FFF538 - HONEY FLOWER

Melianthus major (giant honey flower or Kruidjie-roer-my-nie) is a species of flowering plant in the family Melianthaceae. It is an evergreen suckering shrub, endemic to South Africa and naturalised in India, Australia and New Zealand. It grows to 2–3 m tall by 1–3 m wide, with pinnate blue-green leaves 30–50 cm long, which have a distinctive, unpleasant odour.

Dark red, nectar-laden flower spikes, 30–80 cm in length, appear in spring, followed by green pods. All parts of the plants are poisonous. The Latin binomial Melianthus major literally means "large honey flower". In cultivation this plant requires a sheltered location and may also need a protective winter mulch in temperate regions. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

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FFF537 -ROSA 'EBB TIDE'

Rosa 'Ebb Tide' was bred by Tom Carruth, USA, in 2004. It is a wonderful rose, which created a massive impact for the intense colour and fragrance which was rarely seen in modern roses. This very free-flowering rose bears flowers in small clusters with an amazingly intense clove fragrance throughout the flowering season.

Ebb Tide has beautiful, medium sized, glossy and dark green foliage which is highly disease resistant. The bushy growth is around 90 cm in height with flowers all over the shrub. The striking purple colour and the intense, spicy fragrance will make this rose variety a delightful addition to the rose garden.

Roses thrive in generally sunny, dry and hot conditions as we experience in most Australian gardens, and roses will flourish if we take some care:

WATER – Roses are very deep rooted plants and require one good, deep soaking at least every 10 days in hot and dry conditions.

FEED – Because roses flower throughout all but the Winter season, they should be regularly fertilised with quality (preferably organic) fertiliser which contains a balance of major nutrients (NPK) and trace elements. The fertiliser should be applied at least once a month – small amount often – with fortnightly applications of liquid seaweed over the foliage.

PRUNE – During Winter, 70% of the rose plant should be pruned and all old wood removed back to the crown and the bush pruned to shape. During the flowering seasons, 25% of all flowering stems should be cut back after flowering to encourage strong re-growth.

MULCH – Particular attention to application of lucerne or pea straw directly around the root-zone of each rose will enhance the overall health of the rose and then the whole bed should be mulched to 75mm with any other mulch medium available.

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FFF536 - CRASSULA

Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, friendship tree, lucky plant, or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers in the Crassulaceae family. It is native to South Africa and Mozambique, and is common as a houseplant worldwide. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, Pachira aquatica also receives this nickname. The jade plant is an evergreen with thick branches. It has thick, shiny, smooth, leaves that grow in opposing pairs along the branches. Leaves are a rich jade green, although some may appear to be more of a yellow-green. Some varieties may develop a red tinge on the edges of leaves when exposed to high levels of sunlight. New stem growth is the same colour and texture as the leaves, but becomes brown and woody with age.

Under the right conditions, they may produce small white or pink star-like flowers in early spring. Numerous varieties and cultivars have been selected, of which C. ovata 'Hummel's Sunset' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. As a succulent, Crassula ovata requires little water in the summer, and even less in the winter. It is susceptible to overwatering. C. ovata may attain a red tinge around its leaves when grown with bright sunlight. In more extreme cases, the green colour of the plant is lost and can be replaced by yellow. This is caused by the jade plant making pigments such as carotenoids to protect from harsh sunlight and ultraviolet rays.

The jade plant does best in rich, well-draining soil. The plant flowers in the wintertime, particularly during a cooler, darker, dry spell. C. ovata is sometimes attacked by mealybugs, a common nuisance of the succulents. The jade plant is known for its ease of propagation, which can occur by clippings or even stray leaves which fall from the plant. Jade plants propagate readily from both with success rates higher with cuttings. In the wild, vegetative propagation is the jade plant's main method of reproduction. Branches regularly fall off wild jade plants and these branches may root and form new plants.

Like many succulents, jade plants can be propagated from just the swollen leaves which grow in pairs on the stems. While propagation methods may vary, most will follow similar steps. Typically, the wounds on the leaves are left to dry and callus forms over them. Then the leaves are placed in or on soil. Roots begin to grow on severed leaves about four weeks after being removed from the stem. Environmental factors such as temperature and humidity affect the speed at which the roots and new plant develop. Foliage usually appears soon after new roots have formed.

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FFF535 - LILIUM

Lilium (members of which are true lilies) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the Liliaceae family, growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere, though their range extends into the northern subtropics. Many other plants have "lily" in their common name but are not related to true lilies.

Asiatic Lilies are a very popular garden and florist flower and they offer a brilliantly colourful range of blooms to choose from. The bulbs of Asiatic lilies are tough and resilient, providing a bounty of colourful blooms for vases, very easily grown and wonderfully tolerant of searing Australia's hot Summers.

Asiatic Lilies come in a wide range of brilliant colours from bright red to soft and pretty pink which means they can be used to create pockets of colour or gentle waves of soft and pretty cottage colours. Asiatic Lilies have more advantages in that they are great in pots and the bulbs can be planted anytime between May and October (in the Southern Hemisphere).

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FFF534 - CROWEA

Crowea exalata, or Small Crowea, is a flowering plant in the family Rutaceae, which is native to the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. It is a small shrub growing to 1 metre tall. It is named after James Crowe, an 18th-19th century surgeon and botanist. The specific name exalata means without wings, referring to the lack of ridges on the stems - this is not a definitive characteristic.

This species flowers during most months of the year, resting only in extremes of heat and cold, and with flushes in autumn and spring. Pointed buds open to five-petalled starry flowers 2 cm across, in clear tints of rose purple. They are of a solid waxy substance, and make a vivid display for the size of the plant. Before falling they close again to look like buds of deeper pink. Propagation by cuttings is easy using tip growth (which is very soft in character), at a half-ripe stage.

Nurseries dealing in native plants usually stock this small shrub and it should be planted in light, lime-free soil. A position with some shade is desirable - otherwise the soil should be shaded in some way from hot sun. This may be done by surrounding the plant with 5-10 cm of leaves, bush litter or compost. Rocks make an attractive setting, and in fact this is a beautiful rockery subject. Pruning should be done to maintain bushy growth, or a straggly plant with bare stems may develop. The end of winter is a good time to do this - or any time when sprigs of cut flowers are wanted, as these are dainty and long-lasting in water.

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FFF533 - BAT FLOWER

Tacca integrifolia (white bat plant) has strange, almost bizarre flowers resembling a bat’s black face with white ears and long whiskers. It is found naturally in south-east Asia and from eastern India to southern China. It belongs to the yam family, Dioscoraceae. It is an upright leafy plant with grey-green, narrow leaves growing from an underground fleshy root.

The flowers are borne in flower heads of up to thirty blooms. These form the bat’s face. They range in colour from purple-red to brown. The flowers are topped by white floral leaves called bracts, which resemble bat’s ears. Filaments up to 20cm long or more hang from the flowers. The similar black bat plant has black or purple bracts. 

There is also an Australian native species called T. leontopetaloides. This plant is suited to the tropics and subtropics. Outside these areas bat plants can be grown in filtered light in a humid glasshouse or conservatory, with a minimum temperature of about 15°C. It produces extraordinary flowers, has attractive foliage and is a stunning novelty plant. It is difficult to grow, may be hard to find and therefore suited to dedicated green thumbs!

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FFF532 - ACANTHUS

Acanthus mollis, commonly known as bear's breeches, sea dock, bear's foot plant, sea holly or oyster plant, is a species of plant in the family Acanthaceae and is native to the Mediterranean region. It is a leafy, clump-forming perennial herb, with a rosette of relatively large, lobed or toothed leaves, and purplish and white flowers on an erect spike.

It is a leafy, clump-forming perennial herb with tuberous roots. It has a basal rosette of dark glossy green, lobed or divided, glabrous leaves 50 cm long and 30 cm wide on a petiole 20–30 cm long. The flowers are borne on an erect spike up to 200 cm tall emerging from the leaf rosette. The sepals are purplish and function as the upper and lower lips of the petals, the upper lip about 4 cm long and the lower lip 3 cm long. The petals are about 4–4.5 cm long and form a tube with a ring of hairs where the stamens are attached. Flowering occurs in summer and the fruit is a sharply-pointed capsule about 2 cm long containing one or two brown seeds about 14 mm  long and 8 mm wide.

Acanthus mollis was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum. The name of the genus derives from the Greek name of the plant ἄκανθος ákanthos. This ἄκανθος ákanthos is related to ἄκανθα ákantha meaning "thorn" referring to the thorn-bearing sepals, or any thorny or prickly plant in Greek. The Latin name of the species, mollis meaning "soft, smooth", refers to the texture of the leaves.

Acanthus mollis is entomophilous, pollinated only by bees or bumble bees large enough to force their way between the upper sepal and the lower, so that they can reach the nectar at the bottom of the tube. Bear's breeches is regarded as invasive in some countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

The shape of the leaf of this plant inspired the ancient Greek sculptor Callimachus (5th c. BCE) to model the capital of the Corinthian column. Since then, the Corinthian order column has been used extensively in Greco-Roman and Classical architecture. For centuries, stone or bronze stylized versions of acanthus leaves have appeared as acanthus decorations on certain styles of architecture and furniture. Virgil described Helen of Troy as wearing a dress embroidered with acanthus leaves.

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FFF531 - AUSTRALIAN FLAX

Linum marginale, known by the common name of native flax or Australian flax, is a short lived perennial flowering herb, native to Australia. A slender, wispy, upright plant, growing to around 1 metre high, Native Flax is often overlooked when not in flower. It should not be confused with species of Wahlenbergia, which occurs in the same area and can appear similarly.

Like most species of Linum, Linum marginale can be used to produce useful fibre, but is not grown on a commercial level for this purpose. Native flax has small linear blue green leaves, often pushed quite close to the stem. To the untrained eye from a distance, in may appear to have no leaves. Unlike most other species of flax which have yellow flowers, Linum marginale beaks into sprays of large, electric blue flowers in spring and early summer.

The flowers (around 3 cm across) have five petals and form at the top of each wiry stem of the plant. Flowers are replaced in summer by small, globular, papery capsules, about 3 mm across, containing a cluster of buff coloured, sesame-like seeds. Like many southern Australian flowers, the plant dies back in summer, but reshoots the following autumn when the rains return.

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FFF530 - FENNEL

Summer is progressing and the wild fennel flower heads are going to seed.

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FFF528 - STRAWFLOWERS

Xerochrysum bracteatum, commonly known as the golden everlasting or strawflower, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Australia. Described first by Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1803.

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