I love this time of the year, the weather has cooled a little, we have had a little rain and Autumn has not really started. Over recent weeks I have received numerous enquiries about blooming plants in the Gladstone and Dawson Valley areas.
There are just so many plants that have come into flowers. Either late Summer bloomers or early Autumn bloomers. So this weekend take a drive around this great region and admire some of the flowering gems.
The following are just some of the flowering shrubs that you could see. So last weekend Glen of Agnes Waters emailed a picture of Ixora timorensis that he has been growing for two years and has just started flowering.
Ixora timorensis is a large dense shrub with attractive large green leaves with wavy edges. Cluster of white flowers with noticeable yellow stamens that age to cream will appear from Summer through to Autumn. These flowers have a strong vanilla-honey perfume that will remain heavy in the air in the early morning and evening. This rainforest shrub should grow to two metres high in most protected garden positions. It is a native of Far North Queensland, the Cape and parts of Northern Territory.
The following are some of the other flowering gems at the moment.
Barleria cristata or Philippines Violet is an evergreen small shrub is widely grown as an ornamental, particularly as a flowering hedge plant. During Spring and Summer this shrub will become covered in pure pink, purple or white trumpet-shaped flowers. It will grow in the most hostile conditions and always look great but prefers a warm, sunny position in the garden and also makes a spectacular tub plant.
Calliandra emarginata or Blushing Pixie is a low growing shrub with an weeping habit that is suitable for most garden positions. Blushing Pixie has emerald coloured foliage that almost goes to sleep at night. Then during the warm months of the year this shrub will be covered with masses of fluffy bright pink to red flowers. Blushing Pixie can easily be trimmed into small hedged.
Convolulus Silvery Moon is a very compact, multi-branching small silvery-grey foliaged shrub growing between 30-60cm high. From the start of Spring through to the end of Summer an abundance of white funnel flowers with yellow eyes will immerse this shrub. It is very hardy and is drought hardy and will grow in both in Western and Coastal locations.
Grevillea Apricot Tingle is a low spreading shrub that grows 30cm high and 1 to 1.5 metres across. Showy apricot coloured flowers will appear from winter to late spring. Apricot Tingle is frost hardy and drought tolerant once established and best planted in a sunny well-drained position. It is a hybrid of Grevillea juniperina and Grevillea Goldfever both very hardy shrubs for Central Queensland.
Melaleuca elliptica or Granite Honey Myrtle is one of the most beautiful flowering of the shrub Melaleucas. I had one of these growing in my own yard for many years, growing to around two metres high. It would start flowering with the first bit of hot weather every year, producing rich crimson displays of bottlebrush-like flowers along the stems of the plant. This plant is highly bird attractive, and matched with its small silvery-grey foliage, it would be a feature in most gardens.
Metrosideros collina Little Dugald is a stunning small evergreen shrub with glossy, dark green leaves and bright green new growth. Masses of bright red flowers are produced from Spring right through to the end of Summer providing plenty of nectar for the local native birds. Growing to around 1.5 metres high also makes it a great low hedge plant. This extremely versatile shrub that can withstand a light frost, is wind, drought and salt tolerant can be grown in full sun or part shade.
Plumbago indica or Pink Plumbago is an evergreen shrub with light green soft foliage. Long arching iridescent Phlox like pink flowers on spikes occur most of the year. This versatile shrub will grow up to 1.5 metres in a part shaded well-drained position. It can be grown as a formal hedging plant or as feature in a shaded garden.
Rhaphiolepis Cosmic Pink is a very hardy low growing shrub with glossy dark green foliage with striking copper tan new leaf colour. Large rose-pink star shaped flowers will appear in mass during the warmer months of the year. This hardy compact low maintenance shrub will grow to 80cm high and 50cm wide. It is disease resistant and once established it will tolerate drought, frost and dry conditions.
Any of these plants could make a great addition to your garden.
