As practical as it’s pretty, this stunning native plant does a great job at smothering weeds, is as easy as pie to grow in a sunny spot and in well drained soils, and looks fresh and bright all year round. Coprosma ‘Autumn Haze’ is perfect for low maintenance gardens where the priority is avoiding work, but it also has enough class to justify including it in the gardens of those who love plants for their foliage textures and colours.
It’s superb when combined with plants that have burgundy, deep red or chocolate coloured foliage. In good soils, try combining it with Loropetalum ‘China Pink’, another small foliage shrub, noted for its burgundy foliage which is striking year round, with lively interludes of reddish-pink new foliage tips and pink flowers in spring. Or plant it between the exceptional Cordyline ‘Red Fountain’ which has narrow, cascading, deep red foliage, and the small growing Euphorbia ‘Kea’ which has rich green flower heads over many months, starting in winter.
Because Coprosma ‘Autumn Haze’ is such an adaptable plant, it grows readily in beach gardens where its drought tolerance once established makes it very useful. Use its bright, tightly knit foliage as a lively contrast to bold succulents such as the almost black Echeveria ‘Black Knight’ or chocolate red Aeonium ‘Schwartzkopf’. Or plant it as a foreground to shrubby Leucadendrons such as ‘Cream Delight’.
With native plants it makes a strong statement. Grow it with other, low, spreading or bushy natives such as hummock forming Coprosma ‘Mangatangi’ or grow it as a ground covering plant right in front of a closely clipped, low hedge of a compact growing native such as Corokia cotoneaster or Pittosporum ‘Midget’. On a bank or wall, combine it with ground covering, blue-grey foliaged Pimelea prostrata.
The colours and texture of Coprosma ‘Autumn Haze’ also make it a great plant to grow between native flaxes (Phormium). Use it with the dusky coloured Phormium ‘Merlot’ or one of the brightly striped varieties such as ‘Sunset Dreams’.
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Schemes & Themes
using Liddle Wonder Plants