What to plant in the shade:
Impatiens, pansies, ferns, many palms, fuchsias, polyanthus, Cape gooseberries, and honeysuckle.
Hot and Dry Survivors:
Any cacti or succulents; geraniums/ pelargoniums, erigeron, white or purple alyssum, daisies, rosemary, lavender, sage, calendula, petunia, gazanias, tomatoes, wild, native or Warrigal spinach, marigolds, tiny golden nugget pumpkins.
Absolutely gorgeous:
Floribunda roses, especially white Iceberg, clipped bay trees, cumquats or Tahitian limes, bright red pineapple or soft pink fruit salad sage (frost sensitive), standard bougainvillea, masses of nasturtiums, a froth of sambac jasmine, a miniature clipped box hedge, trailing strawberries
Prune roses twice a year and keep inside in water to add colour to your home.
Other favourite green thumb tips
Try tamarilloes (stick a slice of fruit in a pot above the kitchen sink, water well and cover with Glad wrap till they sprout), Meyer lemons, pineapples, cumquats (the big juicy modern cultivars you can eat like a mandarin), dwarf ‘Ballerina’ apples or avocados (just dump a seed in a pot and wait…)
Avocadoes can grow to be enormous, but if their roots are crammed into pots they won’t, so don’t worry about them lifting the ceiling off some night when you’ve left them unattended.
Give fruit trees the biggest pot you can and feed them VERY well and keep the soil moist but well drained – no saucers of stagnant water underneath. They may even fruit indoors – but you may have to pretend to be a bee with a paintbrush, transferring the pollen from the males to the females. If you’re not feeling particularly bee like, give your potted trees a holiday outdoors for a day or two – especially if they look a bit pale and need some sun.
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