In Flower This Week
A weekly news sheet prepared by a Gardens' volunteer.
Numbers before each plant refer to temporary IFTW labels in the gardens.
Numbers in square brackets [ ] refer to garden bed Sections. Plants in flower are in bold type.
View past issues of 'In Flower This Week'.
22 February 2013
Pandorea jasminoides click for larger image |
The flowers this time of the year may not be so prolific but still are many and varied. Those outside the doors of the Visitor Centre are a welcome sight
- They include Rhododendron viriosum with bell-shaped orange-red flowers; Wahlenbergia gloriosa, the floral emblem of the ACT,displaying its large deep blue flowers; and Pilidiostigma rhytispermum, a taller shrub with fluffy cream flower balls.
- Opposite is the climber Pandorea jasminoides with large open pink flowers.
- Sturt’s Desert Pea, Swainsona formosa, also in a pot is still displaying its large pea-shaped bright red dark-centred flowers.
- Most kangaroo paws are finishing flowering, but Anigozanthos ‘Bush Volcano’ [Section 174] continues to bear its rust-red flowers.
- Take the ramp up to view Anigozanthos ‘Big Red’ [Section 210] also still bearing its deep red flowers.
- At the entrance to the Rainforest a Leatherwood, Eucryphia wilkiei [Section 313], is a dense shrub profuse with its cream, almost cup-shaped flowers among the shiny foliage.
- At the bottom of the stairs the garden corner is colourful with the yellow button-sized flowers of Chrysocephalum apiculatum, the deep pink star-shaped flowers of Crowea ‘Festival’ and the red terminal flowers of Grevillea ‘Lady O’ [all in Section 174].
- Admire the NSW Christmas Bush, Ceratopetalum gummiferum [Section 142], below the carpark at the entrance to the Tasmanian section. The shrub, with calyces which enlarge and redden after the white flowers finish, rises high above other surrounding plants.
- This walk then returns to the road edging the Rainforest where, opposite the cafe, the Cunjevoi Lily, Alocasia macrorrhizos [Section 125], has large fleshy spade-like leaves and stems with green or yellow hood-like flowers.
- The Swamp Lily, Crinum pedunculatum [Sections 306 and 125], displays its open sprays of white flowers on long upright stems.
- Clerodendrum floribundum [Section 125] is a tall shrub with button-sized green fruits in enlarged roughened red calyces seen among its foliage.
- Standing tall in this corner, Grevillea bipinnatifida ‘Jingle Bells’ [Section124] looks grand with its large red flower spikes flowing down among its greenery.
- A backdrop is a bottlebrush, Callistemon ‘Howie’s Fireglow’ [Section 124], brilliant with its red flowers.
- The corner groundcover is Grevillea ‘Poorinda Royal Mantle’ [Section 124] with many toothbrush-like dark red flowers.
- Grevillea ‘Goldfever’ [Section 124] has apricot-coloured flowers on the low lateral branches.
- Continuing uphill, Callistemon montanus [Section 104] is bright with short crimson bottlebrushes, seen as it leans towards the road.
- Close by a teatree, Leptospermum amboinense [Section 104] is a large dense shrub prolific with small daisy-like flowers.
- In this triangular garden a Geraldton Wax, Chamelaucium ‘Cascade Brook’ [Section 17], has a profusion of waxy pale pink flowers on the dense shrub.
- On the other side are Brachyscome multifida ‘Breakoday’ [Section 17], small dense plants with fine foliage and small deep mauve daisy-like flowers.
- Opposite is Callistemon viminalis [Section 78], a quite large shrub with pleasant weeping habit and bright red bottlebrushes.
Take the path to the right to enjoy the beauties of the Rock Garden.
Barbara Daly