This is one of those special native plants that has deep red to burgundy foliage when it receives lots of sun, like Agonis ‘Burgundy’. It is also one of those special native plants that seems to have no height restriction, or rather non that is published, therefore when I found one that is about 10 years old I thought it worth a post. This specimen was about 4 to 5 metres tall.
This is Breynia ‘Ironstone’, a form of Breynia oblongifolia which is commonly found as an under storey plant in coastal NSW bushland. In the image above it had self seeded, producing little babies with the signature red foliage, in the shade it is mainly the new growth that appears red.
Breynia ‘Ironstone’ is a great plant for brightening up shady plantings or screening in difficult positions, it enjoys a moist sheltered position and is quick growing. You can shape it into a small tree by pruning back the lower branches or you can prune it all over to thicken it into a screening shrub.
In the image above I have used it as a feature plant, at the end of a row of Syzygium ‘LuLu’, it has a similar weeping habit and looks somewhat Robinia-like in it leaf structure, making it appropriate for blending into an exotic planting.
The soft, weeping habit stands out against the luscious greens of the lilly pillys and native violets. I would love to see this used as a hedge, I think it would make a wonderful backdrop for the planting in front. They can be a little bit hard to find in a retails nursery so if you spot one grab it, regardless of how sad it looks in its pot, unfortunately many quick growing species don’t look good in a pot for long!
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