I was asked by a client to prepare a list of ornamental productive plants that can be grown outdoors in subtropical Brisbane.
I grow 150 – 200 kinds of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices in my 300 square metre garden. This list covers my favourite 100.
After seed? See this. It’s a long read, written over a period of years:
‘Where do I get seed for that plant?’
Jerry Coleby-Williams
10th April 2014
|
Plant |
Name |
Type |
Notes |
| Acerola, Barbados Cherry | Malpighia glabrata | Shrub/ small tree | Fruit are unaffected by fruit fly. Plants make good container or lawn specimens and hedges |
| Leaf Amaranth/ Chinese spinach | Amaranthus tricolor ‘Flying Colours’ | Warm season annual | Highly decorative. Source: Pohlmanns |
| Leaf Amaranth/ Chinese spinach | Amaranthus tricolor ‘Mekong Red’ | Warm season annual | Decorative. Source: Green Harvest |
| Love-lies-bleeding/ Leaf Amaranth | Amaranthus caudatus | Warm season annual | Decorative |
| Arrowroot | Canna edulis | Warm season perennial | Lush |
| Blue banana | Musa x sapientum ‘Java Blue’ | Perennial | Permit required to acquire and plant, decorative, blueish fruit |
| Basil | Ocimum basilicum ‘Purple Ruffles’ | Warm season annual | |
| Bean, climbing | Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Purple King’ | Cool season climber | Decorative flowers and pods |
| Bean, snake | Vigna unguicularis subsp. sesquipedalis | Warm season climber | Attractive flowers and pods |
| Beetroot | Beta vulgaris ‘Bull’s Blood’, ‘McGregor’s Favourite’ | Cool season annual | Attractive foliage and stems. Plant young in windy sites |
| Begonia, Bedding | Begonia x semperflorens | Warm temperate perennial | Attractive, inedible foliage, edible flowers |
| Bok Choi | Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis | Cool season annual | Attractive foliage, ‘Red Choi’ especially attractive |
| Broccoli | Brassica oleracea var. Italica ‘Romanesco’ | Cool season annual | Attractive flowers |
| Cabbage | Brassica oleracea ‘Variegata’, ‘Cabeza Red’ | Cool season annual | Attractive foliage |
| Calendula | Calendula officinalis | Cool season annual | Edible petals |
| Cauliflower | Brassica oleracea Capitata ‘Purple Sicilian’ | Cool season annual | Attractive flowers |
| Canna lily | Canna x generalis and C. x orchioides | Perennial | Lush, attractive foliage and flowers. Canna x generalis ‘Purpurea’ and C. x orchioides ‘Tropicana’ are the brightest |
| Cardamom | Elettaria cardamomum | Evergreen perennial | Edible flowers, leaves and spice, from ground seed, used to flavour food. Lush, requires full sun, ample moisture and shelter. Not widely available, see false cardamom notes below. |
| Cardamom, False | Alpinia nutans | Evergreen perennial | Edible flowers, leaves used for flavouring food. Lush, more drought- and cold-tolerant than true cardamom. The spice is unappealing. Commonly mislabelled/ misidentified as ‘cardamom’. |
| Cassava, aka tapioca | Manihot esculenta ‘Variegata’ | Shrubby perennial | Bright, decorative, drought-resistent. Edible foliage and roots (after boiling to neutralise toxins) |
| Cha-plu | Piper sarmentosum | Evergreen groundcover | Cha-plu is a lustrous-leaved groundcover suited to shade. Usually sold under the incorrect name of betel leaf, Piper betel, an unattractive, lanky shrub. |
| Chives | Allium schoenoprasum | Perennial | Edible leaves and flowers. Useful for edging |
| Chives, garlic | Allium tuberosum | Perennial | Edible leaves and flowers, tougher than chives. Useful for edging |
| Chilli | Capsicum annuum | Various cultivars, ‘Peri Peri’, ‘Hungarian Yellow Wax’, ‘Habanero Orange’, ‘Habanero Red’, ‘Scotch Bonnet’, ‘Siam Gold’ being particularly colourful and long lasting | |
| Chinese cabbage | Brassica pekinensis ‘Tokyo Bekana’ | Cool season annual | Attractively curled, golden yellow foliage. Insect-attracting flowers |
| Cinnamon | Cinnamomum zeylanicum | Evergreen tree/ shrub | Highly ornamental new growth, starts red, turning yellow to green. Ideally suited to coppicing, hedging. Foliage is food for Green Triangle butterfly caterpillar |
| Citrus | various Citrus species and hybrids | Evergreen trees | Ornamental foliage and fruit. It is recommended to grow 1. a Lemonade tree, which is an Australian hybrid (Citrus limon x reticulata); 2. Pomelo (Citrus grandis), because demand in Brisbane exceeds supply; 3. Australian Sweet Lime, a recent release; 4. native Finger lime (Citrus australasica) 5. native Round lime (Citrus australis) and 6. mandarin ‘Parramatta Sweets’, a 19th century Australian-bred cultivar |
| Cocoyam, aka White Taro | Xanthosoma saggitifolia | Clumping perennial | Ornamental, edible young leaves, young stems and roots (after boiling to neutralise irritating crystals). More productive, more drought tolerant and producing hevier yields than taro, the United Nations Food Programme recognises this as an underused crop. I understand Queensland now has only one commercial grower of ‘White Taro’ near Tully. The cultivar ‘Lime Zinger’ makes a good potted aquatic specimen given shelter and partial shade |
| Coffee | Coffea arabica | Evergreen shrub/ small tree | Lustrous foliage, attractive fruit, jasmine-scented flowers. Suitable for containers, hedging, lawn specimen trees, semi-shade |
| Coriander | Coriandrum sativum | Cool season annual | Edible, attractive leaves and flowers. Flowers highly attractive to beneficial insects |
| Corn | Zea mays ‘Anasazi’ | Warm season annual | Tall, lush, attractively speckled cobs. Needs shelter |
| Corn | Zea mays ‘Red Aztec’ | Warm season annual | Tall, lush, attractive red cobs. Needs shelter |
| Corn | Zea mays ‘Multi-coloured Aztec’ | Warm season annual | Tall, lush, attractive cobs. Needs shelter |
| Date | Phoenix dactylifera ‘Medjool’ | Palm | Tall, slow growing. Edible fruit are best during drought. Seedlings make good container specimens, formal lawn specimens |
| Dill | Anethum graveolens | Cool season annual | Edible, attractive leaves and flowers. Flowers highly attractive to beneficial insects |
| Echinacea | Echinacea purpurea | Perennial | Attractive, long lasting flowers. Plants short-lived in subtropics, often suffer from fungal problems during summer. Best in containers |
| Endive | Cichorium endivia ‘Green Curled’, | Cool season annual | Tougher and longer lasting than lettuce |
| Eggplant | Solanum melongena ‘White Egg’ | Warm season annual | Attractive fruit |
| Eggplant | Solanum melongena ‘Listada de Gandia’ | Warm season annual | Attractive fruit |
| Fennel, or Florence fennel | Foeniculum vulgare, or F. vulgare Azoricum group | Perennial | Best treated as a cool season annual. Attractive foliage. Choose bronze fennel, or Florence fennel |
| Feverfew | Tanacetum parthenium | Perennial | Best treated as a cool season annual. Double-flowered form and golden-leaved form are highly ornemental |
| Four Seasons Herb, variegated | Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Variegatus’ | Perennial groundcover | Ideal subtropical alternative to oregano and marjoram. Prefers afternoon shade |
| Ginger | Zingiber officinale | Winter herbaceous perennial | Attractive flowers and foliage. For best results, provide shelter and water well in dry conditions |
| Ginger, Shell | Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’ | Evergreen perennial | Tall, attractive foliage, edible flowers, roots, leaves used in cookery |
| Ginger, Torch | Etlingera elatior | Evergreen perennial | Native. Edible flowers. Needs reliable moisture and shelter from winds |
| Granadilla | Passiflora quadrangulata | Evergreen vine | Vigorous, scented flowers, edible fruit. Excellent screen or pergola specimen |
| Hibiscus, cranberry | Hibiscus acetosella | Evergreen shrub | Purple foliage, maroon flowers. Tall, slender growth, mostly produced in late summer. May be trained against a fence, latticework, or over archways. |
| Jaboticaba, aka Jabuticaba or Brazilian grape tree | Plinia cauliflora (syn. Myrciaria cauliflora) | Evergreen tree | Fruit unaffected by fruit fly. Slow growing, decorative tree with flaking bark, useful container and lawn specimens, or for hedges |
| Jackfruit | Artocarpus heterophyllus | Tree | Trained as a compact orchard specimen, this tree bears the largest compound fruit on Earth. In Brisbane, demand for fruit exceeds supply |
| Kale | Brassica oleracea ‘Red Russian’ | Cool season annual | Decorative blue-grey foliage. Good foil for variegated cabbage and kale |
| Kale | Brassica oleracea ‘Variegata’ | Cool season annual | Decorative foliage |
| Kohl rabi | Brassica oleracea gongyloides ‘Purple Vienna’ and ‘White Vienna’ | Cool season annual | Decorative foliage and stems |
| Krachai | Boesenbergia rotundifolia | Winter herbaceous perennial | Decorative leaves, clumping, leaves and roots used to flavour food. |
| Lagos spinach | Celosia spicata | Warm season annual | Decorative leaves, flowers. Attracts butterflies and beneficial insects. To 1.25m high |
| Leek | Allium ampeloprasum ‘Blue Solaize’ and ‘Blue Green Winter’ | Cool season annual | Decorative foliage and stems |
| Lemongrass | Cymbopogon citratus, C. flexuosus | Perennial | Decorative, vigorous, clumping grass |
| Lemongrass, native | Cymbopogon flexuosus | Perennial | Compact, delicate, tufted native herb with attractive, fluffy white seed heads in spring. Under-utilised, non-invasive native groundcover |
| Lettuce | Lactuca sativa | Cool season annual | Various cultivars with highly ornamental foliage, but avoid the ‘Lollo Rosso’ and related cultivars as they are too short-lived. Grow ‘Frilly Pink’, ‘Gloria’, ‘Royal Purple Oakleaf’, ‘Red Coral’, ‘Salad Bowl Red’, ‘Salad Bowl Green’ |
| Lotus | Nelumbo nucifera | Perennial aquatic | Decorative flowers and foliage. Edible roots. Various cultivars |
| Luffa | Luffa cylindrica and Luffa aegyptica | Warm season vine | Attractive flowers and fruit. This heavy vine needs a strong support. Pergolas are ideal. |
| Macadamia, aka Baupel nut, Queensland nut | Macadamia integrifolia | Evergreen tree | Attractive flowers and foliage. Australia‘s best known native food plant |
| Marigold, French & African | Tagetes patula, T. erecta | Cool season annual | Attractive flowers, edible petals |
| Mizuna, red | Brassica juncea var. japonica ‘Red’ | Cool season annual | Attractive foliage, pretty flowers |
| Mulberry, King’s | Morus alba ‘White Shahtoot’ and ‘Red Shahtoot’ | Deciduous tree | Edible fruit. Shahtoot mulberries are seedless and non-weedy, ideal substitutes for weedy varieties. Can be trained and kept compact by pollarding. Mulberries are an Australian backyard icon |
| Mustard/ mustard greens | Brassica juncea ‘Osaka Purple’, ‘Red Giant’ | Cool season annual | Attractive leaves and flowers, fast growing. At their most colourful in mid-winter. Sow direct sowing, use for mass planting or to fill gaps. |
| Nasturtium | Tropaeolum majus | Cool season annual | Edible leaves and flowers. Attractive, quick growing. Useful as a gap gap-filler |
| Native plum, Black Apple | Planchonella australis | Evergreen Tree | Edible fruit. Narrow, upright crown. Slow growing at first. |
| Olive | Olea europea ‘St Helena’ | Evergreen Tree | Decorative grey foliage. Ideal for containers, specimen trees and hedging. Seedlings from St Helena Island prison farm (Moreton Bay) won Australia its first international award for agricultural produce |
| Onion/ spring onion/ Welsh onion | Allium fistulosum ‘White Lisbon’ | Short-lived perennial | Sow or plant in the cool seasons. Decorative white stems and blue-grey foliage |
| Oregano, Golden | Origanum vulgare ‘Aureum’ | Short-lived, perennial groundcover | Best grown in containers, susceptible to fungi in summer |
| Pandan | Pandanus amaryllifolius | Perennial | Requires full sun, plenty of water, protect from frost. May be grown in containers with their bases just standing in water, eg feature plants in pools. Leaves used to flavour food, rice |
| Pansy | Viola tricolor | Cool season annual | Edible flowers |
| Parsley | Petroselenium crispum | Cool season annual | Triple-curled parsley makes a fine edging to beds and borders planted with purple-leaved beetroot and rainbow silverbeet. Italian flat-leaved parsley flowers are highly attractive to beneficial insects. |
| Passionfruit | Passiflora edulis | Evergreen vine | Vigorous, short-lived perennial. Pretty flowers, edible fruit, good screen or pergola specimen, an icon of Australian back yards. |
| Pawpaw, aka papaya | Carica papaya ‘Southern Red’ | Evergreen perennial | Vigorous, short-lived tree-like perennial. In Brisbane, demand for unripe fruit exceeds supply. Australian backyard icon |
| Pea, garden | Pisum sativum ‘Dutch Purple Podded’ (to 2.25m) | Cool season annual climber | Decorative pink flowers and purple pods. Requires full sun and shelter from strong winds. |
| Pea, snow | Pisum sativum ‘oregon Sugar Pod’ (1.75 to 2m) | Cool season annual climber | Decorative white flowers and green pods |
| Perilla, aka shiso | Perilla frutescens var. crispa forma Purpurea | Warm season annual | Decorative foliage and flowers |
| Pineapple | Ananas comosus, Ananas bracteatus ‘Variegatus’ Ananas nanus |
Clumping perennial | Edible fruit. A. bracteatus ‘Variegatus’ is the most showy old-fashioned cultivar with decorative foliage. Commercial pineapples, A. comosus, are the tallest of the three species, while diminutive A. nanus accepts partial shade and makes a prickly groundcover. In 2003, Garth Sanewsky, Maroochy Research Station, produced a wide range of unusual hybrids for ornament and food |
| Pomegranate | Punica granatum ‘Elcite’ | Small tree/ shrub | Decorative flowers, can be used as container or lawn specimens. Edible fruit |
| Pumpkin | Cucurbita maxima ‘Queensland Blue’, ‘Australian Ironbark’, ‘Jarrahdale’ | Warm season annual vine | Australian bred iron bark pumpkins are vigorous, heavy vines with hefty, attractive fruit. Require considerable space (20 sq m per ‘Qld Blue’) or a strong support. Australian backyard icons. |
| Pumpkin | Cucurbita maxima ‘Jap’ | Warm season annual vine | One of the best for a Brisbane summer. One plant will fill 10 sq metres. requires a strong support. |
| Pumpkin | Cucurbita maxima ‘Golden Nugget’ | Warm season annual | One of the best bush pumpkins, ideal for small gardens and containers. One plant per 2 sq metres |
| Purslane, Golden | Portulaca oleracea var. sativa | Spring or autumn annual | Succulent, lustrous leaves |
| Radicchio | Cichorium intybus ‘Red Verona’, ‘Palla Rossa’ | Cool season annual | Decorative foliage, more robust and longer lasting than lettuce |
| Rosemary | Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Benenden Blue’ | Compact, evergreen shrub | Decorative foliage, edible flowers |
| Rosella | Hibiscus sabdariffa | Warm season annual shrub | Sow in October for crops in February to April. Thirsty plants, decorative foliage, flowers and fruit. An icon of Australian back yards |
| Silverbeet | Beta vulgaris Cicla ‘Rainbow Mixed’, ‘Lucullus’ | Cool season annual | Decorative foliage and stems. Plant young in windy sites |
| Sisal | Agave sisalina | Perennial | Robust, decorative, clumping succulent. Plants grown at St Helena Island prison farm (Moreton Bay) reputedly produced the finest quality sisal anywhere in the British Empire |
| Spinach, Ceylon | Basella alba | Warm season perennial vine | Best treated as a summer annual. Lustrous large leaves. Requires sturdy support. Suffers badly from snail and slug attack when grown as a groundcover. |
| Spinach, New Zealand/ Warrigal greens | Tetragonia tetragonioides | Warm season annual | Lush, leafy groundcover |
| Starfruit, aka carambola | Averrhoa carambola | Small, spreading tree | Lush, leafy, attractive small shade tree with edible fruit |
| Sugar palm | Arenga pinnata | Solitary stemmed palm | Lush, leafy, upright fan palm with narrow trunk. Sap tapped to make sugar and alcoholic beverages |
| Sweetpotato | Ipomoea batatas | Sprawling perennial | Edible leaves and roots. ‘Marguerite’, a yellow-leaved, pinkish-rooted cultivar, is productive and decorative. ‘Ace of Spades’ has attractive, purple, edible leaves, but insignificant tubers. Both make excellent carpets of colour. Frost tender. |
| Tamarind | Tamarindus indicus | Tropical tree | Shade tree. Edible flowers, leaves, and demand for fruit in Brisbane exceeds supply. Readily shaped and trained into pot plants, hedges, windbreaks, shade trees. Ideal choice to replace hedging and the exisiting Poinciana trees |
| Tomato, cherry | Lycopersicon esculentum ‘Green Zebra’, ‘Tommy Toe’, ‘Sweetbite’, ‘Yellow Pear’, ‘Yellow Cherry’, ‘Cherry Cocktail’, ‘Golden Sunrise’ | Scrambling annual, ideal for trellis, wigwams or containers | Best grown by planting in autumn to fruit during winter to spring. Most successful and trouble-free cultivars are the cherry tomatoes listed. Avoid wetting foliage |
| Turmeric | Curcuma longa | Winter herbaceous perennial | Attractive flowers and foliage. For best results, provide shelter and water well in dry conditions |
| Wall or wild rocket | Diplotaxis tenuifolia | Low growing perennial | Tough, reliable, decorative foliage and flowers |
| Watermelon/ jam melon | Citrullus melo ‘War Paint’ | Warm season vine | Fruit and foliage are more attractive than commercial watermelon. May be grown as a ground cover |
| Zucchini | Cucurbita pepo ‘Blackjack’, ‘Gold Rush’, ‘Golden’ | Warm season bushy annual | Blackjack’ has attractive marbled foliage. Others listed have decorative fruit, but plain foliage. |
Sisal (Agave sisalana), at St Helena Island
Amaranthus ‘Mekong Red’ Chinese spinach
Amaranthus tricolor ‘Flying Colours’
Ananas bracteatus Variegatus
Ananas nanus dwarf pineapple
arrowroot Canna edulis
banana, Musa x sapientum ‘Java Blue’
Acerola aka Barbados cherry, Malpighia emarginata
Basil Ocimum basilicum Purple Opal
Beetroot ‘McGregor’s Favourite’
Bedding begonia, Begonia semperflorens
mustard, Brassica juncea Osaka Purple
Snake bean, Vigna ungulata
Bok choi, Brassica rapa Chinensis group ‘Chokito’
Pot marigold, Calendula officinalis
Chilli, Capsicum annuum ‘Siam Gold’
Cassava, aka tapioca, Manihot esculenta ‘Variegatum’
cauliflower, Brassica oleracea ‘Purple Sicilian’
Ceylon spinach, Basella alba
Chinese cabbage, Brassica rapa var. pekinensis ‘Tokyo Bekana’
chives, Allium schoenoprasum
climbing bean, Phaseolus vulgaris Purple King
climbing bean, Phaseolus vulgaris Purple King
Cocoyam, Xanthosoma saggitifolia
Cocoyam, Xanthosoma saggitifolia Lime Zinger
Coffee, Coffea arabica ‘First Fleet’
corn Red Aztec, Manning Pride (golden), Anasazi (speckled)
Cranberry hibiscus, Hibiscus acetosella
Date palm Phoenix dactylifera
dill Anethum graveolens
Echinacea purpurea (not grown at Bellis)
eggplant Solanum melongena ‘Listada de Gandia’
Eggplant, Solanum melongena ‘Caspar’
Endive, Cichorium endivia ‘Green Curled’
false cardamon, Alpinia nutans
Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’
Feverfew, Chrysanthemum parthenium
finger lime Citrus australasica
Florence fennel, Foeniculum vulgare Azoricum Group ‘Zefa-Fino’
flowering native lemongrass, Cymbopogon ambiguus
Four Seasons herb, Plectranthus amboinicus ‘Variegatus’
French marigold, Tagetes patula
garlic chives Allium tuberosum
ginger Zingiber officinale
Golden purslane, Portulaca oleracea var. sativa
heritage Canna x orchioides Roma Street
Coriander, Coriandrum sativum
Blooming mizuna, Brassica juncea var. japonica ‘Red’
Jaboticaba, aka Tree grape, Plinia cauliflora, syn Myrcia jaboticaba
Jackfruit, Artocarpus heterophyllus
Jam melon, Cucumis melo
Kohl rabi, Brassica oleracea ‘Purple Vienna’
Krachai, Boesenbergia rotundifolia
Lagos spinach, Celosia cristata
Lemonade tree, Citrus limon x reticulata
lemongrass, Cymbopogon flexuosus
lettuce, Lactuca sativa ‘Royal Purple Oak Leaf’
Tahitian lime, Citrus x latifolia
Lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, Grand Palace, Bangkok (not grown at Bellis)
Love-lies-bleeding, Amaranthus caudatus
luffa, Luffa cylindrica
Macadamia integrifolia
Mandarin, Citrus reticulata ‘Parramatta Sweets’
leeks, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum
mustard Brassica juncea ‘Giant Red’
nasturtium, Tropaeolum majus
Native plum, Black apple, Planchonella australis
new foliage on Cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum
Pandan, Pandanus amaryllifolius
Pansy, Viola tricolor ‘Johnny Jump Up’
parsley Petroselenium crispum ‘Triple Curled’
parsley, Italian Flat Leaved
Granadilla, Passiflora quadrangularis
Passionfruit, Passiflora edulis
Pea, Pisum sativum ‘Dutch Purple Podded’
Cha-plu, Piper sarmentosum
Pollarded King’s Mulberry, Morus alba ‘White Shahtoot’
Prostrate rosemary, Rosmarinus officinalis
Pumpkin, Cucurbita moschata ‘Jap’ aka ‘Japanese’, or ‘Kabocha’
pomegranate, Punica granatum
Purple Perilla aka shiso, Perilla frutescens var. crispa f. purpurea
Queen or rough pineapple Ananas comosus
Queensland Blue pumpkin
Radicchio ‘Red Verona’
Purple mizuna, Brassica juncea var. japonica
Red Russian Kale
Romanesco broccoli (not grown at Bellis)
Rosella, Hibiscus sabdariffa
luffa, Luffa cylindrica
Scotch Bonnet chilli, Capsicum chinense
pawpaw, Carica papaya
Shell ginger, Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’ (not grown at Bellis)
silverbeet Beta vulgaris cicla ‘Rainbow Mixed’
Snow Pea Pisum sativum ‘Oregon Sugar Pod’
spring onions, Allium fistulosum
star fruit, Averrhoa carambola
Sugar palm, Arenga pinnata
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Ace of Spades’
Sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas ‘Marguerite’
Tamarind, Tamarindus indica
Tamarind, Tamarindus indica (not grown at Bellis)
Cherry tomato Green Zebra
Native Torch ginger, Etlingera elatior
True cardamom, Elettaria cardamomum, 1 year seedling
Turmeric, Curcuma longa
Variegated cabbage, Brassica oleracea, Roma Street
Variegated kale, Brassica oleracea Acephala group
Variegated kale, Brassica oleracea Acephala group
Warrigal greens, Tetragonia tetragonioides
Wild, or wall rocket, Diplotaxis tenuifolia
Zucchini, Cucurbita pepo ‘Blackjack’
Jerry Coleby-Williams 
thank you for sharing this list Jeremy