As pretty, useful and bee-friendly as they are, I have never thought that lavenders qualified as ‘rare’ or ‘unusual’ enough to stock in the Petal Faire nursery.
I had to take a different view when Lavendula x allardii ‘meerlo’ recently crossed my path. The name alone is grand enough but it was the lovely grey-green serrated leaves with creamy yellow edges that were my undoing!
The cultivar is the ‘offspring’ of horticulturist Louis Meerlo who, after studying horticulture in his home country the Netherlands, moved to New Zealand where he launched his own business specialising in perennials and lavenders in 1998. Thanks to the one of the quirks of nature we all love, he spotted one plant in a batch of Lavandula x allardii with a variegated mutation in one of his greenhouses in 2011. Through a painstaking four year long process asexual reproduction and careful observation, he developed this exceptional new cultivar, selling the first Lavendula x allardii ‘meerlo’ plants in 2015.
Variegated plants are always sought after to add interest and contrast in a garden. This one comes with a highly fragrant aroma, is less fussy about soil conditions than other lavenders, and is extremely heat, humidity and drought-tolerant. What’s not to like!
And yes – we have them in the nursery.
Acknowledgements to mrplantgeek.com for the interesting background information.
IN THE GARDEN
We are really feeling the loss of the trees in the garden as we get hit by heatwave after heatwave. Lebo has put up a lean-to just to protect certain plants from this harsh February sun. Rather an eyesore but what can you do…
Preparations for autumn have begun although we are still busy doing our (rather late) midseason pruning.
Crocosmias popping up all over
The lovely Anemone September charm
Clerodendrum splendens
Zinnias (we await the seeds!)
IN THE NURSERY
Click here to view all the plants in this newsletter on one website page.
Indigenous plants
Eucomis zambesiaca is an interesting rare deciduous bulb with attractive broad strap-like leaves and small green flower spikes with bracts on top. The white flowers in summer attract butterflies. It is very hardy, grows about 25cm high, and likes semi-shade.
Hibiscus calyphyllus is an upright shrub found from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo. Evergreen and hardy, it has large lobed toothed leaves and big deep yellow flowers with a red centre all year. Plant in sun or semi-shade.
The upright self-seeding perennial Justicia petiolaris has attractive soft velvety foliage and pale blue two-lipped flowers that attract insects and butterflies all season. It is evergreen and hardy, reaches an average height of 80cm, and is happy in sun or semi-shade.
The very rare grassland shrub Syncolostemon densiflorus (Pink plume) is always difficult to find. Evergreen and hardy and reaching a height of about 1.5m, it has sparse branching and toothed leaves, and upright panicles of cerise flowers pink flowers from summer to autumn. Plant in full sun.
Exotic plants
Star of the show this month is Lavendula x allardii ‘meerlo’ – a 90cm high compact perennial with narrow very fragrant variegated leaves and sprays of pale blue flowers in summer. Evergreen and hardy, it likes sun to semi-shade and is happiest in dry sandy soil.
The evergreen very hardy hummingbird plant, Dicliptera suberecta, is a soft stemmed groundcover with furry blue-grey leaves and tubular red-orange flowers in summer that attract birds, bees and butterflies. It is happy in sun or semi-shade and grows about 60cm high.
Uncarina grandidieri is a very rare upright deciduous shrub with stout stems, hairy leaves and black-centred bright yellow flowers all season. It wants full sun and dry sandy soil. In my garden, it is semi-hardy.
Strobilanthes attenuata is a lovely spreading rounded perennial with furry heart-shaped lime-green leaves and hooded violet-blue flowers in summer. Evergreen and hardy, it reaches an average height of 5cm. Plant in sun to semi-shade.
SNIPPETS
Gauteng's first Rare Plant Fair of 2024 will be held at Safari Garden Centre on Lynnwood Drive, Pretoria on 23-24 March. A huge range of rare and unusual plants are expected to be on offer, including aroids, carnivorous plants, rare and unusual succulents, foliage Clivia, exotic cycads, water plants, bulbs, ferns, terrarium plants and more.