The gold and green foliage of Pseudopanax ‘Gold Splash’ is so bright that sometimes there’s nothing to be gained by trying to tone it down. Far better to go with the flow and plant it among other bold foliage to create a dazzling, sunshine colour themed area of the garden, using a range of small through to large plants with yellow and gold foliage and flowers.
Trees and shrubs for such a planting could include other natives such as Melicope ‘Sunshine’, which has bright yellow and green foliage, Coprosma ‘Green and Gold’ and yellow flaxes (Phormium) such as ‘Yellow Wave’ and, right in the foreground, the low growing, pale golden foliaged Cassinia ‘Greenhills’.
Foreground plantings can include non-native, golden grasses such as Acorus ‘Ogon’ and Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’, along with tall stemmed, golden flowered perennials such as Dahlia ‘Knockout’ and Hemerocallis ‘Stella Bella’.
Another way in which to use the vibrant colours of Pseudopanax ‘Gold Splash’ is as a contrast to shrubs and trees with green, burgundy and chocolate foliage.
Other, more restrained Pseudopanax make attractive companions for ‘Gold Splash’ too, especially varieties such as Pseudopanax adiantifolius, with fern-like foliage, and the bronze-black Pseudopanax lessonii ‘Nigra’.
Bronze flaxes make attractive foreground plants for Pseudopanax ‘Gold Splash’. Green foliaged Pittosporums, such as the handsome ‘Forest Green’ and the very dense growing ‘Sumo’, are also very effective in this regard. The Pittosporums can be clipped to make them into interesting rounded shrubs and Pseudopanax ‘Gold Splash’ also responds to pruning by growing in a bushier, denser style.
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Schemes & Themes
using Liddle Wonder Plants