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There are hundreds of sensational Australian native plants available to home gardeners these days, so it’s not surprising that they’re undergoing a whole new wave of popularity. Natives first rose to prominence through the 1960s and 70s, but quite a few of...
Don looked at a modern Australian garden featuring a stunning and unusual combination of plants. It was designed by Ted Whitley, who has broken away from the predictable landscaping plants so often used by garden designers these days. Instead, Ted designed a very low...
You’d expect to find this lovely, old-fashioned plant in a garden where pixies and elves dance at night. It is found naturally growing near water in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Plant details Common name: Leopard plant Botanic name: Farfugium japonicum or...
The Bedding Plants Australia Flower of the Year 2004 is the Simba™ Marigold. This hardy, waterwise annual is a mix of four flower colours: yellow, red, tangerine and a yellow and red bi-colour. The compact plants grow to around 30cm (12″) tall and have a good...
Don showed how classy creeping figs can look when used in a formal garden design. The figs were trained to fill recesses in a masonry wall, so that they formed perfect green rectangular shapes. The fig rectangles provided a wonderful backdrop for clipped box hedges...
Toadstools Sarah Munday, of Camberwell in Victoria, wrote to ask Don what to do about all the toadstools in her garden. Sarah thinks that the toadstools are poisonous and she is worried that her young brother and sister might eat them. Don said that as a...
Like most of the flame peas, Chorizema cordatum is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. Plant details Common name: Desert or flame pea Botanic name: Chorizema cordatum Description: Small, erect or scrambling shrub to 1m (3′) high. The leaves are...
It is not often that we can see a ‘grand’ garden in its infancy. Don visited Siena, a new garden in the Southern Highlands with stunning views. Planted 4-5 years ago by Ali Mentesh, the garden covers an area of 15 acres. It is well-structured and mainly...
As well as producing brightly coloured, cheerful flowers, nasturtiums are ideal plants for a child’s first garden. The seeds are large and easily handled by little fingers, and the plants are easy to grow. Toddlers who tire of admiring the flowers and decide to...
A viewer emailed wanting design suggestions for the ‘dead side’ of the house. Her view from a picture window in the formal dining room was a weedy side passage and an ugly fence. Design constraints This side passage is very shady. The houses are fairly...