The haunting beauty of the Black Bat Flower.
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Larry Smith and the Riverside Gardens team talk all things pots, plants and pruning in their weekly gardening column.
Pretty in pink hakea pokers.
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Last week Rod and I attended a trade event in Melbourne that showcased some of the new releases for the coming months.
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There are interesting new releases in the pipeline; however, most are scheduled for spring release, making it too early to talk about now.
The other announcement of the night was the Plant Of The Year for 2025, and that award went to Hydrangea Runaway Bride, which, disappointingly, will also not be available again until about September.
One of the plants that did make the show and is available now is Carpentaria californica ‘Californian Snow’, which is a hardy small evergreen shrub with an abundance of large single white flowers with yellow stamens — great for attracting pollinators to the garden.
They flower from late spring into summer.
Growing to about 1.5m high by 1m wide, they thrive in a full sun to part shade position.
They are frost hardy and dry tolerant once established, but will benefit from the occasional deep watering during extended hot spells.
They will grow well in most soil types but require good drainage.
Apart from a light prune in late winter to help set flower buds, they will only require an occasional prune to shape, making them easy to grow.
Since most of the other plants that were showcased on the night will not be available for a while yet, we will leave talking about them until they start arriving in nurseries.
This leaves very little to write about the evening to inspire you into the garden, so I have put together a few plants to keep an eye out for that are in the Garden Centre and looking great right now.
This week two of the Black Bat Flower plants we have in stock came into flower.
These flowers are amazing to see.
They are about 10cm across and look like a small bat with its wings spread.
The Black Bat Flower, Tacca chantrieri, is native to Southeast Asia and flowers around October and November, where its flowers can reach up to 30cm across.
Grown as an indoor plant here, the warm humid air in the shop has seen them come into flower now, much to our delight.
The flowers are quite unusual in that they are black and surrounded by black bracts that make the shape of the wings.
They have long whiskers that hang from the base of the flower inside the bracts.
The leaf is large, soft and light green in colour, similar in shape and size to a Spathiphyllum Sensation.
They make a beautiful indoor plant that is quite easy and rewarding to grow.
Anthurium clarinervium is another unusual, eye-catching indoor plant.
It is known for its bold, heart-shaped, velvety deep green leaves, highlighted with striking white veins.
Unlike the more commonly grown, well-known anthuriums with their striking flowers, it is grown for its unique and dramatic foliage rather than its insignificant flowers.
Anthurium clarinervium requires very little maintenance and seems to be a lot easier to grow than most anthuriums, where watering, light levels and feeding can be a bit tricky.
A new release plant that did not get a guernsey at the showcase evening in Melbourne was Magnolia figo ‘Stella Ruby’.
This is a new hybrid variety of Michelia figo, the very popular evergreen port wine magnolia.
‘Stella Ruby’ grows to around 3m tall and 1.5m wide in an upright conical shape.
The glossy green foliage is very dense, and the plant produces ruby-coloured flowers throughout spring and summer.
The flowers are slightly larger than Michelia figo but still have that deliciously fragrant perfume that reminds many of bubble gum.
We had a few of these arrive in the nursery last week and they look impressive.
They could be used as a feature plant in the garden or as a lush screen or hedging plant.
Although they are only available at the moment in 250mm pots, I feel these are going to be a real winner in the garden.
Another interesting addition to our range that arrived last week is Hakea francisiana ‘Pink Pokers’.
These are a grafted hakea with spectacular deep pink brush-like flowers that mass over the plant in winter and spring.
Being grafted, they are more robust and will grow true to size and form with guaranteed flower colour.
Growing to 4m, they are frost tolerant and drought resistant.
Suited to a sunny position in well-draining soil, they will attract plenty of birds to your garden.
This is just a tease of some of the unusual plants on display in the nursery, so why not call in and have a look around when you are down at Emerald Bank for the GT Nationals this weekend.
Carpentaria’s floral flair.
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The Black Bat Flower in full bloom.
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