Favourite Plant of the Week - Paulownia tomentosa

Usually the foxglove tree, Paulownia tomentosa gets highlighted in the summer due to its fast growth rate and ability to produce really large leaves after being stooled in the spring. Occasionally it gets a moment of glory too in late winter till early spring when they get a chance to show off their foxglove like blooms (hence the name), which only happens if the buds don't get frosted away first.

Not a tree that is usually featured in the autumn but Loree of Danger Garden who hosts the Favourite Plant of the Week meme has named this as her favourite this week. Rightfully so as her specimen has performed really well and is still looking great at the moment.

Ours however is very much doing its autumn thing already, going deciduous and shedding its leaves all over. After reading Loree's blog though it made me appreciate this plant for the same reasons she has mentioned, especially with regards to the speed of its growth.

And speedy it is for the relatively large tree that we have now towering over our garden was grown from seed and planted out as a small seedling only seven years ago.

Our intention at first was to stool it to get those massive leaves in the summer but left to grow as normal the leaves they produce are reasonably big already so we just let it be. We may not get the gigantic summer leaves but what we have now is a rather handsome tree.

Stool almost to the ground in spring and let one bud get going and it will produce gigantic leaves. This one at Don's garden

Which reminds me we have another type of foxglove tree that we bought from Beeches Nursery earlier in the year, Paulownia kawakamii. It looks very similar, almost indistinguishable from P. tomentosa until you touch the leaves of the former which is sticky. We haven't decided yet where to plant it so for now it lives inside the large vase in the jungle area of the garden.

Paulownia kawakamii can be stooled too

Sticky leaves!

A fabulous tree, it should be grown in more gardens!

Mark :-)

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Plectranthus oertendahlii

My favourite plant of the week is this gem that we got from Hampton Court Flower Show last month from the Trewidden stand. While I was busy scrutinising the succulents and proteas they had on offer, Gaz zoomed in on this one amongst the other plants on the table and the decision was made right then and there that it will go home with us. They only bought one plant with them for the show and we were fortunate enough to be there early and at the right time too to grab it before anyone else could.

Plectranthus oertendahlii

And I'm so glad we did! As soon we got it home my thoughts immediately went into finding a nice new pot to put in that will also complement the colours of its leaves.

I just love the way it looks with its dark green leaves contrasting with its purple undersides and its velvet like texture!

This evergreen perennial is apparently easy to propagate by cuttings so we'll definitely do that to increase our stocks as well as to ensure we have some back ups.

I've been reading conflicting aspect reports on this plant, with some sources saying it requires full sun while others say it tolerates full shade. Perhaps they are that adaptable?  Personally I'd say they do well in a bright location with some sun to partial shade. Perhaps full sun too if it's not allowed to dry out. It is not hardy in our location and can only tolerate light frosts if left outside but they seem easy enough to overwinter indoors or in a greenhouse gently heated to keep it just above freezing.

Because of this plant I've started to explore its genus even further and there are some other nice ones out there too. Perhaps this one will lead to more Plectranthus in our garden in the future.

We join Loree of Danger Garden in celebrating our favourite plant of the week!

Mark :-)

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Magnolia macrophylla subsp. ashei

As I was watering the garden this evening I caught glimpse of the Magnolia macrophylla subsp. ashei growing on the raised in front of the jungle hut and saw that it was flowering...

and then I noticed the gorgeous scent coming from it.

Knowing how short lived Magnolia blooms can be, this one being no exception I immediately grabbed the camera to capture photos of this fleeting beauty before it becomes too late.

This magnolia is a dwarf form of the tall and big leafed species and flowers even at a small size. Ours started flowering at just a foot in height which is quite an exceptional character especially compared to the species and other big leafed magnolias. Since then it has bloomed for us every year.

I'm loving the way it has grown and looks at the moment, looking more like a standard or even a parasol, jutting out of the raised bed, looking very exotic, and commanding attention whenever we pass by this area.

If space is limited and you fancy growing one of the big leafed magnolias then this is the one to go for.

Magnolia macrophylla subsp. ashei - our favourite plant of the week!

We join Loree of Danger Garden in celebrating our favourite plant of the week.

Mark :-)

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Clematis armandii

It is evergreen, leafy, undemanding, vigorous, and great for a jungle style garden wherein it can scramble over trellis, pergolas, trees, and over shrubs...

Clematis armandii

Drawbacks? It can get too vigorous, and it tends to hang on to its dead leaves that you may have to pick them off manually periodically to keep it looking tidy.

It will need regular pruning if you find it too vigorous and want to keep it within its allocated boundaries. Every few years it may warrant hard pruning, almost starting all over again, and as a bonus you can get much larger leaves on the first year it grows back.

Clematis armandii

We used to have several in the garden but only have one now, confined to a portion of the bottom patio pergola alongside a grape vine. Most of the time it just blends away with the other plants in the garden but every spring it rewards us with fragrant blooms that you simply cannot ignore.

Hence it's my favourite plant this week!

We join Loree of Danger Garden in celebrating our favourite plant of the week!

Mark :-)

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Dicksonia antarctica

We haven't had hard frosts and low temperatures yet to brown off the fronds so they're still looking very lush and green when I saw them last weekend. Seeing them so verdant still has made them our favourite plant for this week.

Dicksonia antarctica

Seeing tree ferns in leaf never fails to bring a smile on our faces. However what bought an extra smile was remembering that, yes, they sailed through fire damage too! Defoliated and trunk charred to nothing but chunky poles, lo and behold they flushed again a few weeks later and carried on like nothing happened.

They are a lot tougher than you think! Well a few Aussies did say so as well to us before fresh from the event and they were right.

So how do we usually protect them in the winter? With a ball of frost fleece or landscape fabric on to their crown with a scarf too of the same materials wrapped around their 'necks' for good measure.

This one was damaged by winter 2010/11 and has since only put out very short fronds. When it got scorched we thought that was then end of this as this tree fern was weak already. But it wasn't and it flushed again. 

So far this winter, no need to protect them yet. Hopefully we won't have to....

We join Loree of Danger Garden for her favourite plant of the week meme!

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Pittosporum tobira 'Variegata'

How could you not love a plant that looks pristine and beautiful at this time of the year? That's how I found this Pittosporum tobira 'Variegata' last weekend.

Pittosporum tobira 'Variegata'

Ever since we've moved in to our house and started cultivating the garden we have considered putting in this shrub but somehow never managed to, always being edged out by other plants that are a bit more unusual than this one. Until we saw a beautiful specimen growing inside a glasshouse in Vienna, Austria the last time we visited. Winters in Vienna gets a lot colder than it is here so some plants that grow happily outside here are not hardy enough to grow there unless under heated glass. Quite unusual and was a bit surreal to see some 'staples' here growing in a glasshouse there, including this variegated Pittosporum but I'm glad we spotted their nice specimen which made us appreciate this plant even more.

So much so that when we got back home we immediately bought one from a nearby garden centre and planted it out in the spring!

This plant is unfussy, undemanding, and reliable. That's how we find it anyway but it has a reputation for tolerating a wide range of conditions from full sun to dappled shade, acid to alkaline soil, even coastal conditions. It does prefer a sunny spot in moisture retentive soil. 

The glossy, evergreen, variegated foliage glistens and seems to brighten up its own spot. And the plant can integrate well with different styles and planting schemes, from Japanese, jungle, to formal, and modern.

We join Loree of Danger Garden for her Favourite Plant of the Week meme!

Mark :-)

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Favourite Plant of the Week - Arum italicum subsp. italicum 'Marmoratum'

Whew! What a long name but what a cheer to see looking so good even in the depths of winter. Another stalwart of a plant worth highlighting.

Arum italicum subsp. italicum 'Marmoratum'

This very exotic looking yet very hardy aroid has large, arrow shaped leaves that are glossy and heavily marbled with cream that in time can cover large areas from late autumn until early spring. Later on the spathes rise up above the foliage and develop into displays of clumps of attractive orange berries, becoming the main attraction of this plant and taking the limelight as the foliage dies down.

But before we even get into the berries later in the year, growing it for the foliage is enough reason to have it especially as it looks so good, pristine, and very exotic at a time of the year when very little else is looking at their prime. A great plant for winter interest.

Despite it potentially taking over large areas, it is slow to do so and unlikely to be a nuisance and doesn't seem to smother other perennials. Also they are in leaf at a time when most plants are dormant and by the time other plants leaf out, the leaves of this aroid starts to fade away and the area is taken over by others.

This plant is easy to establish, doing well in moist and shady areas, perhaps even in a sunny spot as long as the area doesn't dry out. You can introduce it in the garden via plants in leaf bought in the autumn and once you get the berries you can scatter them in other parts of the garden where you want it to be seen. Sometimes blackbirds can do this deed for you however you won't have control where it will come up (unwanted seedlings are easy enough to remove though).

We join Loree of Danger Garden for her Favourite Plant of the Week meme!

Mark :-)

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