New Zealand Flax Plants For Your Garden

The New Zealand Flax grows sword shaped leaves from the base of the plant. The plant can reach a size of up to 3 meters in height, with the majority seen at 1 to 2 meters. They tend to reach around 1 meter in diameter. Colors can range from shades of green and yellow to pink, red and bronze.

The best location for this plant is full sun to partial shade. Bloom periods are around the middle of summer. While the plant is young, it will need some protection from harsh winds. When the plant has become established, it can tolerate most conditions. However, most potted versions of this plant will not cope well with frost.

You can also produce more plants from the parent by dividing the plants in spring. Be aware that the greatest threat to this plant is the common mealy bug. This is a difficult pest to remove from the long leaves, so it often becomes necessary to remove and destroy the entire plant.

Some examples of the variation of the flax include the "Bronze Baby" which has a bronze foliage and grows to 1 meter wide and a bit less than 1 meter in height. This would be a great plant for containers. The "Sundowner" has green leaves with rosy-pink edges to the leaves. This will grow to about 1 meter in diameter and almost 2 meters in height. The "Jester" has bronze leaves with green striping and grows to about 1 meter in diameter and height.

I have personally had great success with the variations called "Thumberlina" and "Rainbow Queen". These have grown very well over the last two years. They were planted as a small 6 inch plant and are now well over 1 meter in height and diameter. I have only provided watering for the first few months and it has grown well ever since. A true low maintenance and great looking plant!

These Plants Are For the Birds - Planting to Attract Birds in Winter

While we enjoy the subtle tones and simple beauty of our winter landscapes, the birds are scurrying around adding life and color to everything. I love to see them scratching in the soil for leftover seeds and playing in the bare branches.

Do you want to invite them into your garden this winter? Besides adding bird feeders and bird baths for an easy source of food and water through the year, try planting a few of these bird favorites.

Berberis darwinii is a gorgeous evergreen Barberry that blooms in midwinter. It has a beautiful fountain-like habit and grows to 6'+, and its shiny deep green leaves make a great show year-round.

In mid-winter, it bursts into bright golden bloom, with clusters of flowers dotting the plant. The spectacular bloom is followed by profuse deep blue berries which are a total hit with the birds.

Try planting the upright Darwin's Barberry with a softly-textured conifer such as Tsuga canadensis, the Canadian Hemlock, for a gentle contrast in foliage.

Abies koreana is another big favorite of the birds. In winter, it develops striking purple cones which contain seeds that the birds love to eat. All Firs attract birds, but the Korean Fir is especially good, because it will bear cones on very young plants, so you will be feeding the birds even in the early years.

I love the freshly-fallen-snow effect on Abies koreana 'Silberlocke', and the gentler silvery tones on the undersides of the regular Abies koreana. Try them with some purple-foliage plants nearby to help that silver stand out, and to bring out the purple color of the cones.

Viburnum plicatum tomentosum, the Doublefile Viburnum, creates a gorgeous haven for the birds. It has a tiered, horizontal pattern to the branches, which makes it fun for the birds to hop around and play in. Even though it goes dormant, this is one of the bird hotspots right now - there's rustling, playing, and chirping going on within the shrub.

It's not just for the birds, though, this is one of my favorite shrubs for year-round interest. When it leafs out in spring, the fresh green color is so cheering, and by mid-spring it is covered in pretty white lacecap blooms which hover above the branches. The berries in summer are popular with the birds, and then it provides a rich purple-red fall color.

If you'd like your Viburnum to berry, be sure that you have a different variety of Doublefile Viburnum nearby, even in a neighbor's garden, to pollinate it. Even without the berries, though, this is a wonderful habitat plant to enjoy in all the seasons.

Miscanthus sinensis, or Maiden Grass, is a real treat for goldfinches and other small birds. In fall, Maiden Grass sends up airy plumes of reddish-purple flowers above the foliage, and the birds have fun pecking about for every last seed in winter.

'Sarabande' grows to 5' tall and has shimmery green foliage. It looks gorgeous paired with deep green Rhodies - and they are great with the Yaku hybrids' bright white new growth, or the coppery new foliage on 'Bronze Wing'.

Or there is the elegant white-variegated 'Silberfeil', which looks stunning with deep purple foliage, or blue-flowered Hydrangeas.

Lawn and Garden Decor - Some Tips to Bring Your Garden in Harmony With the Plants

Whatever the style of your garden, enhancing your lawn and garden decor with garden ornaments is a great way to complement the plants and bring a mature feel to any garden or back yard.

Terracotta pots on patios and terraces will enhance a Mediterranean arrangement, Classical statues and fountains will make a formal garden come alive and statues of an oriental divinity will effectively evoke a Japanese garden.

Features to Surprise

Some elements of surprise are welcome with any lawn and garden decor. A birdbath or a bird table installed at a turning in a path can be particularly eye catching.

For a touch of humor, place statues and ornaments in out of the way and out of the ordinary places. Tuck a tall bird statue away behind a clump of bamboos and let bronze frogs, snakes and hedgehogs cross a terrace or lurk in low ground cover. Allow a few jolly clay piglets to tumble down a flight of steps.

For a touch of romance, a shy nymph looks especially charming in any lawn and garden decor when glimpsed through sprays of roses and ivy.

Distracted by a Statue

An ornament urn or a statue placed slightly off center at the end of a lawn will make the garden appear larger and draw attention away from any shortcomings it may have.

Creating a Background

An evergreen backdrop to a statue or a fountain will make it stand out. The use of ivy, yew or box are especially effective for your lawn and garden decor.

Frost Resistance

Unless your containers are frost proof, make sure you bring them inside during the winter months. Those with garland decoration are particularly vulnerable as water can seep behind the garlands and freeze causing them to crack and flake off.

Raising The Level

When standing a potted plant inside a deep terracotta jar, raise it to the level of the rim of the jar by standing it on an upturned flower pot hidden inside the jar.

Small Accent Plants to Help Your Garden Shine Year-Round

When planning a garden, it's a great idea to start with the larger trees and shrubs, to ensure you'll have year-round interest, balance the size of your home, and bring attention to key areas of the garden. But once you've chosen some all-stars for the trees and shrubs, you can begin adding dashes of color and really have fun experimenting by introducing groups of smaller accent plants.

Here are some of my favorite accent plants to help highlight the beauty of your larger trees and shrubs:

-Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold' is a flowing golden grass which adds a bold shot of color to a shady garden area. The cascading foliage rustles gently in the breeze and has an airy, billowing effect in the garden. Hakonechloa or Japanese Forest Grass is just over 1' tall, and spreads politely to about 3' around.

-'Aureola', another Japanese Forest Grass, just won the 2009 Perennial Plant of the Year Award, so that will tell you what a superstar it is! I love to plant these en masse under trees or between shrubs, and they look fantastic with rich blues or purples nearby.

Speaking of rich blues and purples, there's a wonderful dwarf Hydrangea that gets only 2-3' tall, called 'Pia'. If you have a place where you've been wanting those gorgeous blue mophead flowers, but didn't think you could squeeze a Hydrangea in, then give 'Pia' a try. With the acid soil you provide your Rhododendrons and other evergreens, she'll turn a series of blues and purples with a bit of reddish-pink thrown in, while with alkaline soil she's a lovely pinky-red. All mophead Hydrangeas make long-lasting cut flowers.

-Calluna vulgaris or Scotch Heathers are the heavy-hitters of the year-round garden. Blooming in late summer when so many perennials have petered out, they also provide a striking evergreen show of foliage interest. You may have seen the fiery winter reds of 'Firefly' or the golden tones of 'Pat's Gold', but did you know there are also silver Scotch Heathers?

-'Velvet Fascination' is a silvery-grey looker with bright white flowers August to September. The silver foliage highlights so well against deep green, bronze, or purple-toned foliage. 'Silver Cloud' is another stunner, with amethyst-colored flowers. I like to plant Scotch Heathers in groups - nestle in two next to each other, and then continue the theme with a third one further along the garden bed.

-Iris Louisiana is another beauty that can be tucked in between larger plants. The fresh green spikes of 4' tall foliage look great with colored conifers and deeper green Rhododendrons. And the flowers! You won't believe the vibrant, dark blue-purple blossoms from May-June. Place them near a yellow or orange-blooming Rhododendron like 'Golden Gate' for a spectacular show.

-Dwarf conifers like Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Golden Fern' also make great companions to larger plants. 'Golden Fern' False Cypress is a 2' tall evergreen with foliage that really looks like the fronds of a fern! It's even better than a fern, though, because it is evergreen and has a lovely golden color that makes it really pop. In sun it is a bright gold, and in part shade it takes on shades of chartreuse and blue.

-Pinus densiflora 'Low Glow' is another great dwarf conifer. It has such tightly mounded foliage that it hardly even looks like a pine! The green color is bright and fresh, and it makes a wonderful balance to plants with darker foliage or variegation. It prefers full sun and will get to only 2' tall in ten years.

I hope these plants inspire you as they do me! Experimenting with smaller accent plants is a great way to try wild new combinations and bring year-round color and cheer to your garden beds.