Category: Small tree

  • for lovers of purple:Melaleuca nesophila

    for lovers of purple:Melaleuca nesophila

    I must admit purple is not one of my favourite colours and when clients specify purple flowers I often come up a blank and can only think of Hardenbergia, which is completely ridiculous as there are Brachyscome, Scaevola, Patersonia and soooo many Melaleucas have purple flowers, silly me. This one is one of my favourites…

  • What a Summer for Corymbia ficifolia!

    What a Summer for Corymbia ficifolia!

    This Summer of 2023 – 2024 has been extremely kind to out flowering gums, enabling them to put on a prolific show Australia wide. I’m not sure what has made them so happy, it could be adequate moisture whilst they are budding up or enough heat in the sun to make the blooms pop, whatever…

  • Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’: the most floriferous of them all

    Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’: the most floriferous of them all

    Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’ becomes fully veiled in white flowers from late winter through to spring and early summer, it appears to be covered in white fluffy snow and is quite the show stopper. The weeping habit is a favourite of mine and it will happily grow in tropical, subtropical, and in cooler temperate climates. An elegant…

  • The glossy leafed Eupomatia laurina

    The glossy leafed Eupomatia laurina

    This ancient flowering plant has a fossil record of 120 million years, it’s primitive flowers are a legacy from Gondwana. Isn’t that mind blowing!? The perfumed, glossy screen tree with edible fruits is the perfect addition to a bush food garden. My Mum has a Eupomatia laurina in her garden that is flowering at the…

  • The elegant branches of Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’

    The elegant branches of Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’

    I have written about this favourite tea tree of mine before, however I think it deserves another post which is more dedicated to its elegant branches and decorative bark. I took these photos of Leptopsermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’ at Kuranga native nursery last year, where they have used the species extensively around their pond and throughout…

  • Happy Wattle Day: The Ever useful Acacia fimbriata

    Happy Wattle Day: The Ever useful Acacia fimbriata

    The 1st of September is not only the first day of Spring, but it is also National Wattle Day! So if you have any flowering in your garden, cut off a sprig for a jar or pin it to your chest with pride. It has been a very mild Winter so welcoming Spring doesn’t feel…

  • The Mediterranean flavour of Grevillea olivacea

    The Mediterranean flavour of Grevillea olivacea

    Grevillea olivacea is considered a fast growing native shrub for dry conditions, with its dense habit it is the perfect screening plant to block out any building, street or fence. I use it for its grey foliage and small spider flowers, because spider flowering Grevilleas are my favourites! I also like to incorporate it into…

  • Pittosporum revolutum and its eye catching fruit

    Pittosporum revolutum and its eye catching fruit

    This is Pittosporum revolutum, a medium shrub with jasmine-scented blossoms which flowers profusley in Spring and then is covered in decorative fruit in Autumn. When flowering the scent permeates the whole garden and is often commented on by visitors. In the bush it grows as an understory plant and often gets quite leggy, but pruning…

  • The Bronze Highlights of Gymnostoma australianum

    The Bronze Highlights of Gymnostoma australianum

    This almost Christmas like tree is part of the Casuarina family, at first glance can look like a conifer or pine tree, but fuller in habit. Its overall texture and colour is very similar to She Oaks when they are flowering, which is probably why this specimen caught me eye. The male and female flowers…

  • Lucious, Shade-loving: Trochocarpa laurina

    Lucious, Shade-loving: Trochocarpa laurina

    Note: The photos on this post were originally misidentified as Decaspermum humile. Thanks to @nightjarnatives who corrected the id on instagram! Trochocarpa laurina or ‘Tree Heath’ is a large shrub to small tree which loves the shade. I have recently spotted it growing under large Eucalyptus in full shade, it also enjoys dappled light. It…

  • Who can resist ? Melaleuca ‘Candy Sparkles’

    Who can resist ? Melaleuca ‘Candy Sparkles’

    Some plants are blessed with fantastic common or cultivar names, this is one such species which I would almost buy for the label alone. ‘Candy Sparkles’ promised to be vibrant, attractive and showy without me even seeing it in the ground! I have been snapping up this cultivar whenever I see it and popping it…

  • Australian Native Plants in Japan

    Australian Native Plants in Japan

    It was inevitable that I wouldn’t be able to turn off my native plant nerd brain whilst overseas in Japan last month…. I tried, I really did. I took photos of Japanese plants, seed pods and flowers and researched after visiting the gardens and temples. BUT every Australian plant seemed to call out to me…

  • Merry NSW Christmas Bush: Ceratopetalum gummiferum

    Merry NSW Christmas Bush: Ceratopetalum gummiferum

    I am a bit of a Grinch when it comes to Christmas and often one of the things which pulls me our of my un-festive slump is our Ceratopetalum gummiferum or native Christmas Bush. This year I was a little late, as many have finished thier show by the time Christmas actually arrives. However, I…

  • Happy National Wattle Day!

    Happy National Wattle Day!

    We hope your gardens are in full bloom and continue to bring you and the native wildlife joy throughout the month of Spring. This years Wattle is Acacia linifolia or Flax Wattle, it flowers from Summer through to Winter. Changes are afoot this month and we have some some exciting announcements which we thought worthwhile…

  • Most Memorable Planting Combinations at the National Arboretum

    Most Memorable Planting Combinations at the National Arboretum

    Every time I visit our nations lovely Capital I seem to find myself at the National Arboretum, by default I manage to eke out at least half an hour to check in on some of my favourite plantings. I have posted previously about two of these species but when I was looking over my photos…

  • What to Plant for Poorly Drained Soils

    What to Plant for Poorly Drained Soils

    Wet Weather Gardening After yet more rain on the east coast many plants in many gardens are suffering water-logging. Even in reasonably well drained soils the inundation has been too much for some plants. Physically, the force of rain, streams and puddles of water have caused their own damage and with the increased humidity comes…

  • Luscious, Dense and Green: Xanthostemon chrysanthus

    Luscious, Dense and Green: Xanthostemon chrysanthus

    This showy small to medium tropical tree was flowering its head off on my recent trip to Brisbane and northern NSW. It was such a welcome sight after the damp, soggy Summer we have had, finally a species revelling in all the rain! Xanthostemon chrysanthus is also known as ‘Golden Penda’ and comes in a…

  • Happy Eucalyptus Day! Eucalyptus risdonii

    Happy Eucalyptus Day! Eucalyptus risdonii

    This is a Eucalypt species very close to my heart, you can see it in my banner at the top of the website. Yes, I took photos of it almost 10 years ago and have recently revisited the vegetation community where it can be found. Eucalyptus risdonii grows only on the eastern shore of Hobart…

  • Powerful Pollinators: Leptospermums

    Powerful Pollinators: Leptospermums

    We are mid the Australian Annual Pollinator Week and I have been admiring our our native tea trees all Spring so I thought I would bring them to your attention this week as they are wonderful plants to grow for our native pollinators. “Australian Pollinator Week acknowledges our important and unique insect pollinators during our…

  • Portfolio: Helensburgh Consult

    Portfolio: Helensburgh Consult

    Front gardens play such an important role in most streetscapes but especially in suburbia where the repetition of built form and front lawns can become almost claustrophobic. These clients wanted something different to look out on from inside of their home but also a welcoming garden on arrival home from work. The new native garden…

  • Portfolio: Gardening in Wind

    Portfolio: Gardening in Wind

    This is my sisters garden on ‘Windy Hill’ as we like to call it, it gets so windy here the rubbish bins get blown down the street, gates are blown off their hinges and plants find it tough! Her front garden bears the brunt of the Westerlies and southerlies and used to be bare lawn…

  • Instagram #INeedABirdbathHere Winner and Entries!

    Instagram #INeedABirdbathHere Winner and Entries!

    We’ve been simply blown away by the beautiful garden entries we received in our most recent birdbath competition #INeedABirdbathHere. We asked our followers to send us photos of their gardens for the chance to win a Freshly Spun Medium Copper Dish and couldn’t be happier with the result. It’s always inspiring to see wonderful native…

  • Portfolio: Haberfield Landscape Design

    Portfolio: Haberfield Landscape Design

    The brief for this front garden in Sydney’s inner west was to create a modern native garden which is sympathetic to the era of the house and show cases an Art Deco water feature passed down through the family. The front garden now addresses and interacts with the street and also provides a sense of…

  • A Portrait of a Flower: Hakea francisiana

    A Portrait of a Flower: Hakea francisiana

    Look at this thing! is it not one of the most spectacular flowers you have ever seen? I have been impatiently waiting for this moment in my Hakea francisiana Grafted life cycle since I planted it 6 months ago. It began flowering a couple of weeks ago, just as we went into COVID lockdown again,…