Inside Honey’s Hardy Garden & Border Combinations - Part Two

We’re back in Honey Atkinson’s garden, this time a little closer to her home. Photographer, grower and keen observer of the natural world, Honey gardens on 10 acres near Bermagui on the NSW South Coast, where hardy plants and repeated favourites have gradually found their place.

In Part One, we wandered through six combinations from the wider garden. Now, we’re looking at four more plant pairings around the house, and there are some very simple ideas here worth saving.

1. Lavender + Blueblossom

A sweep of lavender sits behind Blueblossom in the foreground, bringing together two different shades and habits of growth.

There’s a looseness to this combination that suits Honey’s garden particularly well. Rather than each plant sitting separately, the Blueblossom spreads below while the lavender rises behind it, giving the planting depth.

It’s a useful bit of inspiration when looking for garden planting ideas: think not only about which colours work together, but how one plant can sit in front of another.

GARDEN WITH THE COTTON NIGHTDRESS

2. Blueblossom + licorice plant

Up close, Blueblossom appears again, this time alongside licorice plant.

The contrast comes largely through the foliage, with the licorice plant bringing a softer grey note into the planting. Honey would use more of it throughout the garden if she could, but it is a vigorous spreader and can suffocate neighbouring plants, so she gives it plenty of room.

A good reminder that successful planting combinations aren't only about how plants look together. How they grow together matters just as much.

3. Lavender + Westringia

Lavender makes another appearance beside Westringia, one of Honey’s favourite tough, drought-tolerant plants.

Both sit comfortably within the restrained palette seen throughout the garden, where purple flowers, green foliage and occasional silvery-grey tones are repeated rather than constantly introducing something new.

For anyone interested in drought-tolerant plants, Honey’s approach is worth noting: find the plants that are happy in your conditions, then let those reliable performers reappear elsewhere.

4. Lavender + saltbush

Here lavender is paired with saltbush, bringing purple flowers against the softer, silvery foliage.

It’s another example of how Honey uses contrast without making a bed feel busy. Colour catches your eye first, but foliage does a great deal of the quieter work, something worth remembering when thinking about Australian garden design and planting for dry conditions.

GARDEN WITH THE COTTON NIGHTDRESS

The wider picture

Step back, and all these smaller combinations begin to make sense as part of one garden.

Lavender, pig’s ear, Blueblossom and licorice plant mingle closer to the house, with buddleia, salvia and still more lavender appearing beyond. Plants seen in one bed turn up again somewhere else, so the garden feels connected without everything needing to match.

The biggest lesson? Once you find plants that thrive together, you don’t always need to go searching for something new. Repeat them, move them around, grow some from cuttings or seed, and allow the garden to find its own rhythm.

Follow Honey for more from her garden, rural life and everything she grows and makes along the way. Honey and her mother Leonie also share their hard-won lessons in our free guide, Gardening with Kikuyu Grass: Lessons and Tips, well worth a read if Kikuyu has found its way into your patch.

Missed Part One? Revisit Honey’s clever plant pairings for a hardy, thriving garden here.