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Hakea sericea: Pink or White?
Whenever I am asked what is a great small bird attracting shrub for native gardens Hakea sericea is often on the top of my recommended list. It is a medium to large shrub with a dense habit and sharp needle like leaves for the small birds to seek refuge in. Thornbills, finches and honeyeaters will…
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Happy Wattle Day! Acacia fimbriata Dwarf ‘Crimson Blush’
Yes! its the 1st of September again and the Acacias are out welcoming in Spring, a time of wonderful scents and happy yellows! In the image above you can see the soft yellow flowers and bright red new growth of Acacia fimbriata Dwarf ‘Crimson Blush’, its easy to see how it got its name. This…
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The Brightest of the Acacias? Acacia podalyriifolia
It has always seemed to me that Acacia podalyriifolia is one of the first wattles to flower every winter, and so profusely! or at least it is one of the most immediately noticeable 🙂 The native bees think so too as you can see in the photo above. The combination of the silver foliage with…
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My Favourite Native Hibiscus
Many people are not aware of the range of native hibiscus species that grow here in Australia, they are often not seen in cultivation or mistaken for exotics. I have a few favourites that I like to incorporate in my gardens and at the moment these are my top three, however everything is subject to…
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The Beautiful Gardens of Zanthorrea Nursery
I set aside a morning to visit the Zanthorrea Nursery when I was in Western Australia last August. This was a much anticipated adventure as I have heard much about the nursery and often have recommended it to Western Australians looking for native plants. I was not disappointed, it is a wonderful place, full of…
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Portfolio: Garden Design Centennial Park Update
Last week I went on a mission to visit as many of my garden design projects as possible, to collect photos and catch up. I love re-visiting these gardens especially when I am doing a little garden maintenance at the same time. This garden in Centennial Park required a well needed shape and prune. The growth…
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Rarely seen in cultivation: Banksia oblongifolia
I had to pull over again and stop and take photos as soon as this Banksia caught my eye in a quiet inner city suburb. It was planted in the prize position next to the front gate near the letter box on a corner block and was stealing the show of a lovely native front…
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Portfolio: Coledale Consults
I have been consulting on this coastal garden for about 3 years now maybe a bit more, and it has really begun to settle in, some of the growth especially in the rear garden is amazing. The client has installed a beautiful mosaic letterbox made by his sister, it is large and bright and a…
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Illawarra native garden full of fresh ideas!
I visited the native garden of a passionate native plant lover last week to grab some inspiring photos and ideas; and the garden did not disapoint. This is the 4 th native garden for the owner and she began building it about 8 years ago after moving from a large property in the Snowy Mountains.…
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My Favourite Frost Tolerant Grevillea: Grevillea victoriae
This winter has been a bit of a learning curve for me in the frost tolerant Grevillea department; for some reason I have been asked again and again which Grevilleas will withstand medium to heavy frosts. Many grevilleas with smaller needle like leaves such as Grevillea lanigera, alpina and rosmarinifolia are good at coping in heavy…
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Dodonaea Hedges
Dodonaea is a very useful shrub, it grows in heavy to dappled shade and also in full sun, it is a fast growing species that prunes and clips well and it is thick and therefore provides excellent privacy. Dodonaea viscosa purpurea is seen above with its striking red foliage, the leaves turn this colour when…
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Fast Growing, Weeping Screen: Acacia cognata ‘Burgundy Cascade’
It seems that there are endless forms of Acacia cognata all battling for attention, all beautiful with their soft weeping habit and mostly with a hardy nature. I personally will never tire of them and if the market continues to be flooded with choice I am quite happy. There are more than a dozen Acacia…
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Trialling Casuarina ‘Green Wave’
I love Casuarinas, all of them, from ground covers through to trees, their rusty red hue when they are in flower or lush green shaggy habit. They are tough, versatile and very varied in their shapes and forms. I discovered Casuarina glauca ‘Green Wave’ a couple of years ago, there wasn’t much information out about…
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Shady Reds: Breynia ‘Ironstone’
This is one of those special native plants that has deep red to burgundy foliage when it receives lots of sun, like Agonis ‘Burgundy’. It is also one of those special native plants that seems to have no height restriction, or rather non that is published, therefore when I found one that is about 10…
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Verge Gardens
I am a big fan of a front garden that makes a statement in the street-scape or somehow breaks up the monotony of the suburban front garden ‘norm’. I often kick myself for not being able to stop or being without my camera when I spot a front garden that goes out of its way…
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Bright, Thick and Floriferous: Banksia marginata ‘Bright’
Check out the flowers on this baby, it was absolutely covered, I have never seen anything like it before and was suitably impressed. This is Banksia marginata ‘Bright’. A compact of the Silver Banksia, it grows as a dense shrub to 2 metres high and 2 metres wide – this one looks like it has…
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Grevillea ‘Lady O’ the new Robyn Gordon?
This will be a short post as it is based purely on one of my un-founded theories and could potentially turn into a rant. I have a Grevillea ‘Robyn Gordon’ in my garden, it is a relic from the original gardener whom we bought the house from. Upon seeing it my initial reaction was to…
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The Very Loveable Parsley Bush: Lomatia silaifolia
This is Lomatia silaifolia or Parsley Bush, a very under-utilised plant in most native gardens, I include Lomatia in many of my gardens as it grows in shade or full sun, it is a reliable when it comes to flowering and grows very quickly. Many people look at Lomatia and think it is a Grevillea,…
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Another Favourite Grafted Grevillea: Grevillea candelabra ‘Pink’
Grevillea candelabra Grafted is another grafted Grevillea that I am rather fond of, it is not as showy or unusual as some of the other grafted species, but it has proven to be an incredibly versatile and useful plant for me time and again. There are a Pink and a White form both of which…
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Grafted Grevillea of the moment: Grevillea petrophiloides ‘Wild Beauty’
I am beginning to come around gradually to grafted Grevilleas, it has taken me about 5 years to slowly but surely start including them in my designs. I’m not really sure why I was so reluctant to begin with, maybe it was the local indigenous plant Nazi in me, maybe I just didn’t trust them….but…
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Soft, Luscious Screen: Acacia fimbriata Dwarf
Acacia fimbriata Dwarf has a puffy sort of look to it from a distance, it is a full bushy shrub with a cloud-like texture. One of the most useful plants that I use in a landscape, as it has enough interest to stand on its own by contrasting with other foliage and form around it…
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Correa Tangent
Seeing as I have started on the topic of Correas I thought I may as well continue, here is another of my very favourite Correas that is such a useful plant in the landscape. Correa baeuerlenii or Chef’s Hat Correa is found naturally growing on the south coast of NSW on shady, damp sites, therefore it…
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Tapestry Gardens
Van Gogh reputedly introduced the idea of a tapestry garden, relying on the hue, texture, size and shape of foliage creating a tapestry like mosaic. Diane Snape I was doing some research a couple of nights ago and came across this section titled Tapestry Gardens in Diane Snape’s book ‘The Australian Garden‘ and it is…
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Low Shrubbery: Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’
I have had my eye on this little dwarf form of Acacia for a few years now, it isn’t as common as some of the Acacia cognata dwarfs, which is one of the reasons it appeals to me. This is Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’ and it is an incredibly pretty and useful low shrub, suitable for…
Category: Hedge