Autumn & Winter Flowering Plants - Cool Season Blooms

 The Bird of Paradise is an unmistakable South African icon, admired for its bold, tropical foliage and brilliant orange-and-blue flowers. A focal plant in any landscape, it provides year-round greenery and dramatic colour when in bloom mainly during May to December.

Best grown in full sun to light shade, Strelitzia reginae is hardy, low-maintenance, and waterwise once established. Its architectural leaves make it equally striking in modern gardens, containers, or as a feature near a pool or patio.

This indigenous beauty is a wind-resistant plant and  suitable for coastal gardens.

Provided with lots of bright light with some direct sun, they can be successfully grown indoors.

Feed with compost in early spring before new growth begins and then fertilize during the growing season.

A quick-growing, magical, perennial shrub forming a lovely, rounded, dense bush. It has dark green, glossy leaves with intensely purple undersides and sprays of lavender flowers. Developed at Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden in South Africa. Indigenous. Flowers in autumn and spring. Morning sun is best. Ideal in pots or flower beds. 

Magic Mona will delight with a profusion of large, beautiful purple flowers during Autumn. A compact grower. A perennial bee magnet to any garden. Ideal in pots or flower beds. Indigenous.

These plants are called cone bushes because the female flowers form woody cones in which the fruits are borne. The Safari Sunset hybrid is also know as the common sunshine conebush and has a long flowering season that stretches from May to December.

The flowers change colour from striking burgundy red in Summer and Autumn to bright yellow and red bi-colour in Winter.

They make a stunning, vibrant display in your garden and are also excellent cut flowers.  Ideal for low maintenance, low water use gardens.

The Conebush 'Burgundy Sunset' (Leucadendron salignum x laureolum) features unusual dark burgundy foliage that provides year-round color in the garden. This beautiful hybrid creates stunning contrast with its rich, deep tones and adds dramatic interest to water-wise landscapes.

Growing Tips: Plant in well-draining soil in full sun for best color intensity. Very drought-tolerant once established and ideal for low maintenance, low water use gardens. Thrives in poor soils without fertilizer. Prune lightly to maintain compact shape and encourage dense growth.

Laurustinus Lucidum,also known as 'Wild Laurel', is widely considered to be a 'Golden oldie'. This versatile plant remains popular for its ability to be a perfect specimen for use in small gardens, in pots and even on balconies. In late winter flattish heads of pink flower buds appear, opening into tiny white flowers. Clusters of small metallic-blue berries mature in autumn. 'Wild Laurel' is a  popular evergreen choice for hedging and also often grown as a compact standard tree. 

It is very attractive when not blooming but particularly striking in late winter when it bears its clusters of showy, salmon-orange, bell-shaped flowers.

Spreading succulent with yellow-green to orange foliage.  White, lightly fragrant flowers in winter.

The Buddleja Auriculata can be planted as either a small evergreen tree or as a large shrub. It is known for its winter enchantment, as it bursts into bloom with honey-scented cream flowers delicately adorning the ends of weeping branches. Buddleja is also an ideal indigenous choice for creating a stunning hedge.

This lovely compact shrub flowers easily from late summer to spring. It's colour changes form orange to pink over this period making it a fantastic plant for gardens or containers. Ideal for low maintenance, low water use gardens.

Also called Schlumbergia or Christmas Cactus. This cascading, epiphytic cactus is ideal for use in hanging baskets.  It has flat segmented stems, resembling crab claws and it bears striking, long-lasting tubular flowers in winter.  Flowers comes in shades of pink, red, purple and orange.  This cactus will even flower indoors. Needs to be watered regularly in spring and summer and much less in winter. Do not place in direct sunlight.

A very delicate semi-succulent perennial herb with tiny bright green leaves in shaded areas, turning maroon in a sunny spot.  Covered in small white flowers from September to May. Ideal to use as an evergreen groundcover in shaded gardens or in a hanging basket.  

The foliage of Eve Prince is finer than other Viburnums. This medium sized, evergreen shrub has dark green leaves and heads of small pink-tinged white flowers in late winter/early spring followed by small blue-black berries. Drought and wind tolerant. Ideal to clip into a hedge or screen. Eve Prince is suitable for container gardening or as a stand-alone specimen in garden beds.