Category: Winter flowering

  • The Partying Pea: Chorizema cordatum

    The Partying Pea: Chorizema cordatum

    This outrageous little pea flower is growing in my daughters primary school, it thinks it is unassuming and doing its own thing, little does it realise what a show off it is! Chorizema cordatum is a wonderful South West Australian species which grows in moist gravelly well drained soil. It will grow in full sun…

  • Dainty and Delightful Fringe Myrtle: Micromyrtus ciliata

    Dainty and Delightful Fringe Myrtle: Micromyrtus ciliata

    This sweet little native shrub is in full bloom at the moment, it started in late Winter and can continue until Summer in some cases. Micromyrtus ciliata is one of those species which gets so covered in flowers that you can barely see the leaves! The shrub only reaches half a metre high by upto…

  • Front garden makeovers

    Front garden makeovers

    One of my ‘dreams’ is to walk down a suburban street and be able to admire one native front garden after another. I am always on the look out, when walking or driving, and the well-loved gardens (especially the native ones) always pop out at me. Gardens where people have made an effort and show…

  • Happy National Wattle Day! Acacia leprosa ‘Weeping Form’

    Happy National Wattle Day! Acacia leprosa ‘Weeping Form’

    It’s National Wattle Day! Hooray! the time of the year when the Acacias are telling us warmer weather is on the way, I mean I have had flowering Wattles in my garden all Winter long 🤨 …..anyhooo it’s a great time of year to look around and take in all the different species and forms…

  • Screening with Hardenbergia violacea

    Screening with Hardenbergia violacea

    This climber always surprises me every year with how aptly it lives up to its common name of Happy Wanderer. The little pea flower spikes really do have tiny smiling faces with bright green eyes. Hardenbergia violacea is a local native climber or scrambler to most of the east coast of Australia, growing naturally on…

  • An oldie but a goodie: Thryptomene saxicola ‘FC Payne’

    An oldie but a goodie: Thryptomene saxicola ‘FC Payne’

    This is a classic 70’s native garden plant, a WA species which doesn’t need to be grafted to grow elsewhere in Australia and for good reason it has stood the test of time. Thryptomene saxicola ‘FC Payne’ is hardy and tough, growing and flowering through shade, frost, drought and a harsh prune. It enjoys a…

  • Landscaping with Dwarf Kangaroo Paws: Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’

    Landscaping with Dwarf Kangaroo Paws: Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’

    I couldn’t help myself when I was in Canberra last month at the Botanic Gardens, before I even considered what I was doing I was snapping away at these Anigozanthos ‘Bush Pearl’. They just looked so stunning in the foggy morning light, dry out from the Winter frost but punchy as ever. Generally I am…

  • Emu Bush No. 9: Eremophila bignoniiflora x polyclada

    Emu Bush No. 9: Eremophila bignoniiflora x polyclada

    Three years ago I set myself a challenge to learn 12 Eremophila species in 12 months, it hasn’t been going very well …..yet again I have failed to meet my own deadline 🤣 However, my desire to learn more about the wonderful Eremophila genus has not diminished and I am slowly plodding along. You can…

  • The Grevillea that ticks all the boxes: Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’

    The Grevillea that ticks all the boxes: Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’

    This low growing shrub is one of my favourite Grevilleas, it covers itself in pinky red flowers all through winter to attract the birds and the bees. It has a naturally dense habit which can only be improved with a little tip pruning now and again and yes, it has grey leaves, my favourite! Grevillea…

  • Portfolio: West Wollongong Revisit

    Portfolio: West Wollongong Revisit

    The images in this blog post were taken of a local garden I designed a few years ago which has been filling out beautifully. The requested privacy is beginning to really take shape, the front garden has been reclaimed as a relaxing outdoor space which can be utilised more often by critters and humans alike.…

  • Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong

    Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong

    “In short, can’t thank you enough for the difference your design and expertise have made to our street frontage, never mind our well- being during lockdown.” September 14th 2021 The brief for this garden was inspired by another Mallee Design garden two doors up the street, which always helps 😉 The clients wanted to get…

  • The small tree Emu Bush: Eremophila longifolia

    The small tree Emu Bush: Eremophila longifolia

    This is another Emu Bush to add to my database, Eremophila longifolia is classically not so bushy in habit but more upright and weeping. I think it makes a lovely small feature tree with its long, droopy leaves and clusters of pink bell flowers. It can be pruned into other shapes if needed but the…

  • Level 2 Water Restriction friendly plants: Calothamnus quadrifidus

    Level 2 Water Restriction friendly plants: Calothamnus quadrifidus

    Yesterday NSW moved into level 2 water restrictions, it has been a long time coming, with bushfires still burning up and down the east coast and dam levels at an all time low. The hardest hit are out west where they have been buying in drinking water for most of the year, smoke and dust…

  • The Grevillea screen that could: Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’

    The Grevillea screen that could: Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’

    This is a Grevillea that can…screen out neighbours, fill an empty hole quickly, attract nectar feeding birds, give privacy, flowers profusely and is quite unusual looking. I would say its closest cousin is Grevillea ‘Strawberry Blonde’ another favourite of mine which also has bronze new growth and a large toothbrush flower spike. Grevillea ‘Dorothy Gordon’…

  • Portfolio: Gladesville Front Garden Design

    Portfolio: Gladesville Front Garden Design

    This sweet front garden was built earlier this year after a quite extensive house renovation in Gladesville, it is somewhat of a “treat” for the client and the house to have a fresh start after a year of messing building work. I have been looking for the before photos on my hard drive for half…

  • Portfolio: Northmead Garden Design

    Portfolio: Northmead Garden Design

    I was lucky enough to be asked back for some follow up advice for this charming native habitat garden in the outer suburbs of Sydney today. The renovations are finally over and the garden hasn’t faired too badly with all the coming and going. This property is located backing onto bushland which in times of…

  • Last Wattle for the Season: Acacia argyrophylla

    Last Wattle for the Season: Acacia argyrophylla

    OK I promise this is the last Acacia profile for the year, usually I try and mix it up a lot more on my blog. I am well aware the page is now aglow with lovely yellow ball flowers which may look all the same to some people. But I just can’t help it, the Acacias…

  • A multi-purpose favourite : Acacia baileyana Prostrate

    A multi-purpose favourite : Acacia baileyana Prostrate

    What can this wattle not do?! it can be a dense ground cover, a spillover for a retaining wall or garden edge, a low mounding feature shrub and a lovely soft border plant. On top of all that it flowers like nobody’s business in the middle of Winter! Acacia baileyana Prostrate is a low growing…

  • Yum Yum: Acacia cardiophylla

    Yum Yum: Acacia cardiophylla

    This is a wattle close to my heart, it is one of the most strongly perfumed Australian native flowers I have come across, but not in a over-powering sweet, honey-nectar way, it is more of a Boronia type scent…yum, yum… This is also a very useful Acacia for its capacity to withstand strong winds, I…

  • Wonderful Winter Wattles: Acacia iteaphylla

    Wonderful Winter Wattles: Acacia iteaphylla

    I love wattles, they are so useful for quick screens, winter flowers and perfume, they grow quickly and can act as a coloniser for a new garden giving it almost immediate structure. The older I get the longer lived Acacia species seem to me too, they can last 8 to 10 years sometimes 15 if…

  • The weepiest of them all: Acacia cognata

    The weepiest of them all: Acacia cognata

    Ahhh the river wattle, flopping about just like a willow 😉 Acacia cognata surely must be the weepiest and most cultivated of wattles, it is being remade and re branded everywhere! and for good reason too. Acacia cognata has a weeping habit like no other and creates a soft gentle screen or eye catching feature…

  • Winter brightener: Hakea ‘Burrendong Beauty’

    Winter brightener: Hakea ‘Burrendong Beauty’

    I have already written about this striking low growing Hakea here  however I think this is one of the many very special native plants that deserves a second (and possibly third) plug 😉 This is Hakea myrtoides-x-petiolaris ‘Burrendong Beauty’ a wonderful hybrid low spreading shrub that loves to tangle itself up and create a dense prickly mess…

  • Prune me! I am Eucalyptus pulverulenta!

    Prune me! I am Eucalyptus pulverulenta!

    This is without a doubt one of my favourite small Mallee Eucalypts, it is a very malleable mallee 😉 it responds so well to pruning that if you don’t prune it you are almost doing the plant a disservice. These photos were taken at the Arboretum in Canberra where there is a stand of Eucalyptus pulverulenta…

  • Pink and Grey: Guichenotia ledifolia

    Pink and Grey: Guichenotia ledifolia

    As a colour combination pink and grey is one of my favourites, especially on a plant, grey leaves and a soft pink flower win me over every time! Luckily for me it is a fairly common combination in native Australian plants, look at this Guichenotia ledifolia I photographed in Canberra Botanic Gardens last weekend. Guichenotia’s are…