Tibouchina Blue Moon

Despite the challenging weather we have been experiencing this January, plants that can cope with heat, rain and humidity are doing fine. I took a walk around my garden this week to see what was catching my eye. One of the most arresting sights right now is the flowering of Tibouchina 'Blue Moon', with its large, round, pale lavender, purple-edged flowers that look as if they are part of a watercolour painting. Yes, it does grow to at almost twice the height promised on the label, towering more than 2.5 m tall, but it is a vision at the moment and will be in bloom till March. A related plant growing nearby is Tibouchina multiflora, with sprays of smaller, white-centred blue flowers. It is in bloom now and will continue on with further flushes until April. A very old favourite of these shrubs is Tibouchina urvilleana, sometimes called lasiandra or princess flower. It has large, rounded, deep purple blooms with prominent, whiskery stamens. Note that in recent times, these three Tibouchina plants have been reclassified into the genus Pleroma; however, this name has yet to take off amongst us home gardeners. Whatever their names, these shrubs are perfect for our climate!

Tibouchina shrubs form a background for other warm-climate plants

Tibouchina shrubs form a background for other warm-climate plants

These Tibouchina provide an effective backdrop to other plants, and their rounded flowers are a contrast to those with upright spikes of flowers that are happily thriving - such as stalwart Salvia 'Indigo Spires', claw-flowered Brillantaisia ulugurica and white-spiked Justicia betonica. Long-flowering shrubby Pentas, with rounded inflorescences in shades of pink, lilac and white, and perennial Cleome with its domes of pink, white or purple spidery blooms echo the shape of the Tibouchina flowers at a lower level. Abutilon, which are just starting to rebloom with their 'Chinese lantern' inflorescences, offer a different floral shape again, in various shades of pink. These indefatigable shrubs will continue to bloom until November. All these plants originate in warm climates such as Mexico, South and Central America, south-east Asia, India and Africa, and get better and better as summer progresses, rather than turning up their toes.

Browallia americana

Browallia americana

As well as the perennial Cleome, the annual form of it self-sows from year to year and grows into tall plants that add to the late summer scene, as do self-seedlings of annual Amaranthus caudatus, with its burgundy tassels, and Amaranthus cruentus with its stunning dark purple foliage. These annuals soften the garden, filling gaps and providing unexpected effects. Other self-seeding warm-climate annuals in bloom at the moment include Browallia americana, with its brilliant blue flowers, popping up in all sorts of places but always looking at home; and pink, red and purple forms of Salvia splendens, which may last a couple of years but are best in their first year and form chubby bushes with seemingly endless flowers. All these annuals come from South America.

Rudbeckia laciniata

Rudbeckia laciniata

A quite different kind of plant is also in bloom now - daisies from the North American prairies. In my quest for easy-to-grow plants for the Sydney climate, I have found these thrive in my garden, bringing welcome colour in late summer. Some of these plants gained prominence in the 1990s as components of the naturalistic 'grassy' borders of designers such as Piet Oudolf, and whilst they are indeed stunning combined with ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus and Pennisetum, they are also fabulous companions for my semi-tropical style plants, such as Dahlia, Canna and Salvia. Generally, they are herbaceous perennial plants, dying back to a basal clump of leaves in winter then building to a substantial size in the warmer months. They have tough roots and seem to cope well with the humidity of Sydney summers, unlike many European herbaceous plants. They like to have decent soil and some water during their growing season, but they survive periods of drought quite well. Rudbeckia laciniata is in full bloom at the moment, with its large golden flowers and prominent central cone. The lovely purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is also at its peak right now.

Coleus and other shade-loving foliage plants

Coleus and other shade-loving foliage plants

In shaded parts of the garden, shrubby and cane Begonia plants are at their very best now, though they will stay in bloom until late autumn or indeed all year in some cases! Shade-dwelling, warm-climate foliage plants such as Iresine, coleus, Strobilanthese dyeriana, Strobilanthes gossypina and quaint Hypoestes phyllostachya (polka dot plant) provide long-lasting satisfying effects, flourishing in the heat and humidity of our summer.

Aechmea fasciata

Aechmea fasciata

Also in shade are the tough bromeliads that do so well in Sydney gardens. A highlight of late January is the appearance of the large, tousled heads of Brazilian Aechmea fasciata, with their pink bracts and bright blue flowers, held above iattractive silver banded rosettes of foliage. These inflorescences will last for months - even all year! These epiphytic plants are a good solution to dry areas beneath trees as they only need soil to hold them upright, gaining all their nutrient from organic debris and insects that collect in the central vase of their rosette.

Late January can be a lovely time in the garden!