Pruning Grevilleas Grevilleas are the most popular native plants in Australia, which is hardly surprising when you consider that they attract native birds and many of them flower for most of the year. The only problem is that because grevilleas are so long flowering...
Royal Robe Tree and Shrub Growers of Australia awarded the 1999 Plant of the Year to Blue Solanum ‘Royal Robe’ which is also a member of the potato family. An ornamental purple flowering shrub that will combine well with today’s flower mixtures of...
One of the greatest trends in Australian gardens in recent years has been towards a more formal style, with clipped hedges, standards and topiary becoming very popular. A problem with that sort of planting scheme is that throughout the entire year most hedging plants...
Shady Garden Makeover Growing plants in shady, moist situations can be really difficult, in fact shady spots are classic problem areas in many gardens. The traditional solution has been to plant clivias (Clivia miniata). They have bright orange flowers, and there are...
Sweet Pea The early history of sweet peas is shrouded in mystery, they may have originated in Italy, or perhaps Malta where they still grow in the wild. In any case, those first sweet peas were insignificant plants, with small, weak stemmed flowers which were poor in...
Torenia ‘Blue Magic’ If the back of your house looks a bit lacklustre, think about adding some colour and cheer with hanging baskets. You can attach them to a pergola or up under the eaves, being careful to choose a position where people won’t...
Tibouchinas Tibouchinas, also known by their old name lasiandras, are native to south-east Brazil, where people use the massed purple blooms to decorate churches at Easter time. Here in Australia tibouchinas also make quite a statement in autumn, with their riot of...
Tibouchina ‘Totally Moonstruck’ Tibouchinas, also known by their old name lasiandras, are native to south-east Brazil, where people use the massed purple blooms to decorate churches at Easter time. Here in Australia tibouchinas also make quite a statement...
If you live in the cooler parts of Australia, there are many wonderful plants you can grow that flower in winter and early spring. These are very useful to have in the garden, because they provide a welcome splash of colour and a little bit of cheer at an otherwise...
Winter Flowering Natives Nothing beats Australian native plants for colour all year round, and most importantly in winter when birds too will benefit from the nectar when food is scarce. Don looked at some of the plants in the garden that have been flowering during...