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Hot Tea-trees: Leptospermum ‘Pageant’ and ‘Outrageous’
I love tea trees but don’t often think of them as particularly showy when in flower, except for ‘Cardwell’ of course which almost flowers until on the verge of collapse 😉 Leptospermums for me are a super useful and beautiful screening plant, often with scented foliage and pretty bark. They can have leaves in colours…
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The resurgence of the Bottlebrush: Callistemon pachyphyllus Green
I feel like there needs to be a a resurgence in the planting of Callistemon species in home gardens, they have been given a bad name through thoughtless street planting and gardeners overlooking their pruning needs. There are a handful of Callistemons that I think are worthy of pride of place in a native garden,…
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Some like it hot! Buckinghamia celsissima
All this hot weather has certainly been of benefit to the Ivory Curl trees in and around Sydney, they are blooming themselves silly! This photos in this blog post are of a specimen in my mums garden in Wollongong, the scent is intoxicating and the bees are having a major harvest. Buckinghamia celsissima or Ivory…
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Beginner Friendly: Banksia paludosa ‘Little Pal’
There are many, many dwarf forms of Banksias around now, most of them are Banksia spinulosa, a few are ericifolia. You can never have enough Banksias and if all these dwarf cultivars mean more Banksias are being planted in gardens then I’m all for it. Sometimes the Banksia spinulosa Dwarfs can be a little tricky…
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My obsession with Breynia ‘Ironstone’
Technically this is Breynia cernua ‘Ironstone Range’ and I absolutely adore it, these images are taken in a friends garden, he is a very talented “master” gardener and treats his Breynia ‘Ironstone’ mean….and it loves him for it 😉 I have written about Breynia ‘Ironstone’ before and have been patiently waiting to photograph a fine specimen like…
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Sweet: Grevillea ‘Blood Orange’
I am generally not a massive fan of the large flowering Grevilleas, mainly because they encourage the wrong birds, well not the wrong birds but birds who already have a plentiful source of food. However when someone asks for a native plant that flowers year round, they are generally the first thing that springs to…
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My Favourite Paper Daisy: Bracteantha ‘Diamond Head’
Bracteantha ‘Diamond Head’ is a hardy ground cover paper daisy, it is a natural form of Bracteantha bracteata which was found at Diamond Head on the NSW coast just south of Port Macquarie. I love it for its compact mounding habit, it doesn’t get sparse and leggy like some of the taller Bracteatas and it flowers profusely…
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Portfolio: Garden Design West Wollongong
This front garden in West Wollongong was created to function as a place for peaceful relaxation and observation, it also needed to have careful consideration in regards to levels and access to the front gate and letterbox. Originally the front garden was an awkward, uninteresting space filled with easy to grow green plants, that was…
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The happiest Daisy: Pycnosorus globosus
Billy Buttons is a native daisy with an immense power to make anyone smile, there is something about its large bright yellow ball flowers standing to attention in a showy clump that is irresistable. To top it off it has lovely furry silver grass like leaves and flowers from early spring into late Summer. Billy…
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Some plants are just plain tough: Melaleuca ‘Ulladulla Beacon’
I seem to be on a bit of a Melaleuca tangent of late so I am just going to go with it, Melaleucas are tough and perform beautifully under a range of conditions especially in a heavier clay soil, this is one of the many reasons I love Melaleuca hypericifolia ‘Ulladulla Beacon’. Melaleuca ‘Ulladulla Beacon’ is…
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The aptly named Grey Honey Myrtle: Melaleuca incana
I took so many photos of this Melaleuca incana in full bloom a few weeks ago but I didn’t manage to capture the multitude of bees feasting on its nectar 🙁 The whole shrub was buzzing as they collected the nectar for their hives, I’m pretty sure it was going towards making some delicious honey myrtle…
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It’s Happy Wanderer Time: Hardenbergia violacea
When in flower this hardy vine or ground cover easily lives up to its common name of ‘Happy Wanderer’, the dainty pea flowers occur in purple, white and pink with a few extra colour combinations in between. Hardenbergia is a very small genus but is now widespread in cultivation due to a number of very successful cultivars. In…
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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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Portfolio: Bulli Garden Design
This garden is located in the costal northern Wollongong suburb of Wollongong, on a low ridge and midway down a slope. When I saw the garden for the first time it was directly after the new house had been built, lawn, new soil and mulch had been installed already. The garden was planted out on…
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Keith’s Garden
This is my friend Keith’s native front garden in Bulli, I have wanted to take photos of this garden for a long time and on a recent visit finally remembered my camera. Phew! I had to snap quickly as the sun was setting and the mozzies were out. The garden is located on the escarpment…
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The Versatile Spider Lily: Crinum pedunculatum
I have only just realised how very adaptable this plant is after seeing it growing on the beach in Murramarang National Park last week, I had no idea it would grow on sand in a front line coastal position and look so beautiful. In the image below you can see how symmetrical the clumps of the…
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Portfolio: Coledale Consults
I have been consulting on this coastal garden for about 3 years now maybe a bit more, and it has really begun to settle in, some of the growth especially in the rear garden is amazing. The client has installed a beautiful mosaic letterbox made by his sister, it is large and bright and a…
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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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Why don’t Flame trees flower more often?
Brachychiton acerifolius is an amazing medium sized tree, when it flowers!!! Unfortunately I think I can safely put it in the same flowering category as Gymea Lilys, which is difficult… Doryanthes excelsa flowers on average after 7 years, Brachychiton acerifolius is often more like 8, thats a long time to wait for a tree to…
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Importing soil to your new native garden
This image is of a new garden design project for a home that is currently being constructed, and I have been asked to come in early! This doesn’t happen that often, usually I don’t get to site until the house has been built, but there are many benefits of being engaged this early in the…
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Portfolio: Gordon Garden Design
This is stage 3 or the final stage of a large garden I have been working on in Gordon. The rear of the property backs onto bushland which is quite weedy, the space itself held several large indigenous trees but not much else. The site is steep with a sandstone drop where some very well…
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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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Goodenia ovata and friends
This is one happy little scrambling native plant, with its sunny yellow flowers and buoyant bright green leaves it scrambles over anything in its path. Goodenia ovata is a low spreading shrub that grows as an under-storey plant in the bush around much of coastal Australia, it is tolerant of many different soil types and…
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Fast Growing, Weeping Screen: Acacia cognata ‘Burgundy Cascade’
It seems that there are endless forms of Acacia cognata all battling for attention, all beautiful with their soft weeping habit and mostly with a hardy nature. I personally will never tire of them and if the market continues to be flooded with choice I am quite happy. There are more than a dozen Acacia…
Tag: clay soils