Cabbage Trees

Cabbage Tree and Gum Tree

A strong symbol of a New Zealand garden is the spikey Cabbage Tree, or Cordyline. I have an original trio of these messy tree-plants growing at the very top of the Frisbee Lawn, underneath a large Eucalypt tree.

Cabbage Trees do get eaten by bugs, and they do need a lot of cleaning up underneath (they drop their dead leaves). I have many growing in different parts of the garden - I wouldn't be without them.

They produce large, beautiful flower-heads whose colours are subtle and creamy. I like the way they quickly reach for the sky - the silhouette of a Cabbage Tree top is a stirring sight!

Textural Tree Bark

I need to put in a good word for the Eucalypt (gum) tree, too. It's another messy garden resident, but I love the patterns and light colours on its trunk.

Eucalypts are natives of Australia, so this group of plants in the Moosey garden is doing its bit for trans-Tasman co-operation! This gum tree, like its Cabbage Tree neighbours, has beautiful creamy flowers - very subtle for an Australian...

The New Cordylines Are Planted

Footnote - 2009

Some happy Cordyline additions have just joined the gardens at the top of the Frisbee Lawn - I paid for the pleasure of digging out three monsters (all the fat-leaved hybrid called Green Goddess) from someone else's garden. They were home and planted before you could blink. Instant bulk bought in an online plant auction. Hee hee...