The common orchid (Orchidaceae) most people identify with tend to be the Cymbidium orchids, which are grown for their flamboyant and colourful flowers. The climate in most capital cities is suited to growing cymbidium orchids in a sheltered and shady area.
Sasanqua camellias are among the best of all garden plants for temperate areas of Australia. They will tolerate awide range of climates and positions, from full sun through to partial shade. Paradise Plants at Kulnura, near Gosford in NSW, has bred and released some...
A ‘Burke’s Backyard’ viewer sent in a photo of an unusual plant in flower in their front yard. The plant is Agave attenuata or the century plant. Details Common name: Century plant. The common name has been given to this plant because it is said to...
Taking a walk around the streets in your neighbourhood is a great way to discover the plants that grow well in your area. Street trees can also be an important source of shade and provide food and shelter for native wildlife. As well, established street trees give...
13 Best Grevilleas For suspicious customers afraid of evil forces, the baker added an extra loaf as ‘protection money’, giving rise to the sayings ‘Twelve for the baker and one for the Devil’ and ‘Baker’s Dozen’. On...
An abandoned garden is a great place to go and learn what plants survive in your area. Recently Don found a whole series of spectacular red flowering quinces in an abandoned garden. Flowering quince or Chaenomeles are attractive spikey shrubs valued for their...
One of the best things about winter in Australia is the fragrance of daphne in flower. Winter daphne (Daphne odora) originally comes from China. As well as the green-leafed variety with pink and white flowers, there is also one with a creamy yellow border to the leaf...
To show the ornamental potential of many of our native everlasting or paper daisies, the gardeners at Kings Park have created a meadow-style planting using native daisies from Western Australia. Australia has many daisy species (such as Brachyscome sp., Rhodanthe sp....
Flanders Poppies Among all of the flowers that evoke a memory or emotion, the red Flanders poppy (Papaver rhoeas) ranks highly. This is the poppy which speaks of World War I as its red flowers carpeted the fields disturbed during battles especially in Flanders. The...
Grevillea banksii – Best Backyard Native Recently Don looked at one of the most important grevilleas of all time, Grevillea banksii. This grevillea is considered to be important as it has been used as a parent of many popular grevilleas. There are three...