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Shade Tolerant Grevillea: Grevillea oleoides
There aren’t that many Grevilleas that grow well in shade, let alone also flower in positions with limited sun. Grevillea oleoides is one of them, along with Grevillea sericea, sherissii and rhyolitica then you have a small group of faithfully. I love the shape of oleo ides the best though, it is un-usual how the…
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Easy to grow WA species for the East Coast
Another one! and this one is a winner, it ticks so many boxes and it is hard to believe it comes from southern WA. Gastrolobium celsianum or Brachysema celsianum is a wonderful native plant, it is relatively easy to source, grows quickly and flowers in shade. It has beautiful grey green, foliage and plenty of…
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Shady Winter Purple: Hovea acutifolia
Hovea acutifolia always takes my breath away when I see it in full bloom, it is quite something. For most of the year it is an almost nondescript medium sized shrub that is useful for filling shady spots in the garden. Then BAM it covers itself in these happy little purple flowers that are almost…
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4 Reliable Shadies
I have been visiting many shady gardens lately, where there hasn’t really been much scope for planting anything besides ferns and their relatives. This has made me stop and think about tough, reliable shade plants, natives for ground cover, lower layer and upper layer, that can co-exist underneath the canopy of large rainforest trees such…
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Bush Food Spheres: Citriobatus pauciflorus
I was quite taken when I saw these well clipped Orange Thorn a few weeks back in the edible section at Mount Anan Botanic Gardens, this section of the garden is kept quite manicured, bringing out the ornamental potential of all of the local Bush Food plants. And lets face it, I am a sucker…
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Lovely, Prickly…
There are many lovely pricklies, lovely because they are prickly and just lovelies that happen to be prickly, Acacia amblygona is both. This is a low growing sprawling wattle, that appears thick and luscious from a distance but then when you touch it you get a little shock, it is not as tactile as it…
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Portfolio: Glebe Re-visited
I went back to this front Terrace garden in Glebe a couple of weeks ago to do some follow up work; re-mulching and pruning and I was struck again by how quickly the garden is filling out, it is still under a year old and already you can see the structure as the plants begin…
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Portfolio: Hunter’s Hill Garden Design
Thankyou so much Kath for designing our native Garden, we love it……Not sure if you realise how lightly you step on this earth, lovely to observe. This garden in Hunter’s Hill backs onto a strip of bushland that runs right down to the water, it has a towering Harry Seidler stone wall on one side…
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Portfolio: Crows Nest Garden Design
This garden in Crows Nest was designed at the beginning of last year and has been slowly and steadily taking shape. It is being lovingly built by the owner on weekends and through his careful attention and patience it will be a great success. However, unfinished as it is I couldn’t resist posting a few…
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Soft, Luscious Screen: Acacia fimbriata Dwarf
Acacia fimbriata Dwarf has a puffy sort of look to it from a distance, it is a full bushy shrub with a cloud-like texture. One of the most useful plants that I use in a landscape, as it has enough interest to stand on its own by contrasting with other foliage and form around it…
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The Temperamentally Fruiting Plume Pine: Podocarpus elatus
I am always excited when I get to taste a new bush tucker food, these Australian native plant foods seem to get a fairly bad rap when it comes to flavour and usually I am pleasantly surprised when something ends up being quite palatable and occasionally delicious! Therefore it was fantastic to find a Podocarpus…
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Ode to Banksia spinulosa
Banksia’s may possibly be my favourite Genus of Native plants and this particular species could well be top of that list. I was at a clients garden this afternoon and we were lovingly looking at his Banksia spinulosa and stroking the new growth and commenting on what a wonderful plant it is. There is something…
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Correa Tangent
Seeing as I have started on the topic of Correas I thought I may as well continue, here is another of my very favourite Correas that is such a useful plant in the landscape. Correa baeuerlenii or Chef’s Hat Correa is found naturally growing on the south coast of NSW on shady, damp sites, therefore it…
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Coastal Correa ground cover : Correa alba prostrate
I have been trying to wait until I have a photo of this useful low growing shrub in flower and I’m sure I do somewhere but I have become impatient! This is a ground cover form of Correa alba and I have been finding it to be a wonderful performer under the most difficult conditions.…
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Tapestry Gardens
Van Gogh reputedly introduced the idea of a tapestry garden, relying on the hue, texture, size and shape of foliage creating a tapestry like mosaic. Diane Snape I was doing some research a couple of nights ago and came across this section titled Tapestry Gardens in Diane Snape’s book ‘The Australian Garden‘ and it is…
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Butterfly attracting Pimelea ‘White Jewel’
This is a low growing form of Pimelea linifolia called ‘White Jewel’, it has proven itself to me to be very hardy and versatile. One of the main reasons I like using this plant is its shape, it grows into a thick luscious looking mound about 30cmHigh x 60cmWide which has the appearance of having…
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Low Shrubbery: Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’
I have had my eye on this little dwarf form of Acacia for a few years now, it isn’t as common as some of the Acacia cognata dwarfs, which is one of the reasons it appeals to me. This is Acacia howittii ‘Honey Bun’ and it is an incredibly pretty and useful low shrub, suitable for…
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Wattle Glen: Sam Cox Landscape
When I realised I would be in Victoria at the beginning of the year one of the first things I did was contact some of my favourite Landscape and Garden Designers to see if they had any open gardens that coincided with my visit. Sam Cox was top of my list and although he didn’t…
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Silver Tea Tree: Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’
This has been my favourite Tea tree for a few years now, it is Leptospermum brachyandrum ‘Silver’ and for the first time I saw some more mature specimens when I visited Cranbourne Botanic Gardens in January. I was overjoyed as I have two in my garden that are only head height so far and three…
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Another Native Christmas Tree? Graptophyllum excelsum
Do you think this qualifies as festive looking? It is covered in beautiful bright red flowers over summer (and Christmas), lovely glossy green leaves, and has a sibling called a Holly, I think it ticks all the boxes. This is Graptophyllum excelsum, and would look pretty good dressed up in tinsel.
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Horizontal Contrast: Homoranthus flavescens
Homoranthus flavescens is a striking plant, the foliage appears succulent and conifer like and the branches grow almost horizontally and appear to layer on top of each other, plus it has a beautiful grey green leaf, making it a wonderful feature shrub in a planting.
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Portfolio: Consult Figtree
I have been busy this week planting out a consult design in Wollongong, it has been very satisfying cleaning up an aged garden, digging up weeds and tree roots and planting fresh natives. The bones of the garden were already there, pathways, existing large trees and a brand new renovation and deck, what was needed…
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Bush Tucker Under-Dog: Dianella caerulea
This season is the first time I have had a decent flush of fruit on my Dianella caerulea and I have been pleasantly surprised by the taste, although it doesn’t hit the same spot as the midyim berry, it is actually tasty enough for me to pick and munch on whilst in the garden.
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Portfolio: Memorial Garden
This is a garden that was a quick consultation a month back for a Pre-school in Sydney. It is a memorial garden for a well loved teacher that passed away, and it was such a pleasure to be involved in this gardens becoming.
Category: Shade tolerant