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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...
Grevillea ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’ ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’ is a ground cover grevillea which is often grafted onto silky oak (Grevillea robusta) understock to form a weeping standard. Don came across a mature grafted specimen that looked like...
Grevillea ‘Sunset Bronze’ Don looked at a fascinating new grevillea hybrid of unknown parentage. Grevillea ‘Sunset Bronze’ was a chance seedling found in a Brisbane garden and is thought to be a cross with G. ‘Honey Gem’. It was...
Linum This member of the flax family comes from the foothills of the Himalayas. It is a particularly useful plant because it produces bright yellow flowers in the middle of winter, bringing some much-needed cheer when the rest of the garden is bare. Plant details...
Luculia In winter some of the most gorgeous perfumed plants flower, including daphne (Daphne odora), winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) and the shrub that Peter Valder looked at in our segment, the luculia (Luculia gratissima). It has rose pink flowers with...
Michaelmas Daisies Michaelmas or Easter daisies (Aster novi-belgii) were once popular in gardens, but are rarely seen now. They are herbaceous perennials with upright, much-branched stems on which masses of small daisies are produced in late summer and autumn....