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Walcott Garden: Canberra
A few weeks back I was lucky enough to appeal to a very generous couple, Ros and Ben Walcott. I contacted them out of the blue and asked if I could visit their garden. We were travelling to Canberra to see an exhibition and I had just read an article about their garden in the…
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Shady Reds: Breynia ‘Ironstone’
This is one of those special native plants that has deep red to burgundy foliage when it receives lots of sun, like Agonis ‘Burgundy’. It is also one of those special native plants that seems to have no height restriction, or rather non that is published, therefore when I found one that is about 10…
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Portfolio: Gordon Garden Design
I am really enjoying watching the garden settle in, thank you for all your efforts This is Stage 1 of a garden I am working on in Gordon in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The front garden went in about 6 months ago and has flourished over the summer months with the loving care of…
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Portfolio: Connells Point Consults
I had the pleasure today of revisiting some regular clients in Connells Point for some follow up advice. I first began helping with this garden in 2013 and then planted and weeded some areas that were more difficult to get to. You see, this is an amazing garden, it has three distinct areas and is…
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Portfolio: Garden Design Lillyfield
Thanks so much for our garden Kath, we love it! I love this garden too! I love its quirky, modern feel where details are appreciated, the client pushed me to think out of the box more than I normally do. This is a small garden by suburban standards but large by inner city ones. It…
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Portfolio: Centennial Park Garden Design
Thankyou so much for my garden, I really enjoy pottering around everyday and watching things slowly change, there is always something happening! This is a garden that has been totally transformed in the space of 12 months, the owner wanted a formal native garden in keeping with her home and the suburb where she…
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Why I love Leucophyta brownii
We must feel part of the land we walk on and love the plants that grow there…if we are to achieve a spirit in the garden. Gordon Ford There are many native plants that I love, well obviously otherwise I wouldn’t create native only gardens, however some inspire me more than others. Cushion Bush or…
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Silky Oaks: Peter and Margaret Olde
This is a private garden created by Peter and Margaret Olde, it is occasionally open to the public through the open Garden Scheme or organised by the Australian Plants Society. I have visited this garden twice and feel I haven’t really touched the surface of what there is to discover. It is a very large…
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Another Favourite Grafted Grevillea: Grevillea candelabra ‘Pink’
Grevillea candelabra Grafted is another grafted Grevillea that I am rather fond of, it is not as showy or unusual as some of the other grafted species, but it has proven to be an incredibly versatile and useful plant for me time and again. There are a Pink and a White form both of which…
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One of my favourite Mallees…Eucalyptus luehmanniana
This is Eucalyptus leuhmanniana or Yellow Topped Ash, it is a rare species to the east coast of NSW and grows in high rainfall areas on sandstone soils, it comes in a glaucous and non-glaucus form, the glaucous form is my first choice. Above you can see the whitish-silver stems and buds of the glaucous…
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Portfolio: Bundeena Re-visited
We really, really love our garden and are so happy to spend time in it… When I walked up to the front gate of this garden last week I must admit I was quite moved, moved by how settled the plants looked, moved by the quick growth and the way the garden is beginning…
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Soft, Luscious Screen: Acacia fimbriata Dwarf
Acacia fimbriata Dwarf has a puffy sort of look to it from a distance, it is a full bushy shrub with a cloud-like texture. One of the most useful plants that I use in a landscape, as it has enough interest to stand on its own by contrasting with other foliage and form around it…
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The Temperamentally Fruiting Plume Pine: Podocarpus elatus
I am always excited when I get to taste a new bush tucker food, these Australian native plant foods seem to get a fairly bad rap when it comes to flavour and usually I am pleasantly surprised when something ends up being quite palatable and occasionally delicious! Therefore it was fantastic to find a Podocarpus…
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In Support of Agonis ‘Burgundy’
So there is an out break of a plant disease that started in Australia a couple of years ago in nurseries called ‘Myrtle Rust‘ it affects all plants in the Myrtaceae family and it is incredibly dramatic. It is still about and is moving through our bushland at rapid rate. These rusts are serious pathogens…
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Coastal Correa ground cover : Correa alba prostrate
I have been trying to wait until I have a photo of this useful low growing shrub in flower and I’m sure I do somewhere but I have become impatient! This is a ground cover form of Correa alba and I have been finding it to be a wonderful performer under the most difficult conditions.…
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Tapestry Gardens
Van Gogh reputedly introduced the idea of a tapestry garden, relying on the hue, texture, size and shape of foliage creating a tapestry like mosaic. Diane Snape I was doing some research a couple of nights ago and came across this section titled Tapestry Gardens in Diane Snape’s book ‘The Australian Garden‘ and it is…
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Silver and Grey in the Garden
This photo was taken in Melbourne Botanic Gardens where they had a display garden made up of only silver or grey foliaged plants, it was pretty interesting to see them all planted together and pick out which ones were natives. Here you can see the Eucalyptus caesia ‘Silver Princess’ underplanted with a bit of a…
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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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Eucalyptus ‘Silver Princess’ at Heide
I accidentally visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art last month, WOW it was a pretty wonderful accident! They have the most beautiful sculpture gardens, which are expansive and great for kids. The art Gallery itself is also an impressive building surrounded in native gardens with a bit of an edge. I saw this wonderful…
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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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Portfolio: Bundeena Garden Design
A steep bush block backing onto the National Park with 180 degree stunning views of the water, how inspiring! When I saw this garden I was pretty much blown away, what a dream to be able to work on this property, the house was newly built and nearly finished, the path and boulders were in…
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Cushion Bush Breasts
I am in Tasmania driving around and camping and visiting family, its my home town. Of course we have paid our obligatory visit to MONA which in my humble opinion has the, most beautiful native gardens, they are modern and playful, hence the Leucophyta brownii pruned into breast shapes heehee…..Cushion bush prunes beautifully into spheres…
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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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Native Christmas Tree
So I can be a bit of a grinch when it comes to Christmas, it makes it hard when your kids are feeling the christmas cheer and really, really want to be festive. Nothing wrong with being festive its just all the rubbish that seems to go along with it, the rubbish you have to…
Tag: foliage contrast