Murraya paniculata - the Mock Orange or Orange Jasmine

This evergreen rounded shrub with its rich glossy green foliage is such a familiar sight in gardens here.  It is most often used as hedging ... but in my garden these shrubs stand alone in the outdoor garden beds.I have several that are rapidly turning into very tall shrubs and a couple of the miniature version.

It's commonly called 'Mock Orange' for two reasons really ...Murraya is in the same family as Citrus so when you crush the leaves there is a citrusy smell.  But it also has flowers that look a lot like orange blossoms.

They are gorgeous little creamy white flowers, but it is the sweet heady scent from these blooms that is the real feature of this shrub and makes it such a fantastic choice for a tropical garden.

The scent fills the air from late spring right through summer when this shrub is covered in these highly perfumed white flowers.  It's a highlight of my day when I'm sitting on the verandah and the scent wafts up from the garden bed below.  This photo shows one of the miniature Murrayas in amongst a bed of pentas.

Another of this shrub's fantastic features is that it will literally grow anywhere ... full sun, shade, in almost any soil type and it will tolerate drought, humidity as well as torrential rain.  However, that is also it's big drawback ... it can become widespread very quickly.  It's considered an environmental weed in my region and often pops up all over my property. The flowers are followed by small bright orange-red berries and these are a very attractive snack for birds and they then disperse the seed far and wide.

I haven't as yet pulled out any of the new plants as I'm quite happy to get more of them for free!

Alocasias - an aroid that adds that architectural element to the tropical garden.

Now of course these aroids need to be placed carefully in a garden such as mine.  While they certainly love the humidity and heat, they would not survive out in the full sun in an outdoor garden bed during our summers - the searing rays of the full sun and the dry conditions would be less than ideal for these ornamental plants. 

The conditions in my greenhouse, however, are ideal for my Alocasia macrorrhiza - the Elephant Ear. This is such a great looking variety with its huge, glossy, green leaves with raised veins.

At the moment it's still quite young, but it is growing so well in the part shade and moist soil in the greenhouse garden bed.  I just love watching the large new leaves unfurling ...

 

My other alocasia ...

... is the striking hybrid Alocasia amazonica, commonly called the African Mask.  It has glossy, very dark green, leaves with silvery veins and undulating margins, making it look rather like a bat wing.

You will notice the spectacular foliage of this plant immediately in this grouping of potted plants out beside the pond in my courtyard garden.   In this location it receives only morning light and is in shade for the rest of the day.  It loves this rather bright humid spot nestled in amongst other plants right beside the pond.

This one is in bloom at the moment and showing it's inflorescence ...

I have another Alocasia x amazonica growing in an outdoor garden bed ... but certainly not in a position where it would get full sun.  It's in a bright spot where it only receives direct morning sun and remains in shade for the rest of the day and is growing a moist sheltered spot at the side of the garden bed.  

Overall, I find the amazonica needs bright light to survive ... I have tried growing it in the greenhouse, but it was not happy and very quickly showed signs of distress.  Outdoors, however, they have thrived given the right conditions.

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.