Pale gold, electric blue and velvety orange, and shades of white, cream and peach – your indigenous garden can display a stunning variety of colours in autumn and feed the birds and insects at the same time.

Autumn in an indigenous garden should be a splendid time. If your garden did not put on a rich, colourful show during the recent cool, crisp days then some of these plants will help it to shine next autumn.
The sunbird bush, METARUNGIA longistrobus, is pure delight. It hails from the Lowveld originally, and is extraordinarily useful because it thrives and flowers both in hot sunny spots and dappled shade. It begins flowering in March and can continue through into early May, bearing pale gold flower spikes that are absolutely adored by sunbirds. Best for me is the tiny green caterpillar that I find nestled in its leaves, because both Diederick’s and Klaas’s cuckoo visit the plant in search of this worm snack. Some years we are blessed with a Klaas’s cuckoo that spends the winter in the garden instead of heading off for warmer climes. Such joys are possible only if your garden can offer a continuous supply of insects. You can achieve this by having mostly, if not all, indigenous plants and a ‘no pesticide and poisons’ policy.
As a companion to Metarungia I love to use PYCNOSTACHYS urticifolia (blue boys). This easy to grow shrub bears electric blue flowers and looks particularly stunning at dusk. It also goes by the name of ‘hedgehog plant’ because of its prickly little seed heads. Although often plagued by gall-like growths on the stems, the plants don’t appear to suffer harm, nevertheless I find it best to remove the older plants and simply replant the seedlings that invariably pop up all over the garden.
To add to the wonderful show, plant some of the ever-popular lion’s ear species (Leonotis species) with their velvety-orange whorls so beloved of sunbirds. My favourite is LEONOTIS intermedia, which flowers almost all year in our part of frost-free KwaZulu-Natal; I am sure the constant deadheading in my garden helps this continuous flowering process. If you decide to use LEONOTIS leonurus you could plant the new varieties in shades of white, cream and peach. Some people are concerned that sunbirds don’t visit the white forms of this Leonotis, but they certainly do in my garden.
A group of Metarungia, Pycnostachys and Leonotis is riveting, both to people and birds, and to complete this delightful picture I like to add SALVIA africana-lutea (beach salvia). With its grey foliage this beauty provides texture and contrast to the plantings, even when it is not in flower. The bonus is the brick red flowers that fade to brown, which appear in spring and summer, and which attract the attentions of the local sunbirds. Unfortunately the beach salvia does not tolerate any frost.
So, if your autumn garden lacked colour, interest and sustenance for wildlife, or any of these three, then re-look at your plantings and plan to plant a few of these delightful shrubs.