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… Read more ›
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…… Read more ›
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… Read more ›
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… Read more ›
I went to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria in January this year to see three gardens designed by one of my favourite Landscape Designers and of course they did not disappoint. In fact  I realise now that I took so… Read more ›
This is a sweet little garden I designed about 4 years ago and it has been lovingly slowly built by the owner’s friend. It is a small rear garden behind a modest brick house in the south western suburbs of… Read more ›
The lemon scented gum is one of my favourite fragrances, that pungent citronella smell released after the rain or at dusk on a summer evening makes me all sentimental about our incredible flora. Unfortunately Eucalyptus or Corymbia citriodora doesn’t mix… Read more ›
Happy National Eucalypt Day everyone! I really hope you were able to appreciate a Eucalpytus tree today at the very least, or possibly able to plant one? “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second… Read more ›
I have written before about my love of bottlebrush and how I wish for a resurgence in their use in garden design and the general landscape. There are many new interesting forms and cultivars that are a far shot from… Read more ›
I am often asked if I come from Mallee country in Victoria and sadly the answer is no, Mallee Design my business name was not chosen for geographical reasons it was chosen for aesthetic reasons. I am in love with… Read more ›
We all know that wattles get a bad rap for growing quickly, becoming sparse and also attacked by borers, many people won’t plant Acacias purely based on their shorter lifespan, not me I plant them whenever possible and to be… Read more ›
I have been monitoring these Leptospermum obovatum ‘Starry Night’ shrubs (that  I planted in a neighbours garden) closely, waiting, waiting for them to flower and BOOM! last week they exploded! I love reddish or burgundy foliage and there are… Read more ›
