Plant Guide

Sunflowers are the most cheerful of flowers and make you feel like smiling when they open up to greet the sun. They are a great flower for little gardeners as they’re easy to grow, require little care and feel overwhelming when your under 100cm tall! When & where to plant To give your sunflowers the best start, prepare the garden …

There is nothing finer than the sight of a poinsettia blooming naturally. The hot red colour of its bracts never fail to liven and its famous red and green foliage has become an important part of Christmas tradition. But did you know that in Australia the poinsettia is artificially coaxed into its flamboyant floral displays for Christmas, preferring to flower …

Frangipani is loved for its exquisitely formed, fragrant flowers. Despite its lush, tropical appearance, this tree is drought hardy and suited to many garden styles, bringing beauty to almost any garden. Low maintenance and easily propagated from cuttings, there’s little wonder this is one of Queensland’s most popular shade trees. Frangipani can grow up to 10m tall when unpruned, but …

Despite being one of the most fascinating plants in Australian home gardens, the cycad is also one of the easiest to grow. This ancient plant also suits a variety of different garden styles, being as much at home in a rainforest garden or Aztec-style desert landscape, as it is in a super slick modern or formal garden.  Cycad prehistoric origin …

When my husband finished building our daughters cubby house, I realised just how steep the slippery slide he put on the cubby was for a three year old. In truth, I had a little ‘mummy panic’ envisioning trips to emergency with broken arms and split heads. After some convincing, my husband suggested that we look at placing recycled car tyres along …

When & where to plant In spring or summer, choose the sunniest part of your vegetable patch to plant capsicums. They require heat to enable their fruit to ripen. Make sure the soil is deep enough to anchor their extensive root system. Do not plant them where other members of the Solanaceae family (eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes) have previously grown.   …

South-East Asian cuisine encompasses the refreshing and often pungent fragrances and flavours of Burma, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand cooking. Dishes are mostly an amalgamation of four contrasting flavours of hot, sour, sweet and salty and herbs play an important role in this fusion. Here are some commonly used herbs of South-East Asia.   Coriander (annual) Coriander is used …

It’s not hard to convince you that bromeliads are fantastic plants. They bring to your garden a lush, tropical look and vibrant, year-round colour with little maintenance. As a further bonus however, they are also very easy to propagate in four easy steps. Four (4) easy steps to propagating bromeliads 1. Bromeliad ‘pups’ are the young offspring of the bromeliad which …