Plant indigenous: Crassula multicava and Bulbine latifolia
Lindsay Gray, on behalf of Hillcrest Conservancy, will produce weekly articles regarding the various indigenous plants you can plant in your garden.
WINTER is possibly the most colourful period in an indigenous garden with the many glorious aloes, shrubs and perennials currently in bloom.
Two pretty, succulent groundcovers that are flowering everywhere presently will add the finishing touches to your winter garden, and those are the pink Crassula multicava, and Bulbine latifolia with its whimsical yellow spires.
Crassula multicava
This low-growing succulent reaches a height of possibly 300mm in maturity. It has rounded leaves with pretty star-shaped, soft-pink flowers that stand erect from the plant, hence its common name of Fairy Crassula.
It is extremely waterwise and tolerates full sun and dry shade, making it an all-rounder in the garden.
This lovely little succulent can be grown from cuttings which have an enormously successful strike rate. Once it has finished flowering, tiny leaflets are produced on the tips of the flower stalks.
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These can be collected and distributed in other parts of the garden.
Crassula multicava occurs naturally on forest margins, rivers and the banks of streams, as well as in coastal and sub-tropical thicket, so it is ideally suited to our climatic region. It is a hardy little plant and even when monkeys or dogs have flattened an area of this groundcover, it comes back very quickly.
The plants grow uniformly and, when massed, they make the most striking display. Bulbine latifolia
This beautiful, starfish-shaped succulent has soft, lime-green leaves with spires of bright yellow flowers.
Bulbine latifolia (previously known as Bulbine natalensis) will tolerate full sun but is happiest in semi shade. When in doubt, use the plant in a position that receives morning sun and afternoon shade.
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The plant propagates easily from suckers that can be divided and planted out, as well as from seed.
The healing properties of the sap contained in the leaf are astounding.
The sap is often used to bring immediate relief to insect stings, severe sunburn and is even reported to help heal the necrotic site on the body caused by the bite of certain spiders and snakes.
The textural quality of these beauties makes each of them a real winner. They can be massed individually in the front of your garden beds, grouped in clusters among other succulent species or planted in drifts under trees.
They need very little water so they are best planted with other plants that also have low water requirements.
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