Bought as tubestock from Kumbartcho Nursery 10/12/2016 Planted toward eastern end of back fence. Round, dense shrub to 4m tall. Sun/semi-shade. White flowers in spring. Attracts birds and bees. Leaves aromatic when crushed. ANPSA “Usually found in sandy or sandstone-derived soils but sometimes found in basalt soil or rocks, often in moist depressions or along [...]
Plants (A-Z)
Also known as snake vine, climbing Guinea flower or golden Guinea vine Tubestick from Kumbartcho, planted in north-east corner near fence – January 2017 http://anpsa.org.au/h-sca.html a fairly vigorous climber or scrambler, growing to 2 to 5 metres long. It has elliptic to obovate leaves 3-9cm long by 1-3 cm wide. The large golden yellow flowers, [...]
I call the native violet my weed of choice. This is not meant in a derogatory sense. Bare soil will always be colonised by something so why not encourage this friendly little plant to out-compete less attractive weeds and be the default groundcover. Native Violets grow in all sorts of places from full shade to [...]
I got some Okinawa spinach cuttings from Diane at BLF. They strike very easily, stand up to summer heat, and are another option for greens. And it seems it is also attracts the Blue Tiger butterfly.
Stenocarpus ‘Doreen’ – according to its tag is an attractive medium shrub with delicate mid-green foilage and large clusters of creamy flowers in summer. Full sun to part shade, 2m high and 1.5m wide. It has done well but a couple of years later it is more like 4m high and .75 m wide – [...]
Backhousia citriodora (common names lemon myrtle, lemon scented myrtle, lemon scented ironwood) is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, genus Backhousia. (wikipedia) See also http://www.lemonmyrtle.com.au/ Bought at native Plant sale September 2016
A flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae, native to Australia from Queensland to Tasmania. It is known in Australia by the common names false sarsaparilla, purple coral pea, happy wanderer, native lilac and waraburra. (wikipedia) Hardenbergia violacea is usually a climbing plant whose branches twist around the stems of other plants. It is moderately [...]
Common Name – Swamp Mazus. A native ground cover for wet to waterlogged soils. Rosettes of tiny oak-like leaves. Unusual asymmetrical lilac/blue flowers in Spring-Summer. Grows in full sun or part shade. Low perennial herb forming rosettes connected by rhizomes. Flowering: September–April Bought Native Plant Sale: September 2016 Doesn’t like to dry out. Divides easily. [...]
Attractive, scrambling shrub to 1m. Flowers white or pale mauve from spring to autumn. Sticky fruits adhere to clothing, skins and pets and may be a minor nuisance near walkways or other high traffic locations. (ref) Grows as an understory plant in monsoon forest and vine thickets (ref) Food plant for Zebra Blue butterfly. Bought: [...]
Eucalyptus curtisii, or Plunkett mallee, is a small tree that is native to Queensland in Australia. It is a mallee eucalyptus that grows from 2 to 7 metres in height and has smooth, grey bark that peels in long strips. The adult leaves are 6 to 13 cm long and 10 to 25 mm wide. [...]
Small shrub from Mt Barney & Mt Lindesay. Thin wiry branches are slightly hairy. Whorled leaves. Attractive and prolific pink or white flowers with 4 to 10 petals in spring and summer. Also been referred to as Madder-Leaved Bauera. Rambling shrub to 2 metres. Occurs in wet, shaded areas of New South wales, Victoria, Tasmania, [...]
It is a medium to large evergreen tree growing to 30–36 m tall with a trunk up to 1.5 m diameter. The leaves are lanceolate, 5–15 cm long (to 25 cm long on vigorous young trees) and 6–18 mm broad. The seed cones are dark blue-purple, berry-like, with a fleshy base 2-2.5 cm diameter bearing a single oval or [...]
Bought: Nambour Garden Show July 2016Planted: Against back fence to climb on wires (southfacing, gets sun in summer)Prefers full sun or part-shadePruning after flowering can restrain growth and plants respond well to hard pruning. Pandorea Jasminoides – Bower of Beautyclimbing on back fence February 2019(It’s in a large pot) It is important to note that [...]
There are two ways to get shade – to build it or to grow it – and I need shade on the western side of the house. When we moved here there was a mock orange hedge – horrible thing. It was two metres high but didn’t block the sun, it billowed out and filled [...]
This pale yellow clivia is by the path to the front door. Along the west fence is the more common orange clivia. It has moved around a little but seems to have found its niche. Poor clay soil, deep shade in winter, not so deep in summer. I cut off the seed pods after the [...]
In December 2013, my Christmas present to myself was a pond. It’s in the front bed which means the morning sun comes in at the side. Plants are: NYMPHOIDES PURPLE MOZAIC – Yellow water fringe lily . Bought from Mappins at West End – said that it needs 5 hours of sun to flower (less [...]
This stuff grows anywhere, tolerates poor and dry soil, strikes from small pieces. Small yellow flowers. The blue tongue lizards like it. I was a bit concerned about weed potential but it seems to spread, not jump and is easy to pull out. To kill completely, just sheet-cover or out-compete. Alyssum can beat it. August [...]
One of the most useful leaves in the garden – hardier than lettuce
I bought one small Aloe Vera in 2010… From that one, I now have many plants. The aloe vera is the one plant that thrives just about anywhere and can withstand the wind. I plant it anywhere there is a gap so that there is some handy for ant and wasp bites. The flowers are a [...]
The bed of natives is on the east side of the house in the middle of what was the “lawn”. It had very poor soil – solid clay – so it got the chookpoo-newspaper-mulch treatment and then some plants were inserted as best I could. Forget digging holes twice the size of the pot – [...]
I planted two Kangaroo Paws in a hurry on the native strip in March 2011 before I went away for 3 weeks. They grew steadily through the winter but were doing nothing much when we went away in early September. Six weeks later (mid-October), we returned to this… and this… It’s a west-facing wall – [...]
Pigface is a bright, cheerful plant I remember from early childhood and when I saw a punnet of seedlings in the nursery, I knew I had to include it. It’s a succulent with the grey leaves and starkly contrasting soft bright flowers. They are so soft that you need to touch them to appreciate it [...]
The Grevillea ‘Peaches and Cream’ was the first plant in the native strip. It’s at the north end and we see it when we look out of the window. This plant is thriving – more than doubled it’s size in less than a year. The small brown honeyeaters as well as the larger birds [...]
Apthenia Baby Sunrose – Label says evergreen soft-wooded perennial or succulent, small red flowers. 10 cm high – spreading. I planted several of these along the native path against the sandstone blocks. The ground was like concrete. I each plant a little mound of compost and watered occasionally until it took. It now spreads nicely [...]
The first role of the garden is to provide habitat for the many beneficial creatures – from the native bees and lizards to the small birds to the possums. There was a front hedge when we moved in – extremely trimmed lillypilly, now less formal. It’s on the south border so it made sense to [...]