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Camellias are wonderful flowering garden plants for all but the hot and tropical parts of Australia (see climate map). ‘Burke’s Backyard’ visited Camellia Lodge Nursery at Dandenong North in Victoria to look at camellias flowering towards the...
Many species of agave plant are native to Mexico and have played an important role in life in Mexico. One, Agave tequilana or blue agave, is fermented and distilled to produce the alcoholic drink tequila. Several Mexican agaves are called maguey and their leaves and...
There is one climber which, when it flowers, seems to attract more interest than just about any other. It’s commonly known as the orange trumpet creeper or Pyrostegia venusta. Common name: Orange trumpet creeper or venusta vine (Queensland name). Botanic name:...
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.
Ornamental Tobacco Due to our excise laws, ordinary tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) can not be grown by the home gardener as the production of a tobacco crop invites the payment of excise. The good news is that there are ornamental varieties of tobacco with attractive...
Wonga-wonga Vine The Wonga-wonga vine, (Pandorea pandorana), is a fast-growing Australian native climbing plant. It can be found in eastern Australia from Queensland to Tasmania growing vigorously over tall trees. It is also a spectacular garden plant. Details Common...
New Varieties of Osmanthus One of the most fragrant of all flowering shrubs is osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans ), which flowers in winter or early spring. Its insignificant flowers have the delightful scent of apricots. There are now two new varieties of Osmanthus...
There are a number of challenging plants that most good gardeners would like to grow and these include peonies (sometimes referred to as a peony roses as the flower resemble roses although the peonies are not related to roses). Of all the peonies, tree peonies are the...
Pink Iceberg Roses The white ‘Iceberg’ rose has been one of the most popular of all garden roses since it was bred by Reimer Kordes in Germany in 1958. It is popular as it is easy to grow, disease free and flowers for many months of the year. It has...
There are two plants which have striking red flower spires in winter. Both are known as red hot pokers. One is the aloe, a succulent plant from Africa. The other, also from Africa, is a perennial called kniphofia, which forms a tufted, grass-like clump. The plants are...