Though I'm not really a fan of cold weather, there is one winter spectacle I always look forward to: the first camellia bloom of the season. Camellia japonica 'Debutante' We are lucky to have three large established camellias in our garden. Judging by their size, I'd say they are the same age as our house, which was built in the 1960s. I also keep an additional five varieties in pots, the largest being C. japonica 'Black Tie', which is currently about 1.8 metres (six feet) tall. It has been happily growing in its container for many years now. Brown glazed bowl: no ID camellia Green triangle bowl: C. japonica 'Black Tie' Round green bowl: pale pink peony form C. japonica 'Debutante', white peony form with pink edges C. japonica ' Margaret Davis', mid pink no ID Small green vase: C. japonica 'Debutante' Square plate: Ginkgo biloba leaves While I was out picking flowers for this post, the beautiful golden leaves of a large p...

It's late autumn here in Australia and though there are a few flowers in my garden, I thought I'd have a go at creating an arrangement that draws on foliage colours and forms rather than flowers for interest. Though Adelaide has a Mediterranean climate, I grow a fair number of tropical foliage plants in pots, moving them undercover in winter to keep them dry in the cooler weather. Here's what I came up with: Foliage: Iresine herbstii , Aucuba japonica , Plectranthus argentatus , Hypoestes phyllostachya , Alpinia sp., Syngonium podophyllum 'Neon Robusta' (I think), Ctenanthe setosa , Ctenanthe setosa 'Grey Star'. Flowers: Begonia 'Mega Red'. Fruit: Sold to me as 'Chinese 5 colour chilli', from a garage sale over a decade ago - I've been saving the seeds and growing it every year since.       Here's the arrangement with a few props: Props: being late autumn, it's persimmon season. Yum. I like the vanilla type; the knitted black ca...

Until recently, an average day for me began with an early morning stroll through my garden, cup of tea in hand and Cosmo the cat weaving in and around my legs as we conduct our morning garden inspections together. Then I’d head out to garden for clients, or up to the nursery where I work part time. On days off, I’d usually be found pottering around my own garden.  Cosmo keeps an eye on the Agastache foeniculum Then I broke my ankle and all garden activities came to a grinding halt. The injury was a silly one; I inelegantly tripped on a door snake in our hallway, twisting and falling awkwardly. X-rays revealed the need for surgery and the installation of some gnarly metal hardware with a long period of recovery downtime. This was not the news this gardener wanted to hear! Ankle surgery and gardening don't mix   Not being able to garden has been interesting. My immediate thought, when the accident first happened was... ‘how on earth am I going to water my (600+) pot plants*!?’...