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There’s nothing quite like Maireana oppositifolia
There truly is nothing quite like Maireana oppositifolia, the strange and intriguing habit of this silver foliaged beauty is unique. It has a strong upright habit with its branchlets compact and forming points giving it a sculptural affect. In the image below you can see standing strong behind the Eremophila ‘Kalbarri Carpet’. Because of its…
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Two top Thomasias: Thomasia macrocarpa and Thomasia solanacea
Thomasia is a native shrub species which can be found largely in the south of Western Australia, like many of the species located in that area of Australia it is quite adaptable. For some reason all of this genus is endowed with showy, textured foliage like few other native species, making them a wonderful edition…
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Chorilaena quercifolia: Another WA toughie
I can’t help myself, I seem always to be drawn to the unique foliage and flowers of the native plants which grow naturally in Western Australia. Which then leads me to buy many grafted native plants or grow them in pots or try the ‘see how she goes’ test in my garden. This is Chorilaena…
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The Partying Pea: Chorizema cordatum
This outrageous little pea flower is growing in my daughters primary school, it thinks it is unassuming and doing its own thing, little does it realise what a show off it is! Chorizema cordatum is a wonderful South West Australian species which grows in moist gravelly well drained soil. It will grow in full sun…
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Softly softly: Eucalyptus ficifolia ‘Fairy Floss’ Grafted
These soft, gentle pink flower clusters belong to another grafted Eucalyptus (Corymbia) ficifolia dwarf grafted gum, this sweet small tree is called ‘Fairy Floss’, isn’t the name just perfect? This small feature tree flowers in the warm summer months between December and March like many of the ‘Summer’ series grafted gums. It makes a wonderful…
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Level 2 Water Restriction friendly plants: Calothamnus quadrifidus
Yesterday NSW moved into level 2 water restrictions, it has been a long time coming, with bushfires still burning up and down the east coast and dam levels at an all time low. The hardest hit are out west where they have been buying in drinking water for most of the year, smoke and dust…
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Just because it’s beautiful….Grevillea insignis
Sometimes I feel the urge to promote plants based on their aesthetic appeal and not much more really… and this is one of them Grevillea insignis, this is a little bit indulgent but I saw this Grevillea growing in Cranbourne Botanic Gardens earlier this year and was instantly drawn to it. I do love a holly…
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Another true blue Banksia ground cover: Banksia petiolaris
This is another great WA prostrate ground cover Banksia that grows and flowers directly on the ground like Banksia blechnifolia. They have a very similar habit, however their leaves and flowers are quite different. Banksia petiolaris has a lovely bluish hue to its leaf, in the image above you can see it growing amongst Themeda…
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A true blue Banksia ground cover: Banksia blechnifolia
This is the real deal when it comes to a Banksia ground cover, it naturally grows along the ground it is not a cultivar or hybrid, it “wants” to grow like this! And I love it for that, happily creeping along with its soft red furry new stems and hilarious flowers that sit on the…
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Two more lovelies for the Emu Bush Challenge: Eremophila cuneifolia and rotundifolia
I am still very, very slowly working on my Emu Bush plant palette, adding these two beauties Eremophila cuneifolia and Eremophila rotundifolia makes six, I’m halfway to my desired dozen…phew Both these species were grafted where I saw them in the Bulli Grevillea Park, so if you live in coastal NSW as I do it…
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The arching canes of Old Socks: Grevillea leucopteris
There are a group of Grevilleas which throw their flowers out on tall leggy canes, up into the air far away from their foliage. Grevillea petrophiloides is probably one of the better known and more available ones in NSW, but I would also like to bring attention to Grevillea leucopteris. In the image above you…
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Spectacular: Eucalyptus erythrocorys
I almost feel like writing no text necessary next to these images of Eucalyptus erythrocorys, this truly has to be one of the most wonderful eucalyptus flowers in the Australia! those colours, can it get any better? This specimen is growing on a north facing mound in my mum’s garden in Wollongong, it was a little bit…
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It’s a great Summer for the Grafted Eucalyptus!
The Western Australian Eucalytpus ficifolia have been wonderful this summer, actually they started off dramatically in Spring and are still going strong despite the hot, hot, hot weather. This blog post features two of the grafted species in an attempt to capture their vibrant contrasting colours. The bright red is the flowers from Eucalyptus ‘Dwarf…
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The Beautiful Gardens of Zanthorrea Nursery
I set aside a morning to visit the Zanthorrea Nursery when I was in Western Australia last August. This was a much anticipated adventure as I have heard much about the nursery and often have recommended it to Western Australians looking for native plants. I was not disappointed, it is a wonderful place, full of…
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The Granite and Woodlands Discovery Trail
On my recent WA wildflower expedition I had a longing to get as far east as possible, to the desert areas to see the wildflowers. This is no mean feat when you have two young children for whom sitting in a car for more than 4 hours is a waste of a day. However, armed…
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Wonderful West Australian Mallees
I love Mallees, obviously hence my business name, and Western Australia has an amazing array of these characteristic Eucalypts. As part of my recent trip to WA I stayed in an area called Dryandra, a short drive south east of Perth. We stayed in the Dryandra Forest and within this area there was the iconic…
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Happy National Wattle Day: Acacia glaucoptera
How wonderful is the smell of Wattles flowering right now? I have an Acacia fimbriata Dwarf growing next to my driveway and at the moment wherever I go I seem to be leaving a trail of pale yellow wattle flowers behind me, as they like to hitch a ride on my clothes as I get…
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Grass Trees of Fremantle
I have just come back from Western Australia and have maaaany photos to share, as I am a little overwhelmed by the volume of my images and don’t really know where to start I thought I would start at the beginning of the trip….the first thing (plants) that blew me away. Grass Trees. In the…
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Native Plant Suppliers at the Collectors’ Plant Fair 2015
Yesterday I attended the COLLECTORS’ PLANT FAIR 2015 “Australia’s Treasured Gardening Event” www.collectorsplantfair.com, it is my 2nd time, the first was some years back when it was still held in Bilpin and it rained and rained and rained causing it to be somewhat of a wash out and a massive mud fest. One of the reasons…
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Great in the Ground: Alyogyne ‘Blue Heeler’
There is one problem with this plant and I have failed to use it in gardens even when my instincts told me it would be perfect. It looks terrible in a pot in the nursery….not something that can be helped and Alyogyne ‘Blue Heeler’ is not alone in this instance. Its only this year that…
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Grafted Grevillea of the moment: Grevillea petrophiloides ‘Wild Beauty’
I am beginning to come around gradually to grafted Grevilleas, it has taken me about 5 years to slowly but surely start including them in my designs. I’m not really sure why I was so reluctant to begin with, maybe it was the local indigenous plant Nazi in me, maybe I just didn’t trust them….but…
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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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Native Christmas Tree
So I can be a bit of a grinch when it comes to Christmas, it makes it hard when your kids are feeling the christmas cheer and really, really want to be festive. Nothing wrong with being festive its just all the rubbish that seems to go along with it, the rubbish you have to…
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CAD and a clean slate
This is a very large garden that is an ongoing project at the moment, yesterday was the first plant out day. I would say about 85% of the plants went in yesterday and today, Phew! it was a beautiful day for it too. The main site is on a large slope with a winding pathway…
Tag: WA