Gardening Australia

welcome

One of the things I’ve enjoyed through this unsettling time is working most days from home. I’ve sat in my garden for hours in a block, patched in via phone and laptop, moving with the sun so I can still see the screen, swapping the white hum and harsh light of an office for fresh air, breezes and the sound of children playing next door. When I head out for a constitutional, it seems everyone else is doing the same, with kids, scooters, elderly parents, dogs… and there’s a feeling of community and of ‘being in it together’ that I haven’t experienced since the days of being a primary school parent. But I am in the suburbs, the edge of the inner city. There are places where a strong community spirit…

plants

Now is the time to buy bare-rooted roses that will add some romance to your garden. The new-release Grandiflora rose ‘Beautiful Girl’ has blooms similar to a Hybrid Tea, but in clusters, with gorgeous silver and pink petals. It grows to 1.5m high, and the flowers have a mild fragrance and long stems that make them ideal for the vase. treloarroses.com.au Gawler sweet peas are a little-known variety from South Australia with large, frilly flowers and a strong scent. They grow to an impressive 3m high and have long stems. When planted in April, they are among the earliest sweet peas to bloom, but they can also be sown in early spring to produce flowers by December. For flowers in the warmer colours of the spectrum, try (above, left to right)…

books

GROW FRUIT & VEGETABLES IN POTS PLANTING ADVICE & RECIPES FROM GREAT DIXTER Aaron Bertelsen Phaidon This timely guide is helpful for everyone, but especially those with limited garden space. It includes expert advice on setting up a kitchen garden in pots, with growing information for various vegetables, fruit, herbs and edible flowers, and an extensive recipe section. The author, an experienced horticulturist, is the vegetable gardener and cook at historic Great Dixter, a renowned house, garden and education centre in the UK that is visited by horticulturists from around the world. Clear, practical information is beautifully illustrated in this book with more than 150 images by photographer Andrew Montgomery. A useful reference for both new and more experienced gardeners and cooks. BUDGERIGAR HOW A BRAVE, CHATTY AND COLOURFUL LITTLE AUSSIE BIRD STOLE THE WORLD'S…

fragrant climbers

Climbers are a useful group of plants for covering fences, garden sheds and bare walls, and for providing privacy and shade when trained up trellises, arbors and pergolas. While trees and shrubs can do the same thing, climbers generally grow faster and take up less space, which makes them indispensable. And when you add perfume to the mix, you’re really onto a winner! Here are 10 of the best fragrant climbers. Some of these plants aren’t easy to find during winter, but it never hurts to start a wishlist and be ready to pounce later in the year. 1 Climbing roses (Rosa spp. & hybrids) It’s impossible to go past the queen of flowers when thinking of perfumed climbers, as these roses suit so many different garden styles, including cottage, informal, and even…

crimson beauty

When I was introduced to this plant, as a Growing Friend at The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, my team leader referred to it as “wheelbarrow wheelbarrow”. That’s what he called all plants with names he felt were too long or too difficult to pronounce. It was growing against a north-facing wall, shaded by palms, but also exposed to full sun at various times of the year. A handsome, tropical-looking plant, Brazilian red cloak (Megaskepasma erythrochlamys) has large, lime-green leaves, and tall, striking arrangements of crimson bracts (up to 30cm long) that mostly hide its small white flowers near the tips. This covering of the flowers by the bracts is how the species name erythroclamys was derived – a linking of the Greek words erythros, meaning red, and chlamys, meaning cloak. Originating in…

winter warmers

Just as we start to tire of the pared-back winter garden, the cheery blooms of witch hazel (Hamamelis spp.) make their appearance. Spidery flowers in yellow, orange and red tones form on still-bare stems, their sweet fragrance magnified by the cool air. These upright, deciduous shrubs make a wonderful addition to a border shrubbery, where the colour and fragrance of the flowers can delight passers-by, or you can train them as small specimen trees to allow underplanting. The flowers can also be enjoyed indoors as dramatic arrangements in late winter and early spring. Don’t be heavy-handed when picking for the vase or you’ll run the risk of setting back these slow-maturing beauties. If anything, reserve severe pruning for the colonising shoots at the base, which, left to their own devices, will…