Native Plants in your Garden

Forest and Bird, Issue 155, 1 February 1965, Page 3

Native Plants in your Garden

J. A. S. Howard

A common criticism of New Zealand plants is that they lack the colour of the exotic plants so freely cultivated. It is true that there are a large number of white-flowered species in the flora, but who despises the Christmas lily or many other lilies, Magnolia campbellii alba, many viburnums, cherries, rhododendrons, and a host of other white-flowered plants, on account of their colour or lack thereof ? However, in spite of thus defending the white-flowered members of the flora, 1 want now to describe briefly some of our more colourful plants which are both easily cultivated and fairly easy to obtain from nurseries.

Clianthus puniceus, known as kowhai ngutukaka to the Maoris, and commonly called kaka beak, or red kowhai, is a delightful, quick and easy shrub to grow and provides a mass of colour for a long period. In nature it is a rambling shrub, growing about four or five feet tall, but spreading out to at least twice that distance in diameter; however, it can readily be kept within bounds by a little judicious pruning. Its soft pinnate foliage is always attractive and in early spring it produces from the undersides of the branches an abundance of large bright red flowers in hanging clusters of up to a dozen. This plant belongs to the botanical family Papilionaceae, formerly Leguminosae, which contains a very wide range of plant forms from trees like our kowhai to the humble garden bean and pea, the flowers of all these being basically similar. Indeed, the basis of all botanical classification is the grouping of plants according to the structure of their flowers or other seedforming organs, rather than the similarities of their leaves.

Clianthus prefers a light soil and full sun, but will grow in heavier soil provided this is well drained; a sunny bank where its lax branches can hang down suits it admirably and displays it well. It grew naturally on islets from the Bay of Islands to Tolaga Bay, and at various places on the adjacent mainland, also near Thames and inland to Lake Waikaremoana; but its soft foliage

was readily eaten by introduced grazing animals and it is now very rare naturally, although fairly common in gardens. There is also a white-flowered form, identical in all other respects, and an intermediate pink one. It grows readily from cuttings, from natural layers, or from seed, and is best planted when fairly small, as large plants resent disturbance.

Hebe speciosa is a most useful plant, and a “must'’ for anyone who wants a quick-grow-ing, hardy plant, about three to five feet tall, which will grow almost anywhere except in dense shade or in very wet ground, which flowers freely for a long period, in summer and autumn, and whose foliage is glossy and attractive all the year round. Its flowers are produced in dense spikes 2-4 inches long, each spike containing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of individual flowers; the basic colour is described as “reddish magenta” but seedlings vary greatly in colour, and also hybridise freely with other species, and the colour range of the resultant group ranges from a clear pink through deeper pinks and purples to a clear deep blue. A hybrid between this species and the common koromiko (H. stricta} is worthy of special mention; H. andersonii, as it is called, is a quick-growing shrub up to 6 or 7 feet tall but better kept to a compact bush at 4 or 5 feet. Its flowers are produced in the same sort of spikes, only longer, up to 6 inches, and are at first bright blue but fade fairly quickly to pale lavender then almost white, so that the three different shades are all on the bush at the same time. I have had it flowering at every season of the year, depending on when the bush was last cut back. Both of these hebes, and in fact almost any hebe, will grow readily from cuttings and can be transplanted easily regardless of size.

Finally, there is that delightful little harbinger of spring, Corokia cotoneaster, which in late September or early October smothers itself with bright yellow, starry flowers, about -J inch in diameter; this spring display is followed in late summer and through autumn and winter by a mass of small

bright red berries which are evidently unpalatable to birds and thus remain untouched often until the following spring, when they mingle with the current season’s flowers. Korokio (its Maori name from which the botanical name has been adapted) is a twiggy, upright bush which reaches about 8 feet high in nature but responds very well to cutting back or trimming and is thus admirably suitable for a low hedge. Its irregularly shaped leaves, about one inch long, are dark green with a hint of bronze above, covered with silvery felted fine hairs underneath, and are sparsely scattered along the back branchlets. This contrast in colour between stem, topside, and underside of leaf is in itself attractive, but when to this is added, in season, yellow flowers or red berries, the result is delightful. As if these were not virtues enough,

korokio is very easily propagated and cultivated ; it is found locally throughout the country in undergrowth on bush outskirts, particularly in dry situations, and so is happy in an open part of the garden, even though it be dry, poor, or sandy. It is readily propagated by cuttings, and also from .seed, but a word of warning is needed —there are several other species of Corokia, all of which interbreed and hybridise freely, so that plants raised from seed may not come quite true to type. Plants offered by nurseries of C. cotoneaster are sometimes this sort of hybrid. Don’t be misled by the specific name cotoneaster ; this is used as an adjective, meaning “the Corokia which resembles a Cotoneaster”, and does not imply that it is related to that well known group of garden shrubs.