Garden

Bees are our best friends and closest allies, says self-confessed ‘flower girl’ Laodekia, who suggests we spend more time in their company. Digby Hildreth reports.

Two of the regular volunteers turning up at Bangalow Landcare’s weekly working bees are in their 20s – rare examples of young people giving their time for the good of the community, reports Digby Hildreth.

The lovely Tuckeroo (or Carrotwood, as it is sometimes known) is increasingly being seen as a popular and hardy street tree and is also popping up in private and public gardens. It grows to approximately five metres tall, and its spreading evergreen crown of glossy leaves can be up to five metres wide. Importantly, the roots are non-invasive. Indigenous to…

It’s funny the way that plants and landscapes surface in books sometimes and remain strong memories of place. Patrick White, writing from the eastern suburbs of Sydney, often remarked upon “the cascading blue blossoms of plumbago growing all unruly in neglected gardens over fences and outbuilding roofs.” From my garden in Melbourne (where it isn’t grown much), I wondered about…

Partly because of our crazy weather, there is little flowering near me at present, but I pass a Mussaenda in a neighbour’s garden every morning and marvel at the fact that it is ALWAYS covered in blossom. Because it is on a slope (good drainage) and in full sun, north-facing, this is clearly a plant worth using more often. Mussaenda…

Christobel Munson goes deep into the features and facilities of the unique green oasis, Bangalow Parklands. The year 2023 has brought new life and energy into the precinct currently known as Bangalow Parklands.

The Shire’s long-established culture of farmers’ markets, along with our proximity to the agricultural sector, make eating locally and seasonally relatively inherent. But even the most urban city-dweller can be cognisant of food miles and choose to support Australian farmers, thanks to our strict country of origin food labelling laws. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said about floristry.

Towards the north-eastern end of her rural community title lot is a paddock that’s remained unutilised since the construction of her home in 2006. Not wanting to have it mowed indefinitely, Christobel Munson decided to transform it into a Bush Tucker ‘food forest’. This is how she went about it.

One of my annoying mantras oft repeated: “weeds are just plants growing where you don’t want them to grow!” but this does not apply to Solanum viarum aka Soda Apple. As you might notice from the botanical name, it is another one of the huge group of flowering plants that includes tomatoes and much more. It originates in Central and…

Carole Gamble dishes all the dirt on Judy Baker and Costa Georgiadis at the Byron Bay Writers Festival.

The dawn choruses and dazzling plumage of the local bird population are a source of comfort and joy – though their own lives can seem like a battle at times, writes Digby Hildreth.