I went out into the welcoming, autumn-crisp, sweet wood-smoke scented morning. My nostrils flared with glee; like the famished sailor home from the sea, the hunter home from the hill.
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In a rush the answer to my puzzle came to me. Set the scene right and the big picture sorts itself out. I should dot the plants about, not confine the Pittosporums to one side-show sector, like visiting poor relatives secluded in the wood-shed. Design for ubiquity; everywhere at once, omnipresence.
Already the ‘Flame’ trees have been fudged into the Coachwood sector. In Oasis Valley, Elizabeth Park, Pittosporaceae family has Native Daphne (Pittosporum undulatum) on the second mound near the Hoop Pines (Araucaria cunniinghamii). But the flowers are obscure. We need to make a statement and Queensland Laurel (Auranticarpa rhombifolia), once called Pittosporum rhombifolium, also with common name Diamond Laurel, this tree has star qualities.
Diamond Laurel will grow some 8 to 12 metres, prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade. It is handsome and decorative. It forms sticky black seeds which attract birds for several months. It is evergreen with rhomboid shiny foliage. Before that the creamy-white flowers, with slight perfume are out from late October to December. They are in clusters or, if you like, terminal compound corymbs.
Nevertheless the big drawcard for Diamond Laurel is the mass display of bright orange fruit capsules, pear-shaped, each some 8mm long. They persist on the tree from summer to midwinter.
If we planted this tree all around Oasis Valley we would have a design plan to take over from the local Wattles when the time comes to remove them. This would prevent a static, disconnected look.
Royal Horticultural Society gardener Matt James recommends we “Repeat, Repeat, Repeat,” to unify a garden design. “Sweeping drifts” create Rhythm.
The orange berries will give Focus, Harmony and Contrast. Such a simple solution. The timber of the Diamond Laurel is called White Hollywood; overall this selection is sure to be a Blockbuster.