What To Do
Episode: #8 19/05/07
Presenter: Melissa King
Seed-heads are one of the unexpected pleasures at this time of year and they are a pleasure that can be easily lost if you get in their too early with secateurs. So don’t be so fanatical about your autumn clean-up and you will have a more attractive winter garden.
Even though flowers are a little scarcer in the perennial garden right now, many of the same plants are taking centre stage with seed heads in a variety of shapes and colors.
The seed head is the casing that holds the plants seeds and they develop once you stop deadheading and allow plants to finish their flowering cycle.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Sedum, Hybrid Cultivar, ‘Autumn Joy’) is one of those tough showy plants that you appreciate all the more as summer fades. In mid summer it displays big domes of little starry pink flowers. As summer progresses into autumn the flowers change from deep pink to bronze, and in winter coffee brown seed-heads remain on the plant. Its slightly succulent foliage makes it incredibly dry tolerant and it looks wonderful planted in groups among ornamental grasses.
Ornamental grasses also offer texture and drama in the winter garden. The feathery seed heads and elegant weeping form of Miscanthus creates sculptural form and texture against the stark winter landscape.
Rudbeckias (Rudbeckia, Hybrid Cultivar) are also stunning, particularly the taller growing ones, which hold their own at the back of the border. When the sunny yellow petals fall, cone like seed-heads form on the top of lanky stems creating wonderful silhouettes.
Clematis (Clematis, Hybrid Cultivar, Jackmanii Group) like their heads in the sun and their roots in the shade; their incredible range means you can enjoy them through out the year and the fluffy seed-heads on some varieties are well worth the wait.
Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) are another plant to be savored in autumn. The flowers of many varieties take on lovely antique hues and dry off to form pretty bronzed seed heads so don’t be too quick to prune off the fading flower heads.
More colour comes in the form of vibrant red and orange Rosehips, which form after the flowers have gone and hang on the bushes well into winter.
Seed heads are just one of the delights of gardening at this time of year so for more inspiration get your hands on a copy of the latest Garden Guru Newspaper and check out the article on “Winter Gardening”.
Or join the Garden Gurus on-line club for all the latest tips and advice on what to do in the garden right now. Don’t forget if you join this month you’re in with a chance to win one of 10 Yates Rose Guide Books.
How would you like the gurus to spruce up your garden? We have just launched a brand new garden advisory, design, construction and maintenance service. So for more information visit our web site.
Our Water Our Future
www.ourwater.vic.gov.au
Presenter: Melissa King
Seed-heads are one of the unexpected pleasures at this time of year and they are a pleasure that can be easily lost if you get in their too early with secateurs. So don’t be so fanatical about your autumn clean-up and you will have a more attractive winter garden.
Even though flowers are a little scarcer in the perennial garden right now, many of the same plants are taking centre stage with seed heads in a variety of shapes and colors.
The seed head is the casing that holds the plants seeds and they develop once you stop deadheading and allow plants to finish their flowering cycle.
Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ (Sedum, Hybrid Cultivar, ‘Autumn Joy’) is one of those tough showy plants that you appreciate all the more as summer fades. In mid summer it displays big domes of little starry pink flowers. As summer progresses into autumn the flowers change from deep pink to bronze, and in winter coffee brown seed-heads remain on the plant. Its slightly succulent foliage makes it incredibly dry tolerant and it looks wonderful planted in groups among ornamental grasses.
Ornamental grasses also offer texture and drama in the winter garden. The feathery seed heads and elegant weeping form of Miscanthus creates sculptural form and texture against the stark winter landscape.
Rudbeckias (Rudbeckia, Hybrid Cultivar) are also stunning, particularly the taller growing ones, which hold their own at the back of the border. When the sunny yellow petals fall, cone like seed-heads form on the top of lanky stems creating wonderful silhouettes.
Clematis (Clematis, Hybrid Cultivar, Jackmanii Group) like their heads in the sun and their roots in the shade; their incredible range means you can enjoy them through out the year and the fluffy seed-heads on some varieties are well worth the wait.
Hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) are another plant to be savored in autumn. The flowers of many varieties take on lovely antique hues and dry off to form pretty bronzed seed heads so don’t be too quick to prune off the fading flower heads.
More colour comes in the form of vibrant red and orange Rosehips, which form after the flowers have gone and hang on the bushes well into winter.
Seed heads are just one of the delights of gardening at this time of year so for more inspiration get your hands on a copy of the latest Garden Guru Newspaper and check out the article on “Winter Gardening”.
Or join the Garden Gurus on-line club for all the latest tips and advice on what to do in the garden right now. Don’t forget if you join this month you’re in with a chance to win one of 10 Yates Rose Guide Books.
How would you like the gurus to spruce up your garden? We have just launched a brand new garden advisory, design, construction and maintenance service. So for more information visit our web site.
Our Water Our Future
www.ourwater.vic.gov.au
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