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Portfolio: Garden Design Ashfield
This garden was in the making for only a few days, the plants went in on a very hot day last week but overall it felt very streamlined and easy to build and I have surprised even myself with the transformation! In the image below you can see what it looked like in November… The…
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The many colours of Banksia robur
I saw this particular Banksia robur at Wireandra Nursery a couple of weeks ago, and could be heard to cry out ‘Wow those flowers have Aqua in them!’ once I go up closer I also noticed that at the end of each new flower there was also mauve! I have long been in love with…
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Natives for Pots and Containers 3
I think that this topic will be a continuing theme as I regularly see excellent examples of native species growing in pots or containers everywhere I go. There are many reasons for growing native plants in large pots, one of the main reasons is to increase drainage and therefore be able to successfully grow plants…
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Illawarra native garden full of fresh ideas!
I visited the native garden of a passionate native plant lover last week to grab some inspiring photos and ideas; and the garden did not disapoint. This is the 4 th native garden for the owner and she began building it about 8 years ago after moving from a large property in the Snowy Mountains.…
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Happy Wattle Day: Acacia cognata
September the 1st is National Wattle day, did you know that? I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t until fairly recently…whoops! Wattle Day has quite a long history going back to when the Wattle became our National emblem, you can read more about it here http://www.wattleday.asn.au/about-wattle-day-1 What I find particularly interesting about this National Day of celebration is…
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Extremely fast growing screen: Homalanthus populifolius
You have to love a species that can pop up by itself, grow a couple of metres in a year and will do so in full shade. Well I do anyway, although it may appear uninvited in your garden (it is easy to pull out) I have had the experience of it growing in just…
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One of the Best Street Trees: Buckinghamia celsissima
This is Buckinghamia celsissima or the Ivory Curl tree, it is another small to medium tree that is in flower over the summer months, chances are you have seen it around, it is VERY hard to miss. I saw this one on a street in Mosman, I think it was planted by a resident as there…
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My Favourite Grafted Dwarf Eucalyptus ficifolia
It is summer and we have had a lot of rain so the Grafted Eucalyptus ficifolias are in full swing, everywhere I look they are putting on a wonderful show. I have been slowly trying to collect decent photos of all the different colours and was planning to wait until I had them all covered,…
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Super Showy Waratah: Alloxylon flammeum
This is the QLD Tree Waratah, I have mixed feelings about this plant, there is something a little too showy about its blooms and whenever I see it growing in NSW it is always strangely devoid of bird life…why is that? However, now I have seen it growing in its home state I can appreciate…
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One of my favourite Mallees…Eucalyptus luehmanniana
This is Eucalyptus leuhmanniana or Yellow Topped Ash, it is a rare species to the east coast of NSW and grows in high rainfall areas on sandstone soils, it comes in a glaucous and non-glaucus form, the glaucous form is my first choice. Above you can see the whitish-silver stems and buds of the glaucous…
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In Support of Agonis ‘Burgundy’
So there is an out break of a plant disease that started in Australia a couple of years ago in nurseries called ‘Myrtle Rust‘ it affects all plants in the Myrtaceae family and it is incredibly dramatic. It is still about and is moving through our bushland at rapid rate. These rusts are serious pathogens…
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Striking small inner city front garden
Oh so refreshing to see a small terrace garden used to maximum effect! Imagine if this was more common? how wonderful it would be to walk down an inner city street and see native birds running amok, as they were doing here in the grafted Eucalyptus ficifolia. Well lets face it to walk down any…
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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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Wonderful Street Trees: Backhousia citriodora
I was driving through Huntershill and onto Ryde yesterday and I was overjoyed to see the most wonderful sight, rows upon rows of Lemon Myrtle in full bloom, planted out in the streets. Finally! a council using its head when it comes to street trees! I know it is not the only one, I have…
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Red and White: Angophora hispida
Reds and whites are out at the moment on two native trees, this photo is of the dwarf Angophora, Angophora hispida. This is a beautiful small tree that buds up in furry red clusters for a month before the cream flowers come out, I love the rusty reds this tree produces and even better when…
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Shady Lilly Pilly: Syzygium wilsonii
There are so many Lilly Pillys around, different cultivars, that apparently grow faster, thicker, thinner, redder and so on, they are used for hedging everywhere (which is great, far better than Murraya) and can be a little over done. This one is Syzygium wilsonii and it is amazing for a few reasons, firstly it has…
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Plum Bush Tucker: Davidsonia pruiens
This is the Davidsons Plum (Davidsonia pruiens) sending out its flower spikes, getting ready to cover itself in juicy, tart plums YUM. I saw this one in a clients rainforest garden and it was very striking, each of those like pinky and yellow flowers will turn into one of the most famous bushtucker fruits. However…
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Easy to grow WA species: Melaleuca incana
I would so love to have a garden in Western Australia, all the interesting natives I could grow Eucalyptus macrocarpa, Banksia coccinea, Macropedia fulignosa….ahhh but we always want what we can’t have…. So I continue to trail things in my heavy clay, coastal garden with our east coast humid summer and some WA species will grow…
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Delicate Tea Trees: Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’
I love tea trees or Leptospermums, I’m not sure what it is about them that appeals to me so much. Perhaps their soft weeping foliage or the way they can get absolutely covered in flowers so much so that you can hardly see their leaves from a distance. And the flowers are showy, individually they…
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Australian Plants Society Open Gardens: Hogue Garden Jannali
This was such a diverse garden, diverse in style with lots of different areas and plantings. When I saw the garden it was full of sun, enabling the owner to grow almost anything! The different areas were almost like little “rooms” and I can imagine moving about the garden during a day letting the sun…
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Indigenous Eclectic Garden
This is a very, very special garden that I visited last year, from the moment I walked in, the space spoke to me. It is private and secluded and quite small, but jam packed with Illawarra indigenous species.
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Acacia cardiophylla
I am always on the look out for small “feature trees”, something that can be planted in front of a hedge and still be walked under. Or to be placed in a garden bed and have enough space to have some underplanting beneath the canopy.
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Banksia as small trees: Banksia marginata
Every Australian Native garden should have at least one Banksia, even if it is a ground cover or low spreading shrub, they are a signature plant. Banksia marginata grows to be a beautiful small tree with a thick canopy and often very low lying branches, therefore they can make an excellent large screening plant. The…
Category: Small tree