Pittwater Life March 2019 Issue

Grow a ‘Red Riot’
Christmas poinsettias disappointingly
revert to winter
colour once they are put into
the garden.
However, Quisqualis mussiendafolia
– ‘Red Riot’ – is
a newly available shrubby
climber that gives the same
bright red colour every summer.
Although it is a cousin
of the beautiful Rangoon
Creeper, if Red Riot is pruned
back by one third in autumn
after flowering, it can be kept
as a shrub – but it will still
need some support. With a lattice
on a wall or grown against
a fence for support, it will be
an eye-catching spectacle for
Christmas colour.
Like the poinsettia, the
flowers are tiny white blooms
that are surrounded by scarlet
bracts that retain their colour
for many weeks.
Red Riot loves full sun and
warmth. Once established
it needs little attention, it is
drought-hardy and will grow in
any cultivated garden soil.
Bamboo
Palms for
indoors
or out
The elegant Bamboo
Palm is one of the
easiest to grow. Tall
and slender, it slowly
clumps and grows just
2-3metres tall.
The bamboo palm is a
wonderful indoor plant
or it can be used as a
screening plant where
bamboo would be grown
without the risk of being
invasive or too robust.
As the delicate fronds
die, remove them and the
sheaths from the stems to
keep the palm stems clean
and healthy. These palms
will grow in full sun but
are happier in semi-shade.
Good drainage and regular
water is all they require.
Indoors, mist the foliage
with water at weekly intervals
to keep the fronds
green and healthy. I always
think that this palm should
be used more frequently
in landscape design, it will
never pose the problems
that Golden Canes and
other clumping palms produce
after several years.
Starfish Lilies and other bulbs
Spring flowering bulbs are in the stores to tempt us. Daffodils,
tulips, freesias and all the European bulbs can be bought now
but if you want something different try looking for the unusual
bulbs available in spring bulb catalogues online.
All the iris family grow well in our frost-free climate. Ferraria
crispa, the Starfish lily, a cousin of the iris, is native to the coastal
areas of South Africa, and as with other South African plants it
thrives in our Sydney environment. The unusual starfish-shaped
flowers last for just a day but established plants produce more
flowers daily. The flowers, speckled with frilly edges, are strangely
coloured brown, yellow, white, blue or violet. They will arrive
as dormant corms to plant now to grow in spring.
Garden Life
The Local Voice Since 1991
MARCH 2019 69