Garden Clinic Blog
Keep in touch with what we're doing, there's always something going on. Our team has been busy gathering interesting, helpful and exciting stories for you to enjoy. Seasonal inspiration from our garden to yours.
Libby’s Armenian Nutmeg Cake
07 November 2019 | Libby CameronSimple and delicious, Libby's Armenian Nutmeg cake, with a nice cup of tea, is the perfect treat after a hard spring morning's garden.
Read MoreWe love: A Dollop of Clotted Cream
07 November 2019 | Linda RossOpening pale pink then fading to soft coffee cream ‘Cafe au Lait’ is a celebrity-status dahlia. The multi-petalled blooms are up to 25 cm across and there may be 40 on a plant at once, so strong support is essential.
Read MoreMeet: Anne Ruston, rose garden owner
07 November 2019 | Robin PowellAnne Ruston is a South Australian senator, but for rose lovers the really important job she holds is as owner of Ruston Roses, a horticultural icon in South Australia, established by her uncle David. Robin Powell walked though the garden with her.
Read MoreLa Vie En Rose
07 November 2019 | Marian SoamesThe charms of French country living inspired Marian Somes to create her own version at her beautiful garden Picardy in the Gippsland hills. How did she do it? Here she shares four underlying elements of the French country garden.
Read MoreKnow your: Hedging plants
29 October 2019 | Linda RossInspired to get hedging? Choosing the right plant for your hedging plan is critical. Look for a height range and maintenance regime that suits your needs, as well as plants that will do well given the soil and position you can offer. Here are a handful of the hedging plants we think should be on your shortlist.
Read MoreA lesson in clipped hedges
29 October 2019 | Graham RossA hedge is many things. It can define areas of the garden; shield you from the curiosity of passersby; block ugly intrusions into your view; protect your privacy; offer favourite plants a green backdrop against which to dazzle; or simply give your garden a nestling sense of enclosure and cosy comfort. Here Graham Ross answers the most-asked questions on hedge cultivation and care.
Read MoreStar of the season: Jacaranda
29 October 2019 | Linda RossThe purple veil that floats over Sydney in November is an international star – but not one most of us can bring home.
Read MoreKitchen Garden: Spring Planting
29 October 2019 | Linda RossIt’s time to pull out winter crops to make room for summer’s great produce. Here Linda Ross shares her know-how and experience about what to plant now to keep a family of four enjoying delicious home-grown food all through summer.
Read MoreHow to: use your pea harvest
29 October 2019 | Robin PowellPeas are one of those crops that can make the home gardener feel smugly self-satisfied because they taste so good fresh from the garden.
Read MoreHow to: use edible flowers
29 October 2019 | Linda Ross
Eating flowers sounds exotic but in fact we do it all the time. Some are disguised, like saffron, which is the dried stigma of the crocus flower; others are obvious, like the gold flowers of zucchini.
Read MoreThinking Gardens
25 October 2019 | Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, (c) Sydney Living MuseumsBetty Maloney was a pioneer of bush gardening whose advice on finding serenity in the garden is as relevant now as it was half a century ago.
Read MoreBlooms and Brushstrokes
25 October 2019 | Penelope CurtinIn their floral history of Australian art, mother and daughter team Peneloep and Tansy Curtin uncover the stories behind some of our favourite floral artworks.
Read MoreZinnia (Sow now)
24 October 2019 | Linda RossZinnias are the happiest of summer’s flowering annuals and come in vibrant colours of cerise, terracotta, gold, and lipstick-pink.
Read MoreSpring Jobs: October
24 October 2019 | Linda RossPrune rhododendrons when they finish flowering to maintain shape. Plants grown too tall will respond well to a hard prune. Follow with a feed formulated for acid-loving rhodos, and mulch with cow manure.
Read MoreDelicious asparagus 3 ways
24 October 2019 | Robin PowellAsparagus is so fresh right now and Robin Powell has 3 ways to make the most of a fresh harvest.
Read MoreHow to: fix your tomatoes
24 October 2019 | Linda RossFresh, vine-ripened tomatoes are one of the great joys of summer. The best way to ensure that your tomato-growing experience delivers baskets of delicious fruit is to keep plants healthy.
Read MoreThe List: Our top 6 bush pinks
16 October 2019 | Nola ParryPretty pinks are a huge feature in the spring time native garden. Here are Nola Parry's best pinks for the season.
Mulberry pudding
16 October 2019 | Robin PowellThis classic pudding is a simply delicious taste of summer. This is the kind of recipe that reminds us how inventive the cooks of previous generations were in turning leftovers into dinner or dessert, especially bread.
Read MoreMulberries: 3 ways
16 October 2019 | Robin PowellMulberries flooding in to the kitchen? Here are some quick and tasty ways to use them.
Read MoreMulberry growing
16 October 2019 | Linda RossNo summer goes by in the Ross family household without mulberry jam, mulberry pie, and swirled mulberry icecream. Fancy the menu? Take Linda’s tips on growing the hero ingredient.
Read MoreMeet Ros Loftus
16 October 2019 | Robin PowellRiversdale is a National Trust property in Goulburn where volunteers have battled drought, rabbits and running bamboo to recreate a beautiful, much-loved garden.
Read MoreWhat is Cake and Cuttings Day?
15 October 2019 | Linda RossA few years ago we wanted to get our gardening family together to talk about what we're growing, share secrets and exchange some of our favourite treasures
from the garden. It's turned into one of our most popular events, and it's free!
Fish baked in paper with olives and tomatoes
10 October 2019 | Robin PowellThese fragrant fish parcels are tasty, healthy and quick. And as a bonus, there’s no washing up!
Read MoreSet up your own worm farm
10 October 2019 | Linda RossLinda caught up with some school students using the power of the worm to decrease their waste, increase their vegetable harvest and raise money for their school. Here she shares some tips on worm farming.
Read MoreComfrey tea can save you money
10 October 2019 | Linda RossThis home-grown fertiliser contains more potash, and more nitrogen, than commercial feeds, and costs only the price of a bucket and its water. Your vegetables will love it, especially your tomatoes.
Read MoreKnow Your Flowering Shrubs
09 October 2019 | Linda RossFlowering shrubs are the backbone of the garden. Get familiar with these beauties to add some spring bling to your garden.
Read MoreRoses for Sydney
03 October 2019 | Robin PowellSome of the best performing roses for warm climates are old favourites -and we mean old. Search out these hardy centurions for fragrance, generosity and trouble-free beauty
Read MoreHow to manage Black Spot on Roses
03 October 2019 | Linda RossOut, damn’d spot! The dark side to growing roses is fungal disease. Knowing your enemy is the first step in ridding yourself of this problem for good.
Read MoreRoses for Perfume
03 October 2019 | Linda RossSpring brings a new bunch of roses to nurseries. These new introductions are the latest in a long history of rose evolution.
Read MoreRoses at Red Cow
03 October 2019 | Robin PowellSeduced by the colour, forms and perfumes of roses, Ali Mentesh has already collected some 200 to adorn the garden rooms at Red Cow Farm. Can he choose a favourite?
Read MoreSandra's favourite roses
03 October 2019 | Sandra RossRoses are at their swooning best this week. But are you growing the right ones? Here are some we think you should become acquainted with, for old fashioned elegance and knockout fragrance.
Read MoreFlower Farm: Spring
25 September 2019 | Linda RossHere Linda gives us her advice and plans for the flower garden this Spring. Spring is a great time for choosing shubs, admiring ceanothus and Cherokee Rose, feeding orchids, and of course picking armfulls of Spring flowers.
Read MoreKitchen Garden Spring: Soft Herbs
25 September 2019 | Linda RossThe key to a thriving herb garden is to give each plant the conditions it needs to prosper. The result is easy gardening, and delicious pickings. Here Linda Ross shows you her favourites and the conditions they need to thrive in spring.
Read MoreHow to: grow African violets
25 September 2019 | Linda RossAfrican violets are treasured, long-lived indoor plants. Make them shine with these tips.
Read MoreMeet Dave Gray: Head gardener, Everglades
25 September 2019 | Robin PowellFor the last two years Dave Gray has been head gardener at Everglades, a National Trust property in Leura, designed and built through the 1930s by Paul Sorensen.
Read MorePlants I Love: peony
25 September 2019 | Sandra RossYears ago, on one of our early Jacaranda Cruises, a woman presented me with a cardboard toilet roll. I was a bit surprised until I saw the round pink bud inside. It was a single long stem of the‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peony. Over the next two weeks I was captivated as the bud gradually opened to a multitude of pink petals and a boss of golden stamens. I’ve been mad for peonies ever since and have admired them in peak perfection in gardens in England, Canada, USA and France, as well as in cool climate gardens in Australia.
Read MoreFive of the best: wisteria gardens
25 September 2019 | Linda RossHere’s our pick of the best places in the world to be thrilled by the fragrance, form and sheer delight of wisteria.
Read MoreWhat’s new this spring
18 September 2019 | Linda RossHere's what's new in the garden this spring.
Read MoreRecipe: Triple Ginger Loaf
17 September 2019 | Jo WrightJo Wright is a keen baker (she’s notched up several wins the Royal Easter Show for her cakes!) an avid gardener, a treasured member of Garden Clinic, and for the last three years, has been the trusted baker of goodies for our garden classes. She wowed attendees at our recent Bees and Butterflies workshop with this delicious ginger cake. As we said our goodbyes everyone begged for the recipe. So here it is. Thanks for sharing it Jo!
Read MoreKnow your: Ferns
17 September 2019 | Linda RossMany ferns have a soft feathery quality that makes a great contrast with other plants - in the garden or indoors.
Read MoreMeet Tahnee Carroll, Stylist and plant-lover
17 September 2019 | Lauren Camilleri and Sophia KaplanTahnee Carroll has never seen a room that can’t be made more appealing with a plant or two, as she explains in this extract from a new book on indoor plants, ‘Leaf Supply’.
Read MoreHow to: brew compost tea
10 September 2019 | Arno KingWhen I was a child all our neighbours and friends had a large tub - generally an old enamel washing machine tub - buried close to the vegetable garden. This was the ‘brew’ tub. Ingredients for the brew - compost, manures and seaweed - were widely discussed and benefits widely acclaimed. And it turns out these gardeners were onto something!
Read MoreIn the garden: Retford Park
10 September 2019 | Robin Powell and Rick ShepherdRick Shepherd, head gardener at Bowral’s grand Retford Park, dishes the dirt on what goes on in the garden in spring.
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Star of the Season: Jasmine
10 September 2019 | Linda Ross and Mez WoodwardThe jasmine moment is a brief celebration. Grab hold, cut armfuls of it and drape it all over the house, because in a flash it’s all over til next year.
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Recipe: Curried Carrot and Coconut Soup
09 September 2019 | Robin PowellPerfect for spring’s changeable weather, this soup is delicious eaten piping hot and comforting on cold days, or refreshingly chilled when the sun is shining and the garden is calling.
Read MoreGrow Carrots
09 September 2019 | Justin RussellThe difference in flavour between supermarket and homegrown is most pronounced in the humblest of vegetables- potatoes, onions and carrots. Trust us, homegrown carrots are a revelation: sweet, spicy or earthy depending on the cultivar, but never bland.
Read MoreMeet: Anita Rayner
09 September 2019 | ROBIN POWELLThe gardens at Vaucluse House are one of Sydney’s historic horticultural treasures. Anita Rayner fell in love with them at first sight; now she runs them.
Read MoreOur Kitchen Garden
09 September 2019 | Linda RossThere’s inspiration here to help expand your vegetable repertoire- in the garden and on the plate.
Read MoreRecipe: Pasta with asparagus and peas
03 September 2019 | Robin PowellQuite simply this is spring's freshest flavours on a plate!
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