Bring Your Garden to Life with Indigenous Colour!
Our gardens can be so much more than beautiful spaces. By choosing indigenous plants, Bazley homeowners can help provide food, shelter and nesting opportunities for birds, butterflies, bees and other wildlife.
Indigenous plants are naturally suited to our local climate and generally require less water and maintenance than many exotic species. They also help preserve Bazley’s unique coastal character and create important pockets of habitat throughout the village.
Here are four colourful, hardy indigenous plants that are well suited to coastal KwaZulu-Natal gardens.
Tecoma capensis – Cape Honeysuckle
With its bright, trumpet-shaped flowers, Cape honeysuckle brings a wonderful burst of colour to the garden.
- Flowers for much of the year
- Attracts sunbirds, butterflies and other pollinators
- Can be grown as a shrub, hedge or climber
- Hardy and fast-growing
- Available in the traditional orange variety as well as a striking yellow variety, which provides a beautiful contrast in the garden
Leonotis leonurus – Wild Dagga or Lion’s Ear
This striking plant produces distinctive tiers of fuzzy orange flowers and makes an impressive feature in any garden.
- An excellent nectar source for sunbirds
- Loved by bees and butterflies
- Drought-tolerant once established
- Adds height and structure to garden beds
Broadleaf wild dagga, Leonotis intermedia, is another attractive indigenous variety that grows well in our area.
Barleria obtusa – Bush Violet
Bush violet produces masses of beautiful violet-blue flowers and is especially eye-catching when planted in groups.
- Hardy and fast-growing
- Useful as a groundcover or low border
- Attracts butterflies and other pollinators
- Best suited to full sun
For semi-shaded areas, consider the red-flowering Barleria repens. This attractive variety flowers throughout the year, providing lasting colour while supporting garden pollinators.
Crassula multicava – Fairy Crassula
Crassula multicava, commonly known as fairy crassula, produces delicate clusters of tiny, star-shaped pink flowers.
- Grows in both sun and shade
- Ideal for planting beneath trees or in dry garden areas
- Forms an attractive, low-growing groundcover
- Extremely hardy and waterwise
- Provides food for bees and other small pollinators
Fairy crassula should not be confused with Crassula ovata, which is a different species with different leaves and white or pale pink flowers.
Available from the Shangrila Nursery
All the plants featured in this article are available from the Shangrila Nursery at very affordable prices. The nursery stocks traditional orange Cape honeysuckle as well as a limited number of yellow plants, purple and red Barleria, fairy crassula and wild dagga varieties.
As an added incentive, everyone who purchases plants from the Shangrila Nursery will receive a free perennial basil plant to help feed the bees or a free spekboom, a hardy indigenous succulent that makes a wonderful addition to a waterwise garden.
Supporting the nursery also supports the wonderful work taking place at Shangrila and within our community.
Every Indigenous Plant Makes a Difference
You do not need to redesign your entire garden. Replacing even a few exotic plants with locally indigenous species can help create a network of wildlife-friendly spaces across Bazley.
Whenever possible, choose a variety of plants that flower at different times of the year, avoid harmful pesticides and allow a small part of your garden to remain a little wild. A layered garden containing groundcovers, shrubs and trees provides the greatest variety of food, shelter and nesting opportunities.
By gardening with indigenous plants, we can use less water, support local biodiversity and help ensure that Bazley remains a haven for its remarkable wildlife.
Let’s bring our gardens to life—one indigenous plant at a time.
