The Indigenous Autumn and Winter Garden

Read in Afrikaans

Elsa Pooley, the botanist, artist and author gives us insight and planting tips about native plants that will soon start blooming.

The autumn and winter months are wonderfully colourful in the summer rainfall areas of South Africa – and the air is filled with butterflies and other insects. Seed-eating birds make the most of the seeding grasses and there are a variety of late-summer flowering trees and shrubs which carry fruit into the winter, providing food for a wide range of birds and insects.

The winter garden can be more colourful than the summer garden, it’s just a matter of knowing what to plant. From April to August, the aloes become a brilliant splash of colour and, importantly, the nectar-rich flowers provide food for birds and many insects including a range of bee species. Provide diversity and a mix of textures and colours by planting a large range of other succulent plants too. As the cool dry weather moves in, the leaves of many succulents change to deeper pink and red adding to the colour interest.

The autumn and winter garden should be a rich mix of succulent and herbaceous species. Remember to note the movement of the sun through your garden in winter. The succulents and flowering shrubs mostly need a lot of sun. But there are some good plants which thrive and flower in shade like spur flowers, winter clivia, sand lilies, and white paintbrush lilies. The bulbs are best planted in large groups.

Planning for the autumn and winter garden needs to be done well in advance. Have a look at gardens around where you live, and visit indigenous nurseries to see which plants do best in your climatic conditions. Plan for leaf colour and texture to provide year-round appeal and be aware of flowering seasons for the different species – you will be richly rewarded! After that, pay attention to deadheading and pruning after flowering where necessary, to maintain the garden at its best.

Tip 1: Use waterwise succulent plants in your autumn and winter garden

Aloes, which are form plants in summer, add colour to the garden. Reliable species which grow throughout the summer rainfall area are:

• Krantz aloe (A. arborescens)
• Chabaud’s aloe (A. chabaudii)
• Bitter aloe (A. ferox)
• French aloe (A. pluridens)
• Lebombo aloe (A. spicata)
• Dune aloe (A. thraskii)
• Vanbalen’s aloe (A. vanbalenii)

The following succulents also provide both flowers and colourful leaves in winter. As the cool dry weather moves in, the leaves of many succulents also change to deeper pink and red.

• Cotyledons – pig’s ears (C. orbiculata) with many leaf and colour forms.
• Coral kleinia (Kleinia fulgens)

Crassulas

• Fairy crassula (C. multicava)
• Trailing jade (C. sarmentosa)
• Pink joy (C. ovata)
• Red flames (C. capitella)

Kalanchoes

• White lady (K. thyrsiflora)
• Northern white lady (K. luciae)
• Maroon kalanchoe (K. sexangularis)
• Tugela kalanchoe (K. longiflora)
• Common kalanchoe (K. rotundifolia)

Curios (formerly Senecio)

• Blue fingers (C. crassulifolius)
• Big blue chalksticks (C. ficoides)
• Narrow-leaved chalksticks (C. talinoides)

Senecios

• Barberton senecio (S. barbertonicus)
• Canary creeper (S. tamoides)

Tip 2: Plant winter-flowering bulbs and low-growing perennials

Some excellent winter flowering bulbs and low-growing perennials include:

• Bush violets (Barleria spp)
• Broad-leaved bulbine (Bulbine natalensis)
• Winter clivia (Clivia gardenii)
• Wild rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus)
• White paint brush (Haemanthus albiflos)
• Ribbon bush (Hypoestes aristata)
• Red-hot pokers (Kniphofia praecox), Winter poker (K. rooperi)
• Forest lily (Veltheimia bracteata)

Everlastings (Helichrysum decorum)

• Liquorice plant (H. petiolare)
• Poplar everlasting (H. populifolium)
• Sutherland’s everlasting (H. sutherlandii)

Tip 3: Use local fruiting trees and shrubs in your autumn and winter garden

A variety of local trees and shrubs flower in the late summer and autumn, carrying fruit into winter.

These fruits provide food for a wide range of birds and insects. The main winter flowering trees are the coral trees, with scarlet flowers attracting even non-nectar feeding birds, and the nectar attracts insects which attract insectivorous birds.

The tree fuchsia (Halleria lucida) can bloom off and on during the year. It usually has a flush of flowers in autumn which means it is a good crop of fruit in winter.

Reliable shrubs which flower almost throughout the year, and have a flush of flowers in autumn, these include:

• Cape honeysuckle (Tecoma capensis)
• Bush tick berry (Osteospermum moniliferum) (was Chrysanthemoides monilifera)
• Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata).

Autumn and winter flowering shrubs which bring colour and interest:

• Dombeyas – Forest wild pear (D. tiliacea) and pink wild pear (D. burgessiae)
• Lowveld bitter tea (Gymnanthemum colorata) (was Vernonia colorata)
• Wild daggas – Leonotis species
• Iboza (Tetradenia riparia)
• Round-leaved pink plume (Syncolostemon rotundifolia)

Spur flowers – Plectranthus species:

• Speckled spurflower (P. ciliatus),
• Ecklon’s spurflower (P. ecklonii),
• Pink forest spurflower (P. fruticosus),
• Stoep jacaranda (P. saccatus),
• Zulu spurflower (P. zuluensis)

Remember that all indigenous plants need to be sourced from reliable nurseries, it is illegal to take them from the wild.

About Elsa Pooley

Gardeners who grow mainly indigenous plants will certainly be aware of Elsa Pooley with her impressive work on identifying and documenting indigenous plants in South Africa in her books, but also for her outstanding contribution to the field of botany, her passion for local plants and botanical art. We thank her for fitting into her mad schedule this article that gives us more of an idea of which local plants are vibrant in autumn and winter.

Elsa’s books are available through the KZN Flora and Fauna Publications Trust – www.floratrust.co.za

She wears many hats including running botanical tours, botanical art courses and landscaping. Check out all of her work and get hold of her on her website www.pooley.co.za