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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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Dodonaea Hedges
Dodonaea is a very useful shrub, it grows in heavy to dappled shade and also in full sun, it is a fast growing species that prunes and clips well and it is thick and therefore provides excellent privacy. Dodonaea viscosa purpurea is seen above with its striking red foliage, the leaves turn this colour when…
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My Favourite Banksia spinulosa Dwarfs
There are many dwarf forms of Banksia spinulosa, so many it can be quite confusing and seem a little ridiculous when it comes to choosing one. There are slight variances in the foliage, the flower colour, the flower size and in the size and shape of the shrub itself. For most people these difference would…
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Shady Reds: Breynia ‘Ironstone’
This is one of those special native plants that has deep red to burgundy foliage when it receives lots of sun, like Agonis ‘Burgundy’. It is also one of those special native plants that seems to have no height restriction, or rather non that is published, therefore when I found one that is about 10…
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Portfolio: Gordon Courtyard Garden Design
This small courtyard garden is part 2 of a 3 stage garden design for clients on the upper north shore. This was a middle garden that services a flat/studio attached to the main house, to say it was fairly un-loved is an understatement. See the before image below. It is a shady garden, dominated…
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One for Brightening up Shady Hollows: Correa pulchella ‘Orange Glow’
I was at an open garden today and the Grevilleas were in full bloom everywhere you looked, along with many of the Banksias and even some of the Wattles, however my eye was drawn again and again to this plant. Correa pulchella ‘Orange Glow’ had been planted throughout the garden in hidden shady spots and…
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Portfolio: Gordon Garden Design
I am really enjoying watching the garden settle in, thank you for all your efforts This is Stage 1 of a garden I am working on in Gordon in the northern suburbs of Sydney. The front garden went in about 6 months ago and has flourished over the summer months with the loving care of…
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Portfolio: Connells Point Consults
I had the pleasure today of revisiting some regular clients in Connells Point for some follow up advice. I first began helping with this garden in 2013 and then planted and weeded some areas that were more difficult to get to. You see, this is an amazing garden, it has three distinct areas and is…
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Portfolio: Garden Design Lillyfield
Thanks so much for our garden Kath, we love it! I love this garden too! I love its quirky, modern feel where details are appreciated, the client pushed me to think out of the box more than I normally do. This is a small garden by suburban standards but large by inner city ones. It…
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Portfolio: Leichhardt Garden Design
This garden was finished yesterday (Hoooray!) except for three plants I am still waiting for to complete the front, then it will be something else front and back. This small terrace was renovated a year ago and after a much protracted waiting period for clean up we were able to start work on the garden…
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The Very Loveable Parsley Bush: Lomatia silaifolia
This is Lomatia silaifolia or Parsley Bush, a very under-utilised plant in most native gardens, I include Lomatia in many of my gardens as it grows in shade or full sun, it is a reliable when it comes to flowering and grows very quickly. Many people look at Lomatia and think it is a Grevillea,…
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Wombarra Sculpture Gardens
The Wombarra sculpture garden is best described by the owners own words below …a distinctive Illawarra rainforest native garden in harmony with sculpture. Gaby Porter and John Haymes bought the four hectare property in 1997 and have lovingly transformed it into a private oasis to share for art and garden lovers alike. http://www.wombarra.com The garden is…
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Blue Tongue: Melastoma affine
This showy little shrub is Melastoma affine or Native Lasiandra, it really does look like a dwarf form of the incredibly popular south American Tibouchina, which lights up the streets of many inner western Sydney suburbs. However, this is not only an Australian native Lasiandra but is also a bush food. After the flowers finish…
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One of my Favourite Grevillea Groundcovers: Grevillea curviloba
I have been waiting a long time to be able to photograph Grevillea curviloba in full flower, it is a favourite of mine even when not in flower. Finally, I came across two specimens in a private garden that were both covered in blooms, and full of native bees, mind you. Introducing Grevillea curviloba! Hooorah!…
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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: 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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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.…
Tag: understory planting