Gardening and growing plants.

Linaria - a flowering annual for winter colour.

The spreading petunias at the nursery had lasted about 8 months but they were looking straggly and tired. So we pulled the all out ! My dilemma now was what to put in their place. The usual replacement would have been pansies or violas, but that's what we did last year and it felt like time for a change. Pansies can also lack flower power in the dearth of winter and don't pack them on until spring. We want something flowering now and something that will hang down like a trailing lobelia. That was when we thought, lets try linaria.

Tassel Ferns - rare and coveted.

 A couple of weeks ago we had a call from one of Jamie Durie's team members who had been ringing all over Melbourne trying to get a particular plant to use in their display at Design Expo. She had almost given up trying but apparently Jamie had insisted that he "had to have them" for the display. That's when we got the the call, and just by fluke, we had got our annual delivery in just 3 days before ! The plants are called Tassel Ferns and not only are they rare, they are extrordinarily beautiful.

Tassel ferns date back millions of years according to fossil records. They belong to the Family Lycopodiacae in which  there are only 200 species worldwide. Some of those belong to the genus Huperzia which comprises terrestrial species and a unique group of epiphytes that are known as Tassel Ferns. The exact number of Australian species is difficult to determine as little research has been carried out but there are about 17.

An epiphyte is a plant that grows above the ground, supported nonparasitically by another plant or object, and deriving its nutrients and water from rain, the air, dust, etc.