Favourite Plants for Every Garden
Episode: #3 7/04/07
Presenter: Dean Boone
Dean visits one of the largest wholesale nurseries in Sydney to show you the very best of plants on offer for this season. He shows us a few plants that he thinks can work in just about every garden and all of them are perfectly suited to our local conditions.
So if you are looking to establish a new garden, why not consider some of these:
Birthday Candles Banksia (Banksia spinulosa ‘Birthday Candles’) is a native which makes it very hardy and is really unusual. It is a low growing, low spreading, ground covering Banksia with little upright flower heads which look fantastic. It likes full sun and a lot of good drainage so a sandy soil anywhere in Sydney is going to be fine.
Plants are not just about the flowers, foliage colour and texture are just as important for creating interest all year round.
Dean’s next choice is the Pink Sensation Cordyline (Cordyline Australia ‘Pink Sensation’). It really is the perfect plant for a focal point, in a pot on a balcony, it is incredibly hardy, really draught tolerant and it has the most amazing foliage colour.
The Nobby Rush (Isolepsis nodosa) is a great native plant that looks very grass like but it is actually sedge, which means it can grow both in and out of water. The plant has really dark, deep green foliage, and very long strap like stems.
The very best of the ornamental grasses is the Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘rubrum’). It has a very deep rich plum tone foliage, with soft flower heads that move beautifully in the breeze. Again, the Purple Fountain Grass is really hardy, drought tolerant and grows rapidly.
These plants can be used in an enormous number of combinations and can form the backbone of a good design in a variety of garden styles. Not only do all the plants look great but they are also water wise so use them in repetition in your garden as much as you can and you will be the envy of every neighbour in your street.
Presenter: Dean Boone
Dean visits one of the largest wholesale nurseries in Sydney to show you the very best of plants on offer for this season. He shows us a few plants that he thinks can work in just about every garden and all of them are perfectly suited to our local conditions.
So if you are looking to establish a new garden, why not consider some of these:
Birthday Candles Banksia (Banksia spinulosa ‘Birthday Candles’) is a native which makes it very hardy and is really unusual. It is a low growing, low spreading, ground covering Banksia with little upright flower heads which look fantastic. It likes full sun and a lot of good drainage so a sandy soil anywhere in Sydney is going to be fine.
Plants are not just about the flowers, foliage colour and texture are just as important for creating interest all year round.
Dean’s next choice is the Pink Sensation Cordyline (Cordyline Australia ‘Pink Sensation’). It really is the perfect plant for a focal point, in a pot on a balcony, it is incredibly hardy, really draught tolerant and it has the most amazing foliage colour.
The Nobby Rush (Isolepsis nodosa) is a great native plant that looks very grass like but it is actually sedge, which means it can grow both in and out of water. The plant has really dark, deep green foliage, and very long strap like stems.
The very best of the ornamental grasses is the Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum ‘rubrum’). It has a very deep rich plum tone foliage, with soft flower heads that move beautifully in the breeze. Again, the Purple Fountain Grass is really hardy, drought tolerant and grows rapidly.
These plants can be used in an enormous number of combinations and can form the backbone of a good design in a variety of garden styles. Not only do all the plants look great but they are also water wise so use them in repetition in your garden as much as you can and you will be the envy of every neighbour in your street.
AS SEEN ON 



