Plants

Potted: Daffodils

‘King Alfred’ and ‘Sydney’ sport the traditional golden trumpets that herald the new season but there are other daffodil shapes and colours to enjoy.

Potted: Dahlia

Dahlia-lovers will be planting tubers in September-October for big bold flowers in summer. Meanwhile, there is fun to be with dwarf varieties, which can be planted in pots or, lets face it, crammed into any bare spot in the garden!

Potted: Dianthus

These new ‘garden pinks’ are an effervescent cerise with a port wine eye. The fragrant, double blooms are long-lasting and the plants are compact and well suited to pots. 

Potted: Federation Daisy

For all the slander suffered by daisies, they have maintained their popularity with gardeners and the new release ‘Sunday Best’ is a good illustration of why. Vibrant, double pink flowers literally smother the bush from mid-autumn to spring.

Potted: Freshen up houseplants

It's time to check potted houseplants for some much needed revival. They are beautiful additions to any indoor space, contributing to the health of our inside environments. It's called biophilia - the happiness of surrounding yourself with green living things!

Potted: Fuchsia

A front door with an easterly aspect is the perfect position for fuchsias, which love morning sun, but can’t cope with an afternoon blast from the west.

Potted: Gardenia 'Florida'

Glossy green leaves provide the perfect backdrop to fragrant white flowers.

Potted: Hibiscus 'Breeze'

These new hibiscus are excellent for containers, with compact growth and plenty of flowers over a long period.

Potted: Hippeastrum

Don’t you love the flamboyant look of hippeastrums in late spring! Their bright trumpet-like flowers on top of strong stems shout a happy message to passersby.

Potted: Kangaroo Paw

Potted: Ornamental Kale

The pink and purple heads of ornamental cabbage provide highly desirable splashes of colour throughout the long months of winter.

Potted: Pansy Plentifall

Trailing pansies cascade over urns, hanging baskets and window boxes. Their profuse flowering habit allows them to recover quickly after rain so the display lasts for months at a time.

Potted: Petunia 'Harlequin'

Potted: Pohutukawa

This iconic Kiwi native is an excellent choice for pots on high, windy balconies

Potted: Rock Thrytomene

Thryptomene takes its name from the Greek meaning ‘coy, prudish or made small’ which is a perfect reference to both its foliage and flowers. Saxicola refers to the rocky soil in which is grew prolifically before being bred for domestic gardens.

Potted: Star magnolia

Courtyard gardeners who covet the pretty petals of magnolias find that most struggle in potted situations. But not the star magnolia which grows into a long-lived, rounded, short shrub with either white, ivory or rose pink blooms.

Potted: String of Pearls

This is an easy-to-grow, dry-loving succulent that looks like dripping stems of bright green peas on a string. It comes from southern Africa and prefers a light position, inside or out. 

Potted: Succulents

Summer pots dry out in a flash and in some situations the only dependable potted colour will be succulents. Two of our favourites are copper pinwheel (Aeonium 'Sunburst') and blue chalksticks (Senecio mandraliscae).

Potted: Summer Petunias

Summer petunias are particular favourites of ours so we thought we’d share this cheery combination of red and lemon petunias with orange osteospermum.

Potted: Sunflowers

Sunflowers are ideal for junior gardeners as they are quick to grow and flower and don’t require much in the way of space, fertiliser, or water. 

Potted: Sweetpeas

Sweetpeas are traditionally planted by St Patrick’s Day, March 17th. They can be sown into containers as well as garden beds.

Potted: Zonal Geraniums

Perennial upright geraniums (which are correctly called pelargoniums) are easy to grow and offer bright, colourful blooms over a long period.

Potted: Zygocactus

These epiphytic cacti hail from Brazil, where they thrive in tree branches or in rock ledges. Try them in a basket hanging at eye level for the greatest impact from the vibrant blooms, which may be hot pink, purple, coral, white or madly variegated.

Queen of the Night, a very special kind of Orchid Cactus

If you are an early riser and usually early to bed - this plant is not for you! The queen of the night cactus flowers between dusk and dawn - for us she is the highlight of the party season.

Red Hot Pokers, Torch Lily, Pokers

The scarlet and yellow flower heads of this cheery beauty are held high on strong stems above strappy foliage. Kniphofias are tough and come in a range of citrus colours, as well as white and green.

Rose Companions

A swooningly beautiful rose garden isn’t just about the roses; it’s the plants that accompany the roses that complete the scene. Here are some awesome companions to plant with your roses.

Rose Hips

Rose hips are the seedpods of roses. We don’t often see them because we usually prune finished flowers to encourage more blooms. If you leave the last roses on the bush, you’ll start to see pretty reddish balls start to develop on the stem tips. Here is a comprehensive list of roses with hips.

Rose Lorraine Lee

There’s no need to go rose-free in winter. ‘Lorraine Lee’, bred by Australian rose breeder, Alister Clark in 1924, takes this moment to shine, blooming profusely until early spring.

Rose Tribute: 'Governor Marie Bashir'

The new rose, 'Governor Marie Bashir'. A fitting tribute to a great Australian, and Graham Ross was on-hand to capture the magic.
 

Rose Types

A quick run down on the types of roses available, a look at some old and some modern roses to include in our gardens of today.

Roses

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.

Roses at Red Cow Farm

Seduced 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?

Roses for Winter

Some climbers flower best during late winter and early spring. They dislike the heat almost as much as I do, so they go dormant in summer. That’s when I prune them - heavily as they are vigorous.

Salvia 'Ember's Wish'

‘Ember’s Wish’ is a salvia with large, bright, coral-coloured tubular flowers. Like so many salvias it is hardy and free-flowering through the warm months of the year.

Shell Ginger, Alpinia zerumbet

There are many desirables in the ginger family: galangal, ginger, turmeric, spiral ginger and beehive ginger, but most prefer warmer climes. This one - halleluiah!- is tough and hardy as far south as Melbourne.

Shining in the Sun: Osteospemum

Silver Weeping Tea Tree

The Silver Weeping Tea Tree, Leptospermum brachyandrum, has much to offer: that lovely soft foliage; and the distinctive pink, grey and copper shades on the inner bark surface, which are revealed after the seasonal molting of its outer bark.

Snowflakes, Leucojum

Ephemeral snowflakes are the first bulb to bloom in my garden, usually early in June. They were well established when we moved into our house more than 30 years ago and they have flowered every year since.

South African Daisy, Osteospermum

Brilliant South African daisies so tough they thrive even on neglected nature strips. It’s available in a range of bright or pastel colours, some with smooth petals, others dipped or spoon-shaped.

South Africa's best plants

Australian gardeners have long relied on hardy and beautiful plants from our Gondwana partner, South Africa. Graham Ross explains his passion for some of the best plants South Africa has to offer.

Star of the season Dwarf Banksia

Dwarf Banksias prove that no space doesn’t mean no impact. These low-growing banksias have full-sized flowers that are shining beacons all through winter, drawing nectar-loving big birds as well as tiny little insect-eaters.

Star of the Season: Begonia

If you still think floral clocks when you think begonias, check out these timely stars.

Star of the Season: Correa

Maria Hitchcock holds the National Living Collection of this wonderful little native, which is easy-care, versatile, generously flowering and bird-attracting. Here she shares her favourites and her growing tips.

Star of the season: Daphne

The fragrance and dainty beauty of daphne is enough to make you fling open the doors on a chilly morning so you can breathe it in. Here Mez Woodward showcases daphne - star of the winter season.

Star of the season: Daylilies

Flowers for a day; for lots of days

Star of the Season: Jasmine

The 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.

Stephanotis floribunda

An evergreen twining climber that won’t take over your garden. Hurrah! We love its luscious shiny leaves and clusters of ivory rocket-shaped flowers that are so fragrant they'll wrap their scent around you every time you get home. In our garden it flowers from October to April and was triumphant in our wedding bouquet!

Summer Annuals

For decorating fun in the garden nothing beats a few punnets of annuals. These plants only last a season, but they generously colour gardens, courtyards and balconies during their brief life. Whether it’s a patchwork of blossom you want, or a ribbon of colour along a border, something to fill a gap, a dramatic hanging basket, a fringe of trim in front of shrubs, or simply a pot brimming with flowers, annuals offer the answer.

Summer Trumpets

Trumpet flowers create impact with their size, profusion and hot colour tones. Not for gardeners who prefer soft romantic pastels, these subtropical stunners are for those who love bold brassy colour and want to create a ‘holiday-at-home’ feel.

Sweet Peas

Sweet peas (Lathyrus odorata) are annual climbing plants with fragrant and romantically ruffled, pea-shaped blooms. They were discovered in 1695 and have intoxicated cottage gardeners ever since.