Chelsea Australian garden Olinda
View this beautiful new garden of Phillip Johnson and his team, in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria. Over 20 times bigger than the award winning garden at the Chelsea Garden Show 2013, it's a showcase of native garden design.
See the story on the garden at the Australian Native Plants Society Australia Garden Design Study Group here.
Outback Australia - moments in time
Central Australia and Kakadu are amongst the most ancient landscapes on the earth. Sweeping deserts, massive rocky plateaus and chasms, and hidden waterways, these sights are worth the visit. Here is a snapshot of the highlights from Alice Springs, Uluru, King's Canyon, Uluru and Kakadu in the dry.
The desert blooms - arid plants of western NSW
Australia is the driest inhabited planet in the world. Yet when the rains come, the desert blooms. The flora of these regions show some wonderful survival and reproduction adaptations. Here are some of the plants you might see in these regions, many with broader horticultural potential.
For more, see this Australian Plants Society NSW story, Exploring ephemeral arid plants of NSW
My garden in the Hunter Valley
My 20+ year old native garden in the Hunter Valley has been a labour of love. And one of learning, experimentation and rework! Joyfully, the job is never done.
Here are a series of articles Ive written over the years which tracks the garden (and my) journey.
Native plant garden design
Native garden design is much like any garden design, with a few tweaks! Here are a couple of articles I've written on the topic, but there are many more on the Australian Native Plants Society Australia website - Garden Design Study Group.
Stunning native rooftop garden - Eveleigh Precinct
Wild places of the Illawarra
Just an hour south of Sydney lies the Illawarra. A place of special beauty, it hosts multiple ecosystems, from coast to plateau, creating a tapestry of diversity. Massive plateau forests, open eucalypt forests, rainforests, gullies, grassy woodlands and whispering casuarina thickets - the Illawarra has them all. Here's a mirror on what you might see.
Tantalising Tassie
Tasmania is an island of stunning beaches, craggy mountains, alpine vegetation, rainforests and waterfalls. Here is a travelogue of a recent trip to the Apple Isle....more
Wildflowers of Kosiusczko
Mt Kosciuszko is one of Australia's rare alpine regions. It bursts into flower in spring and summer, after being covered in snow for winter. It's a stunning landscape that is under threat, from climate change, bush fires and associated insect attack.
Wandering Two Creeks Track
Tucked away in leafy Ku ring gai, on Sydney's North Shore, is a stunning walk from Seven Little Australians' Park to Middle Harbour - called Two Creeks Track. It's a 6 - 8km walk, depending on how far you go. Travelling through bush paths, it takes you through broad ridges, steep slopes, deep valleys and wetlands which leads you through dry heath, moist forest, sandstone swamp, mallee woodlands and floodplain wetlands. This video gives you a taste of the walk and some of the species you might see in your walk.
The magic garden of Ian Cox
Ian Cox is a Life Member of the Australian Plants Society NSW. His garden is quite magical. It is a two hectare bush block, geologically situated just below the Wianamatta shale on Hawkesbury Sandstone, hence the soils are nutrient deficient, shallow and very rocky. Plants include banksias, scribbly gums, grevilleas, hakeas, leptospermums and smaller heath plants such as boronias, epacris, tetrathecas, flannel flowers, lambertias and pea flowers. Ian has blended the garden into the bush surroundings. The garden is a huge attractor for wildlife.