Even before you open the gate and enter Penny Ruddock’s small Adelaide property, it’s obvious you’re in for a horticultural treat. Penny has planted a street garden on the verge, dominated by a wonderful combination of wisteria and lavender in full flower. The heady perfume and lovely informality of the wisteria carry over into the front garden, along with impatiens, variegated box hedges, mondo grass and an urn of dwarf variegated flax. Many of the plants are clipped and shaped, for example a very impressive topiary spiral (Cupressus sempervirens ‘Swane’s Golden’), and a hedge of murraya (Murraya paniculata) which is curved to mimic a Gaudi wall. A quirky teapot collection in amongst the foliage adds an element of fun to the garden.
Penny likes to use plants that will survive easily in the tough Adelaide climate, but some of them are hard to find in nurseries. Things like the sansevieria and donkey’s tail (Sedum morganianum) have been grown from cuttings, given to her by friends or are unwanted plants rescued from old gardens.
Contact information:
Penny Ruddock,
Hortus Garden Design
Phone: (08) 8362 2693 Fax: (08) 6363 0121