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Many gardeners love searching for those plants which soldier on no matter what. Agapanthus and hydrangea fit into this no-fuss category as does the lesser known Serbian bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana), a ground cover plant. Details Botanical name: Campanula...
Canna lilies have been much grown in Australian gardens, particularly when they were all the rage for boggy areas in the garden.Most are tall growing with bold orange or red gladiolus-like flowers. Some have contrasting burgundy leaves. There is a new variety being...
Clivias are wonderful, almost unkillable plants, which brighten the garden during late winter and early spring with clusters of vibrant yellow throated, orange or salmon trumpet flowers.
Cobra Plant Peter Valder recently visited some gardens in Mount Wilson, NSW and found an unusual and quirky plant known as the Cobra Plant. So if you’re into weird and bizarre plants in the garden, the Cobra Plant is an easy one to grow. Plant details Common...
Dampieras are attractive Australian native plants. The best known are from Western Australia and can be difficult to grow in the eastern states. Don Burke recently looked at a hardy cultivar which is native to the Glasshouse Mountains of Queensland and will grow in...
Daphne ‘Star White’ One of the best things about winter in Australia is the fragrance of daphne in flower. Winter daphne (Daphne odora) originally came from China. As well as the green-leafed variety with pink and white flowers, there is also one with a...
These Australian natives were once considered to be very temperamental plants. Today they are much easier to grow as they have been grafted to the hardier understock, Darwinia citriodora. Plant details Botanical name: Darwinia lejostyla hybrid ‘Coolamon...
Burke’s Backyard receives letters about confusing flowering plants that have two different coloured flowers on the one bush. For example an azalea may have magenta purple flowers with one branch of whitish flowers with a magenta purple edge. The different...
Plants growing on the coast or in windblown sites may adapt to the harsh conditions by becoming low growing. A low growing plant which is increasing its share of the market is Banksia spinulosa ‘Coastal Cushion’. This Australian native is a coastal form of...
Rich reds and bronzes are wonderful autumn colours. The autumn trees which most people think of for colour are liquidambars and claret ash. Peter Valder recently visited Merry Garth in Mt Wilson, NSW, which is full of autumn colour with bronzes, rich rusts and lime...