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Tibouchina ‘Totally Moonstruck’ Tibouchinas, also known by their old name lasiandras, are native to south-east Brazil, where people use the massed purple blooms to decorate churches at Easter time. Here in Australia tibouchinas also make quite a statement...
Native Plants in Flower Don looked at some of the spectacular native plants in flower at the moment in the garden. Native Hibiscus (Alyogyne huegelii) An open shrub to about 2m (6′) tall, grown mainly for its beautiful, lilac, hibiscus-like flowers. The plant...
Named after the 17th century Italian botanist Pietro Antonio Micheli, michelias are a small genus of trees and shrubs from southern Asia and the foothills of the Himalayas. They belong to the Magnoliaceae family along with their close relatives the magnolias, but...
New Ornamentals Lots of the new plants appearing in nurseries these days have been developed overseas. They are not evaluated under Australian conditions as part of the breeding process, and a high percentage of them fail. The good news is that the University of...
New Pansies Pansies are annuals (or bedding plants), which were developed last century from English native plants called johnny jump-ups. Also known as heartsease, they have very appealing flowers with happy little ‘faces’, but it’s hard to imagine...
Nielsen’s Native Nursery 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...
Olympic Gold Rose Nurseries and rose growers are really getting into the Olympic spirit this year, with the release of an exciting new rose. It’s called Australia’s Olympic Gold Rose, and it features clusters of beautiful golden yellow flowers....
Payne’s Thryptomene Thryptomenes are members of the Myrtaceae or myrtle family, and are sometimes given the common name of heath myrtle. Payne’s thryptomene is a hybrid of unknown parentage, but it’s thought to be very similar to the species...
Hardenbergias Hardenbergia violacea is an excellent Australian native plant that can be used either as a ground cover to scramble over a bank or an ugly area, or as a climber if you give it some support. Plant details Common name: Hardenbergia, False sarsaparilla...
Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ If you’re after a dramatic effect and a tropical look in your garden, consider Philodendron ‘Xanadu’, one of the world’s great landscaping plants. Discovered in Western Australia in 1983 as a chance seedling,...