Low Growing Shrubs

  • 33 Replies
  • 13282 Views

Umbrian

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #15 on: August 05, 2019, 06:21:30 AM »
That's beautiful Fermi, always interesting to see new plants I have never heard of even if there is no chance of obtaining one !
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #16 on: August 05, 2019, 01:31:07 PM »
Hi Fermi, on the subject of obtaining one of these fabulous plants, are they available commercially. My wife has a nephew who lives in Australia and he will be paying a visit to Cyprus next month. He lives in the Sydney area. Is there any possibility that he would be able to get hold of one of these plants and bring it with him? I know that Australia has very strict laws about taking plants and seeds into the country but does that apply in the opposite direction? Also he's a Cypriot and they are a law unto themselves!  ;)
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #17 on: August 08, 2019, 07:18:57 AM »
Hi John,
we got our Pomaderris (and a lot of other plants ;D ) from a native plants nursery in Victoria http://www.goldfieldsrevegetation.com.au/ but he might be able to find it locally.
A Japanese friend says that he frequently takes plants back home from Australia but only once was stopped by customs on the way out of Sydney and had the plants confiscated - can't really say why!
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #18 on: August 08, 2019, 01:51:18 PM »
Another low growing native plant we have from Goldfields Revegetation Nursery is this banksia which is in flower now. The first 3 pics are from 2015, the rest are from late July 2019.
When we got it a number of years ago it was called a dryandra but that genus has been subsumed into Banksia.
Unfortunately I cannot find the label for a better identiification,
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #19 on: August 08, 2019, 04:41:22 PM »
Fermi, thanks for the info re the Pomaderris. We'll pass it on to Marios to see what he can do, he's a pretty resourceful guy. When I said he is  a Cypriot I should have said London Cypriot, those who know what that means will understand! 8)
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

David Dickinson

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #20 on: August 09, 2019, 10:23:29 AM »
Hi John

Another Australian plant that you could get him to look out for is Salvia 'Meigan's Magic'. It looks much better, at least in photos, than the Salvia Phyllis' Fancy' that I have. Perhaps Fermi or other Australian forum users could confirm? So far I haven't been able to track down a UK or EU supplier of S. 'Meigan's Magic'. All suppliers seem to be in Australia.
I have a small garden in Rome, Italy. Some open soil, some concrete, some paved. Temperatures in winter occasionally down to 0°C. Summer temperatures up to 40°C in the shade. There are never watering restrictions but, of course, there is little natural water for much of June, July and August.

*

John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #21 on: August 09, 2019, 02:29:36 PM »
Thanks for that, David, I'll pass the info on to Thea.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #22 on: September 25, 2019, 12:57:19 PM »
When I first grew this daisy it was called Chrysanthemum hosmariense (I think), then it became Leucanthemum hosmariense. Now I believe its accepted name is Rhodanthemum hosmariense (Ball).
Whatever its name, it is a great plant for the garden with silvery, finely cut foliage, sparkling white flowers and buds with sepals which are edged in black.
It stays low to the ground when grown in full sun. After it flowers the flowering shoots should be cut back so I guess it should be considered a sub-shrub
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

Caroline

  • Full Member
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #23 on: September 25, 2019, 11:08:24 PM »
It's lovely, Fermi.  What sort of soil is it growing in (I am thinking of my unyielding clay), and how drought-proof is it?
I am establishing a garden on Waiheke Island, 35 minutes out of Auckland. The site is windy, the clay soil dries out quickly in summer and is like plasticine in winter, but it is still very rewarding. Water is an issue, as we depend on tanks. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas. Caroline

Umbrian

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #24 on: September 26, 2019, 06:17:09 AM »
Love this plant too- whatever it's name- it is certainly drought tolerant for me and long lived especially if trimmed back after flowering as a Fermi suggests. This helps to keep it compact and healthy in my experience.
MGS member living and gardening in Umbria, Italy for past 19 years. Recently moved from my original house and now planning and planting a new small garden.

*

MikeHardman

  • Hero Member
    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #25 on: September 30, 2019, 08:04:49 AM »
Re drought-tolerance:
For me, this plant (or a species very similar) tends to die-off during the summer (irrespective of watering) but usually sprouts from the dead-looking stems sometime over autumn-winter.
However, some of this behaviour may be due to its bad luck in being planted in parts of my garden where many plants are reluctant to grow.

It comes well from cuttings.

//Mike
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #26 on: November 11, 2019, 12:31:38 PM »
It's lovely, Fermi.  What sort of soil is it growing in (I am thinking of my unyielding clay), and how drought-proof is it?
Hi Caroline,
sorry for not answering your question earlier! It's growing in heavy clay which has had some coarse sand added and in raised beds which helps with drainage. In lighter soils I've seen it growing in normal garden beds.
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #27 on: November 11, 2019, 12:34:13 PM »
Prostanthera calycina is another Australian native plant which grows to less than half a metre and is doing well in a raised bed, flowering in late spring
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #28 on: June 18, 2020, 10:10:44 AM »
This Hakea is one we got many years ago and planted in a sand-bed, possibly because it's a Western Australian species. However I've lost the label and the spikiness of the foliage is discouraging me from searching! [someone on Instagram has suggested it might be Hakea scoparia ssp. scoparia]
It's not fully frost hardy so we don't always get  flowers; it survives well with very little summer irrigation,
cheers
fermi
« Last Edit: October 13, 2020, 02:33:29 PM by Fermi »
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!

*

Fermi

  • Hero Member
    • Email
Re: Low Growing Shrubs
« Reply #29 on: October 13, 2020, 02:38:52 PM »
Calytrix tetragona - a prostrate form bought at Goldfields Revegetation Nursery in 2012
cheers
fermi
Mr F de Sousa, Central Victoria, Australia
member of AGS, SRGC, NARGS
working as a physio to support my gardening habit!