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It’s a great Summer for the Grafted Eucalyptus!
The Western Australian Eucalytpus ficifolia have been wonderful this summer, actually they started off dramatically in Spring and are still going strong despite the hot, hot, hot weather. This blog post features two of the grafted species in an attempt to capture their vibrant contrasting colours. The bright red is the flowers from Eucalyptus ‘Dwarf…
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Native Cherry Tree : Exocarpos cupressiformis
I am spending sometime in Tasmania this month and trying to get out in the bush as much as possible and there are a local few plants that keep popping up wherever I go. The native cherry is one of them, I have never tasted the fruit of Exocarpos cupressiformis before this week and it has…
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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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Tufted Herbs: Patersonia sericea
I need to admit I am not very competent when it comes to recognising and utilising Australian tufted perennial herby plants in a garden. For some reason I get the Theliomenas confused with the Thysanotus and the Sowerbaea and with Arthropodium! All are beautiful and all are grass like with wonderful prominent flowers poking their heads…
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Perfect Small Feature Tree: Angophora hispida
I have been waiting for two Angophora hispida that are local to my daily route to start budding up and flowering so I can photograph them. This morning I couldn’t wait any longer and took a few snaps. The reason I say budding up as well as flowering is because these trees have stunning red…
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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: Greenwich Garden Design Update
I have a very special garden that I visit once a year, I usually get a call in early spring asking for help to spruce up the garden in time for overseas visitors. It is always a pleasure to catch up with the clients and replace plants that haven’t worked and admire others that are…
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The Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail
On my recent WA wildflower expedition I had a longing to get as far east as possible, to the desert areas to see the wildflowers. This is no mean feat when you have two young children for whom sitting in a car for more than 4 hours is a waste of a day. However, armed…
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Wonderful West Australian Mallees
I love Mallees, obviously hence my business name, and Western Australia has an amazing array of these characteristic Eucalypts. As part of my recent trip to WA I stayed in an area called Dryandra, a short drive south east of Perth. We stayed in the Dryandra Forest and within this area there was the iconic…
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Portfolio: Bondi Consult
This garden was a simple consult and then a couple of weekends of intensive clearing out by the client, then I came in for the fun part 🙂 Two large Frangipani trees shade the west facing front garden in Summer but let the well needed sun through in winter, it is practically illegal to remove…
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Hi Vallee Farm: Kwongan Country
We stayed at an amazing property 3 and a half-hours north of Perth in mid-August, where the local flora did not disappoint. I must admit I found it quite difficult to plan my Western Australia wild flower trip and after many hours of internet research discovered Hi Vallee Farm. And no, I have not pushed…
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Kings Park Favourites
This post is about one of my visits to Kings Park last month, I went twice and still felt as though I hadn’t seen everything, however the images I took were mainly of plants that I think can be grown on the east coast of NSW. This blog post is about some of my favourites. The…
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Happy National Wattle Day: Acacia glaucoptera
How wonderful is the smell of Wattles flowering right now? I have an Acacia fimbriata Dwarf growing next to my driveway and at the moment wherever I go I seem to be leaving a trail of pale yellow wattle flowers behind me, as they like to hitch a ride on my clothes as I get…
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Grass Trees of Fremantle
I have just come back from Western Australia and have maaaany photos to share, as I am a little overwhelmed by the volume of my images and don’t really know where to start I thought I would start at the beginning of the trip….the first thing (plants) that blew me away. Grass Trees. In the…
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Enjoying Pig Face: Carpobrotus glaucescens
Carpobrotus or ‘Pig Face’ is one of my favourite bush foods to eat, it tastes like an over-ripe Kiwi fruit with a salty edge, delicious! This morning as we were rambling through our local sand dune and beach my son found a pig face fruit and what do you know I had my camera handy…
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Year round flowering: Grevillea ‘Elegance’
This is Grevillea longistyla x johnsonii or better known as Grevillea ‘Elegance’, it is a star performer when it comes to speed of growth, constant flowers and attractive fine leaved foliage, plus the birds adore it! Grevillea ‘Elegance’ gets BIG that is my only warning, if the label says it grows to 2 metres it is…
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Floating Birdbath
This is the new steel tripod stand for my spun copper dishes, this stand is designed to disappear into the plants in a garden bed. It is made up of three thin metal rods that taper and attach to a steel ring on which the dish sits upon. This bird bath can be purchased over…
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Portfolio: Garden Designs Gordon Update
This is an update about one garden, however within that one garden are 3 very different areas and these areas were approached as stand alone projects and designs and built secretly. I was gaining to blog about them separately but I think it is nice to show how varied one garden can be. You can…
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Portfolio: Garden Design Hunters Hill Update
This garden in Hunters Hill was built in 2013, I went back for a visit largely because I have been asked for images of native gardens that sit well in bushland areas of Sydney and this is one of the first that came to mind. Upon entering the garden from the street you have very…
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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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The colour combinations of Grevillea ‘Amber Blaze’
I am not a massive fan of the larger flower spike type of Grevilleas species, I often associate them with attracting noisy miners and rainbow lorikeets, not desirable native birds for me. However, this Winter I have had two Grevillea ‘Amber Blaze’ specimens take my breath away. The photos in this blog post are…
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Showy Winter Flowers: Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’
I have been noticing in the past few weeks the large numbers of Grevilleas that seem to be flowering profusely all through Autumn and welcoming Winter with a colourful wave. This particular Grevillea ‘Winter Delight’ began budding up in late Summer and I have been anticipating the show for weeks. These photos have been…
Author: Kath Gadd