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'.
11 October 2013
Telopea 'Canberry Gem' click for larger image |
A walk along the curvaceous Main Path at this time of the year when flowers are plentiful is a pleasant experience. It starts at the far end of the café building and wanders among the magnificent trees, through the Sydney Basin, the Rock Garden and the Rainforest Gully.
- Calytrix leschenaultii [Section 12] is a small many-branched shrub with terminal clusters of purple feathery flowers.
- A Thryptomene sp. [Section 11] of similar size has white flowers while others have tiny pink flowers.
- Melaleuca fulgens ‘Hot Pink’ [Sections 10, 11] is an upright rather leggy shrub with bright pink flower clusters.
- The opposite corner is bright with perfumed Homoranthus flavescens [Section 9]. Its layered branches are clad with clusters of nectar-laden yellow flowers.
- The garden in front is scattered with Bulbine glauca [Section 8], lily-like self-seeding plants with yellow star-shaped flowers on succulent stems.
- In front is a group of waratahs including Telopea ‘Canberry Gem’ [Section 30], a large many-branched shrub crowned with its popular red flower heads.
- Not far away, Alyogyne huegelii [Section 30] displays large white hibiscus flowers, crowded by other shrubs.
- Pass by many grevilleas including Grevillea dimorpha [Section 25], with vivid red flowers edging the upright stems.
- Dodonaea rhombifolia [Section 25] is a large dense shrub with angled fruits mixing with the leaves. They are coloured green-pink changing to showy bright pink as seen.
- At the intersection Grevillea flexuosa [Section 25] is a dense spreading shrub laden with cigar-shaped yellow flowers.
- Across the road, Isopogon anemonifolius [Section 26] has drumstick-like yellow flower heads among its divided leaves, while the adjacent Isopogon formosus has larger pink feathery flowers.
- Grevillea lavandulacea [Section 26] has grey-green foliage and deep red flowers, contrasting with the yellow flowers of a low spreading Grevillea ‘Canterbury Gold’.
- Towards the next intersection, the upright Telopea speciosissima [Section 26] is crowned with rich red glistening flowers.
- Crossing the road Eriostemon australasius [Section 112] is covered with bright pink 5-petalled flowers over the tidy shrub.
- Close by Boronia muelleri [Section 112,] of similar size, is clad with tiny pink buds and 4-petalled pink to almost white flowers.
- Cross the road to the Sydney Region Gully where a few small Telopea speciosissima × oreades [Section 191s] display their terminal red flowers.
- Epacris longiflora [Section 191p] is upright, with narrow tubular white flowers dangling in rows from its branches.
- At the turn-off to the Glasshouses is Blackeyed Susan, Tetratheca thymifolia [Section 191j], a low spreading shrub profuse with its downturned pink flowers.
- Cross the Eucalyptus Lawn to pass through an area of wattles and also Helichrysum elatum ‘Helping Hand’ [Section 18], with large white daisy flowers surrounded by soft greyish leaves.
- In an enclosure the pink and white daisies, Rhodanthe chlorocephala subsp. rosea [Section 4], are quite attractive.
- Pass through the Rock Garden to the entry to the Rainforest Gully. Here large white and cream Rock Orchids, Thelychiton speciosus [Section 104], sit on the rocks and the small pink orchids, Thelychiton kingianus, add colour to the corner.
- At the bottom of the ramp the perfumed Boronia megastigma ‘Virtuoso’ [Section 210] could not be missed.
Barbara Daly