Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender'

This gorgeous evergreen, quick-growing, herbaceous perennial is a definite favourite for this dry tropics gardener.  This fabulous showy compact plant belongs to the Lamiaceae or Mint family.  It's a beautiful hybrid of Plectranthus saccatus and Plectranthus hilliardiae, developed in South Africa, and well-suited to a hot, dry climate.

Plectranthus 'Mona Lavender' loves to grow in a shaded to semi-shade location with a moist but well drained soil.  It will form a small, dense, rounded shrub, reaching around 1 metre in height if planted out in the garden.  I grow two Mona's as potted plants, and they only reach around half that height!

The foliage of this Plectranthus is so attractive.  It has dark green glossy leaves with a purple-coloured underside ... but it's the dainty little flowers that are simply stunning.  I absolutely love the frothy, frilly purple cloud that appears when it's in full bloom.  'Mona Lavender' produces spikes of lavender coloured flowers that are dashed with purple markings.  They look a bit like cute little mini-orchids!

The flowers usually appear in early Summer and last right through to late Autumn. The plant will die back a little during the Winter here, so it's a great idea to give it a good trim at the end of Autumn, after flowering.  This will help maintain a neat shape and encourage denser foliage.  Fertilise with a slow release fertiliser during early Spring and you will be rewarded with a fabulous display.

Portulaca grandiflora - Sun Jewels

It's truly a jewel of a plant for any tropics garden ... Portulaca grandiflora is a  fabulous ground cover. 

It's low growing with rather fleshy leaves and brilliantly coloured flowers.  There are so many stunning colours ranging from white ...

 through to yellow ...

 orange ...

purple, pink and apricot.

 Some plants have bi-colours.

They are happy to grow in dry and hot conditions ... they love the full sun and a well-drained soil ... and they thrive on neglect.

It's a plant that doesn't need to be coddled.  Just water them when they're a bit dry and feed them lightly even now and then.  When it gets a bit leggy and looking rather scraggly, give a trim.  On top of all this, they are easily propagated ... just break off part of the stalk that's about to flower or is not flowering and stick it in some propagating mix or even straight into the ground.  It's that easy!

All Portulacas need sun for their flowers to open. The flowers of older varieties closed up around noon. But most plants sold today have blooms that stay open all day, only closing at night and on cloudy days.

Bracteantha bracteata - Paper Daisy

My experiences with this plant are rather limited ... last year was the first time I've ever grown these intriguing little natives, formerly known as Helichrysum bracteatum.  I just adore their papery, crackly texture.

They're a low growing, spreading perennial with daisy-like blooms that have a yellow centre surrounded by coloured papery bracts.  The specific name "bracteata" in fact refers to the numerous, dry, papery bracts, which are often incorrectly referred to as petals.  It is the yellow centre that is in fact a cluster of small flowers.

These were so successful in providing a cheery bright groundcover in a sunny position ... the main display lasted from late winter right through to mid-summer and there's still the occasional flower right now through the rainy end of summer.

I've now bought some other colours to add to my new garden beds.  I now know that they like a moist, well drained soil and they do well with a monthly feed of a low phosphorus fertilizer.

 

These Paper Daisies or Everlasting Daisies are great as cut or dried flowers.  For use as dried flowers, they should be cut just as the bud begins to open ... then hung by the stem, head down, in a shady and dry area for a few weeks.