Episode: #7 14/10/2006
Presenter: Melissa King

There is a great new range of brilliant foliage plants to choose from this spring and Melissa shows you a few you won?t be able to resist.

Chocolate Cookie (Phormuim cookianum) is as scrumptious as it sounds with rich chocolate brown foliage with just a touch of plum and delicate red margins. It has an upright form that weeps a little with age. The real highlight is the foliage but it also has yellow-lime green flowers during summer which open from attractive burgundy coloured buds. It makes an outstanding foliage feature in full sun or part shade.

Some outstanding selections have emerged among the Lomandras and ?Seascape? (Lomandra confertifolia spp. Rubiginosa ?Seascape?) is no exception with attractive blue-grey foliage and a graceful weeping habit. It is non invasive and easy to maintain and can be grown in sun or shade so it is a top choice as a border plant, in the rockery or in pots.

It looks great on mass and when the wind blows the foliage the effect is a bit like a rippling ocean, hence the name. During summer, highly fragrant small yellow blooms appear.

For dramatic foliage look no further than Libertia Goldfinger (Libertia ixiodes ?Goldfinger?). It has elegant cascading foliage with a prominent golden yellow stripe down the centre. It forms neat clumps about 60 cm tall and wide. It looks great year round in the perennial border or as a colourful low maintenance potted plant in modern containers on the balcony. In mid spring it has dainty pure white star like flowers, followed by attractive large yellow berries in autumn.

A top choice for difficult dry shade is the dwarf form of Arthropodium cirratum called ?Te Puna? which features lush green foliage and masses of petty white flowers through spring and summer. It is a tough low growing plant that is sensational on mass, as an edging plant or in beautiful glazed pots.

This weeks water saving tip of the week:

Get stuck into your planting in spring when there is a chance of rain, that way they will have time to establish before summer kicks in. As they grow ease off the water, you will be surprised how drought tolerant many plants are.

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