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Purple Shades: Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Violet’
The subtle purple shades in Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Violet’ are quite striking when on mass, the flowers on purple stems open to reveal bright orange and yellows on the inside adding even more contrast. Anigozanthos ‘Landscape Violet’ is part of Angus Stewart’s tall and tough series of Kangaroo paws, he has bred up some great colours in…
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Silky Emu Bush: Eremophila nivea Grafted
This has to be one of the most tactile of native plants, rivalled closely by Adenanthos sericeus, with its silver white foliage and hundreds of purple flowers it is a coveted specimen for many gardeners. The bees love it too as you can see in the image above. Eremophila nivea is absolutely striking even when…
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What is it with Waratah’s?
There are a handful of Australian native plants that are truly iconic and Waratahs are very high up on this list, possibly in the top 3….whenever I see them in the bush it is easy to see why we are all so captivated by this bold bloom. The beautiful flower heads attract nectar-feeding birds like…
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The spot flowering habits of Hymenosporum ‘Luscious’
It’s no secret that this is one of my all time favourite small shrubs, I love it for it ability to grow in dry shade and still look green and succulent, I love it for its wonderful shape, sometimes lumpy sometimes perfectly mounded and I love the fact that it flowers when and if it…
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Sun loving Moss? Scleranthus biflorus
The common name for this species is ‘Canberra Grass’ even though it has a very un-grass-like appearance, it is commonly mistaken for a moss and makes a wonderful moss substitute in Japanese style gardens. It is happiest in a sunny position and contrasts well with broad-leaved plants. Scleranthus biflorus likes growing in areas with low humidity, it can…
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Keith’s Garden
This is my friend Keith’s native front garden in Bulli, I have wanted to take photos of this garden for a long time and on a recent visit finally remembered my camera. Phew! I had to snap quickly as the sun was setting and the mozzies were out. The garden is located on the escarpment…
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Natives for Pots and Containers 3
I think that this topic will be a continuing theme as I regularly see excellent examples of native species growing in pots or containers everywhere I go. There are many reasons for growing native plants in large pots, one of the main reasons is to increase drainage and therefore be able to successfully grow plants…
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Why are Kangaroo Paws so hard to photograph?
I have found photographing Kangaroo Paws to be extremely frustrating, which is a great shame as they are one of my favourite native plants. They are showy, have long lasting flowers, a weeping leaf habit mixed with the striking vertical flower stems making them an excellent feature plant. However when I go to photograph them…
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Natives for Pots and Containers Part 2
This post is a 2nd part to one a did a couple of years ago about Native Plants that are suitable for growing in pots or containers, it is well overdue and I still have enough photos for a Part 3 very soon. Please see https://malleedesign.com.au/native-plants-for-pots/ for Part 1. Personally like to grow native plants in pots…
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Portfolio: Gordon Garden Design
I am really enjoying watching the garden settle in, thank you for all your efforts This is Stage 1 of a garden I am working on in Gordon in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The front garden went in about 6 months ago and has flourished over the summer months with the loving care of…
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Native Plant Suppliers at the Collectors’ Plant Fair 2015
Yesterday I attended the COLLECTORS’ PLANT FAIR 2015 “Australia’s Treasured Gardening Event” www.collectorsplantfair.com, it is my 2nd time, the first was some years back when it was still held in Bilpin and it rained and rained and rained causing it to be somewhat of a wash out and a massive mud fest. One of the reasons…
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My Favourite Grafted Dwarf Eucalyptus ficifolia
It is summer and we have had a lot of rain so the Grafted Eucalyptus ficifolias are in full swing, everywhere I look they are putting on a wonderful show. I have been slowly trying to collect decent photos of all the different colours and was planning to wait until I had them all covered,…
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Great in the Ground: Alyogyne ‘Blue Heeler’
There is one problem with this plant and I have failed to use it in gardens even when my instincts told me it would be perfect. It looks terrible in a pot in the nursery….not something that can be helped and Alyogyne ‘Blue Heeler’ is not alone in this instance. Its only this year that…
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Exotic looking native: Rhododendron lochiae
There are several native plants that I like to use when either designing a planting that already has some exotic species established or when trying to convince people that not all native plants are straggly, open and dry looking. This is one of them Rhododendron lochiae, isn’t it beautiful? It has dark glossy green leaves and…
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Native Plants at the Sydney Garden Show 2014
After a rather long shift at a stall in the Sydney Garden Show yesterday I got to have a very quick scoot around and check out some of the display gardens. I hardly need to say that I was totally biased and basically only the ones containing native plants caught my eye. The main garden…
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Lovely shrub of many names: Veronica perfoliata
This is to my knowledge currently Veronica perfoliata, it has gone through several differing identities and name changes, I won’t go into all of that, it just seems a shame as I think it may have detracted people from knowing about this useful plant. Firstly I love it because it has a very Eucalypt like foliage…
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WBG: Towrie Centre Gardens
Last week I went to a fantastic seed collection workshop held at Wollongong Botanic Gardens in their Towrie Centre, I had never really been to this part of the gardens before and was really envious of the great job they have done. There is a large part of the garden that was bush tucker but…
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Lovers of Hot and Dry: Alyogyne hakeifolia ‘Melissa Anne’ and ‘Elle Maree’
I went to look at a garden yesterday which was hot and dry, it had lots of hard surfaces that were heating up with the western sun, that got me thinking about this plant Alyogyne hakeifolia ‘Melissa Anne’ or native hibiscus. There are many Alyogyne mainly coming from WA and south Australia and this one is…
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Native Christmas Tree
So I can be a bit of a grinch when it comes to Christmas, it makes it hard when your kids are feeling the christmas cheer and really, really want to be festive. Nothing wrong with being festive its just all the rubbish that seems to go along with it, the rubbish you have to…
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How to Plant a Grass Tree
The grass tree is a very symbolic plant to have in a native garden. They can be a specimen plant, a feature plant or work well with a minimalist Japanese theme, and they look amazing in containers. Planting one can be a little daunting as there are many stories out there of them turning up…
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Portfolio: Memorial Garden
This is a garden that was a quick consultation a month back for a Pre-school in Sydney. It is a memorial garden for a well loved teacher that passed away, and it was such a pleasure to be involved in this gardens becoming.
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Plum Bush Tucker: Davidsonia pruiens
This is the Davidsons Plum (Davidsonia pruiens) sending out its flower spikes, getting ready to cover itself in juicy, tart plums YUM. I saw this one in a clients rainforest garden and it was very striking, each of those like pinky and yellow flowers will turn into one of the most famous bushtucker fruits. However…
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Try growing Actinotus helianthi, its not so hard…
Yes, it was only a matter of time before I finally sung the praise of Flannel Flowers, how could I resist? I have so many photos of them in my database, however mainly of them in the bush, these were in a domestic garden in southern sydney, growing happily under some large Grevilleas. These are…
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Yellow, Cream and White Orchids: Dendrobium speciosum
It is a most fabulous season for the Dendrobium speciosums this year, there is no other word for it, they are putting on a massive show whenever I see them, and they seem to be everywhere all of a sudden, many of them in non native gardens which is always great to see.
Category: Natives for containers