My Australian Garden And Its Plants
Well, the title says it all, really. Most of the plants in my front garden are Australian natives, but a few others creep in, because I like them. There's no theme or formal planting in my garden, it's just growing the way it feels like growing. :-)
Gardens, of course, are always in a state of flux, so things change regularly, depending on which plant I fall in love with at the nursery, or the market.
Gardens, of course, are always in a state of flux, so things change regularly, depending on which plant I fall in love with at the nursery, or the market.
Contents of the Garden
- Some Rain Gave The Garden A Much Needed Boost
- A Few Useful Gardening Links
- Genista In Full Bloom
- Garden News
- I Really Like Quandongs
- A New Fuschia
- Finally Got A Palm Tree!
- Australian Succulent Plants
- Yet Another New Plant
- Our Newest Plant
- Eucalypts and Other Trees
- Drought Tolerant Plants
- Ponds Are Great Features
- A Really Exotic Plant
- Allocasuarina
- A Couple of Cacti
- Books on Australian Plants
- Do You Like My Garden?
Some Rain Gave The Garden A Much Needed Boost
Yes, we actually had some rain last week, here in Melbourne, Australia. The garden is positively smiling about it. :-)
The allocasuarina died a while back, unfortunately, so the rain came too late to save it. We had about a week of above 30C temperatures, just before the rain, which didn't do the plants any good at all. It's still only Spring, so who knows what Summer will be like? If it's anything like last year, then we'll lose more plants, that's for sure.
The allocasuarina died a while back, unfortunately, so the rain came too late to save it. We had about a week of above 30C temperatures, just before the rain, which didn't do the plants any good at all. It's still only Spring, so who knows what Summer will be like? If it's anything like last year, then we'll lose more plants, that's for sure.
A Few Useful Gardening Links
- Green Gardening
- My gardening website, mostly about Australian plants, but with general gardening information.
- Food For Wealth - Growing Organic Food
- Book and videos all about organic gardening
- Australian National Botanic Gardens
- You'll find plenty of information about Australian plants here. The ANBG are in Canberra, our Capital city.
- Worm Farming - A Beginner's Guide
- Have fun with worms - useful for kids and adults, and great fertiliser for the garden!
- Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne
- Since I live in Melbourne, it's only fair to add a link to the Melbourne Botanical Gardens.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom
- Kew, one of the best known botanic gardens in the world.
- My Organic Food Garden
- Grow healthy organic food at home
Genista In Full Bloom
......It's Spring!
This is my genista, a beautiful yellow flowered plant, which is a legume. It seeds itself readily, and we are collecting any seedlings which come up, and will be replacing the front fence with a genista hedge. Should look spectacular in Spring.
Garden News
Just a couple of updates to things you may have read here before.
Sad news first. We had some windy days last week, and the allocasuarina lost another branch, a big one. Unfortunately, it seems to be dying now, and all the leaves are turning brown. We'll be cutting it off about 80 cm above the ground, as the cat likes it as a scratching post, so it will still be useful.
The quondong seedling is doing well, and I may even have two quondong trees eventually, as a seed I planted and had given up on has come up. It's very tiny at the moment, and has only four leaves, but I'm hopeful it wil make it. Having never tried to grow these before, I'm really pleased.
I've also collected a second grass tree - it's only a seedling, and is very small, and probably won't even begin to look like a grass tree in my lifetime as they grow so slowly, but hey, it's in the garden, and I like it. We planted it near to the bigger one which I got last year.
There are a few small plants which have been added recently, but mostly primulas and succulents. Winter is a great time to get some maintenance done.
Sad news first. We had some windy days last week, and the allocasuarina lost another branch, a big one. Unfortunately, it seems to be dying now, and all the leaves are turning brown. We'll be cutting it off about 80 cm above the ground, as the cat likes it as a scratching post, so it will still be useful.
The quondong seedling is doing well, and I may even have two quondong trees eventually, as a seed I planted and had given up on has come up. It's very tiny at the moment, and has only four leaves, but I'm hopeful it wil make it. Having never tried to grow these before, I'm really pleased.
I've also collected a second grass tree - it's only a seedling, and is very small, and probably won't even begin to look like a grass tree in my lifetime as they grow so slowly, but hey, it's in the garden, and I like it. We planted it near to the bigger one which I got last year.
There are a few small plants which have been added recently, but mostly primulas and succulents. Winter is a great time to get some maintenance done.
I Really Like Quandongs
In case you didn't know, Quandongs, or Quondongs, are an Australian fruit. They aren't particularly well known, and grow in the outback. I've never seen them in a fruit shop or supermarket, nor as a tinned fruit.A couple of weeks ago, we were at an Australian Native Plant nursery, where they have a cafe which specialises in making food from our native plants. The dessert I chose was Quandong crumble, with ice cream and cream - it was beautiful! This fruit deserves to be better known.
The nursery stocked Quandong plants, so I brought one home with me - it's only about 4 inches high at the moment, as has a companion plant with it, which I believe is a boobialla. Quandongs are semi-parasitic, so need a host plant. Just about anything native will do, even grasses.
They are a bit of a challenge to grow from seed, but I've got some of those as well, and am hoping for germination soon. The seeds have been planted with some seedling saltbush.
Hopefully, either the seeds, or the seedling tree will do well, and in a few years, I'll have my own Quandong fruit.
Note: I believe the image is public domain, but if anyone knows different, please let me know.
A New Fuschia
Have been really buying up big with the plants recently. This fuschia, Regal Robe, was another purchase we made at the market when we bought the palm tree. It's beautifully coloured, isn't it?My partner likes fuschias, although I hadn't even considered getting one, but this one caught our eye, and we got it.
The plan was to put it in a sunny spot in the backyard, but we discovered it needed some shade, so it's under the pittosporums, where it will be sheltered from most of the sun. Hopefully, it will do well there.
Finally Got A Palm Tree!
For years, I've admired palm trees, and have always wanted one in my garden, but they are so tall, it hasn't been a viable proposition.
At the local market on Sunday, I discovered that there was a dwarf species of date palm, the proper name of which I don't know. This variety apparently only grows to two metres in height, so will be ideal in my back garden. It may not fruit, as it may not be hot enough here in Melbourne, but that's fine with me.
Anyway, it now resides near the seating area, and we've put stones around the base so the chickens can't disturb the roots. They're notorious for doing that. The green object is the all too infrequently used rain guage. :-)
As you can see, I'm really happy to have finally got my palm tree!
Australian Succulent Plants
Although I knew we had a few succulent plants in this country, I wasn't aware of the variety until last weekend. There are some really beautiful and unusual succulents here.
To find out more, visit the Australian Succulents Website - you'll be pleasantly surprised. The photos are superb.
To find out more, visit the Australian Succulents Website - you'll be pleasantly surprised. The photos are superb.
Yet Another New Plant
Was lucky enough to be paid $20 for a survey last week, so decided to spend the cash on a new plant for my garden.After a lot of looking, at both the market, and a local garden shop, I decided on a dwarf acacia. Its botanical name is Acacia howittii, and it's common name is Honey Bun.
The maximum height should be about 1.2 metres and it has a spread of 1.2 metres also. As with most acacias, the flowers are yellow. It's a very dense shrub, and should look pretty good against the fence in the front garden.
Once we get enough plants at hedge height along the fence, we're going to get rid of it, and just have the plants, which by then, hopefully, will be thick enough to act like a barrier themselves. This new acacia is a nice addition to the plan.
Our Newest Plant
It's an Adenanthos sericeus, also known as the Woollybush. It's variety is Silver Streak, and once it gets a little bigger, we can expect small red flowers all year round. Should look striking with its silvery green foliage. It will be about 3 metres tall, by about 2 metres wide - perfect for the area we've chosen.As with most of the plants in our front garden, it's an Australian native, and should be drought tolerant, once established.
Eucalypts and Other Trees
Most people think of eucalypts when they are planning an Australian garden, but we do have many other types of tree. I have to admit to liking the eucalyps myself, and currently have four in the front garden. Many of the varieties are much too big to have in a suburban setting though.
The eucalypt in the photo is Eucalyptus forestiana; the birds love it. We've tried to add bird attracting plants where possible.
Drought Tolerant Plants
....a must here at the moment
Some of the plants I've loved have succumbed to the heat and dryness of the past few years, so there is rather more bare mulch than I'd really like just now.There are some groundcovers that I'm allowing to run wild for the present. The tufted bluebell is one of them - it's a beautiful shade of blue.
There's a much bigger patch at the other side of the garden, but it was in shade and didn't photograph well at the time.
Ponds Are Great Features
Drought or no drought, I still have a small pond, surrounded by rocks. The goldfish haven't survived, for some reason, but the waterplants are still going strong.The waterlily has just started to flower, and is a very pale apricot in colour. It's about four years old, and it still in a pot standing on the bottom of the pond.
A Really Exotic Plant
This is my bird of paradise plant - I've had it for about six or seven years, since it was about five inches tall.Now it's about a metre or more, and it's the first time it's flowered. I'm really impressed with this flower - it's beautiful. The flower is about seven inches across and about six inches in height
Allocasuarina
.....it wasn't meant to be this tall!
Allocasuarinas look similar to pine trees, having leaves like needles. This helps protect them from the sun, as there is very little flat surface to absorb heat.This particular tree wasn't supposed to get this tall, but it won't stop growing. I guess it just likes where it is......
At present it's about seven metres high, and I can't fit it all into the picture.
A Couple of Cacti
OK, so these aren't Australian Natives, but I like them a lot, and that's enough reason to have them in my garden!
I don't know what they are, only that one is red, and one is yellow, so that's what I call them!
Books on Australian Plants
Australian Native Plants: Cultivation, Use in Landscaping and Propagation
Amazon Price: $48.97 (as of 12/10/2009) 
Australian Plants: For Gardens in the Sun
Amazon Price: (as of 12/10/2009)
Australian Plants for the Garden
Amazon Price: (as of 12/10/2009)
Australian Tea Tree Oil Guide
Amazon Price: $9.95 (as of 12/10/2009)
Australian Trees: Their Care and Repair
Amazon Price: (as of 12/10/2009)
Do You Like My Garden?
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- wombat666 wombat666 Nov 8, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
- Great lens. Look forward to seeing more pics of your garden.
by Snakesmum
Hi
I'm a retired office administrator, and I share my house and garden with 2 chickens, 1 cat and 4 pythons. There are also a number of goldfish, but...
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