Lifestyle
Beauty
Bush Foods – An Aussie Culinary Experiance
Bush Foods - An Aussie Culinary Experiance Author: Lawrie Smith AM Published: Online Only March 2023 Image above: Tantalising and luscious ‘Plums’ with a ‘frosty’ texture, from the Australian rainforest understory. When you enjoy a slice of Pizza you immediately think...
Melodorum leichhardtii – Zig Zag Vine
Author: Glenn Leiper Published: Journal September 2021 Image above: Melodorum leichhardtii fruit A vigorous vine of rainforests, the Zig Zag Vine is so named because of the slight bends in the branchlets, showing a distinctly zig-zag growth habit especially in new...
Rainforest Cherry – Syzygium fibrosum
Author: Jan Sked Published: Journal March 2017 Also known as Fibrous Satinash, this small tree grows as an understory tree in well-developed rainforest, particularly the drier, more seasonal rainforest and gallery forest, in Cape York Penin-sula, north-east...
Native Hibiscus Jam
Native Hibiscus or Native Rosella Hibiscus heterophyllus Author: Jan Sked Published: Journal December 2016 This is a large shrub with prickly stems and rough, dark green leaves, with serrated margins that can be entire or deeply lobed. It flowers from winter to...
Fashion
Pruning for Design
Author: Lawrie Smith AM, Landscape Architect Published: Garden Design Study Group Newsletter, August 2021 For many of us our gardens aspire to be dominantly natural in character, where plants are encouraged to grow ‘naturally’ with minimal human assistance or...
Design with Nature
Author & Photos: Lawrie Smith AM, Landscape Architect Published: Journal March 2021 Image above: The intriguing path through this 'walkabout' garden encourages exploration and observation of a collection of diverse native species enriched by focal points of...
Artistic Endeavour
Contemporary artists’ response to the legacy of Banks, Solander and Parkinson Author: Kath Kerswell (Coordinator) and Dr Nita C Lester (President and Exhibition Co-Curator), Botanical Artists' Society of Queensland Published: Journal December 2020 Image above: Edwin...
Bonsai Grevilleas
Author: Ruth McLucas Published: Journal June 2016 My first bonsai grevillea was Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘Scarlet Sprite’, purchased in 2003 and consciously developed to look as ‘natural as possible’. I now have three ‘Scarlet Sprites’ of different ages and...
Food
The Plant-Ant Connection
Author: Wendy Benfer, Kingaroy Branch Published: Journal March 2022 This is a story of a relationship between two shrubs and some ants, and their dependence on each other for healthy survival. The two shrubs are the Canthiums, Psydrax odorata forma australiana and...
Aristolochia and the Cairns Birdwing Butterfly
Author: Ian Dyer, Townsville Branch Published: Journal March 2022 Image above: Chewed Aristolochia stem Feature I recently planted a number of Aristolochia acuminata in various places in my garden to see what conditions they would be successful in. Nearly all grew...
Photograph moths on Rutaceae for citizen science
Author: Rhonda Daniels, enewsletter editor Published: Journal March 2022 (originally published September 28, 2020 enewsletter) The Australian Plants Society has many excellent photographers and now members can use their skills in a citizen science project that aims...
And we thought King Parrots only liked Tomatoes!
Author: Graham Helmhold, Kingaroy Branch Photos: Lynn Helmhold Published: Journal March 2021 Image above: King Parrot eating an immature fruit from a Diplocyclos palmatus vine On a recent walk through the vine scrub on Mount Wooroolin, our attention was drawn by a...
Interior Design
Book Review: Phytochemistry of Australia’s Tropical Rainforest
Book Review by Glenn Leiper Phytochemistry of Australia’s Tropical Rainforest by Cheryll J Williams Published by CSIRO Publishing,584 pages, slightly shorter than A4 size, hardbackRRP $260 Firstly, let me say that I initially felt out of my depth writing this review,...
Book Review: A Field Guide to the Eremophilas of Western Australia
Book Review by Phil Trickett A Field Guide to the Eremophilas of Western Australia By Andrew Brown & Bevan J Buirchell This update of the 2011 first edition is a superb publication, making it an essential purchase for lovers of Eremophila. Structured the same as...
Book Review: Guide to Native Orchids of NSW and ACT
Book Review by Glenn Leiper 'Guide to Native Orchids of NSW and ACT' by Lachlan Copeland and Gary Backhouse Published by CSIRO Publishing, 456 pages, A5 size, paperbackRRP $49.99 “Oh no, not another orchid book!” I may have said when I heard about this new...
Book Review: Growing Eremophila
Book Review by Catriona Bate, Eremophila Study Group Growing Eremophila By Russell Wait Recommended retail price $80 This long-awaited book does not disappoint. It is a beautiful, glossy production worthy of a prominent place on any coffee table, not just the...