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PLANT OF THE WEEK #15: Poa labillardieri
Having laden this Plant of the Week feature of The Gardenist with plants about which the authors could all enthuse unequivocally, I thought it was time to include a plant about which I’m in two (or...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #16: Helleborus x hybridus
At this florally quiet time of year (in the far southern states, at least), there’s an extraordinary opportunity for a plant to really shine, with little or no competition – to be a big fish in a...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #17: Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
I’m guilty. I had my head turned and couldn’t resist. I spurned my first love and chose another. Now I realise my mistake and am desperate to make up for it. Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, I want you back. I...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #18: Clematis napaulensis
For years I’ve complained that June is by far the most boring month in my garden, and that nothing – absolutely nothing – actually looks like it’s enjoying June by starting to flower in this bleak...
View ArticlePLANT OF THE WEEK #19: Kniphofia sarmentosa
While the sun has just broken through the cloud this afternoon, most of today has been cold, wet and gloomy. The garden is looking sparse, partly because it’s winter and partly because I’ve just...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #20: Viburnum tinus
Maybe it’s time for a truly low-glam plant. Every garden needs modest, background plants to create the stage on which the ‘A-listers’ can really shine. They’re as important as the ‘extras’ in...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #21: Persicaria affinis
I stood there gazing at the Purple-leafed birch grove freshly planted not 12 months after Black Saturday had levelled my garden. Planted in burnt, organic poor, compacted soils in a gravel garden, the...
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Thirty years to the day
It’s thirty years today since I was first published, in The Age, Melbourne. It felt totally tectonic. I was convinced that my life would never be the same from that moment on. And it turns out that...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #22: Rosemary ‘Tuscan Blue’
Have you ever thought about how few shrubs there are that carry within their structure any strength of form? A number have a predictable shape, but form – which says more about the visible ‘forces’...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #23: Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii
If Euphorbia characias subsp. wulfenii suddenly disappeared from our plant palettes, imagine the hole it would leave! What else would we ever find to flower at this time of year, so joyously, and so...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #24: Phlomis russeliana
I’ve always been someone who arrives late to a party and I’m rather embarrassed to admit that I’ve only recently discovered how much fun Phlomis russeliana can be, which leaves me wishing I’d arrived...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #25: Metapanax delavayi
Metapanax delavayi is one of my favourite members of one of my favourite families, the Araliaceae. As long as one is prepared to overlook common ivy’s (Hedera helix) propensity to be a little weedy...
View ArticlePLANT OF THE WEEK #26: Thalictrum rochebrunianum
I often hear gardeners talk about plants that need little to no care once they’re established. Of course, I see the appeal of a low-demand garden to enjoy when we get a break from our high-demand...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #27: Xanthorrhoea australis
A master gardener’s quest to find the perfect, pivotal plant… Grow what? Where? Why??? There would not be many Australian households who would not have owned a copy of the book ‘Grow what where’ in...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #28: Euphorbia rigida
When Mike Morant of Antique Perennials mentioned in his recent Plant of the Week featuring Thalictrum, that Euphorbia rigida would make a worthy subject, my first thought was ‘Already done, Mike!’. I...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #29: Viburnum davidii
In my last piece for Plant of the Week, I name-checked two French missionaries who worked in China, and were responsible for introducing several plants many of us think of as ‘British’ into...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #30: Tulipa clusiana
If Plant of the Week should be determined by the plant that has provided the most genuine pleasure, in that very week, then there’s no argument. This week’s plant must be Tulipa clusiana. But I’m...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #31: Quercus robur
The English oak, in the UK, was once known as the ‘tree of peace’. If this term fills you with thoughts of sunny afternoons, picnicking safely in the vast, enveloping embrace of its gargantuan...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #32: Psephellus (Centaurea) bellus
Sometimes you don’t love a plant straight away. Sometimes you first have to go through the process of getting to know it, like a kind of courtship, becoming familiar with its quirks and quibbles...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #33: Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae
“I’m just going to check out the plant stall,” I said to my wife. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Da-aad,” chorused my daughters with a note of despair – “no more plants!” But on this sunny...
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