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Water Wise
With the necessity to save water becoming such an important part of our everyday life, it’s changed the way we think about water usage in our gardens and has also influenced trends in new garden design as a long term approach towards being water wise. The enormous bonus of this new approach to gardening is the ever increasing availability of a huge range of exciting and beautiful plants that many of us may never have grown before.
Here at Tesselaar we have been busy trialling a range of plants that not only score well for drought tolerance, easy care and low maintenance, but also get top marks for pleasing the eye. All of these plants can be used in many styles of garden including traditional beds and formal borders, rambling cottage style, city courtyards, container gardens, and contemporary designs.
Let us introduce you to some of these brilliantly garden worthy plants that are leading the way in current garden trends ...  The stunning Foxtail Lilies (Eremurus) make a brilliant highlight in a Tuscany style courtyard. These gorgeous plants are now available to Tesselaar customers for the first time in Winter 2002 (available online here). Loving a Mediterranean climate of hot dry summers and cold winters, they will quickly multiply into generous clumps for an impressive display of tall flower stems in bright colours, followed by strappy foliage. Choose from stunning single colours or mixed hybrids.
|  Echeverias (available online here) are perfect in large containers, with their symmetry and amazing variety of interesting foliage they give year round value in the garden. Plant in aged terracotta pots and combine with smooth river pebbles for instant effect. These fun plants also have amazingly tall stems with brightly coloured yellow and orange flowers – children just love them! Introduce them to the “Hen & Chickens“, which will quickly produce many offsets.
|  Euphorbias (available online here) are fabulous fillers in any sunny situation, bringing generous volume and structure to your garden. They thrive in poor soil even in the heat of summer, and with their striking evergreen foliage and seasonal displays of luminous lime green bracts, they are not to be missed. An outstanding feature plant in any garden, there are many varieties to choose from to suit any size garden.
|  Canna Lilies are amazing plants that thrive in any climate, in a sunny position they will steadily provide lush foliage and vibrant flowers for months on end. Each year they steadily multiply and need nothing more than dividing if they become over crowded. The delightful dwarf varieties (available online here) are an excellent choice for the smaller garden, and can handle hot dry summers with ease.
|  Sedums (available online here) are amongst the best performers in the drought tolerant category, and blend well into any garden design. With their wide variety of colour, size and form they particularly suit herbaceous beds and cottage gardens. These carefree plants look fantastic in containers too!
|  The essential plant for any Australian garden is the mighty Agapanthus, whose brilliance has become widely appreciated in English gardens in recent years, and should not be overlooked in Australian garden design. Use it in any sunny position for year round performance. The dwarf varieties (available online here) make a lush foreground planting, their white flowers reflecting the sunlight for a wonderful contrast against vivid colours. Try mixing with dwarf lavenders to edge a romantic cottage garden, or use in containers for patios. The Agapanthus Adelaide is a taller variety (available online here), specifically recommended for the shady garden as it will flower well, its blue florets striped with a darker blue appearing more vibrant in the shade.
|  Another wonderful choice for dry shade is the Clivia miniata variety (available online here), whose exotic soft orange blooms above lush evergreen foliage are the perfect solution for such problem areas. A perfect companion plant to the Adelaide, the combination of blue and orange flowers will become a highlight in a shady area for weeks of colour.
|  Equally as impressive, the Renga Renga lily (available online here) is another outstanding selection, and one of my personal favourites. In an exposed position, the foliage matures to a tough and shiny dark green, whilst in a sheltered spot or filtered light the long strappy leaves have a soft and velvety light green texture. Guaranteed to create a lush green oasis if regularly watered, they will nevertheless thrive on neglect in a dry spot for many years, producing fine stems of tiny white star shaped flowers in early summer.
| These are just some of the wonderful plants we have selected for water wise gardening, and all are guaranteed for excellent performance. We will be selecting more garden worthy varieties for you in the coming seasons. |
by Jenny Waldock
Tesselaar Mail Order
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