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PLANT OF THE WEEK #34: Pulsatilla vulgaris
Being the impatient gardener I am, sitting out the winter months in Kinglake longing for spring to arrive is a long drawn out process. Winter arrives here in early May and continues into late...
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The Burst of the Blossom Bubble
I clearly recall, as an eighteen year old in my first year of garden-love, picking up a packet of seed of stocks and reading the info on the back, telling me how many weeks to expect the seedlings to...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #35: Fothergilla major
I was first introduced to the beauty of Fothergilla major by the late gardener Colin Little, who regularly opened his stunning Dandenong Ranges garden ‘Hillcrest’, located in Sherbrooke, Victoria, as...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #36: Gladiolus communis subsp. byzantinus
I here confess that despite my best intentions to maintain an objectivity when it comes to plants and their merits, there have been a few influences in my life that simply override my best attempts,...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #37: Cistus x argenteus ‘Silver Pink’
I don’t know how or why I first acquired, much less planted, three Cistus ‘Silver Pink’. I know that I had absolutely no interest in, or attraction to them. The only cistuses I loved were white with...
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I Want my Book Back!
I missed the Sydney launch of my first book. I had pneumonia, and I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow. My pillow was in Woodend, Australia. But what I’m eternally grateful for is that Brodee...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #38: Kniphofia ‘Apricot Nectar’
Q: When is a non-native plant arguably native? A: When it is bred here. Such is the case with Kniphofia ‘Apricot Nectar’. Now before I get all red hot pokered by you lot for making such an...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #39: Omphalodes linifolia
Annuals don’t often feature on our Plant of the Week. We too easily consider them horticultural lightweights. But their sense of seizing the day – of making the most of the moment – calls us to do...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #40: Miscanthus X giganteus
It seems difficult to remember a time before the use of ornamental grasses in the garden. However, there are some gardeners out there who remember that at one stage the only good grass in a garden was...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #41: Verbena bonariensis
I first became acquainted with and thoroughly fell for Verbena bonariensis (tall verbena) around 20 years ago, when my sister came from the UK to live outside Canberra. She planted it in her...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #42: Dierama pulcherrimum
Once you’ve seen Dierama pulcherrimum, the so-called ‘fairy’s fishing rod’, you never forget it. And it’s not like anything else at all. It’s unique in the plant world. No other plant expresses...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #43: Clematis viticella ‘Polish Spirit’
It’s not surprising that plants that you yearn for but have no hope of growing are infused with a sense of magic and mystery. What is surprising is that even some plants that you can grow can retain...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #44: Itea ilicifolia
First, let’s establish that we at The Gardenist don’t deliberately choose impossible-to-source plants for our Plant of the Week. It may appear that way. But name me an interesting plant that isn’t...
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You really want the outside in?
I love that so much talk in garden design is about bringing the outside in. And that gardeners (mostly) have a deep longing to be more intimate with, and more familiar with, nature. But when it comes...
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Tolerance v Preference
It’s not surprising that one of the things we consistently want to understand about a plant is its drought tolerance. But it’s not at all clear what we mean by that. The default position is to...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #45: Melianthus ‘Purple Haze’
I’m guessing that you know Melianthus major. As a shrub, there’s nothing else even faintly like it. The most prominent and valuable characteristic are its pinnate pewter-green leaves, which...
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A Somewhat Dry Response
Writing that piece last week about how useful it would be to have info about the extent to which a plant’s performance is compromised by drought (and not just whether it’ll survive the challenge) got...
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100 today
Christopher Lloyd would have been 100 today. He was, without doubt, the single biggest ‘input’ into my gardening experience. I will never forget that moment when I casually flipped open a borrowed...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #46: Colchicum
It recently occurred to me that every Plant of the Week I have profiled so far has been an evergreen shrub. This is seriously off-brand for me, because I am normally all about flowers. It is beyond...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #47: Allium tuberosum – garlic chives
OK, so this is a risky one. For Plant of the Week, I mean. Firstly garlic chives – Allium tuberosum – is a cheap and easy herb. Once a plant has proven useful we seem to habitually see it in that...
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