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

Tis summer … tis warm … flowers continue to be plentiful. So, to start, view those in the Tasmanian Garden. There seem to be many white flowers which include numerous Ozothamnus species. Ozothamnus expansifolius [Section 231] is a short shrub with terminal heads of tiny cream flowers. Ozothamnus ericifolius [Section 231,232] is a taller shrub with similar dense clusters of larger daisies. Pentachondra involucrata [Section 230] is a dwarf, dense plant covered with upright spikes of small white tubular flowers with mouth of fine frilly star petals. Chrysocephalum apiculatum [Section 230], with green foliage and sunny yellow flower heads in clusters on upright stems, adds much colour.

Senecio linearifolius [Section 236], with terminal sprays of yellow daisies, lines the bank of the northern pool. Above, Pelargonium australe [Section 142] has sprays of flowers which are mauve, almost white, with purple veins all over low shrubs with soft ripply leaves. Near the seat Dianella tasmanica [Section 142] is a strappy, spreading flax-like plant with bright blue flowers that have bright yellow anthers. Behind the seat, a leatherwood cultivar, Eucryphia lucida ‘Ballerina’ [Section 142], is a neat small tree decorated with open-petalled pink flowers. Eastern Water Dragons, Physignathus lesueurii ‘howittii’, from small to very long, scamper or laze over the rocks.

Along the far side of the Rainforest Gully, Native Elderberry, Cuttsia viburnea [Section 125] is a large rounded shrub, dense with shining toothed leaves and large sprays of white perfumed flowers. Kangaroo paw, Anigozanthos flavidus [Section 126], displays its red and green ‘paw’ flowers on long, upright bare stems. Matt green flowers can be seen in the same bed. Opposite Callistemon ‘Harkness’ [Section 124] is tall with dark, grooved trunks and weeping habit displaying bright red bottlebrush flowers. Melaleuca ambigua x capitata [Section 119] is decorated with soft pink fluffy flower balls while opposite, Jacksonia scoparia [Section 119], with bare trunk, has a canopy of long fine leaves and sprays of yellow pea-flowers. In the distance, with a foreground of grasses, the clusters of red flowers on extended bare stems of the Gymea Lily, Doryanthes excelsa [Section 8] can be seen.

Arriving at the Rock Garden, which contains a huge variety of flowers, see Leptospermum ‘Aphrodite’ [Section 15C]. The flowers are deep pink with green centres. Marvel at and read about the rare Wollemi Pine, Wollemia nobilis [Section 110], safe in a decorative cage.

Further uphill, in the triangular bed, Hibbertia stellaris [Section 17] is a dwarf, dense shrub alight with orange flowers and Ptilotus nobilis [Section 17] has upright stems with rather large green-cream fluffy conical flowers. Across the road, Alyogyne huegelii [Section 123] is so lovely with its covering of lilac hibiscus-like flowers. From the far side of the Rainforest Gully, in the cool, view the beauty of the Black Wattles, Callicoma serratifolia [Section 158], dotted with many fluffy round flower balls.

Some place, these Gardens …

Barbara Daly.