Blog

Straw, Silver, Brown and Black
By Michael
Jun 20, 2019
I remember being blown away when James Van Sweden, speaking in Melbourne in 1989 about his huge plantings of perennials in the USA, told us that many of his clients found that thei
Does durandii do it for you?
By Michael
Jan 29, 2019
I don’t think there are many plants that make me go weak at the knees.  I wish there were more. It’s plantings that are more likely to do if for me – great combinations of p
Verbascum - a personal history
By Michael
Jan 14, 2014

Does durandii do it for you?
By Michael
Jan 29, 2019

I don’t think there are many plants that make me go weak at the knees.  I wish there were more. It’s plantings that are more likely to do if for me – great combinations of plants, bouncing off ...

Verbascum - a personal history
By Michael
Jan 14, 2014

Some time in the next couple of weeks – if these berserk winds don’t blow it over first – I’ll flower, for the first time, the very proud and stately Verbascum splendidum.  The build up has b ...

Henryi at home
By Michael
Jan 7, 2014

Just before Christmas I was telling a friend that I’d spotted and lusted over a stunning plant of Clematis x jackmanii ‘Superba’ in our local nursery, and, though I’d planned to plant one in t ...

When the dog bites
By Michael
Nov 28, 2013

Some plants just make you ache.  There’s thousands of plants I like, hundreds that I love, and just a few that can make my heart skip a beat – plants that hold my attention for ages, and then hav ...

The Side-benefits of Car Troubles
By Michael
Oct 9, 2013

Car troubles yesterday had me walking home from the garage.   I didn’t regret this at all, as I’d spotted one or two Gladiolus tristis in the grass on the side of the road from the car, and I wa ...