Liriopes – What makes them great?
What makes Liriopes great and why do we think they should be in every garden?
Liriopes have been an extremely popular landscape plant in many parts of the world for numerous years, although exotic grasses have never been as popular in Australia as native grasses. There are a number of different varieties available in Australia now and with the robustness and versatility of this grass like plant we believe their popularity will continue to increase for years to come.
Liriopes thrive in Australia and will tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions including hot dry windy environments, humidity and periods of drought, periodic wet feet, and bitterly cold regions and frost. Liriopes are tolerant of full sun to heavy shade and are even suitable to be planted in coastal areas as they will tolerate salt. Due to the fact that Liriopes are very disease tolerant, it makes them the ideal plant for tropical and subtropical climates. But it’s not just their toughness that’s remarkable, they are also extremely versatile in their application and can be used in gardens as groundcovers, as border plants, in green walls, green roofs, rain gardens and as feature plants. Liriopes can be used for mass plantings, specimen planting, as a colour contrast plant and it is also proven that Liriopes are successful at preventing soil erosion on even the steepest hillside. Astonishingly some varieties are also the ideal lawn alternative. Generally most Liriope varieties only require pruning or cutting back once a year if the leaves become untidy, Liriopes can be cut back low in winter, resulting in quick rejuvenation in spring. The smaller types can even be mown with a catcher attached in late winter, greatly reducing the work load.
It is never easy to find exotics plant that will thrive in the harsh Australian conditions, however Liriopes have the necessary toughness and versatility to be an asset to any Australian garden.
Pictured: Amethyst™ Liriope
Just Right® Liriope muscari ‘LIRJ’ PBR
Just Right® Liriope is a much better alternative to the popular Liriope Evergreen Giant, as it is more evergreen, burns less in frost and sun and has a much more uniform shape and size. Just Right® Liriope works all over Australia and is the best evergreen landscape Liriope available.
Amethyst™ Liriope muscari ‘LIRTP’ PBR
Amethyst™ Liriope is a compact Liriope with stunning dark green foliage that contrasts with beautiful deep purple flowers. It can tolerate most conditions from hot dry regions to bitterly cold areas and has a reasonably good winter colour compared to other Liriopes.
Pictured: Pure Blonde™ Liriope
Isabella® Liriope muscari ‘LIRF’ PBR
Isabella® Liriope is a fine leaf compact spreading Liriope that has beautiful pink flowers and is the ideal one mow per year lawn alternative. It is also a better border plant than Mondo as it performs better in full sun, drought and frost and also recovers better to damage. Mowing this variety in late winter every year creates a super low maintenance lawn alternative. It can even survive in up to 90% shade, where traditional lawn will fail.
Silverlawn™ Liriope muscari ‘LIRSS’ PBR
Silverlawn™ Liriope has a delicate cream and green variegated foliage that almost looks silver from a distance. This Liriope would make a delightful garden feature or ground cover when planted in a group, contrasting against other plants. The Silverlawn™ Liriope plant will tolerate full sun to heavy shade and also tolerates frost and drought. Mowing in late winter helps rejuvenate this plant, making it a beautiful ‘Silver Lawn’.
Pink Pearl™ Liriope muscari ‘VS001’ PBR
Pink Pearl™ Liriope has an elegant green and cream variegated foliage that compliments its stunning pink flowers. It is compact, low growing and sun and shade tolerant with very clean foliage. Tolerates drought, frost, humidity and salt in coastal areas. Mowing in late winter in recommended.
For a durable, robust, multipurpose plant that is easy to maintain; you can’t go wrong with Liriopes.
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