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Red Eggplants Most people would be familiar with the large, purple-black eggplant or aubergine (Solanum melongena) which is used to make delicious recipes like ratatouille and baba ganoush. If you shop around you’ll also be able to find white skinned or striped...
Red Grapefruit Pink fleshed varieties of grapefruit, such as ‘Ruby’ and ‘Thompson’ have been available for some years, but they often fail to colour well in Australian gardens. The new red varieties ‘Star Ruby’ and ‘Rio...
Turnip Rooted Parsley: The French Alternative Turnip rooted or Hamburg parsley (Petroselinum crispum var. tuberosum) is a hardy vegetable resembling a carrot in shape and appearance. The beige coloured roots have a celery-like flavour, and the stems and leaves...
The genus Billardiera is named in honour of the French botanist La Billardiere, and includes about twenty species of handsome climbing plants. Don looked at a member of the group called Billardiera ringens, a moderately vigorous twiner with glorious orange/yellow...
Boston ivy is one of about ten species from North America and Asia belonging to the genus Parthenocissus. It is not actually an ivy but a member of the Vitaceae, or grape family. It’s a particularly good climber for covering large walls or fences, with the added...
Liquidambars Liquidambars (Liquidambar styraciflua) are native to North America, where they are commonly known as sweetgums. They are large, fast growing deciduous trees, which can reach 25 metres (82′) high and spread to around 12 metres (39′)....
The loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) is a small, compact evergreen tree. The foliage is dull green with a downy reverse and tends to grow in bunches on the ends of the branches. The white flowers appear in late autumn and winter. The round to oval shaped fruit is plum...
Medlars: The French Alternative The medlar is an ancient fruit tree thought to have originated in the Middle East centuries ago. It was probably introduced to much of Europe by the Romans, and was a great favourite at the dinner table in Medieval England. The plant...
Two-layered tree The Western Australian willow myrtle (Agonis flexuosa) is a hardy evergreen tree with graceful weeping foliage, fibrous bark and lance-shaped leaves. It is native to Western Australia but will grow in most areas of Australia except for the mountains...
Wattles Australia’s official floral emblem is a wattle (Acacia pycnantha), which is not surprising when you consider that in this country we have more than 850 species, ranging from ground covers and shrubs to giant trees. Wattles are great colonisers or pioneer...