Solve a problem, find a plant or look for a design inspiration
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...
Rondeletia Once a common garden plant, Rondeletia amoena is rarely seen nowadays. Peter Valder thinks that is a pity, because this hardy, Central American native produces a wonderful display of salmon-pink flowers every spring. Plant details Common name: Rondeletia...
Rose Geraniums Surprisingly, one of the most wonderful rose scents in the garden comes not from roses, but from rose geraniums – and not from flowers but from leaves. Jackie French uses the leaves of rose geranium to make a rose-scented room deodoriser that is...
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....
Mystique Don looked at a new silvery foliaged variety of syngonium called ‘Mystique’. Plant details Common name: Mystique Botanic name: Syngonium ‘Mystique’ Description An excellent foliage plant with very compact, rounded growth that supports...
Peter Valder discussed two autumn flowering plants with the common name of ‘Naked Ladies’. Amaryllis are closely related to cliviasand hippeastrums. These large, pear-shaped bulbs flower in autumn. The flowering stems, which may be up to 1m (3′)...