Episode: #5 30/09/2006
Presenter: Melissa King

Melissa?s pick of some of the best performers of water wise and outstanding colour plants:

It is still hard to match lavenders. In nature they grow in hot dry exposed places so they have adapted to heat and drought. There is no denying that they are incredibly showy plants which of course have the bonus of a beautiful fragrance. Keep an eye out for newer more compact varieties or those with showy bracts.

If you are after vibrant spring and summer colour then you can?t go past petunias. The Strawberry Sundae? looks as delicious as the name suggests with masses of creamy pink flowers with berry centres. Petunias don?t need a lot of water, in fact they can look scrappy with too much and they are outstanding in pots or hanging baskets, flowering endlessly throughout the warmer months.

For a striking modern appeal try Aeonium ?Schwarzkopf?. You will love its deep black-purple foliage punctuated by brilliant yellow winter flowers.

As far as tough, beautiful climbers go, Hardenbergias are outstanding. They are native to Australia and you will find the wild forms clambering their way along the ground and up trees in bushland across Victoria. There are white, pink and purple forms around, but ?Candy wrapper? is an absolute stunner with masses of lolly pink flowers and a bushy climbing habit, perfect for trellises, fences and archways.

Of course colour doesn?t come from flowers alone and the strappy leafed plants have a lot to offer in terms of dry tolerance. If you want to create impact, look no further than the new Cordyline ?Red Fountain? with cascading rich burgundy foliage or the more upright ?Red Star?.

New Zealand Flax offers a spectrum of foliage colour that is good enough to eat, from the deep wine coloured ?Merlot? to the rich dark brown ?Chocolate Cookie?.

Don?t be fooled by the rain, water is a precious resource, so why not fill your garden with drought proof colour!

For more water smart planting ideas visit www.ourwater.vic.gov.au