Most people have heard of the colour Heliotrope or of Heliotrope perfume in bottles. But they don’t grow Heliotrope plants. These are wonderful little plants less than 1 metre tall that produce purplish or even white flowers for many months that have that stunning...
The steamy humidity that often occurs at this time of the year is quite bad for some plants as it causes fungus diseases. Some plants get sudden dieback of the leaves which is caused by fungal root rot especially daphnes, banksias and West Australian native plants,...
The days are very hot at this time of the year, so try to avoid gardening, lawn mowing and digging in the middle of the day. Get up early in the morning to do heavy but silent work – do the noisy work like lawn mowing or leaf blowing after 5PM in the evening. For...
Last time we looked at putting in a garden fish pond. Now we are going to look at goldfish. These are the best pond fish of all. Koi carp get too big and need expensive filtration systems. The long-bodied, single-tailed goldfish are best as they are very hardy and...
At this time of the year, a relaxing garden pond would look so nice. Imagine the goldfish cruising by with their wonderful colours of red, gold, blue, black or white. And imagine also the stunning water lilies in pink, yellow, red, purple, blue & white. Ponds are...
Have you heard of Manuka honey? Well there are claims that this type of honey from New Zealand has many health benefits. It does seem that it is useful as an antibiotic, also on burns and for ulcers (from scientific research, mostly in New Zealand). But be warned that...
Some years back I visited Hawaii. Their Aloha festival was on and I saw hundreds of Hawaiian girls each with a hibiscus flower behind one ear. This reminded me that hibiscus flowers make us all think of happiness and holidays. Have you got any hibiscus at your place?...
In the stinking hot days of summer, some plants are really happy. Tropical plants love steamy hot weather, so now is the time to plant your Balinese garden, your rainforest garden or your Thai Escape garden. This is an ideal time to plant bougainvilleas with their...
Have you noticed how good the gardenias are at the moment? Gardenias are those shrubs, mostly around knee-high that produce the stunning pure white flowers with the sensuous perfume. Gardenias are fabulous plants: they flower for most of the year, they are really...
Last time we mentioned some things to keep the kids amused over the January holidays that seem to drag on for a long time & leads to them getting very bored. Here are another few ideas to keep them busy and happy. Changing flower colours to green or blue or...