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Plant Botanical Names People often laugh at the complicated scientific names that are given to plants and animals. Sometimes they really are funny, for example Rhododendron goodenoughii, a plant which comes from Goodenough Island in Papua. The island itself was...
Plant New Lavenders Now Plants like lavender and rosemary come from Mediterranean areas, and they can’t tolerate excessive summer rain, high humidity and poorly drained soils. The past twelve months or so have been unusually wet and humid, particularly along the...
Topiary is an art form that has been rediscovered by gardeners in the last 10-15 years. It’s now very fashionable to use buxus cones and cubes, spiralled conifers, or lilly pillys clipped into balls on sticks as focal points in the garden or to create a dramatic...
Plants for Dry Conditions Travelling to other countries can sometimes be a real eye opener for gardeners, because they see plants growing in climates and conditions that suit them best. It’s suddenly very easy to understand why a particular plant is struggling...
The very fine dust or waste material left over from making blue metal is known under different names in Australia. Below is a list of the known names used: NSW: Blue quarry sand or Crusher dust QLD: Crusher dust or Cracker dust VIC: 5mm minus SA: Quarry sand WA: Metal...
Plants Packaged for Kids Applewood Seed and Garden Group has produced a new range of beautifully packaged seed products, which would make excellent gifts for children. There’s a kit to suit every child’s taste, they’re great fun, and they teach kids...
Pruning Grevilleas Grevilleas are the most popular native plants in Australia, which is hardly surprising when you consider that they attract native birds and many of them flower for most of the year. The only problem is that because grevilleas are so long flowering...
Everyone loves colour in the garden, but it’s really difficult to have a colourful garden all year long if you rely on just flowers. Think of the research and planning you’d have to do to make sure there was something in flower every day – most...
Bougainvilleas are indigenous to tropical and subtropical South America, and are among the world’s great flowering plants. They are scrambling climbers, with long curved thorns which help them to hook on to trees and reach up to the light. The true flowers are...
Collecting Seeds One of the most enjoyable things about gardening is growing your own plants from seed. However, seed collecting can be tricky because some plants have dry fruits that split open as soon as they’re ripe. The seeds then drop to the ground, fly...