Garden Clinic Blog

The sparkling blue and white flowers of agapanthus cool the summer garden, and new colours are a real thrill.

Chelsea is a magical garden world as full of dreams and emotion as it of of sheer hard work and skill.

Graham Ross shares his best tips to make the most out of the Chelsea flower show in this survival guide.

Chelsea is the prize bloom of the world's garden shows, and the reputation is well-deserved. Here Robin Powell shares her observations on what has been another breath-taking Chelsea Flower Show.

In Greece local cooks prefer to make their spanokopita (spinach pie) with the mix of wild greens known as horta.

These easy-care, minty-fresh flowery fillers offer reliable and long-lasting summer colour.

These furry, iconic Australian flowers are a great addition to a potted garden, especially the smaller varieties.

Kath Gadd’s company is Mallee Design, a garden design business that uses only Australian plants, and does a neat sideline in beautiful, spun copper birdbaths.

One of the great delights of leading tours for Ross Garden Tours around Australia and the world is picking up great ideas. Here are a few from this year's travels.

Heather Cant is known locally as the Rose Lady. Find out why in this extract from ‘Beyond the Garden Gate: private gardens of the Southern Highlands’.

Anne 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.

The 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.

Simple and delicious, Libby's Armenian Nutmeg cake, with a nice cup of tea, is the perfect treat after a hard spring morning's garden.

Opening 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.

Roses mix it up at Wisley, blooming brilliantly with a range of other flowering plants.

The purple veil that floats over Sydney in November is an international star – but not one most of us can bring home.

Inspired 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.

It’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.

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.

Peas are one of those crops that can make the home gardener feel smugly self-satisfied because they taste so good fresh from the garden.

A 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.

In their floral history of Australian art, mother and daughter team Peneloep and Tansy Curtin uncover the stories behind some of our favourite floral artworks.

Betty 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.

Prune 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.

Zinnias are the happiest of summer’s flowering annuals and come in vibrant colours of cerise, terracotta, gold, and lipstick-pink.

Asparagus is so fresh right now and Robin Powell has 3 ways to make the most of a fresh harvest.

Riversdale is a National Trust property in Goulburn where volunteers have battled drought, rabbits and running bamboo to recreate a beautiful, much-loved garden.

Winter is rose-planting time, and to help you make the most of these much-loved flowers, we’ve put together all the information you need. Armed with some growing advice you'll be picking armfuls in no time at all.

Pretty pinks are a huge feature in the spring time native garden. Here are Nola Parry's best pinks for the season.