Camellia japonica Lovelight

This time of year, as we approach mid-July, really does feel like the depths of winter, and as usual, my garden is not a pretty picture at all. And yes, I moan about it every year! So many straggly summer- and autumn-blooming plants lolling everywhere, awaiting their annual pruning next month. Unsightly gaps where herbaceous plants have disappeared into dormancy. Weeds everywhere, due to a few weeks of being away in recent times and lots of rain during that time! I never like my garden at this time of year but as I prowled around this week, I found a few vignettes that lifted my spirits. And after all, there are only a few more weeks till we start to turn the corner into spring!

Camellia Blondy with Viburnum tinus

Camellia Blondy with Viburnum tinus

Of course, Japonica camellias are the saviours of winter gardens in Sydney. Their sumptuous blooms defy the cold weather and there are just so many beautiful ones: I really should add more to my garden! At the moment, I am particularly enjoying the pristine perfection of my white, semi-double 'Lovelight', which has lots of flowers this year (pictured at the start of the blog). I also love the miniature-flowered camellias: their dainty blooms remind me of spring Prunus blossoms. One combination that I have been relishing the past few weeks is that of miniature-flowered 'Blondy' camellia with shrubby Viburnum tinus behind it. Both shrubs are about the same height of around 3 m, both with lush green foliage. The blooms of both are white with pinkish buds, and the clustered, lacy, posies of the Viburnum inflorescences provide a contrast of texture and form to the rounded floral shape of 'Blondy'. The shrubs are at the bottom of a path leading to my back garden and I love gazing at them every time I walk down there.

Salvia rubiginosa with Aechmea gamosepala

Salvia rubiginosa with Aechmea gamosepala

There are many Salvia shrubs that flower in winter but a number of these are the very large ones that need a lot of pruning, and I don't have many of these left these days, apart from lovely burgundy-pink 'Timboon'. However, some smaller winter-blooming specimens are sparking joy, especially Salvia rubiginosa (now correctly known as Salvia mocinoi, ht 1-1.5 m). This one has sprays of intensely blue flowers, from June until October! A bonus is that it grows well in part shade. I like it paired with Aechmea gamosepala, a bromeliad that sports its unusual thick bristles of purplish-pink bracts tipped with iridescent, blue bead-like flowers now. The blues of the two plants match quite well. I am thinking of other places in my garden where I can slip some more of this salvia in, as the flowers would also go brilliantly with orange and yellow hues.

Salvia elegans Purple Form with silver birch, Spanish moss and succulent

Salvia elegans Purple Form with silver birch, Spanish moss and succulent

It also teams well with another winter-flowering Salvia that I have kept in my garden: Salvia elegans Purple Form, which is quite different from the more commonly seen Salvia elegans, colloquially known as pineapple sage, which has bright red flowers in autumn. This Purple Form has dainty sprays of cerise flowers for so long in winter and spring. Though it gets to 2-3 m tall, it isn't too wide, and if cut back after flowering then again in mid-summer, it can be kept more compact. Mine leans against an old silver birch tree that is festooned with Spanish moss; recently I added a silver and purple-tinged succulent to the scene, and I am enjoying this little vignette (pictured above) at the moment.

Abutilon flowers with jonquils

Abutilon flowers with jonquils

Abutilon are very floriferous in winter in Sydney, and they will continue all through spring. A year or so ago, I planted a cheerful yellow-flowered one with an orange-bloomed one to sort of intertwine, and I put lots of 'Soleil d'Or' jonquil bulbs underneath them to echo their hues. The effect has sort of worked though the Abutilon are a bit rangy and their foliage was attacked by a horrible, hole-making bug at some point! Jonquils are one of the more reliable traditional winter/spring bulbs to grow in Sydney and over time, they multiply into thick clumps.

Fuchsia Gerhadas Panache with Iresine herbstii Brilliantissima

Fuchsia Gerhadas Panache with Iresine herbstii Brilliantissima

The pink-cerise foliage of Iresine herbstii 'Brilliantissima'looks a little sad at this time of year, as it is a warm-climate plant, but it is still providing a nice foil for some of my winter-flowering plants. It is not a bad match for the lantern-like blooms of Phymosia umbellata (related to Abutilon) and is a pretty background to the indefatigable Fuchsia 'Gerhada's Panache', which basically flowers all year in Sydney!

Helleborus foetidus Gold Bullion with golden Acanthus and Syngonium

Helleborus foetidus Gold Bullion with golden Acanthus and Syngonium

In a shaded spot in my garden, I always look forward to the lime-green bells of Helleborus foetidus 'Gold Bullion' at this time. It grows nearby Acanthus mollis 'Hollard's Gold', which has luxuriant lime-green foliage at its best in winter, a pale lime-green variant of Syngonium, and a gold-edged Liriope cultivar called 'Gold-banded'. It is pleasing with the different leaf forms, and the hellebore seeds gently, so that new plants are ready to take over when the older plants fade away every few years.

These little scenes are few and far between in my garden but are enough to encourage me that all is not lost! I'd love to hear what you are enjoying in your July garden.