Scadoxus puniceus kathriniae
Eucomis autumnalis
similar to the George Lily, but carries more flowers per flowering
stem and blooms reasonably reliably around December.
Fillers for sunny spots
Syncarpha argenteus is a must-have
for sunny spots in your garden. It’s
a species of ‘sewejaartjie’ or everlasting, and the pretty, pink and
white flowers are great for decorating Christmas gifts and home-made
cards. It flowers on and off all year
round, so you can be sure of a
worthwhile addition to your garden.
Gerbera jamesonii
Felicias are pretty sure-fire flowerers, even in the hottest weather, so
if you’d like to add a touch of cool
blue or white to your festive garden, they’re well-worth considering
– and the new hybrid Gerberas
(Barbeton daisies) are a lot tougher
than the ones we used to get years
ago. Choose red, yellow and pink
for a multi-coloured display.
There are also some stunning succulents that will give you festive
blooms. Of these, Crassula perfoiata is one of the most stunning,
with saucer-sized clusters of tiny,
bright-red blooms, and its cousin,
Crassula coccinea, though a rare
find in retail stores, is also a redflowering winner. Between Spring
and Autumn, and particularly from
December to February, it’s almost
as though nature takes a deep
breath before her next big effort.
Finding indigenous colour to
brighten up you mid to late summer is often even more difficult
than finding something that flowers in winter!
Getting your garden groomed for
the festive season is fun, and you
will reap the rewards as your garden treasures burst into bloom.