Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Plants

PlantsTurf

Reviving the riverbank

Turf’s role in erosion control

Supplied by Lawn Solutions Australia

Nestled on the banks of the Hawkesbury River, just outside Windsor, New South Wales, is a newly completed turf project that demonstrates the power of natural erosion control using turf. A collaborative effort led by Green Life Turf has transformed a flood devastated riverbank into a resilient green embankment.Continue reading

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Melbourne International Flower and Garden ShowPlants

A photographic tour of MIFGS

By Gabrielle Stannus

Continuing from the article I wrote in May, which covered the Gold medal winning ‘‘ǝ’skāp’ display garden at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show (MIFGS), I have put together some of my other plant highlights from that event just for you!Continue reading

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Botanic GardensPlants

Unique local plants at Cairns Botanic Gardens

By Cadel Boyce

The role of botanic gardens in recent years has changed from a focus on displaying the breadth of the world’s flora to facilitating a living collection of both exotic and local native plants of importance. Australia has a unique floral biodiversity due to its long geological period of isolation.Continue reading

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Plant PalettePlants

The case for cacao

By Caleb Roberts

Botanical name: Theobroma cacao

Common name: Cacao tree or cocoa tree

Family: Malvaceae

A beautiful red flush of growth on this cacao (Image: Caleb Roberts)
A beautiful red flush of growth on this cacao (Image: Caleb Roberts)

Origin: With a long history in the Amazon basin, cacao was traded as a currency well before chocolate coins hit supermarket shelves.… Continue reading

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PlantsPotato

Potatoes by the hundreds!

By Clive Larkman

The Colombian Exchange resulted in many foods from the New World becoming common in European countries, including but not limited to the potato. Like so many Solanaceae, this humble vegetable is indigenous to the plains of the upper Andes and the lower regions of Machu Picchu and surrounds.Continue reading

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Plant PalettePlants

Plug-and-play plants for neglected sites

By Daniel Fuller

Mass planting beds are favourable from a nursery and plant breeder perspective because less diversity will often equate to larger profit margins, even though they can be risky by having “all your eggs in one basket.” They are also easy for specifiers to use in designs, because it takes less research to source a single variety of plant that tolerates site conditions and can be replicated throughout large beds.… Continue reading

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Plant PalettePlants

Monstera deliciosa ‘Thai Constellation’

By Clive Larkman

Monstera ‘Thai Constellation’ took the world by storm in the mid to post COVID years. At the time, indoor plants were undergoing a resurgence that started just pre-COVID and then went ballistic as we were all shut down.… Continue reading

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PlantsWeeds

Weed species – a guide to plant choice and soil indicators

By Patrick Regnault

Observing the weed species can tell us a lot about the nutrient availability, soil compaction, recent history of the site, pH, moisture levels, and soil texture. Understanding or reading weeds can guide us in our planting selection. It can help us work successfully with the conditions rather than forcing unsuitable plants upon the land.Continue reading

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PlantsTurf

Newly released buffalo grass cultivar

Supplied by Lawn Solutions Australia

Lawn Solutions Australia (LSA) has been working with Dr Ambika Chandra, from Texas A&M University in the US, on a new buffalo turfgrass Stenotaphrum secundatum for the Australian market for many years. New turf varieties are not shelf-stock items and take many years of research, data collection, morphological testing and comparable trials in the US and Australia before, and if, they are released to the market.Continue reading

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Plant PalettePlants

Amazing things plants

By John Fitzsimmons

We all know plants are wonderful, sustaining life and wellbeing in so many ways, but we can sometimes benefit from a reminder of just what amazing ‘machines’ they are too –  amazing hydraulic and chemical machines!

It’s amazing how ‘vascular’ plants can turn sunlight into chemical energy, and sometimes startling how (tree) roots and stems can physically disrupt hard paving and even affect otherwise solid buildings.… Continue reading

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