We're sliding down the inevitable slope to winter but there are still some good yellows

From the top: Sapindus saponaria drummondii; Ginkgo biloba; Lindera obtusiloba; Asparagus cochinchinensis

Sapindus is a wonderful small tree. Drought tolerant, disease and pest free, and it always seems to assume an attractive shape. The architecture of trees is important. Here in the US, we generally, present company excluded, tend to plant our trees then let them grow/go their own way. Every garden culture is different; some, present company included, start pruning when from the time the tree is planted and decreasingly but regularly until it's no longer in our care. Our goal is to produce a perfect specimen of whatever individual we're working with. We want the Platonic Ideal out of the cave and in the garden. The plant becomes then, a product of our conception and execution. To be a good gardener requires a large component of ego! Anyway, Soapberry is a tree that tends not to need a lot of pruning, a tree that can be trusted to reach maturity without a lot of input from us gardeners.

Hemizygia transvaalensis aka Syncolostemon obermeyerae

I'd never seen this plant before today. I had weekend watering today and there it was in Polyhouse 7, looking like a rangy variegated wintercreeper with pink flowers. I didn't touch it but research tells me that the leaves are fragrant as leaves of members of the mint family are wont to be. It's really almost too much. Like the variegated Weigela that was on the cover of the Spring Hill catalog for so many years. Actually almost exactly like that on a smaller scale. Are they out of business, Spring Hill Gardens? They used to ship plants so small they were barely more than rooted cuttings, or tiny roots with the barest of shoots. When I was landscaping I had clients from time to time who would order quantities of plants from their seductively colorful catalog, then call me to plant them. You know what? If you get 'em in the ground before they dry out, a surprising number of those macropropagules actually lived. Go figure.

Anyway, I never heard of this plant before, or the genus, actually either of the genera. From South Africa, it's a sub-shrub in the Lamiaceae, growing to almost 2m in height. This plant was identified as the cultivar 'Candy Kisses' which almost makes it worse. Apparently it has made it's way to Australia and to North America too; Brad got hold of this from somewhere.