in mauves, pinks, purples, reds, oranges, yellows, all different colours. So Impatiens really are a great source of colour.

Pansy

Another choice for summer colour in your garden is the Pansy, which is in your Viola family. Now Pansies come in all sorts of colours and multicolours and they’re a really hardworking plant that just keeps on flowering and flowering and flowering so they’re a great source of colour.

Geraniums

Then of course you’ve got your Geraniums, which are really easy to grow and being a perennial are a reliable, faithful source of colour. Once you get a nice Geranium in that you like, it’s easy to take cuttings and keep on putting them all around the place. They’re very, very easy to strike and grow.

Carpet Rose

Now when you think of a plant that can really bring your garden to life in the summer, the first one some people think of is the Carpet Rose. Now they come in white, dark pink, apple blossom pink and one called Scarlet, which is a beautiful double red. And all of those carpet roses are great and in many ways are better than normal roses which can look a bit scraggly with one flower here and one flower there. But your carpet roses are a low dense bush with masses of flowers, particularly the pink ones. When they flower, the whole bush is absolutely covered, so covered in flowers that you can barely see the foliage and that gives you a really big hit of colour that other roses don’t give you.

Carpet Roses tend to flower from spring right through to winter. So they’re tremendously hardworking plants. You can blend sort of light pink and dark pink and white together and they look really, really fabulous. They’re very easy to grow, last for years and will give you a really strong hit of colour with very little effort.

Jacaranda

The next plant for summer colour to recommend is your Jacaranda. They give you those beautiful lilac-blue flowers in summer. And what’s beautiful is that the flowers, as they go through the flowering season, rain down on the ground and you get this magnificent lilac-blue carpet underneath that looks really, really fabulous. Now some people can get a bit frightened of how big a Jacaranda can grow, but these days you can get a dwarf Jacaranda called a Bonsai Jacaranda that will only grow to about 3 or 4 metres so it won’t get out of hand.

Crepe Myrtle

Another summer flowering tree that really gives you a good hit of colour is your Crepe Myrtle. Now you can get these in whites, you can get them in soft pinks, you can get them in hard, brilliant pinks. You can get them in sort of mauves, you can get them right through to purples. So there are a lot of different colours available. And what’s great about the Crepe Myrtle, is that it flowers in the hottest part of summer. Once it does, it will be flowering for weeks and weeks and weeks to come. Then not long after they finish flowering, you’ll get beautiful autumn colour and then they lose their leaves and what you’ll seen then is that they’ve got this magic sort of bark with beautiful patterns and shapes on the bark. So it’s a really good useful, hardy tree.

Salvia

Another option you have today is the Salvia. Now Salvias give you absolutely brilliant summer colour. We’ve got plenty in the nursery, in purples or pinks or whites or mauves, all sorts of different colours and they just flower and flower all through the warm months. Some of them even flower right through the winter, not as densely in the winter as they do in summer but they still flower. So Salvia is a really great source of colour if you want really nice, brilliant colour.

Bougainvillea

One more summer colour choice you can’t ignore is Bougainvillea. Now Bougainvillea is really, really colourful, with absolutely brilliant colours of all different shades and hues. The one that does best in Melbourne, particularly if you’re in the outer suburbs where it’s very cold in the winter, is one called Traillii, which is the deep purple one. But as you move towards the inner city, you can grow almost any of the Bougainvilleas such as reds, oranges, yellow, almost any of the different colours you can grow in the inner parts of Melbourne. Places like Brighton for example, and all the inner suburbs, you can grow almost any colour. But in the outer suburbs, in the country towns, it’s the Traillii, the purple one that are best to grow. They are very hardy, fast growing and cold tolerant. Even though it’s a little bit common it’s still an incredible source of a brilliant block of colour for quite a few months in the summertime.

Blue Convolvulus

Another really great option for summer colour is your Blue Convolvulus which is quite an amazing plant. It starts flowering in the middle of September and goes all the way through till Autumn. It’s really, really hardy. I remember in one of those big long droughts we had a couple of decades ago there were all sorts of gardens in homes and in commercial places where people stopped watering altogether to save water. And everything in the garden died except for the Blue Convolvulus, which just kept growing and spread and ended up covering the whole garden. So during the drought you saw enormous gardens of Blue Convolvulus. Even the other day, I went past the local cemetery and there was an enormous patch of it. And it was just absolutely brilliant shimmering blue. There were so many flowers there that you couldn’t see the leaves. It was just a mass of blue in the hot sun. It was really, really beautiful.

Now you can get the Convolvulus in a form that has both blue and white flowers on the same bush. You can also get it with white flowers and you can get it with beautiful blue flowers each on separate bushes. And it’s one of the longest flowering plants around. It’s one that I’ll often plant underneath, say Iceberg Roses or something like that because I find that the blue really sets off your icebergs.

Purple Brachyscome

Another alternative you might like is the Purple Brachyscome. Now the Brachyscome does come in a range of different colours like white but that variety doesn’t seem to flower for very long. But your purples and your blues and your pinky purples and pinky blues seem to last longer. So you have a few different choices of colour. There’s also like a cut leaf form and a fine leaf form. I’ve got them in my garden but you’ll spot them everywhere and they just lift the whole garden because they flower really, really well right through the heat of summer. Brachyscome is like your little native daisy, really, really handy. It’s a little round bush that you can use as a ground cover.

In Closing

So like many of the plants I’ve mentioned for summer colour, you can use them to pick out those bare spots in your garden, and just plant some of them to give you splashes of colour here and there. One thing that not a lot of people think to do, is to underplant them. If you have something that has bare patches underneath it like a tree or a shrub, you can plant a lot of these summer colour plants below them and just add so much more colour to your garden. Or you can put some in hanging baskets or give them a place to climb in your garden. They are really cheap many of them.

Something like the Mandevilla you can just keep as a bush but if you really want some visual impact you want to give it a little frame or trellis or something that will help it climb and it will give you some real height and much more colour in your garden.

Now one problem some people can have with their flowering plants is getting them to flower abundantly and there is a little trick I can recommend. When you first plant them, it’s good to use a high nitrogen fertiliser to get them growing. But when they are well established you want to switch over to a high phosphorous fertiliser like MiracleGro which actually slows down the plants growth and causes it to produce flowers and buds. That will give you so many more flowers.

Another problem people might have with their flowering plants is aphids. Now these are one of the easiest things in the world to get rid of. Now if you’ve got kids and pets and you don’t want to put anything really toxic on your garden, I find that a bit of pyrethrum and a bit of dishwashing detergent mixed together and sprayed on your flowering plants that have Aphids will work wonders. Spray it once on a warm sunny day and then 48 hours later, do it again to get the next hatching of Aphids coming out and they will be done too. This mixture doesn’t have a residual poison and it’ll clean them up for good.

Now if you have clay soil, it’s nowhere near as bad as what some people reckon for flowering plants. Clay soil is millions of years old and it has got lots of nutrients in it. But the main problem with your clay soil is the clay particles in it are all squashed tight together. Now plant roots need water and oxygen and they both can’t move well through heavy clay soil. So when planting your flowering plants in a clay soil, dig a nice big hole, much bigger than you probably think and mix your potting mix and the clay soil together and that is even better than just the potting mix on its own. (But always use a good quality potting mix, not a cheap one!) With the mix of clay soil and potting mix, you’ve got a lot of minerals for the plant plus there are air gaps in the soil mix for the plant roots to grow into and get the oxygen they need and for the water to flow through it. So, so long as you break up the clay soil and mix it with the potting mix, your plants will do OK.

Now don’t forget when you are planting your colourful flowering plants in baskets and pots and so on, you can mix up different colours in the same basket or pot and that makes for some fun and interest.

So there you go. I’ve given you 10 choices for adding some summer colour to your garden. So go on, splash out on some colour to liven up your garden, you won’t regret it!

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How to dress up your Balcony, your Alfresco or Patio with pots & plants!

Written by coldev on 30/11/2023. Posted in Garden Ideas, Top 10 Lists.

Your extreme potted plant guide!

Recently I did a facebook live with Mitch from Mojay Pots. He’s a real expert on pots. So I wanted to share with you his knowledge of pots so that you can choose the best type of pots for the plants you want to use to dress up your balcony, your patio or your alfresco dining area.

Urban Style pots stocked here at Hello Hello Plants

Beautiful style Antique Terracotta range of pots

Small indoor pots available in a great range

Sea Lite Congo style pots

Large lightweight pots

Unique style Tang patterned glazed pots made in Vietnam

Now when some people think of pots they might tend to think of those big, sometimes ugly terracotta pots or maybe those big old bright blue things that some people had out back. But the reality is, like a lot of things, pots have come a long way in the last few years and they have really modernised and changed a lot. There are so many different types and styles of pots these days, that you can choose the perfect one that suits both the plant you have and the place you want to put it.

Starting with our incredible range & styles of pots:

Garden Lite

As Mitch explained, Mojay Pots are our newest supplier and they have whole bunch of trendy new pots. Take their Garden Lite pots for example. It’s a range of ultra-lightweight pots that are so easy peasy. They have a clay base so they are very durable. They are good in places like corners, but also anywhere that you want to create a bit of a statement that’s not too overpowering.

They come in three different sizes which makes them work really well together as a cluster of all three. You can just grab the three different heights and create a really nice combo in a corner somewhere. You can plant directly into them or use a brick inside to place a plant that’s already in a less attractive pot, like a plastic one.

In the Garden Lite range, you can see some beautiful egg shaped pots with a lovely rippled pattern on them that is very coastal, very beachy, very modern. They also have some great square pots with a gorgeous matte black finish or a white matte finish. They also come in a grey stone finish as well, again, all very light-weight, not heavy, so easier to move.

Sea Lite

Another range they have is their Sea Lite range that’s also very lightweight but has a really nice textured pattern. They’re really good in your traditional homes or anywhere that you really just want a bit of colour to break things up a little bit. They come in different colours like white driftwood, dark grey and sea foam and are named after famous Sydney beaches.

SeaLite Bermuda Planter Range

SeaLite Congo Planter Range

SeaLite Clovelly Planter Range

Sea Foam

The Sea Foam is a glazed terracotta pot that’s had an acid wash. What happens is that as the paint in the glaze is setting the acid eats at the paint. They are then jack hammered on a machine and then hand polished, which gives them a really unique finish – so unique that no two pots are alike, each one is different. They’re called Sea Foam because how they are treated makes them look like the way the ocean looks after a wave has broken and the foam spreads apart in patches.

The Sea Foam look comes in some really fabulous colours like Copper and a gorgeous Blue and a dark Grey. They have a bit of an “out there” look that people would traditionally use outside but many people like to use them indoors too as feature pots.

Glazed Pots

We also have more traditional glazed pots that come from Vietnam. They are really quite timeless these treasures and they will fit any home, front, back or wherever you want them to go. They come in lovely moss green colours with two tones mixed together. You can choose them in a variety of shapes and sizes including bowls and they come with lovely rolled rims.

The traditional white colour is really nice and you can do a lot with it. Of course, if your preference is for something a lot darker, they also come in black.

Tang Collection

Speaking of colours, if you like really bright colours, we have the Tang collection, also from Vietnam. These are ceramic and come in all sorts of beautiful, bright colours that will really pop if you put them in a corner that’s maybe a bit dull. They come in bright reds and blues and yellows. They also come in oriental prints like black and cream or black and a deep crimson red.

Urban Range

The next thing Mitch showed us was the Urban range which is all made from poly stone. These are some of the biggest pots we have in our range. You can get them up to 1.2 metres in size and these are really the kind of centrepiece type of pot. You can put say an olive tree in them and then have something cascading out the side of it. Despite their size, they are ultra-lightweight which makes moving them around easier than you might think. The finish is what some people would call a resin but there’s polymer stone mixed in with it. They are really good quality too and just very nice.

Mitch also showed us some of their low style water bowls which have a beautiful matte finish. These are part of the Urban range and are very universal. You can put pebbles and say a couple of cacti and succulents in them. What you do with them is limited only by your imagination.

Geo Lite

It was great to see the new Geo Lite collection that we are now stocking. As the name suggests these are all based on geometrical shapes. So these include the traditional squat egg shape but with a twist that gives it a kind of Congo type shape. Then you have a lined egg shape which gives a modern twist to a traditional shape and there’s also a patterned finish available too which is very contemporary. These pots have some really unique finishes like an antique whitewash which is not a bright and intense as the Garden Lite finish.

Dragon Planters

Mitch then showed us one of his favourite collections, which are the handcrafted dragon planters from Thailand. Each one is hand-chiselled into the clay to create these amazing dragon patterns. No two are alike, they are all different. Really, truly beautiful they are.

Stoneware Collection

Next up, Mitch showed us his stoneware collection, which are the kind of pots that will fit into your contemporary garden or your cottage garden. Basically you can mix up the different stylings depending on which kind of plants you put with them. He really likes the bowls with cottage plants in them and I agree they do look great. They have an old style look with a stone base but they’re still nice and lightweight and the finish is absolutely beautiful.

Troughs

We are also stocking a range of his troughs. Now these are great if you’ve got a really small balcony or a home with a kind of narrow hallway but you really want to create some height with some nice plants then these are perfect. They come in several different sizes and heights from 1 metre down to 50 cm so you’re sure to find the perfect size for you. Or you might like to choose a crucible from the Urban collection. They have a white finish with a built-in base so you don’t have to plant directly into them. They are perfect at your front door or in the hallway to create a bit of height.

Terracotta

Of course to finish off, we had to show off the terracotta collection because they are still so popular and are a great look. We do have a lot of terracotta pots and some have some very subtle differences in them. For example, some have a little bit of limestone mixed into them that give a little bit of a white surface finish but underneath is that really nice, aged bright orange colour that terracotta is known and loved for.

Antique Terracotta Pots

Gorgeous Whitewashed Terracotta Pots

Terracotta Double-Rimmed Pots

You can also get a more whitewashed terracotta finish in a range of really traditional shapes and styles like egg shapes and double-rimmed pots. These are all great for your fruity citrus plants and your herbs and anything that you don’t want to get too wet, because these are all porous.

We also stock Mitch’s range of antique terracotta pots from Vietnam, which are made with 3 different clays from the region. The different clays are all moulded together so you get very unique and different colourings and no two are alike. There are about 26 different shapes in this range including a lovely squat cone which is really great for like herbs and veggies. The antique terracotta is really great when you don’t want that traditional bright orange terracotta look but you still want to make a statement in your home.

Pot Styles

Small indoor pots available in a great range

A cylinder shaped pot in varying sizes

A bowl shaped pot in white

Mitch also talked about and showed us some of the most popular styles of pots, like the simple egg shape which is very traditional or the cylinder. They come in cement colours and black. They are very popular when you want to break away from the traditional cluster of small, medium and large pots of the same shape.

Today it’s more popular to say mix one big egg-shaped pot with say one medium cylinder. The good thing is that the same colours move across the different sizes and shapes so you can get a variety of pots but all in black or white or grey or whatever. You can also get lovely little squat, egg-shaped glazed pots in moss green and lighter colours or the traditional blue which has probably been around for as long as I have.

What comes first, the Pot or the Plant?

Now that’s a huge range of pots of all different sizes and styles that we stock now and there are so many different looks and finishes and it’s all quite amazing the variety available now. But when it comes to working and decorating with pots, people often ask me which should I choose first – the pot or the plant?

Two white pots with a green plant in them, showcasing modern garden styles.

Well it’s bit like the chicken and the egg – which comes first. Usually, I will start by asking them to choose a pot and tell me where they are going to put it. Then I can help them work out what size pot would work in the place they are thinking of. So say it’s by the pool or something. Well once I’ve got a pot and a size and a location, I can recommend a plant for them.

But of course, you can do it the other way and decide what plant you want and then find a pot that suits it and the place you’re going to put it.

Now the whole decision process is influenced heavily by another factor. So you might start by telling me well I’ve got a spot for a pot in a corner of the courtyard or the balcony or wherever, and the first thing I will ask is a question about the conditions of that spot. Is it sunny? Is it windy? Is it shady? Is it morning sun or afternoon shade

But that’s not all, I will also ask you, why are you wanting to put something there? Do you want something big and bushy to block off the neighbours? Or do you want something colourful that makes a statement? Or do you have a beautiful modern building and you want something that leaps out at you and makes a modern statement.

So once you’ve put this all together; the spot, the conditions and the reason or purpose for putting a potted plant somewhere, I’ll say “OK go choose a pot you like!”.

Now it is a matter of choosing the right size pot. If I was planting say a 2 metre standard Ficus, I would be looking for a pot that’s say 40 cm around.

Feature Pots, Less is More

Now if you’re buying quite a number of pots you don’t want to end up like one of my customers from a few years ago who bought lots and lots of different pots and different plants and when I ended up delivering them to his place, it was all a mess when you put them all together. What he should have asked me for was some advice in advance and I would have suggested he get one or two really big pots as feature pots and then just a few small pots to surround them. It would have looked so much better.

Now just because you might decide to get a big feature pot doesn’t mean you need to put a big plant in it, because you might feel a little overwhelmed or enclosed by that big plant and it can be hard to get a bit plant that’s exciting. But what you might do with a big pot, is put 3 or even 4 different plants in it, with say some pebbles and something that overhangs the front like a silver dichondra or something and that can look really exciting. Remember too that one big pot takes a lot less watering than a whole bunch of little pots.

Generally I recommend to people don’t end up with lots and lots of pots. Just put the minimum number of pots on your balcony. But go big and put some different plants in them. So for example put one big featured plant in your big pot then you can put some ground cover type plants below it, that will cascade over the sides of the big pot. If your big pot is in the shade you could put a beautiful fern or palm with some baby tears underneath. If your big pot is somewhere sunny, you could put some silver dichondra or succulent ground covers underneath.

Potting Mix

Now the next issue with potting plants is the potting mix you use. And I’ve seen potting mix that’s about $3 a bag and I can tell you that having made up potting mix myself I know the profit margin and I can tell you these cheap potting mixes can have sawdust or industrial waste or even black coal in them.

My recommendation for a potting mix that’s not too expensive is Nature’s Soil. Now the people who make this, also make it for the commercial market, so I can tell you that he has to keep commercial growers happy first so he has to do a top quality mix. We use thousands of kilos of this stuff a week ourselves to do our growing so I can thoroughly recommend it. Cheap potting mix is false economy. Things just won’t grow in it. But a good potting mix and some soil wetter and you’re all set.

The one I recommend has really big particles in it and the reason that’s important is that most people think that the No. 1 thing a plants roots is looking for is water. Not true. The main thing a plant’s roots want is oxygen and so when you have a nice, open, porous soil with big particles and space between them, then the roots can find oxygen. This also means the water flows through the soil and doesn’t sit in it. If the potting mix is nice and lose then the water flows through it and out the bottom leaving some moisture behind in the soil. So the roots get what they want which is oxygen and water.

Watering Potted Plants

Now with watering you don’t want your pot plants to get to the point where they need some water and they try to draw some water and they can’t get it. This will slow the growth of the plant.

The sure signs that your plant needs water is it will start to drop a few leaves and the other leaves will start to shrivel and wilt. The key to helping your pot plant get enough water is to ensure it’s in a big enough pot. Really small pots empty out of water very quickly. Now a good potting mix also holds water well, so that’s important too. With a good potting mix and a nice big pot, your plant can draw up as much water as it needs.

Now if you do come home after a hot day and your plant is starting to wilt and the soil is dry you will be tempted to give it a good soak. But don’t, because dry soil won’t take up moisture. It’s best to give it a quick little squirt just to help it recover, then go and have a drink yourself and some dinner, then come back and give it a good soak. It will take up and hold that water better.

If you are going away for a while and you’re worried your pot plants won’t survive because the weather will be hot, then give them a good soaking before you go. Move them into the shade out of the hot sun and away from direct sunlight. Then add some water to a saucer or plate under the pot plant and let it soak up some of that water when you’re away.

Another tip on watering is to water them BEFORE an expected heatwave and during the hottest weather, you might need to water twice a day, once in the morning, once at night.

An Important Ingredient

Now a lot of people believe you have to re-pot your plants every year or two. That’s not really true. You might need to top up the potting mix a bit because it can compact or decompose. But the big thing that really happens with pot plants is that all plants to some extent need calcium. Now the potting mix when you planted the plant originally probably had a good level of calcium but all the watering has washed the calcium away. The answer is a good dose of dolomite lime every 6 months or so and that will put back the calcium. Now while fertilisers like Osmocote are really good, they don’t have calcium in them. So when you have foliage heavy plants like your English Box and your standard Ficus you need to give them a good cupped handful of dolomite lime every 6 months then wait a couple of weeks and do your Osmocote. This combined with proper watering and your potted plants should thrive.

In Closing

So there you have it. A whole range of pots to choose from and some tips on how to make sure the plants you put in the pots look fabulous and thrive.

Remember you can come into the nursery any time and ask me or my staff for advice on anything to do with pot plants. We’ll be happy to help.

And with literally the biggest range of plants on display in Melbourne with some of the best pots, you’re bound to find exactly what you are looking for.

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Choosing the right Japanese Maple to thrive in your garden

Written by coldev on 20/11/2023. Posted in Garden Ideas, Top 10 Lists.

Japanese Maples have been one of the most popular trees in Melbourne for a very long time. Whenever we have a special offer on Japanese Maples at our nursery, they are always one of the most successful that we run. People come from everywhere to get a special price on them.

The leaf of the Shaina Japanese Maple

The leaf of the Nishiki Fountain Japanese Maple

The leaf of the “Emperor 1” Japanese Maple

Because of so many things that are happening to the size of house blocks these days, Japanese Maples are probably more relevant today than ever before. Land is getting chopped up into smaller blocks and people have smaller front yards and smaller back yards and even smaller courtyard areas. Also, there’s more concern today about roots getting into foundations and drains and causing damage and problems. Being a very compact sized tree, with probably the least aggressive root system of almost any tree, Japanese Maples are the answer to all these issues.

The weeping version of the Atropurpureum Japanese Maple

A small Nishiki Fountain Japanese Maple

A vibrant Shaina Japanese Maple

If you’ve ever dug up a big, fully grown Japanese Maple, you might be surprised to see how small their root systems are compared to other trees. Because they don’t have an overly large root system, you can plant them in courtyards or other small spaces, really quite close to buildings.

Choosing the right Japanese Maple:

Shaina

One of the popular varieties of Japanese Maples is the Shaina. It has quite beautiful red stems. It works really well with modern architecture. In winter, when it has no leaves, its beautiful red stems still give you colour. Then in spring you get lovely green leaves set against the red stems. As you go into late summer you start to get soft pinks and oranges through it. Then when you get right into autumn, you get sort of oranges and reds and pinks and yellows. It’s a very, very colourful, interesting tree with great variety throughout the seasons. This makes it very popular in Japanese style gardens, not surprisingly.

The Shaina is a lovely compact form of the Japanese Maple. If you are after a small Japanese Maple, that isn’t a a weeping style, this is a great choice. It’s only going to grow 2.5 – 3.0 metres tall. It has a beautiful maroon foliage with lovely fine dissected leaves. In autumn it produces the most amazing iridescent red. You can buy low grafted varieties or you can buy varieties that are four or five foot tall with a lovely little red ball on top.

Hana Matoi

Another popular variety is the Hana Matoi. It has very fine delicate foliage with lovely little patches of pink through it. It’s a fairly slow-growing variety. Being a little bit more delicate a variety you wouldn’t put a Hana Matoi in an overly exposed spot or a really hot windy spot. You’d keep it somewhere a little bit sheltered, maybe a bit of an easterly position out of the hot afternoon sun.

Shindeshojo

The Shindeshojo is a lovely fine Japanese Maple. It has a delightful bright coloured foliage with really interest colours. It has a finer leaf than a normal Japanese Maple. It won’t grow overly large. It gives you both absolutely brilliant spring colour and lovely autumn colour as well.

Nishiki Fountain

The Nishiki Fountain is a different kind of weeping Japanese Maple. Most weepers have a fine dissected leaf. But this has a normal Japanese maple leaf that hangs straight down. This makes it quite a really, really unusual maple. It has the most amazing autumn colours, giving you red, orange and yellow, every colour almost all at once. There’s a whole kaleidoscope of colour in autumn with the most interesting shape and interesting leaf, it really is a most unusual and quite a hardy weeping Japanese Maple.

Atropurpureum

The Atropurpureum Japanese Maple comes in both upright and weeping form (see images below). It is quite small with a deep purple foliage that turns into a gorgeous red in Autumn. Many people love it as a feature tree. It does best if you plant it in partial shade or full sunlight in a moist but well drained soil.

Atropurpureum Japanese Maple tree, Weeping

Emperor 1

A nice full and lush “Emperor 1” Japanese Maple tree

The leaf of the “Emperor 1” Japanese Maple

An “Emperor 1” Japanese Maple tree showing the beautiful leaf colours

Another gorgeous purple variety of Japanese Maple is the Emporer 1. It’s one of the best, upright, non – weeping varities for colour all year round. It has a quite large leaf, that is a dark, almost black like purple that in spring goes through various shades of purples and reds into brownish reds in summer through to an amazing scarlet red in Autumn.

Grafting & Age of Maples

If you look closely at some Japanese Maples you may notice they have 2, 3, 4 or even 5 different stem sections. What this means is that the person who grafted it, did it four or five times.

It can be quite a lot of work to graft them and it can be very difficult. But doing this can produce the exact shape and style of plant the grafter wanted. For example, they might do it to create a very, very broad head on one or to graft an older head onto a younger stem. This kind of skill takes years to develop and practice. So when you see a Japanese Maple at a nursery for several hundred dollars remember it might be anywhere between 8 – 10 years old. And it would have taken a lot of work and time in grafting and care to get the plant looking like it does when you see it in the nursery.

The Best Place for Your Maples

Maples and where to put them in your yard at your home

When choosing Japanese Maples, it’s important to think about where you are going to plant it and how big you wanted it to grow. This can help decide whether you want a weeping variety or a straight up one. If for example you had a roof overhang or something and you didn’t want your maple to grow more than 5 or 6 feet tall, you would probably want a weeping variety. Or if you wanted to grow one upwards but not too big, you can get a compact variety like the Shaina. If you have a really big garden and you wanted to shelter some ferns or other delicate plants then you can use one of the larger growing varieties of Japanese Maple.

Choosing Which Colour

A modern garden featuring a collage of different colors of leaves on a tree.

Choosing a colour is also an important consideration before purchase. Japanese Maples can come in all sorts of colours – pinks, reds, oranges and purples – there are some really deep purples available that are almost black. Some people like to plant them in contrasting colours, with say one green and one red. Alternatively you can just choose to contrast the shades of them with a mix of darker ones and lighter ones. There a few purple varieties which stay purple in spring, summer and through to autumn, such as the Bloodgood and the Atropurpureum.

If you really want a spectacular show in Autumn you can’t go past the Osakazuki Japanese Maple (left). It doesn’t grow too tall but it does grow quite wide. It has large leaves that just seem to float on it. In summer it’s a lovely rich green but when autumn comes it colours for maybe 3-4 weeks with the most amazing, intense, brilliant scarlet red.

Weather & Soil Conditions

Japanese Maple in the sun, weather, tolerance

If you take care of your Japanese Maple it will give you many years of joy. Some people say that they can’t take hot sun, but that’s not quite true. If you do have a really hot sunny spot in mind for your Japanese Maple make sure you talk to your local nursery about choosing one of the hardier varieties.

Another issue in Melbourne is that we have a lot of hard clay soil. If you dig a hole for your Japanese Maple that is only the size of the pot it was in and plant it, it won’t do well because the roots are not overly aggressive or tough and they can’t spread through the clay. In hot windy weather they burn and shrivel.

So the secret is more in how you plant it than where you plant it. Ideally, dig a nice big, very wide hole. Fill it with a good quality potting mix, not a cheap one. (You spent a lot on the tree, don’t scrimp on what you plant it in.) Mix in some good compost and soil. (You can even use something like Nature’s Soil which has large particles in it that create air spaces making it open so the roots get moisture and can breathe.)

But the secret is to make the hole really nice and wide so the Japanese Maple’s roots can spread out. With the right soil mix in the ground, if you water it well, the roots can really take up lots of moisture and that will help them survive the hot summer days.

Of course, if you get a really hot spell the other secret is to just water it well. Daily is fine in summer, even twice a day on a real scorcher. With enough water they’ll survive the sun and hot winds. If you are still worried you can always use a soil wetting agent to make the watering more effective.

The other secret to a long-lived healthy Japanese Maple is the right fertiliser. Something all-purpose like Osmocote is great, about every 6-8 weeks is ideal. But also adding a dash of dolomite lime is important because lime is water soluble and if you are watering it a lot you are washing all the lime out of the soil. Without the calcium in the lime, the plant can’t process all the other nutrients it gets from the soil and the fertiliser.

In Closing

So this is almost all you ever needed to know about Japanese Maples in one article. If you are still unsure about which variety to choose for your garden or exactly where to plant which one, don’t forget we have a FREE Garden Design service where we can take you through an entire design for a garden and help you choose the right plants to make your garden gorgeous. Click here to book.