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In the garden beds from the main house to the tennis court
I have planted cold tolerant bromeliads in tree stumps and shade loving cordylines to effect
I've planted the bromeliad 'neoregelia mcwilliamsii' and it has climbed up the tree fern trunk throwing out hard woody stems with new pups on the ends. It has vivid yellow green leaves and a red centre when in flower with small blueish/purple flowers.
I've planted some 'Aechmea Blanchetiana' bromeliads in the top garden. They are a true full-sun tolerant variety. It's a big, upright plant, and wide yellow leaves that turn red from the tips down as it gets more sun.
Cordylines can give year round colour in a shady spot that really compliments other plants like palms. The range of colours is absolutely stunning. Other colour combinations to watch for include: green and an almost burnt orange; green and bright pink, and the good thing about these leaves is they stay that colour all year round.
It's interesting to learn how cordyline leaves get their colour. The green colouring is chlorophyll, and when that breaks down, the chemical that's remaining is anthocyanin which is what produces the coloured red leaves. In yellow leaves, the remaining chemical is xanthophyll and if we had an orange leaf like the 'jaffa' variety, it would be carotene!
