Not perhaps the most flattering picture of this South African Buddleja. The Flower panicles can be much larger than this, the individual flowers are somewhat larger than B davidii and a soft lilac carrying a good scent. The leaves are a lovely, large and white felted with wavy edges. I overwinter this outside but under sheltered cover, I have seen it grown outside trained against a wall at Stockton Bury Gardens in Worcestershire and at the Botanic Nursery where it came from. So far it looks a bit scrappy at flowering time - it flowers it seems on almost bare twigs before the new leaves.

South African - 'Weeping Sage', vigorous loose growing evergreen buddleja. Parchment coloured sweetly scented tubular flowers in winter. Is frost hardy and will overwinter outside in a sheltered place in the south to around -5°C.

I grow another South African, B. saligna or 'False Olive'. This is totally different, small leaves and loose growth with puffs of white flowers in summer [almost like elder flowers] and not sweetly scented [I don't think, other sources suggest it is]. Fast growing in the summer but I have found it does get a bit crisped and unhappy in frost by late winter. Link to more information on B. saligna http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantab/buddlesalig.htm

Camellias

C Nobilissima?

Camellias are generally acid soil lovers, planting them in limey/alkaline soil will either kill them off quickly, or they will pine and mope with yellowing leaves and weak growth[as ever there are probably exceptions to the rule!].
Some Camellias are hardier than others and will take more frost and cold. The less hardy are more suitable for conservatories. Expert opinion states that they can be planted in shade or sun, but if they get too dry the buds drop [as I have found].
My mother has one planted at the bottom of a dry wall in fairly alkaline soil that gets full sun most of the day, its leaves may sometimes look a little unhappy and it doesn't grow much but it flowers its socks off.
>> Love hate relationships with Camellias .................

Camellia japonica China Clay

It was given to me as a freebie as Cornish Clay but a couple of sources have suggested the name is actually China Clay - whatever, she is stunning. Simple cupped semi-double white blooms and a golden central boss of stamens. Leaves a dark glossy green and arrow shaped with a slight serration. There is nothing stiff or tarty about this one. She does hang her nead down though.

Camellia japonica Masayoshi

Listed in The Plantfinder as Camellia japonica Masayoshi and in Rix and Phillips as a strain with a number of named cultivars, take your pick. It is a vibrant red with white splashes, the white splashing and the level of doubleness varies year to year and flower to flower.
Hilliers remark that it is slow growing, I think I would attest to that. With me it lives in a pot in a shady position for most of the year. I take pity on it when the buds start to show colour and move it into the sun until it finishes flowering. It is the first camellia in flower for me starting in February.

Camellia japonica Tiffany x C.lutchuensis Scentuous [1981]

Click for a bigger picture

An Autumn flowering camellia. It has a looser feel to it than some of the other types of camellia. It comes from Japan where it grows in scrub and open forest. The younger shoots are bronzed which creates more interest. This specimen is grown in a pot in ericaceous compost in shade. I have found it very sensitive to 'bud drop' if it dries out at all in the build-up to flowering.
The Narumigata that I have flowers almost pure white, some references say it can also be found with pinkish flowers. It is reported to be scented which is mainly why I bought it, it is, oddly so and not strongly, neither pleasant or unpleasant! [Source: Bodnant Nursery]

An evergreen shrub with dark green leathery leaves and lightly scented white flowers. A native of - you've guessed it! - California [primarily the Sierra Nevadas]. Reasonably hardy, you often find it grown against a warm wall in well drained soil. It has been noted that some plants in commerce are more reluctant to flower than others, Ladham's Variety is often cited as one to look out for.

It is quite an ungainly grower and needs a bit of a nip and tuck with secateurs to keep it bushy and tight - best done after flowering. I have also found in my garden that black aphids are partial to the flowering shoots [go for it ladybirds!], otherwise it is trouble free. Flowering June, Evergreen

Correa

x Marian's Marvel
Correas are from SW Australia and Tasmania, in some parts of the UK this would make it a cool conservatory plant. This bush has grown outside for a number of years in my town garden and will take some degree of frost. It was at it's unhappiest when it had snow frozen on it for a few days. It grows in poor dry alkaline soil against a wall in sun [but doesn't get much direct sunlight in the winter].

It is evergreen with small rounded hard glossy leaves which have a rusty dusting on the backs and is quite an ungainly grower needing pruning back after flowering to encourage bushier growth. The pink and yellow bell flowers are produced over a long period from October to late Spring.

There are quite a few Correa to choose from including some with white flowers. Evergreen flowering in N hemisphere Autumn - April

Cosmos atrosanguineus [Chocolate Cosmos]

Many of the original species hail from S. Africa, C.aurea or 'Falling Stars' is one such. A lot of people will have inherited a dusty clump of crocosmia in some garden at some point and either left it to fill a neglected space or discarded it for something 'more interesting' - I know I have. I also assumed from the places that you find them 'doing their own thing' that they were indestructible - not so. Some crocosmia are less hardy than others and they also generally like moist rather than very dry conditions if you want them to grow well.

The first crocosmia to change my opinion that they were a bit 'boring', was the bronze leaved Solfatare, then I discovered the large flowered cultivars such as Emily McKenzie and Star of the East [@1912] and I am still catching up. Some of the bronzed leaved cultivars in particular such as Dusky Maiden [small tan flowers] and Gerbe d'Or [yellow flowers similar to Solfatare but larger growing] may look good combined with grasses.

This is a UK NCCPG Collection Holder - lots of pictures: The African Garden

Norwich are building a collection as there were number of well known breeders working from the late 1800's and the early years of the 20th Century in that area.