FFF51 - "EVELYN" ROSE

Rosa "Evelyn" from David Austin was bred from Tamora x Graham Thomas. The rose has the typical Austin cupped /rosette form. Evelyn is known for the beauty of the blooms, for their fragrance and for a marvellous display at flowering time. The plant has a neat vase shape at the base, then reaches both up and out. It grows to about two metres tall with some canes spreading about the same width. Basals are produced readily, and throw candelabras of bloom - bearing huge, lush, drooping panicles of soft pink blossoms. Older canes tend to bloom with single buds, or in twos and threes.

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FFF50 - GERMANDER SPEEDWELL

Veronica is the largest genus in the flowering plant family Plantaginaceae, with about 500 species. Taxonomy for this genus is currently being reanalysed, with the genus Hebe and the related Australasian genera Derwentia, Detzneria, Chionohebe, Heliohebe, Leonohebe and Parahebe included by many botanists. Common names include speedwell, bird's eye, and gypsyweed.

The species are herbaceous annuals or perennials, and also shrubs or small trees if Hebe is included. Most of the species are from the temperate Northern Hemisphere, though with some species from the Southern Hemisphere.

Veronica chamaedrys (Germander Speedwell, Bird's-eye Speedwell - shown above) is a species of Veronica, native to Europe and northern Asia. It is found on other continents as an introduced species. It is a herbaceous perennial plant with hairy stems and leaves. It can grow to 25 cm tall, but is normally about 12 cm tall. The flowers are blue, with a four-lobed corolla. The form of the leaves are similar to white deadnettle. The 2 to 4 mm wide blossoms of this plant wilt very quickly upon picking, which has given it the ironic name "Männertreu", or "men's faithfulness" in German.

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FFF49 - SPRINGTIME ROSE

Rosa spp 'Yellow Charles Austin' is a modern shrub rose which produces fully double, fragrant, yellow flowers. This is bush with splendid, showy flowers that are fully double petalled and belong to the "old-fashioned" rose group. Leaves are medium to dark green, glossy, and ovate, with finely toothed edges. The flowers are quite fragrant.

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FFF48 - PROSTANTHERA

Prostanthera magnifica, commonly known as Magnificent Prostanthera, is a flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is endemic to Western Australia. The species is a shrub growing to between 0.4 and 2.5 metres high.

The flowers are mauve to pink and are framed by large, purplish-red calyces. These appear between August and November in the species native range. The species was first formally described by botanist Charles Austin Gardner in 1942 in Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia.

The species occurs in woodland on sand, loam or clay soils. Prostanthera magnifica prefers a sunny or partly shaded position in well drained soil. It is sensitive to both frost and humidity. Propagation is successful from both seed and cuttings, though seed germination is slow. Grafting is often used to produce a longer living plant with rootstocks including Westringia fruticosa and Prostanthera striatiflora .The latter gives rise to plants with a longer flowering period and less unwanted growth below the graft.

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FFF47 - KANGAROO PAW

Kangaroo paw is a common name for a number of species, in two genera of the family Haemodoraceae, that are endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. These perennial plants are noted for their unique bird attracting flowers. The tubular flowers are coated with dense hairs and open at the apex with six claw-like structures: from this paw formation the common name "Kangaroo Paw" is derived.

Anigozanthos pulcherrimus Hook. (Yellow Kangaroo Paw). This species flowers in late spring through to early summer with golden yellow flowers on stems to 1.2 metres and is found naturally on the sand plains between Perth and Geraldton. All of the Kangaroo Paw species, especially some newly developed hybrid varieties are very colourful and bird attracting small plant for mixed plantings or in a container for patio and deck display.

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FFF46 - LECHENAULTIA

The genus Lechenaultia is a group of twenty small woody or semi-woody plants endemic to Australia. Their range of colours and shades of blue, green, yellow, red and white make them highly prized for horticultural work. The correct spelling of the generic name, Lechenaultia, is open to some argument. It was named after Leschenault de la Tour, a botanist who visited Australia in 1802-3. However, when Robert Brown, an early botanist first published the name he spelt it Lechenaultia, omitting the 's'. The spelling without the 's' is considered valid by Australian taxonomists.

All but three of the species are endemic to Western Australia and the most famous of all is the Blue Lechenaultia - L. biloba.The flowers, which grow to 1.5 cm long by 2-3 cm in diameter, have a tubular corolla, split on one side, and surrounded by five sepals. The corolla has five lobes and when laid flat it resembles an open fan or a hand with spread fingers. In L. biloba the corolla lobes are again divided into two segments, from which the specific name is derived.

Flowering time is from late winter through to summer. The leaves are soft, blue-green in colour, 3-9 mm long to 2 mm across, crowded and heathlike.The plant occurs naturally in gravelly and sandy soils of southern and central Western Australia. In its natural habitat it forms an open spreading plant to 50 cm high.

Various shades of blue are the most common flower colour in L. biloba, but variants exist. One is a pure white form while another, a bicoloured form, has been registered as a cultivar. L. biloba 'White Flash' has a distinct white central portion within the flower and a deep blue outer area.

In cultivation it is essential that the plant is grown in a sandy, well-drained situation. Plants in heavier sites will generally not last a season. The plant is not a long-lived one, three to four years being its most probable life span. A suckering form of the species exists and this has great potential with a probable longer life.The species is easily propagated by cuttings taken at any time of the year with most success in late spring and summer.

The most important cultivation requirement is a perfectly drained situation, best achieved in rockeries, built-up beds or pots. L. biloba has been successfully cultivated in pots for many years in Europe. Minimal watering is required and the roots will penetrate deeply in a free-draining soil. Lechenaultia biloba can be allowed to straggle over rocks, or a more compact shape may be obtained by a light pruning after flowering. No injurious pests or diseases have been noted and the species is frost tolerant.

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FFF45 - BUNJONG

Pimelea spectabilis (Bunjong) is a species of shrub in the family Thymelaeaceae, endemic to Western Australia. It is erect in habit, growing to between 0.5 and 2 metres high. The pink and white flowers are produced between August and December in its native range. The species was first formally described by English botanist John Lindley in 1839 in A sketch of the vegetation of the Swan River colony.

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FFF44 - CRAB APPLE FLOWERS

Crab apple is a term used for several species of Malus in the family Rosaceae, which are characterised by small sour fruit resembling familiar table apples (Malus domestica). They are usually small trees or shrubs. The plants are grown primarily as ornamentals, although a few growers produce the fruit commercially. The fruit is preserved or pickled or it is used in making jellies. Most crab apples are grown for their ornamental value, and cultivars are chosen because of their beautiful flowers, foliage, or fruit.

The flower is similar to that of the apple. Bees freely visit the flowers, for both nectar and pollen. Like the apple, the crab apple appears to require cross-pollination between cultivars by insects. Self-pollination is impossible and pollinating insects are absolutely needed. Considering that the only difference between the crab apple and the apple is fruit size, it seems reasonable that the most effective pollinator of apples, the honey bee, should be equally effective on the crab apple.
Crab apple species freely hybridise among themselves and with domestic apples. They produce copious and highly fertile pollen, thus are used as pollenisers in apple orchards. Varieties of crabapple are selected to bloom contemporaneously with the apple variety in an orchard planting, and the crabs are planted every sixth or seventh tree, or limbs of crab are grafted onto some of the apple trees. In emergencies a bucket or drum bouquet of crab apple blossoms are placed near the beehives as orchard pollenisers.

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FFF43 - WILD PLUM FLOWERS

Prunus americana, commonly called the American plum or wild plum, is a species of Prunus native to North America from Saskatchewan to New Mexico east to New Hampshire and Florida. It has often been planted outside its core range and sometimes escapes cultivation. Many cultivated varieties have been derived from this species. It forms an excellent stock upon which to graft the domestic plum.

The wild plum grows as a large shrub or small tree, reaching up to 4.6 m. It is adapted to coarse- and medium-textured soils, but not to fine soils. The shrub is winter-hardy, but has little tolerance for shade, drought, or fire. Its growth is most active in spring and summer, and it blooms in midspring. It propagates by seed, but the rate of spread by seed is slow.

The wild plum is used for both ornamental and culinary purposes. The white flowers are decorative in spring and its short, single leader makes it a popular residential landscape tree. Sargent says of it: "As an ornamental plant P. americana has real value; the long wand-like branches form a wide, graceful head which is handsome in winter and in spring is covered with masses of pure white flowers followed by ample bright foliage and abundant showy fruit.

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FFF42 - CORAL TREE

Erythrina is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, growing up to 30 m in height. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ερυθρóς (erythros), meaning "red," referring to the flower color of certain species.

Particularly in horticulture, the name coral tree is used as a collective term for these plants. "Flame trees" is another vernacular name, but may refer to a number of unrelated plants as well. Many species of Erythrina have bright red flowers, and this may be the origin of the common name. However, the growth of the branches can resemble the shape of sea coral rather than the color of Corallium rubrum specifically, and this is an alternative source for the name. Other popular names, usually local and particular to distinct species, liken the flowers' red hues to those of a male chicken's wattles, and/or the flower shape to its leg spurs. Commonly seen Spanish names for any local species are bucaré, frejolillo or porotillo, and in Afrikaans some are called kaffirboom. Mullumurikku is a widespread name in Kerala.

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