By Tania Harman and Daniel Knox
This article is the first in a series designed to help horticulture businesses, grower groups and researchers better understand how to approach grant funding and improve their chances of success.
Grant funding can be transformational for horticulture organisations, but it is also extremely competitive.… Continue reading
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A targeted SMS promotion for a pumpkin-carving event shows how garden centres can use AI-driven marketing platforms to send timely, personalised messages directly to customers’ phones (Image: Supplied by the authors)
By John Stanley, Sid Raisch and Dries Jansen
We were recently talking to a client about trading patterns in 2025 in the different categories. This client has a restaurant. He mentioned that he has operated it for many years as a profitable part of the whole business.… Continue reading
Read MoreIn this issue of Hort Journal, we celebrate ornamentals and the people who grow, trial and champion them. We also turn the spotlight on women in horticulture, recognising their contribution across production, design and leadership.
My personal taste in ornamental plants leans heavily towards those that are also edible, so potted colour is usually not the first thing to attract my attention.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy Gabrielle Stannus
Female-owned and operated practices are shaping some of the most thoughtful and plant-driven work emerging in Australia today. One such practice is Super Bloom, a horticultural and planting design studio founded by Jac Semmler. Through large-scale public projects, demonstration gardens and now a new book, Jac is challenging long-held assumptions about what ornamental planting can deliver, aesthetically, ecologically and socially.… Continue reading
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Banksias and grass trees provide a uniquely Australian beauty to this garden (Image: John Fitzsimmons)
By John Fitzsimmons
If our theme this issue is ‘Ornamentals: Beauty that endures’ then surely, we must start by defining ‘beauty’ and that raises more questions than answers. On such a theme, just where do we start? Beauty is a subjective and multi-faceted quality that evokes pleasure, admiration or deep emotional responses.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy John Corban
Running a business is not easy. The early mornings, the physical work, the constant problem-solving, the pressure of keeping jobs profitable, keeping staff happy and wanting to stay, and ensuring clients are satisfied can wear anyone down. If you are feeling stretched, tired or frustrated at times, that does not mean that you are doing it wrong, it means that you are in the thick of running a real business.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy John Stanley, Sid Raisch and Dries Jansen
Doubts about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society are fading as breakthrough after breakthrough becomes reality. What was once speculation is now a demonstrated fact. Technology experts agree on the transformation ahead, differing only on timing and which company announces the next major advancement.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy Jennifer McQueen
What keeps women in greenlife? It is not just plants. It is purpose, flexibility, shared knowledge and the quiet strength of community. In this International Women’s Day reflection, women from across Australia share how they found their way into the industry, and why, despite the challenges, they choose to stay.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy Daniel Fuller
Flowers are highly-functional green infrastructure. Beyond looking pretty, they can support both at-risk urban ecological communities and pest-suppressing insects such as hoverflies and micro-wasps. However, with gardens becoming smaller, it is harder to obtain a full spectrum of flowers throughout the year.… Continue reading
Read MoreBy Gabrielle Stannus
A town planner by trade, Natalie Vallance has grown into the role of a grower with the support of her late husband and horticulturist, Steve. Together the pair transformed an essentially vacant block of land 50 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia, into the Muchea Tree Farm, a thriving production nursery specialising in Australian natives and Proteaceae.… Continue reading
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