Small Spaces

Begonias

You might be most familiar with the sun-hardy bedding begonias, the ‘wax flowers’ whose red and white blooms shine on through hot weather. But there are many other types of begonias, some with beautiful patterned leaves as well as those simple, charming, waxy flowers.

Best bulbs for...

Follow our guide on what to plant.

Best crops for small plots

Even the smallest balcony plots can produce crops from an interesting range of small-fruited, ‘patio’-sized vegetables. Linda Ross shares tips on making it work.

Cymbidium orchids

Cymbidium orchids, with their gorgeous flower spikes over a metre tall, look impressive, and are easy to grow in temperate regions, especially in large pots, which can be sheltered during cold winters.

How to: 4 bulbs that make a longer lasting spring display

Who doesn’t love the vibrant dazzle of tulips? But blink and you'll miss them. For a longer-lasting, less expensive bulb display that builds, becoming better and better each year, try these:

How to: decorate with water lilies

Waterlilies are shy until the mercury hits 30, and then they unfold into beautiful blooms. We grow them in large bowls and pots, and pick them to decorate the table through summer.

How to: lift your courtyard

In just one weekend the Garden Clinic team transformed a chilly corner into a welcoming sanctuary, that is simple to pack up and move to a new location when necessary.

How to: make a terrarium

Bring the fun indoors this winter with a miniature fern garden for the coffee table. Linda Ross tells how it’s done.

How to: style balcony pots

To make a balcony feel like a garden it needs to surround you with plants. Somehow you have to get some plants up at eye level, and even above it. A small tree would be just the thing, but on most balconies a pot big enough to support a large plant is just too heavy once it’s filled with moist soil - and a tree! A more pragmatic approach is to arrange smaller pots at different levels. You need to get those pots up off the ground to really appreciate your balcony garden. Here are a few ideas.

Necklace orchid, Coelogyne

Coelogyne orchids (pronounced see-lodg-i-nee) are sometimes called necklace orchids because of their long pendant sprays of white flower. 

Potted: ​Sturt’s desert pea

Dazzling scarlet and black blooms are set against furry silver foliage in this stunner from the desert.

Potted: Basil

There are many types of basil to choose from: Thai, lemon, Greek perennial, globe, holy and purple, but regular sweet basil is indispensable, so start with that, then add to your collection.

Potted: Blueberry Burst

More reasons to grow your own food - a dwarf-growing blueberry with fruit the size of a grape! The luscious fruits are produced in large quantities in late winter and early spring.

Potted: Bumble Bee Petunias

Black and yellow is a dramatic colour scheme for a flower, and this new petunia from Ball Australia is creating quite the buzz!

Potted: Camellia sasanqua

Cooler weather launches camellia season, lets start at the very beginning with Camellia sasanqua. Starved for space? Well here are the top camellia sasanqua for pots.

Potted: Capsicum 'Sweet Stuff'

This new release is a high-yielding variety that produces sweet fruit that mature from green to a glossy red.

Potted: Chrysanthemum 'Accolade'

These reliable plants provide a bright display on a sunny balcony or patio from summer through autumn.

Potted: Cyclamen

Cyclamen are perfect Mother’s Day gifts, and here’s how to get them to flower again the second year.

Potted: Cyclamen

A cyclamen is one of loveliest cool climate pot plants, yet many people find them hard to grow. Position is the key– out of direct sun in a light situation, well away from artificial heating.

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

These furry, iconic Australian flowers are a great addition to a potted garden, especially the smaller varieties. As long as you have a space that sees full sun and they’re planted into a native potting mix, you can’t go wrong. From now until early summer keep up the water to maintain colour and extend longevity in the blooms. To stimulate new growth, cut back old flower stems and foliage to the base.

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: Pebble Patch

These little pots of small-leafed succulents are low-care and make a great gift.

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: Zanibar Gem

This plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) is indestructible! It’s a relative of the cycad and one of the toughest for an indoor environment, first choice for shopping centres and office foyers and surprisingly irresistible for your bathroom. 

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.

Sprouts

With the cooler weather setting in, its time to bring healthy vegetables inside onto the window sill and start to grow your own sprouts.

Worsleya, the blue hippeastrum

When we revealed that the current favourite plant of Myles Baldwin, curator of the Australian Garden Show Sydney, is the blue hippeastrum (Worsleya procera) we were amazed at the response! This flower seems to have flower captured everyone’s imagination and lots of you were keen for more growing tips.