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Lovely shrub of many names: Veronica perfoliata
This is to my knowledge currently Veronica perfoliata, it has gone through several differing identities and name changes, I won’t go into all of that, it just seems a shame as I think it may have detracted people from knowing about this useful plant. Firstly I love it because it has a very Eucalypt like foliage…
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Silver Tea Tree: Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’
This has been my favourite Tea tree for a few years now, it is Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’ and for the first time I saw some more mature specimens when I visited Cranbourne Botanic Gardens in January. I was overjoyed as I have two in my garden that are only head height so far and three…
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Another Native Christmas Tree? Graptophyllum excelsum
Do you think this qualifies as festive looking? It is covered in beautiful bright red flowers over summer (and Christmas), lovely glossy green leaves, and has a sibling called a Holly, I think it ticks all the boxes. This is Graptophyllum excelsum, and would look pretty good dressed up in tinsel.
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Horizontal Contrast: Homoranthus flavescens
Homoranthus flavescens is a striking plant, the foliage appears succulent and conifer like and the branches grow almost horizontally and appear to layer on top of each other, plus it has a beautiful grey green leaf, making it a wonderful feature shrub in a planting.
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Portfolio: Consult Figtree
I have been busy this week planting out a consult design in Wollongong, it has been very satisfying cleaning up an aged garden, digging up weeds and tree roots and planting fresh natives. The bones of the garden were already there, pathways, existing large trees and a brand new renovation and deck, what was needed…
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Bush Tucker Under-Dog: Dianella caerulea
This season is the first time I have had a decent flush of fruit on my Dianella caerulea and I have been pleasantly surprised by the taste, although it doesn’t hit the same spot as the midyim berry, it is actually tasty enough for me to pick and munch on whilst in the garden.
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Portfolio: Memorial Garden
This is a garden that was a quick consultation a month back for a Pre-school in Sydney. It is a memorial garden for a well loved teacher that passed away, and it was such a pleasure to be involved in this gardens becoming.
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Shady Lilly Pilly: Syzygium wilsonii
There are so many Lilly Pillys around, different cultivars, that apparently grow faster, thicker, thinner, redder and so on, they are used for hedging everywhere (which is great, far better than Murraya) and can be a little over done. This one is Syzygium wilsonii and it is amazing for a few reasons, firstly it has…
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Plum Bush Tucker: Davidsonia pruiens
This is the Davidsons Plum (Davidsonia pruiens) sending out its flower spikes, getting ready to cover itself in juicy, tart plums YUM. I saw this one in a clients rainforest garden and it was very striking, each of those like pinky and yellow flowers will turn into one of the most famous bushtucker fruits. However…
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Try growing Actinotus helianthi, its not so hard…
Yes, it was only a matter of time before I finally sung the praise of Flannel Flowers, how could I resist? I have so many photos of them in my database, however mainly of them in the bush, these were in a domestic garden in southern sydney, growing happily under some large Grevilleas. These are…
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Shade-loving Ornamental Grass: Libertia paniculata
This is the first time I have seen Libertia paniculata growing naturally in the bush, I was quite taken aback to see it flowering and spreading out naturally almost like it had been mass planted. It truly is super hardy, even here it was looking lush and green, growing in full shade as an understory…
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Australian Plants Society Open Gardens: Aitkin Garden Bonnet Bay
So over the weekend some of the members of the Australian Plant Society Sutherland Group opened their gardens to the general public, for me this is like a dream come true, theres nothing I like more than having a sticky beak in someon-elses garden especially if it is a native garden! Unfortunately I could only…
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Portfolio: Glebe Native Garden Blitz!
OK blitz is not a word I would usually associate with my gardens, and its a rather over commercialised word, however it does portray something of the” makeover” aspect that a new garden can be.This is how I feel when I look at these before and after photos from a garden installed last Friday, total…
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Spring Yellow: Conostylis candicans
What better colour to welcome spring with than yellow! Goodbye winter! However it is feeling a little bit like we have headed straight into summer here on the NSW east coast, which I find a little bit frightening, it is looking like a confusing time for plants at the moment, anyway thats another topic altogether… This…
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Yellow, Cream and White Orchids: Dendrobium speciosum
It is a most fabulous season for the Dendrobium speciosums this year, there is no other word for it, they are putting on a massive show whenever I see them, and they seem to be everywhere all of a sudden, many of them in non native gardens which is always great to see.
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The Wonder of Wildflowers!
This is a little class/chat/presentation I am giving in September, with Wild Rumpus all about Illawarra’s wonderful wildflowers that are starting to flower now! I will be chatting about where you can see a good range of spring flowers around Wollongong, where the best bush walks are, what you might like to try growing yourself and…
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Favourites for Shady Planting: Leionema ‘Green Screen’
I collect a lot of favourites for shady planting, it has become somewhat of a hobby to find natives that will grow in difficult shady spots. Dry shade, moist shade, windy shade, winter shade and summer sun…..screening for shade, you get the picture. So this is one of my new discoveries, Leionema ‘Green Screen’ I…
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Winter Reds
I have been away a little bit lately, well more away from my garden than anywhere else. So I haven’t been noticing all the details, just madly rushing about planting, watering and spending more time in other peoples gardens than my own. So when I returned home on the weekend I was greeted by the…
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Black Stump
This is a native garden I visited when it was open in April 2012, it shows you what can be done when someone with a lot of drive and passion finds a blank canvas. It truly amazes me that so many beautiful garden are created by one or two people. Black Stump Natives is located on the…
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Rainforest planting
With the excessive amount of rain we have been receiving over the last few days and with more scheduled to come I am noticing how the different sections of my garden are coping. Over half of my garden is in heavy shade and of that half again is planted out with rainforest and local shade…
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Enticing Suburban Native Garden
This is David’s wonderful garden, it has been made with a passionate eye and a dedicated hand and is simply beautiful. The garden is well laid out and incorporates several different areas that are all planted out with natives, can you believe it is only five years old?
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Daisies make me happy
I went to the Blue Mountains over the long weekend and not only at Mt Tomah gardens, but also on the property I was staying, the paper daisies were popping up their sunny heads.
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Buttery Blueberry Bush Tucker: Austromyrtus dulcis
Buttery Blueberries is what I think the flavour of the Midyim Berry is, by far the most delicious of the bush tucker I have tried, and also one of the easiest to grow! I have half a dozen plants in my garden and although they are small they are surprisingly productive.
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My favourite Acacia cognata dwarfs
I used to be completely devoted to Acacia ‘Mini Cog’, one of the many dwarf shrub forms of Acacia cognata or the River Wattle. This image is of ‘Green Mist’ weeping over the edge of a large stone retaining wall, I couldn’t think of a better use for it. Acacia cognata has very narrow long lime…
Category: Shade tolerant