COLOURFUL Cold Weather WINNERS!

If it comes to a vote, these dependable shrubs will be the top candidates for prime performance in winter and in other seasons...

- Anna Celliers

In the limited spaces of suburban gardens, there is little scope for permanent shrubs with negative traits. You don’t want your plants dropping leaves, going dormant for months on end, not flowering or only for a short period, becoming spindly and sick due to pest and disease attacks, or having a tendency to suddenly dominate their bed mates with undisciplined growth.

Leucadendron ‘Safari Sunset’

Pedigree – a spectacular hybrid bred from two cone bushes endemic to South Africa’s fynbos kingdom – L. salignum x L. laureolum.

Claim to fame – bright burgundy red bracts on the tips of stems densely packed with healthy green leathery leaves flushed with maroon throughout summer and autumn. In winter, the large inflorescences with a small creamy white cone flower are surrounded by bracts that turn into a bright yellow and red bi-colour combination.

This lovely cone bush earned an Award of Garden Merit by the RHS and is a popular plant all over the globe!

Growth habit and climate

• Upright, evergreen and multi-stemmed, growing to a mature size of about 2,5 x 2 m.

• Suitable to all climates (coastal, too) except those with very heavy winter frost.

Growing tips

• Full sun.

• Very well-draining sandy soil.

• Acidic natural mulch to protect the shallow root system, which should never be disturbed.

• Regular watering for the first two years after planting to establish it. Low water requirements afterwards.

Pruning – remove the stems for the vase or after flowering by cutting them back, leaving 10-15 cm of each stem containing healthy leaves.

Fertilising – no need to feed young plants, but established plants could be fed in spring, midsummer and autumn with Atlantic Bio Ocean.