In Flower This Week A weekly news-sheet prepared by a Gardens volunteer  Numbers in brackets [ ] refer to garden bed 'Sections'. Plants in flower are in bold type.

4 January 2002

Parties may be over but Summer Concerts in the Gardens have just begun – collect your brochure from the Visitor Centre. Days may be hot and windy but flowers continue to bloom. This walk is mostly in the coolness of the Rainforest Gully, but first the Smooth Barked Apples, Angophora costata subsp. costata [Section 169], in the car park have clusters of lovely cream fluffy flowers. The Plunkett Mallee, Eucalyptus curtisii [Section 221], beside the steps to the Visitor Centre, is a much smaller tree also with clusters of cream flowers. In pots at the Visitor Centre doors Pandorea ‘Southern Belle’ displays its soft pink trumpet flowers amid the shining green foliage. Actinotus helianthi ‘Federation Stars’ [Section 172] has velvety white flowers amid the velvety grey foliage.

Kangaroo paw cultivars are now in flower throughout the Gardens. Edging Banks Walk they include Anigozanthos ‘Bush Haze’ [Section 210] with ‘paw’ flowers shaded yellow on long stems blending with Anigozanthos ‘Bush Sunset’ [Section 210] with similar flowers shaded burgundy red. You couldn’t possibly miss the mass of deep blue flowers of the prostrate plant Scaevola ‘New Blue’ [Section 174] across the path. Near the bridge another showy plant is the ACT Floral Emblem, Wahlenbergia gloriosa [Section 60], with lovely deep blue bell flowers.

Stroll up a path edging the cool, green rainforest. At the top is a group of orderly grass trees, Xanthorrhoea glauca subsp. glauca [Section 62] with attractive whirling green skirts and tall spikes with brown and cream flower heads. A small path then curves through an area of north Queensland plants where there is a most picturesque plot of hybrids of Australia’s own rhododendron, Rhododendron macgregoriae x lochiae [Section 62]. These are low spreading shrubs with clusters of bright red trumpet flowers. Another interesting plant in this area is Pandanus gemmifer [Section 62], a palm-like shrub with long narrow arching leaves edged with sharp thorns.

Cross the Rainforest Gully where white winged choughs are scratching about the leaf litter in search of ‘goodies’ and tiny scrub wrens dart about the shrubs. Find the triangular bed where Hemigenia sp. [Section 17] is a ground hugging trailing plant adorned with small pink bugle-like flowers. Ptilotus manglesii [Section 17] is also a small plant covered with fluffy silver and pink flowers. Dampiera stricta [Section 17] is an upright dense suckering herbaceous plant bright with blue flowers. Brachyscome multifida ‘Breakoday’ [Section 17], with small mauve daisies on low soft foliage, edges the road. Eremaea pauciflora [Section 17] is a low dense shrub dotted with small fluffy orange flowers.

Above this section, Alyogyne huegelii [Section 123] is of medium size bearing its soft lilac hibiscus flowers. The Silky Oak, Grevillea robusta [Section 79], a tree with large gold toothbrush-like flowers seen above the surrounding foliage, is quite spectacular.

Happy and healthy 2002 to all ... Barbara Daly.