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PLANT OF THE WEEK #48: Yucca rostrata
I vividly recall nearing the end of a slow, slow walk though the sun-bleached grounds of the Villa San Giuliano in Sicily, and stepping into the dim, sepulchral light of the family chapel. For many...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #49: Digitalis ferruginea
‘What are the black uprights?’ This question from a Facebook follower prompted the thought that while it’s well past the floral peak of Digitalis ferruginea, its contribution to the garden right now...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #50: Perovskia atriplicifolia (Salvia yangii)
I love the name Perovskia. With a slight roll on the ‘r’ you can’t help but sound kind of Russian as you say it. So it’s a bit disappointing to find that Perovskia atriplicifolia (Russian sage) is...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #51: Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Is it laziness or lack of originality that has botanists naming a plant for its likeness to another? I’m scarily like my older brother, but am so glad my mother didn’t take the easy route and name me...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #52: Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
In the interests of fortifying the intention of this Plant of the Week blog to avoid being an impartation of expertise, and to instead facilitate the gathering of reader’s insights and experience, I’m...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #53: Ammi majus
Ammi majus is one of an extremely short list of plants that could be described as almost too good to be true. ‘Typical McCoy hyperbole’ you think? Here’s the justification for such a would statement,...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #54: Nerine undulata (Flexuosa Group) ‘Alba’
My mum (91 years) tells me that her mother wore a white nerine for mother’s day every year. I adored my Nana Barker, so that guarantees the nerine’s presence in any garden I own. But the notability...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #55: Iris foetidissima
My foolproof go-to plants in root-ridden shade beneath dense-canopied trees make a very short list indeed. The first is Euphorbia robbiae, about which Richard … wrote nearly a year ago. Catch up...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #56: Lathyrus odoratus ‘Matucana’
One fact stands above all else when you start to discuss the sweet pea named ‘Matucana’, and that is that its perfume is outrageously powerful and evocative. Hand a visitor a stem, watch them sniff...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #57: Camellia sasanqua ‘Paradise Blush’
I’m one of those people that have a thing for hedges. I just love the structure and framework that they provide a garden. I also love the sense of order and formality that they contribute, even when...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #58: Jacobaea maritima
The whole Plant of the Week thing has a natural tendency towards spotlighting hero plants – the ‘A’ listers of the horticultural world. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last thirty...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #59: Eryngium giganteum ‘Miss Willmott’s Ghost’
If there’s something strange in your garden bed, who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters? Maybe. Ellen Willmott, however, might be a better answer. Miss Willmott, so the story goes, liked to sprinkle seeds...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #60: Crataegus x lavalleei
Nearly everything that’s happening in gardens in June in my climate is residue from another month. There’s flowers hanging on here and there, and some good foliage yet to be hammered to smithereens...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #61: Chimonanthus praecox
Plants that belong to June. They’re rare. Wintersweet (Chimonanthus praecox) didn’t need this value of rarity to make it worth growing. The perfume alone does that. But that it truly belongs to...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #62: Luculia gratissima
Even as a young and enthusiastic apprentice, when the world was one big, happy, plant-diverse place, and I was too green to understand the seasonal cycles and their relative weight of floral glory, it...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #63: Buddleja salviifolia
I was both delighted and kind of annoyed, in equal measure, when I visited the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and found Buddleja salviifolia in bloom. I was delighted because it’s...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #64: Prunus mume ‘Alboplena’
Though it’s now about 35 years ago, I could easily take you to the exact spot on the main lawn at Ripponlea (where I was doing an apprenticeship) when I caught my first whiff of a sweet, elusive...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #65: Lonicera fragrantissima
Make no bones about it, Lonicera fragrantissima is a rubbish shrub. The winter honeysuckle is a bulky, unwieldy thing with a branching structure that takes angularity to a degree of ugliness you’d...
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PLANT OF THE WEEK #66: Libertia peregrinans
I can’t understand how, after making firm decisions to avoid it, I keep falling into the trap of thinking that a Plant of the Week has to have a minimum glam-factor in order to be worthy of its place...
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The Curious ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Effect
My most recent car has sensors in every direction, so if I get too close to anything, on any side, I’m given stern warning. It’ll even slam the brakes on, if the detected item is in my current...
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