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Don visited a property situated in a remnant cabbage tree forest on Sydney’s northern beaches. Although the house and garden design could be described as modern Australian, it has a wonderful open feel reminiscent of an Asian or Balinese pavilion. Folding cedar...
Timmy the Sheep Timmy the Merino sheep was born a runt and his mother abandoned him. Carol and Graham Blaser took pity on the poor little lamb. They bottle-fed him around the clock, and wrapped him in sheepskin. Things took a turn for the worse when Timmy developed...
Succulent Garden Suzie Forge is an interior decorator who loves colour and texture. She has put her decorating skills to good use in her small Melbourne courtyard, which has been ‘furnished’ with a variety of colourful succulents and cacti. Suzie has used...
New Seedlings & Bloomers Large-sized seedling punnets are now available at your local nursery. You’ll pay more per plant than buying a standard punnet (which normally sell for around $3.50-$4.50 and have six, eight or more plants), but a lot less than the...
NSW Rock Lily Spring is a time when exotic bulbs and blossom trees flower. However, nearly all the Australian wildflowers also flower in spring. Peter Valder looked at one of the most spectacular, the NSW rock lily. This is not a lily at all, but a type of orchid....
New Waratahs Most people would be familiar with the New South Wales state floral emblem, the waratah (Telopea speciosissima). Although its traditional red flower is much loved by Australians, the colour is not so popular for the export bloom market. Another problem...
Pansy ‘Moonface’ This year big pansies are back! In fact, Bedding Plants Australia has chosen a large pansy as their Flower of the Year for 2001. Pansy ‘Moonface’ (Viola x wittrockiana), comes in a spectacular new colour mix guaranteed to cheer...
If you want to grow a hedge that flowers, it is important to choose plants that flower on old wood. That way, you can prune and shape the new growth without cutting off all the flower buds. The port wine magnolia, as seen in our segment, is an excellent choice for a...
Red Banana The ornamental red banana has interesting flowers and foliage, and the colourful bananas produce lots of seeds, unlike most edible bananas which are sterile. Plant details Common name: Red banana, self-peeling banana Botanic name: Musa velutina Description...
Red Passionfruit Rosemary Galatis of Adelaide wrote to Burke’s Backyard to say that she loved the red passionfruit plant, but that she hadn’t been able to buy one in her local area. On a recent trip to South Australia, Don visited Rosemary and presented...