OPINION: Your Jozi Winter Garden
The BIG GARDENING FIVE, big on autumn colour, pretty flowers and eco-credentials – and adapted to Highveld conditions.
Big on flowering – camellia and pansy
The evergreen camellia will provide a shot of red, cerise or even pure white when little else in the garden is cheerful. This frost-tolerant shrub will do well in shade or semi-shade. Water regularly and feed with a fertilizer high in potassium during late summer, when the flower buds are developing.
Pansies are instant gratification at its best. Pop these annuals in a bed or in a container in full sun, water, feed every two weeks and soon you’ll have a colourful show that no frost will stop. Pansies come in a wide range of colours – white, orange, purple, red, with or without a “face”, to mention just a few. The flowers have a tangy taste and look great on a cupcake or in a salad, provided that no pesticides have been used on them.
The dwarf heavenly bamboo, an autumn colour giant
This perennial has a neat rounded shape and grows to about 50cm tall. In autumn the foliage turns to a deep crimson and stays on the plant for the whole winter. This plant is drought-tolerant and will show off best in autumn when grown in fairly dry conditions. Moreover, this plant is virtually maintenance-free: no pruning is necessary and it is pest and disease resistant. Combine it with dark green Mondo grass, also a low-maintenance option, and you can soak up the sun on the stoep instead of toiling in the garden!
Aloes and an indigenous tree to up your eco-credentials
Aloes, whether small and dainty or massive plants with impressive architectural shapes, are an eco-friendly option. They make do with little water, many are indigenous and the flowers provide sunbirds with nectar and bees with pollen at the very depth of winter.
An excellent tree for Gauteng gardens and widely available in garden centres is the indigenous river bushwillow. It’s fast growing, medium-sized, frost resistant and the foliage turns red in autumn. The fruit attracts birds like barbets (and, by the way, also elephants!).
Don’t just sit there, get going, get wild, and get gardening with the BIG FIVE!
Ester Goede is a budding botanist and gardening enthusiast.
