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The Native Red Poker: Hakea bucculenta
OK, so its not really red, its hot pink but it is poker like…and very showy, this is Hakea bucculenta another wonderful WA species that has been successfully grafted to grow over here in the Eastern States. If you provide it with lots of sun, a well drained soil and not too much wind it will…
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Marvellous Banksia ‘Mini Marg’!
This is another form of Banksia marginata, a dwarf form that grows dense and low but still covers itself with bright yellow insect and bird attracting flowers in Summer through to Autumn. Banksia ‘Mini Marg’ is quite variable in height growing to between 1 and 3 metres, however it responds very well to pruning as…
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Autumn Bush Foods
This is a little collection of bush foods collected in late May this year, isn’t it an amazing haul? oh how we did feast! My children and I seem to have a high tolerance for the sour and bitter flavours that many bush foods offer. This was my first taste of raw Davidson’s plums the big…
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Sooooo many Emu Bush: Eremophila maculata
There are soooo many Eremophilas and I only know of and use a handful, I would like to rectify this situation, I am going to set myself a challenge to be able to recognise and utilise at least a dozen Eremophila species in the next 12 months. These images are of Eremophila maculata ssp. maculata, which…
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Another Silver Leaved Beauty: Eucalyptus pulverulenta
This is Eucalyptus pulverulenta another of my favourite small silver foliaged feature trees, it rates highly on my list along with Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’, Calothamnus quadrifidus ‘Grey’ and Eucalyptus ceasia ‘Silver Princess’. Eucalyptus pulverulenta is known as Silver-leaved Mountain Gum, it grows to about 5-6 metres high x 2-3 metres wide, there is also a compact form called Eucalyptus…
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The Brightest of the Acacias? Acacia podalyriifolia
It has always seemed to me that Acacia podalyriifolia is one of the first wattles to flower every winter, and so profusely! or at least it is one of the most immediately noticeable 🙂 The native bees think so too as you can see in the photo above. The combination of the silver foliage with…
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Bathing Birds: Mallee Birdbath
I am pretty excited as we have a new toy, a wildlife camera to take photos of the birds in our birdbaths. It’s wonderful! I have tried so many times to take photos of the birds in my garden and unless you have a fantastic telephoto lens and loads of time to sit patiently and…
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Grevillea ‘Billy Bonkers’ and his Big Sister
I used to have a very small appreciation for Grevilleas, especially the larger flowering species but I have mellowed and now am finding more and more of them appealing. I tend to go for the rarer flower shapes often from WA or South Australia but often now I am drawn towards a Grevillea with a…
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Bulli Grevillea Park: Banksia ‘Bush Candles’
This is an amazing mass planting of Banksia spinulosa ‘Bush Candles’ at Bulli Grevillea Park which I re-visited last weekend. I remember when these were planted and how truly underwhelming this garden bed appeared, so it was so lovely to see them all beginning to fill out and flowering their heads off. Like most…
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Mallee Birdbaths and Water Bowls at The Collectors Plant Fair Next Weekend!
Hi Everyone, its market season again! We will have a stand at the ‘Collectors Plant Fair’ next weekend. It’s a great opportunity to come and check out our spun copper birdbaths and water bowls in ‘real life’ and also to come and have a chat or say ‘hello’. Collector’s Plant Fair 2017 Sat & Sun…
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Mallee Design SHOP
It is official! the Mallee birdbaths and water dishes have their very own online shop! they will be much more comfortable there 😉 they can take up as much space and get as much attention as they need. Please visit shop.malleedesign.com.au for all bird bath purchases. We have had a price change also, all the new prices…
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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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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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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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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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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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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…
Category: Bird attracting