Plant Life

Most of Australia has a tropical climate, but a huge range of trees that we can grow outside, even in our cooler, temperate weather. These trees can give an exotic feel to our gardens, even when...

Among the many treasures in Dunedin Botanic Garden are some of the most rare and wonderful plant species in the flora of Aotearoa: the offshore island plants.

Against the fence at Dunedin Botanic Garden’s water garden blooms a stand of flowers that gracefully arch like a flock of slightly surprised, but curious geese, all looking in the same direction.

In July last year I wrote a Plant Life article on the stunning smoke bush Cotinus ‘Grace’. It’s a cross between the European smoke bush Cotinus coggygria and the American form, Cotinus obovatus.

Sky flower, pigeon berry and golden dew drop are some of the common names for the shrub Duranta erecta. 

From an amenity horticulture point of view some plant families have a lot more to offer than others. 

Pieris, like rhododendrons, are in the Ericaceae family.  But unlike rhododendrons, which number more than 1000, there are only six different species of pieris.

What to do in your garden this week.

Most gardeners are familiar with lady’s mantle, Alchemilla mollis, a herbaceous perennial often used as an edging to garden borders.

Pretty spring perennials are still enticing visitors to Dunedin Botanic Garden’s herbaceous borders.

There's always something of interest at Dunedin Botanic Garden’s Clive Lister Garden, but it is at its prime in late spring and early summer.

Some years — such as this one — an exceptionally large production of beech tree nuts occurs and this is referred to as a mast year. This year is a mast year.

Tucked into borders on opposite sides of the azalea garden at Dunedin Botanic Garden are two azaleas with flowers quite different from those plants around them.

If I was the marrying type, I would time my wedding to coincide with one of my favourite spring flowers: Clematis paniculata, or puawhananga (flower of the skies).

Aloe is a diverse genus of succulent plants mainly from southern Africa and Madagascar. 

Each spring, star-shaped flowers appear on a fresh new carpet of green, fern-like leaves.

A favourite since my childhood is the bright yellow hoop petticoat daffodil, Narcissus bulbocodium.

Unlike home gardens, one of the significant roles of a botanic garden is education. This ranges from plant studies by scientists, through to telling visitors plant stories using signs.