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 Plant list: Spiky plants
Large, spiky plants are often best used alone as specimens – pieces of living architecture or sculpture. Smaller spiky plants contrast with round, domed plants and make great ‘exclamation marks’ in a planting scheme.
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| Latin name: | | Cordyline |
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| Common name: | | Cabbage tree |
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| Type of plant: | | Tree |
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| Hardiness: | | Half-hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | Creamy white |
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| Leaf colour: | | Green, variegated and reddy-bronze |
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| Height and spread: | | 9m x 2.7m (30ft x 9ft) |
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| Description: | |
Grown primarily for its sword-like foliage, this slow-growing shrub gives shape and texture to the garden year round. There are many colourful varieties, some with variegated leaves.
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| Latin name: | | Phormium |
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| Common name: | | New Zealand flax |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennial |
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| Hardiness: | | Frost-hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | Dull red |
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| Leaf colour: | | Dark green leaves striped vertically with red, bronze, salmon pink and yellow. |
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| Height and spread: | | 3.7m x 1.8m (12ft x 6ft) |
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| Description: | |
Evergreen, upright perennial with tufts of long, sword-shaped, stiff leaves. The short flowering spike is crowned with tubular flowers in summer.
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| Latin name: | | Iris |
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| Common name: | | Iris |
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| Type of plant: | | Bulb |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | Blue, violet, yellow, white |
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| Leaf colour: | | Mid-green |
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| Height and spread: | | 70cm to 1m x indefinite (2ft to 3ft x indefinite) |
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| Description: | |
Bulbous irises are easy to grow in sunny well drained soil. Although they prefer slightly alkaline soil, they will grow in acidic conditions. They have long, arching lance-shaped leaves, with the flowers appearing on the long branching flowering stems.
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| Latin name: | | Yucca |
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| Common name: | | Yucca |
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| Type of plant: | | Shrubs |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy to frost tender |
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| Flower colour: | | White |
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| Leaf colour: | | Light blue, deep green |
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| Height and spread: | | 1.8m to 10m (6ft to 33ft) x 1.2m to 8m (26ft) |
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| Description: | |
Evergreens grown for their bold, sword-shaped leaves (some also have trunks) and their flowering spikes of bell-shaped flowers. Yuccas are a great container plant.
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| Latin name: | | Sisyrinchium |
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| Common name: | | Sisyrinchium |
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| Type of plant: | | Perennial |
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| Hardiness: | | Hardy to half-hardy |
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| Flower colour: | | White, yellow |
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| Leaf colour: | | Light green or variegated |
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| Height and spread: | | 30cm to 60cm x 30cm (1ft to 2ft x1ft) |
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| Description: | |
Clump forming, semi evergreen perennials mainly grown for their strap-shaped, upright leaves. The flowering spikes are flattish. Prefer a position in full sun, but will tolerate shade.
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