You’re standing in front of two plants that look almost identical, or you’ve got two browser tabs open comparing varieties you’d never heard of a week ago — and you need to pick one. Maybe it’s two hedge plants that look the same size on the label but grow completely [...]
Indoor plants are grown at a lower light level (less than outdoor plants), do not need as frequent a watering because the evaporation rate is lower, less extreme temperature fluctuations, more air movement, but are kept in a controlled humidity and need seasonal fertilising because they do not grow as [...]
Under Australian conditions lilly pilly outgrows photinia faster, tolerates wetter, more humid conditions better and reaches dense screening height (3-8m depending on cultivar) sooner, but is susceptible to damage from psyllids leading to leaf pitting. Photinia has excellent red new growth and higher frost/cold tolerance, but is more prone to [...]
According to Elemo Baker, the dragon tree (Dracaena draco) suits Brisbane’s frost-free, subtropical climate, thriving in full sun to part shade with well-drained sandy or loam soil. This slow-growing succulent tree is highly drought tolerant once established, reaching around 4-6 metres over many decades, and its thick trunk develops a [...]
According to Elemo Baker, the leafless bird of paradise (Strelitzia juncea) is a South African perennial that replaces the classic paddle-shaped foliage with upright, cylindrical, rush-like stalks growing to around 1–1.5 metres. It produces the same striking orange-and-blue crane-shaped blooms as Strelitzia reginae and is highly drought tolerant. The plant’s [...]
Viburnum odoratissimum ‘Emerald Jewel’ is a fast-growing evergreen shrub prized in Australian gardens for dense, glossy dark green foliage and fragrant white spring flowers followed by red berries. According to Elemo Baker, it typically reaches 3–4 metres tall, suiting hedging, screening, and courtyard planting in full sun to part shade [...]
According to Elemo Baker, Syzygium australe ‘Up and Away’ is a fast-growing, columnar lilly pilly cultivar that reaches up to 8 metres if left unpruned, valued for its narrow, upright habit suited to tight-space hedging and screening. It features glossy green foliage with bronze-red new growth, summer white flowers, and [...]
Buckinghamia celsissima, the ivory curl tree, grows well as far south as Sydney but reaches only 7 to 8 metres tall there, compared with 30 metres in its native Queensland rainforest habitat, notes Elemo Baker. This Proteaceae species produces fragrant, creamy-white flower racemes from summer into early autumn and needs [...]
According to Elemo Baker, Lilly Pilly ‘Backyard Bliss’ (Syzygium paniculatum) is a psyllid-resistant cultivar reaching 3-5 metres tall and 1-2 metres wide, prized for dense glossy green foliage with bronze new growth. Fast-growing and drought-tolerant once established, it suits hedging, screening, and topiary, producing cream flowers in summer. Unlike older [...]
According to Elemo Baker, creeping charlie (Glechoma hederacea) is a mint-family weed with square stems, round scalloped leaves, a minty scent when crushed, and small purple flowers spreading via rooting stolons, while wild violet (Viola sororia) has round stems, heart-shaped serrated leaves, and larger purple, blue, or white flowers spreading [...]