5 Key Reasons for Growing Indian Hawthorn

On a recent visit to St Julian’s in Malta, I came across a shrub that I was not familiar with. I am always looking around for plants, shrubs and trees that are attractive and unusual to me. This plant was used in the landscape gardening around our hotel and proved quite effective in that situation.

5 Reasons for Using Indian Hawthorn in Landscape Gardening.

  • Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica) is an evergreen shrub that maintains glossy green foliage all year. In the spring it produces clusters of fragrant pink or white flowers, followed by dark berries in autumn. Hence, an interest plant all year round.
  • The plant is low maintenance. Indian hawthorn requires little care once established. It’s does not require much watering and will survive through a dry spell. It needs only occasional pruning to keep its bushy shape and thrives in a variety of soil types with good drainage.
  • The shrub can be fashioned into many uses and is a versatile plant. It can be used for hedges, borders, or as a stand-alone specimen in gardens, patios, and even grown in containers.
  • It is both heat and salt tolerant. When I think of the situation these plants were in, close by the salty Mediterranean waters that can, in autumn and winter be rough with salt water spray and punishing winds, and yet hot and arid in summer months. This plant can take some punishment.
  • The Indian Hawthorn can support the local ecology and attract pollinators like bees and butterflies that we so desperately need, and the berries provide food for the birds.

So, all in all, a good choice to fill a space with an attractive shrub that won’t take up much time and resources or need replacing every bad year.

Rhaphiolepis indica - Indian Hawthorn

Similar Posts

  • Cabbage Tree Palm – Effective Exotic Looking Plant

    The Cabbage Tree is a plant I often see feature in many gardens around me where the climate is mild and you find a sheltered sunny spot. Cordyline australis, commonly known as the cabbage tree, is a striking evergreen plant native to New Zealand. It can grow up to 20m and live for several centuries, but I mainly see it around 2 to 5m high. 

    Some people may consider the Cabbage Tree as a palm tree but there is another tree that is native of southeastern US that is known as the Cabbage Palm. Looks somewhat similar but is the Sabal palmetto. The Cabbage Tree may have multiple trunks that branch out into  separate  into multiple flowering heads and a crown of palm like leaves that are long, slender and sword like. In flower, the heads produce a cluster of small, creamy-white flowers. They are fragrant and in a fir tree like spike that can be up to 1m in length, beneath is the green new foliage and if left the brown faded remnants of the past year.

    Cordyline australis - Cabbage Tree

  • Ornate Tailed Digger Wasp: Nature’s Stunning Marvels

    The ornate tailed digger wasp is a striking insects with its vividly patterned black and yellow abdomen. This is something I found out when discovering a series of holes in a well trodden path that was hard packed sandy soil. What could they be, ants, miner bees? 

    Observe for a while and the occupants arrive to hover a moment then go head first into the hole just about wide enough for it to crawl down. It appears to be an ornate tailed digger wasp, now classified as the Cerceris rybyensis, of the family Philanthidae. 

    These wasps have exceptional burrowing skills, which they use to create underground nests for their young. They are solitary creatures that hunt mining bees to feed off. The tunnel goes down vertically for about 6 inches then turns horizontal. 

    Cerceris rybyensis - ornate tailed digger wasp
    Cerceris rybyensis - ornate tailed digger wasp

  • Persian Cornflower – Vibrant Colour & Stunning Form

    The Persian Cornflower in its cultivated form has a striking colour and a beautiful shape. Vivid pink and opens very similar to a thistle shape. Some have a white or cream centre, but in this particular cultivar the centre carries the main colour.

    Persian Cornflower not your average Daisy

    As part of the Asteraceae family, one of the largest, it resembles so many other members. However, this is likely best classified as a Psephellus dealbatus and not Centaurea. The plant is native from Turkey and up through the Caucasus but introduced to much of Northern Europe.

    This plant loves full sun in nutrient-poor but well-drained soil. This makes the plant ideal for a cross between border, cottage garden or pseudo mediterranean  garden that is not too hot or dry. Definitely more impressive than the common cornflower.

    Psephellus dealbatus - Persian Cornflower

  • Poinsettia Plant Care – Outdoors

    On a recent trip to St Julian’s, Malta, strolling down the road from my favourite Sicilian coffee shop, I came across a plant growing in a way I had to seen before. The plant itself was familiar, although there are lots of plants that have fresh new leaves of bright red. This was the first time I had seen a Poinsettia other than in a plant pot in Winter Holidays. Understanding proper poinsettia plant care can help ensure these vibrant plants flourish beyond the holiday season.

    This one was growing in a small patch of ground in an otherwise stone paved street. It has shelter from the elements by being close to the building with some overhead protection from the midday sun. The plant looked healthy and had grown to about 2 meters high and 1 meter wide, an impressive feat of poinsettia plant care in an urban environment.

    Growing Outside Poinsettia Plant Care

    These plants are native of Mexico and Central America where they thrive in a warm stable climate that is moist but well drained. They need some sunshine but don’t like extremes or sudden climate changes. In their native environment they can grow to a height of up to 3 meters, provided they receive the right poinsettia plant care.

    The other surprise is that they are in fact a Euphorbia, Euphorbia pulcherrima. The same Genus as commonly called Spurge. I don’t think I will be planting one outside anytime soon as the climate here is just too variable, so likely the next time I see one will be December

    Poinsettia plant care

  • Mayflower for May Day

    May 1st opens with the flower that is often referred to as ‘May Blossom’ or simply, ‘May’. Found extensively in Europe the Common Hawthorn or Crataegus monogyna is part of the Rose family, Rosaceae.

    Whilst the Hawthorn can grow into a tree of some 30+ feet, it is often used in hedges and trimmed annually to keep its size and shape. However, when allowed to grow into a row of trees, you get the wall of white blossom that looks so impressive. Hawthorne is good for the ecology providing for birds and insects alike.

    Crataegus monogyna - Common Hawthorn - May Flower

  • Musk Mallow – A stunner in the Flowering Meadow

    The flowering meadows are in full swing and among the stand out plants I found was this Musk Mallow. The Mallow I normally see is the large shrub mallow often used in borders for height and width, the Malva arborea or Tree Marrow. This Mallow sits just above the grasses to produce a stunning flower head that stands out as a flower among flowers. The Musk Mallow is part of the mallow family (Malvaceae), and can be seen in meadows, hedgerows and by roadsides.

    Musk Mallow Alba

    The flowers emit a slight musky scent, hence the name. They are a perennial flowing plant that is native to Europe and Western Asia. Sometimes used for its culinary and medicinal use, best left to the experts. They certainly standout in wherever they can be found flowering. Some Musk Mallow naturally form a white flower, in this case identified as Malva moschata f. alba.

    Malva moschata pink - Musk Mallow