Have you ever eaten witlof? This is a truly magnificent plant that has a slightly bitter licorice-like flavor. ….well sort of. Witlof is the result from growing chicory from seed in spring for about 16 weeks. Then it’s cut back to just below ground level and the...
Did you know that there’s a native species of red-flowering rhododendron. Well there is. It comes from mountaintops in Queensland and has actually been divided into several different species. Rhododendron lochiae is our native birth flower for this month too. It’s...
Have you ever thought about growing mushrooms at home? Well it’s very easy and lots of fun for both adults and children. With all of the toadstools and wild mushrooms around at the moment, it’s pretty obvious that now is a good time to grow your own. Home mushroom...
Vertical gardens are all the rage at the moment. These are basically pots or long troughs that hang against walls to make a green wall. You can grow vegies or herbs in your vertical garden or you can just green a wall with ferns, philodendrons and grasses. Vertical...
Remember the old days when tomatoes tasted like tomatoes? When grandpa grew superb tasting beans and chillies. Well, you can grow many of these superbly-flavoured vegies at home. The home varieties fruit over a longer period too, which is ideal for home use. That is,...
Nothing looks better than blue flowering plants and to quote Oscar Wilde: “nothing succeeds like excess”. So why not consider a blue selection for your garden – or better still, an entirely blue-flowering garden! Right now the King of blue flowers, Plumbago ‘Royal...
I am a deadset tree lover and I adore the Aussie bushland. I am also a qualified tree surgeon and arborist. However, some trees should be chopped down. The tree that fell on and killed little Bridget Wright and injured several others at Pitt Town public school is a...
One of the best of all herbs is coriander, yet it is often a disaster for many gardeners to grow. Why? Well during the warm months it bolts to flower and seed and then dies. Since we mostly eat the leaves, this is a disaster. So what do you do? Well, during autumn,...
You can’t beat the stunning displays that daffodils, jonquils, hyacinths, tulips etc. make in spring gardens. Bulbs make the end of winter a magic time as spring arrives. And bulbs are dead easy to grow. You’ll find them at nurseries and hardware stores now and most...
At this time of the year, you often see congo-lines of processionary caterpillars moving across lawns, up trees and fences and in paddocks. They are following each other as they look for a safe spot to pupate into moths. These caterpillars are usually covered in...