Purple at Larnach

When we were at Larnach Sun 27 Aug, I took quite a few shots of plants that had purple characteristics so thought I’d bundle them together into this Purple post. I wasn’t deliberately seeking native NZ plants but all of these are. Larnach Castle Garden, Dunedin, New Zealand.

I really liked this shrubby plant and its flower (above) but I had no idea of what it is. Just before publishing this post I had a quick look on the Web and it appears to be Olearia chathamica (Cliff Aster) in which case it is native – the Chatham Islands are part of NZ! I’m very excited about it as I’ve been really keen to see some of the daisy-type flowers of the Chatham Islands and I’m also very keen on Olearias. I’ve cropped out a detail from the above photo (below)

Stunning example of a native NZ flax (coloured cultivar). I don’t know if my overseas readers are aware that there’s an enormous array of coloured cultivars of flax. This one looks particularly healthy and has such shiny leaves it looks like they’ve been polished!

And now my favourite plant! This is a Hebe (apparently we’re supposed to revert to calling them Veronicas again – really annoys me). Look at those beautiful new leaves. There are many different forms and cultivars of Hebe and I LOVE them! When I had my own garden I had many different Hebes in various shapes, colours and forms!

Above photo is of our native tree called the puriri tree (pooh-ree-ree). Its a real treat to see this lovely tree growing at Larnach because it doesn’t naturally grow this far south. It grows into a large tree. Below photo shows more of the extent of the tree.

And lastly, not purple but a different chocolate-coloured flax. Bit unusual really. First, a more close-up shot and then a contextual shot.

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Text and photos by Exploring Colour (2017)