Japanese Iris These beautiful irises are not as popular in Australia as they deserve to be, probably because they have very particular cultural requirements. However, if you grow them in an acid soil and give them the right amount of water you’ll be rewarded...
Japanese Windflowers Japanese windflowers (Anemone x hybrida) are hardy perennials which grow to about 1m (3′) tall. The flowers come as singles or doubles in a wide range of colours including white, pink and rosy red with golden centres. They die down in...
Brunfelsias are evergreen shrubs from tropical America. There are about 30 species, all with tubular flowers which change colour over successive days. The most popular species in Australian gardens is Brunfelsia pauciflora, commonly called Yesterday, Today and...
Market Day Every month, wholesale nurserymen put together a selection of the most attractive and interesting plants they have for sale, and take them to market. The growers set to work displaying their plants at first light, ready to sell and take orders from retail...
Mexican sage Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha) is a cottage-style plant with beautiful silver green foliage, and furry white and purple flowers. It grows from creeping rhizomes under the ground, and forms a clump about 1m (3′) tall. Unlike other salvias, this one...
Monstera Up Tree Don came across a Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) growing in a turpentine tree. Turpentines (Syncarpia glomulifera) are related to gum trees. Their timber has a high silica content making it resistant to marine borers, and so it has...
Equatorial Foliage Plants Don and the Burke’s Backyard team travelled to Cairns to meet Dr. Arden Dearden, who has one of the most wonderful collections of tropical plants anywhere in Australia. Arden’s interest in plants started years ago when he was at...
Murraya (Murraya paniculata) This evergreen shrub from south-east Asia grows to around 3m (10′) tall. Its genus name commemorates Dr. Johann Murray, an eighteenth-century Swedish botanist. Murrayas, along with such plants as choisya and citrus, belong to the...
Gardenia ‘Ocean Pearl’ Don looked at an old fashioned variety of gardenia that’s been re-released recently with a new name. Like most gardenias, ‘Ocean Pearl’ has beautiful, fragrant white flowers. The only exception is a variety called...
Golden Candles This Central and South American native is a close relative of the shrimp, or prawn plant (Justicia spp). It is grown mainly for its bright yellow bracts, rather than for its insignificant white flowers. Golden Candles is very climate sensitive, and is...