Before and after

Here's a good "before, after, and today" evolution of the left bed as you walk into the garden.

L-R: February 2009, February 2010 and February 2016

In 2009 we had a Leucadendron at the front - that was killed by dog pee. You can also see lots of small clumps of Dietes that did really well in the end.

By 2010 the Leucadendron at the front was killed by dog pee. I replaced it with a very successful Cortaderia selloana "Silver Comet" and our Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is to the right, behind it. I'd put a small Agave americana variegata at the front, and some yellow Osteospermum are flowering away merrily to the right of that. The Brugmansia was the biggest plant in the bed, and a small Phormium tenax "Rubrum" and a clump of orange flowering Chasmanthe are poking up at the back. A small Coprosma australis (variegated) and a Euonymus japonica "Microphylla Variegata" (Variegated Boxleaf Euonymus) can be seen as smallish, yellowish blobs on the left side too/ We'd made a nice twig border around the bed front to define it too.

And today in 2016 the Cortaderia selloana "Silver Comet" did so well that we've divided it and retained a clump at the front, with a nice Phlomis fruticosa (Jerusalem sage) to its left. The Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is still going strong, too. The Agave americana variegata at the front got too big and moved elsewhere, and the yellow Osteospermum didn't last: I replaced them with Cotyledon orbiculata var. oblonga clumps.

The Brugmansia is still there, but dwarfed by the big Hakea suaveolens, and the small Phormium tenax "Rubrum" is now huge though you can't see it since the Dodonaea viscosa (Purple Hopseed Bush) planted in 2009 is bigger. I moved a red Cordyline nearby, and the clump of orange flowering Chasmanthe got swapped for a yellow clump you can see flowering. The Coprosma australis (variegated) got huge and was very successful, and the Euonymus japonica "Microphylla Variegata" (Variegated Boxleaf Euonymus) struggled a bit but lives on, seeming to do better this last year. The twig border composted away, and was replaced by stones again.

Good to look back now and again to see what plants do best, and remember which ones not to buy again ;)