Plant Life

Crowning the conifer cultivar collection at the north end of the rock garden is an old blue cascading cedar. For more than 40 years the tree has been present during many changes at Dunedin Botanic Garden, the latest being the collection developing around it, enhancing beauty, colour and shape.

Dunedin Botanic Garden is overflowing with wonderful autumn displays. But among all the blazing colour is a mass of white, cup-shaped flowers smothering the evergreen tree Luma apiculata.

Native to New Mexico and western Texas, Agastache cana provides a bright show of rose-pink flower spikes over the late summer months and into autumn. As the flowers die off, softer pink bracts are revealed beneath and extend the colour display longer into the colder months.

We are hesitant to admit summer is over, but when the first camellias start to flower we know we are in autumn.

Sea holly, the common name for this plant, is misleading - the only resemblance to a holly is the spiky leaves.

Over the years, some of my most satisfying planting schemes have been a combination of rhododendrons and New Zealand natives.

Not only colourful leaves announce winter's imminent arrival. Bright blooms punctuate our gardens, as certain plants flower once summer drought has passed.

Whatever time of year it is Cheilocostus speciosus always offers something interesting to look at. It may be the new growth shooting out from the rhizome, the spiralling red cane-like stems, or the way the leaves are curiously arranged up the stems.

If you are looking for an easy-care perennial, try this one. It has an unusual flower colour and the fragrance of a favoured food.

In the mountainous forests of Yunnan, China, you can still find camellias growing in the wild.