Q: “What’s a cycad?” A: “Just over 300 species of cycad survive, many are only known as fossils. Think Tolkein, think Middle Earth, think dinosaur food. Wonderful plants, the kind you want to have with you always.”
Category: Collections
Memories of Alpine Flowers
This Will’s cigarette card collection is a hundred years old. I photographed it this morning, in between radio interviews…
Brisbane Skips Winter, 2013 Becomes Hottest Year Ever (Until 2015, The Latest Hottest Year Ever Beaten by 2016, which was beaten by 2017!)
This year my garden had an extended autumn and now, judging by the flowers outside, it’s spring. Did Brisbane skip winter?
Growing Australian Plants In London
When the Guardian published a few shots of Australian plants that can be grown in Britain, I had a flashback to my Australian-effect front garden in London.
Looking Back: Autumn Open Day at Bellis
An Open Day is a great way to get feedback from gardeners on what you’re growing and how you’re doing.
Autumn Open Day at Bellis
Every time I open my garden there is something to celebrate about organic gardening and seed saving.
Acclimatisation, The Continuing Story
“With the right breeding and care, food plants have – so far – fed and sustained human civilisation”
Predator Attracting Plants
Organic gardening isn’t conventional gardening, so why not enjoy some unconventional pest control?
In Flower Today
Brisbane‘s subtropical winter comes to a happy, floriferous end in mid-August. Today there’s around a hundred different plants flowering, two weeks before Australia’s official first day of spring.
New Botanical Stamps Uploaded
I’ve just posted a few more stamps and first day covers into my botanical stamps gallery. I’m pleased to now include some on food security as well as other classic themes, including conservation, garden plants, fossils and Australiana… Jerry Coleby-Williams 1st November 2012
First Flowering: Pandanus cookii
This summer my fifteen year old specimen of Pandanus cookii flowered. It was collected from Cape York by Yuruga Nursery in the Atherton Tableland, where I bought it. Like all Pandanus, they are intolerant of frost and grow best in sub-coastal gardens in full sunshine in an open position with excellent drainage. I watered my…
Seeking Sansevierias
Having to give away my collection of croton cultivars during Brisbane’s ongoing drought made sense at the time. But I do enjoy collecting plants, so I’ve decided to collect drought-resistant Sansevieria instead. Pictured is Sansevieria suffruticosa subsp. longituba from Kenya, which grows 15 – 20cm high. This plant produces flowers on spikes up to 30cm…
Jerry Coleby-Williams 