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try growing the curious Drosera binata
I have been growing Australian carnivorous plants indoors for years, I find them fascinating with their reddish hairy leaves arranged in complex arrays designed to entice insects to land. So when I installed my pond last year I thought I would try emulating their native habitat and plant some around the edges of the water…
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Native plants in the Melbourne City Streetscape
This post is all about praising the plant selection used in the ‘Grey to Green’ project in the City of Melbourne. Much of the plant palate features native species, and on a recent tour I was so impressed with the combinations and utilisation of these species that I felt the need to share some photos…
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Two favourite floating water plants: Nymphiodes geminata & Marsilea drummondii
I love to include water in my Landscapes, whether in the form of a frog pond, fish pond, water bowl or fountain. One of the reasons for my love of water in the garden is it not only attracts wildlife but it can give you a chance to try growing aquatic plants. If you are…
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Portfolio: Haberfield Landscape Design
The brief for this front garden in Sydney’s inner west was to create a modern native garden which is sympathetic to the era of the house and show cases an Art Deco water feature passed down through the family. The front garden now addresses and interacts with the street and also provides a sense of…
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Native plant porn at Kuranga Nursery
I finally made it to Kuranga native nursery last month in Mt Evelyn in Victoria and I wasn’t disappointed, all the hype turned out to be true, it really is the most beautiful native plant nursery. If only I lived closer… The buildings are huge and house a restaurant, gift shop and excellent book selection,…
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The delicate floral leaves of Spyridium parvifolium
This year I have become somewhat obsessed with native shrubs that have a tendency towards growing in part to full shade and have rusty, furry leaves or flowers. I am always looking for plants that are happy with a little shade and have a certain texture to their foliage, Spyridium parvifolium is one of them. The…
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Water Garden Planting
Water is an important part of every garden, it encourages wildlife and can be a useful feature adding a tranquil peaceful element. Planting out a water garden is a great opportunity to discover some wonderful native plants, that flower and have striking foliage like other ornamental plantings, if grouped with some thought the plants will…
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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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Soft Feathery Grass: Baloskion tetraphyllum
I tend to use a lot of grasses in my gardens, I am not totally reliant on them and can manage without, however I mostly use plants with a weeping, soft appearance, and grasses are valuable in creating texture and contrast in a garden. This is Baloskion tetraphyllum, one of my favourites for its vibrant…
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Fish and frogs eggs
I have noticed a distinct lack of frogs eggs in my pond over the last 6 months, this image is of my Villarsia exaltata full of eggs over the summer. This particular plant was the favoured plant by the frogs for laying there eggs. It seems to have a nice branching height above the water to…
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Enticing Suburban Native Garden
This is David’s wonderful garden, it has been made with a passionate eye and a dedicated hand and is simply beautiful. The garden is well laid out and incorporates several different areas that are all planted out with natives, can you believe it is only five years old?
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Frogs, ponds and native water plants: Nymphoides crenata
So this is one of our little friends that likes to visit our pond. Pond is probably too grand a name for it really, it is just an old bath set into the ground where I can grow Australian native water plants, with varying degrees of success.
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Favourite grass
Ficinia nodosa or as previously known Isolepsis is one of my favourite grasses, it grows anywhere from sand dunes to swamps.