| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| TasV |
Posted - 30/10/2008 : 20:11:07
Lots out in flower now... I love this time of year 
Boronia pinnata: These little flowers have such a strong perfume... weeding around them is a pleasure.
Boronia heterophylla 'Just Margaret': Smothered in pink bells.
Correa pulchella: King Island form
Gastrolobium celsianum: a workhorse in the garden. Tough as nails. I have loads of seed from this plant if anyone would like to trade (other native seeds).
I have 6 waratah around the place; Shady Lady Red, white, yellow, Tasmanian waratah (Telopea truncata), and two seedlings of the NSW waratah (species specimens I germinated last year of Telopea speciossima). The white one is getting a bit old but thought I'd put it in anyway... the yellow one didn't flower this year (too small I think. It made vegetative buds instead.) and the Tasmanian waratah is also still a bit small to flower yet but growing well.
Hibertia aspera: Native to Tasmania... lovely ground cover. Only complaint is the short flowering season.
Will edit this and add more as I process the photos
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| 13 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Kitty74 |
Posted - 17/11/2008 : 14:21:32
Lovely photos! Thanks for sharing and inspiring. |
| Mary-Anne |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 06:43:15
Love those Kangaroo Paws..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
| Gail |
Posted - 03/11/2008 : 04:32:20
You have some nice 'paws' there Simon 
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
| TasV |
Posted - 02/11/2008 : 20:09:57
Cat's Paw (Anigozathos humilis)
Some of the Bush Gem kangaroo paws
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| TasV |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 08:15:50
The best results are obtained in really well drained rubble-type soils with loads of leaf mulch. The banksia belongs to the same family as the waratah (proteaceae) and as such have similar specialised surface roots (as well as normal roots) called proteoid roots that form a thick thatch near the surface. Proteoid roots are fine and have a massive surface area to catch as much water as possible but they also provide a surface on which mycorrhiza fungi can live. These are beneficial fungi to many plants and they live symbiotically on the roots. Planting the waratah next too an established banksia (for example) is a great idea as the mycorrhiza will spread to the waratah. The banksia will also provide some protection from the sun. Waratah will grow happily in full sun in mild climates but are generally understorey plants so benefit from dappled light. They love acidic soils. Mine are growing on a steep long steep bank and get smothered in long grass at this time of year (which I am slowly getting through with the brush cutter) with most my other banksia, protea, leaucadendron, leucospermums, hakea, grevillea, and melaleuca... the theory is as they grow and their roots spread they will help to support each other by sharing the fungi and as their canopy grows they will assist in keeping the grass down by outcompeting it. So consider a proteaceae 'community' setting as they will all be good companion plants. If protea seem to grow well in your area (and from memory there is a protea farm on the South Coast somewhere) then waratah are worth a shot. They are frost hardy if it doesn't get too heavy... mine got snowed on this winter with no ill effect. When you plant it and it becomes established weed around it by mulching... the surface roots HATE being disturbed so it will dislike digging and over-zealous pulling of weeds some distance out from the dripline. Once established you need to make sure you keep up the mulch as this will help maintain the mycorrhiza and because they develop a lignotuber you can cut them back quite hard once they're done flowering and they will resprout new stems from the lignotuber. Waratah are a very popular garden plant down here and you can tell those people who know this fact because left unpruned they become tall, thin, and spindly and with pruning with develop into shapely bushes with LOADS of flowers on bushes up to 10ft+ tall.
Hope this helps some :) |
| Pamela |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 06:49:53
YOu are a lucky person = waratahs growing like that on your property! And the white one. And boronias. I am also addicted to my garden and animals. I cannot resist buying things for themm or buying more of them, but get very little relative pleasure in being forced to buy something for me. A really GOOD day is a day I do not have to leave my property and it is not too hot/cold/wet to be outdoors.
I bought a baby white waratah in a pot and am about to plant it. I have a spot I was going to try (as I live in boggy soil on a hill) which is where large gardenias grow with no feed/water and it is well drained - facing east and I was going to plant it next to a banksia as I heard they were companion plants. I will have to pull out a smallish (3 foot tall) gardenia to plant it there but if I trim back the gardenia it will cope and I want it somewhere else anyway. Any other advice about planting this new baby?
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
| Gail |
Posted - 01/11/2008 : 05:07:49
The birds must love it at your place TasV
I don't really like the thumbnails that other forums have and can't be bothered clicking on each individual photo to view then going back especially if you are reading about the photos and going back and forward all the time - I was on dial-up until a few months ago and still preferred photos to thumbnails. That's just me though.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
| TasV |
Posted - 31/10/2008 : 22:58:51
Won't find many tropicals down here but I am experimenting with a few things (like native figs... they show some potential down here). My fav. group of plants is the Proteaceae family (banksia, waratah, protea etc) so I've mostly been collecitng these... hoping to make my garden nearly three acres of honeyeater garden... hence all the proteaceae. Got more pics to put up too... this forum really needs to enable the thumbnail function that photobucket has. |
| Mary-Anne |
Posted - 31/10/2008 : 20:14:48
I am impressed Simon I would love to have the room for 300 Native Plants lucky you and I am addicted too, I even like the flowers on some weeds and often put pics of those and vegetable flowers on a Art site I am on.
And Variety is the spice of life I could not imagine a garden with just a few types of plants.. Like Gail I grow a few tropicals and Bougainvillea are my favourite plant.
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
| Gail |
Posted - 31/10/2008 : 18:33:19
Join the club, we are all addicted I think  last count we had over 80 bromeliads  and that is only part of our garden. I'm into most plants but haven't a rose on the place... and have no intention of starting either I like looking at them but that is it so you won't find me on the roses forum much. Now if you were talking tropicals...
I enjoy looking at the natives from the south though as they are different from what grows up this way. Looking forward to seeing more.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
| TasV |
Posted - 31/10/2008 : 16:43:33
Gail... I'm what would probably be diagnosed a garden addict... Hello... My name is Simon... and I have an addiction... I probably have 3 or 4 hundred different native species here so... am probably into my natives more than the roses... pretty much into anything with leaves I think  |
| Gail |
Posted - 31/10/2008 : 06:01:27
Beautiful flowers TasV... glad to see that you grow something else besides roses... sorry, just joking I love your natives, the waratahs inparticular are a spectacular sight
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
| Mary-Anne |
Posted - 30/10/2008 : 23:15:06
Yes its a great time of the year and you have to love those Waratah TasV.. Wonderful to see something different for a change, gorgeous flowers all of them. Thanks for sharing.
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
