Yuccas Members of the Agave family, yuccas are native to southern USA and Mexico. There are around thirty species, and most have stout woody trunks, rosettes of spiky leaves and big clusters of creamy white flowers. In the wild these fascinating plants have a mutually...
It’s hard to have just one favourite camellia. Not only are there hundreds of excellent cultivars already available, but exciting new ones are being released all the time. There are also many collectors’ camellias around, and although some of these obscure...
One of the most delightful things about life is the changing of the seasons. First the winter, with those hearty soups and the crackling and flaming of an open fire. In the spring life is renewed, with all the birds building their nests and fresh leaves appearing on...
Japonica camellias are the best known and most popular camellias grown in gardens today. Not only do they produce beautiful flowers in the depths of winter when everything else is bare, but they also have glossy evergreen foliage. With few pests or diseases to bother...
If you like Australian native plants, and particularly if you like attracting native birds to your backyard, then she oaks are plants well worth considering for your garden. She oaks come in a variety of sizes – from ground cover, through to shrub, small and...
Don’s Best Indoor Figs Indoor plants can add enormous beauty to your home, as well as giving it a natural, relaxed feel. One of the most fashionable plants in Australia at the moment is Ficus benjamina, the weeping fig. Although it is a rainforest giant in its...
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...
Deciduous magnolias are wonderful small trees which produce large scented flowers on bare branches in winter and early spring. Although there are about 100 species of wild magnolias and many of them (such as Magnolia campbellii, M. sargentiana var. robusta and...
If you want a big, bold foliage plant for the garden, you can’t go past the tree philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum). It is often confused with its close relative monstera (Monstera deliciosa), but they are really easy to tell apart. Monstera is sometimes...
Pomegranates The pomegranate is one of the all time great plants of horticulture. It is native to the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa, Afghanistan and Iran, where it has been grown since ancient times. Plant details Common name: Pomegranate Botanic name: Punica...