There can’t be a more useful group of small deciduous trees than the Crabapples. They will happily grow in almost any soil (not water logged) in a very wide range of climates coping well with summer heat and drought as well as winter frosts and cold. Many can be grown as specimen trees or as …
The Japanese wine berry is a close relative to the ubiquitous Blackberry and as the common name would suggest is Asian. It makes a suckering clump with arching stems to 2metres or so long, which when the plant is bare in winter are covered with masses of tiny bright red bristles. For me this is …
There has been some dispute over the name of this small extremely hardy tree but there can be no dispute over its ornamental value! You may see it listed as C. stipulacea or C. pubescens or even a mixture of any of the afore mentioned. It can of course be called the Mexican Hawthorn and …
I first saw this South American arching shrub at the Mt. Tomah Botanic gardens and immediately knew I had to have it. It has elegant long arching branches clothed with stemless glossy apple-green leaves and in winter it produces open clusters of tiny chocolate flowers. It is however its habit and leaves that it should …
This odd shrub came my way quite some time ago and didn’t initially make much impact. The leaves are large and a bright green but not of a particularly interesting shape so I plonked it in the garden to see what if anything interesting it could do. It has now made a shrub of about …
Tis the season to jolly fa la la la la la. If you want a different festive look for your garden you need to start early. First buy a plant of this impressive ornamental grass and let it rip. When it becomes dormant in winter instead of cutting down its 3metre stems just remove all …
If you can get beyond or even say the botanical name of the Shuttlecock Fern you are well on your way to being elected as the president of the local garden club! It is however a fabulous herbaceous fern from the Northern Hemisphere rarely grown in Australia unfortunately. Unlike evergreen ferns this plant goes through …
This South African shrub in the same family as Acanthus (oyster plant) is an unsung garden hero! It will grow in dry shade as well as sun, will quickly get to 3metres each way, is easily pruned to size, has lovely rich deep green foliage and a mass of trumpet flowers that are off white …
The Golden Hop has to be one of the most useful climbers I grow. Its lovely leaves are attractive from spring till autumn and it will quickly soften or disguise any garden eyesore. Because it is herbaceous it won’t smother host trees or shrubs and if it is grown over a pergola it will be …
One of the worlds great climbing plants from China. It is a vigorous evergreen plant with large glossy rich green leaves that start life a rich copper colour in the pink forms. In early spring the growth produced last spring will produce swags of softest pink highly scented flowers that will have you standing there …