Callicarpa rubella.Beauty-berry

Callicarpa rubella
  Beauty-berry

This shrub from China is rarely grown now perhaps because it is fairly ungainly in habit and is difficult to form into a compact well rounded shape ,a trait now desired of almost all shrubs. The small shiny violet coloured berries which develop at this time of year are quite decorative and last long after the leaves have dropped off during winter. If picked for a flower arrangement the stems last well in a vase.The native species C. longifolia is found in north eastern parts of the country and is occasionally offered for sale though unlike this exotic species it is not frost hardy.
2017 update: I no longer grow this plant.

* 'It's Clever but is it Art?'

The High/Perpetual Xmas,

No Abstractions 2008

Brick,stone,steel,aluminium,2-pack paint,acrylic,neon glass tube,fluorescent glass tube

Scott Redford QLD b.1962

GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) Brisbane, Queensland

Scott Redford's sculpture takes us on a journey to the mid 20th century world of Queensland's resort city of the Gold Coast while paying homage to a 'neon mercury vapour-stained Miami sky'* style of 'Googie' architecture along the way . Googie style could easily be dismissed as a kitsch branch of Modernism but in reality it contributed to the landscape alongside more distinguished work such as that produced by architect and landscape designer Karl Langer. (1903-1969)(Lennon's Broadbeach Hotel 1956) Much of Googie, both here and in America, has been demolished to make way for high-rise and yet we are left with evocative names such as the El Rancho Barbeque, Rio Vista, El Dorado Motel, Florida Gardens, Miami Keys etc. Langer was also instrumental in the development of the canal estates ,a new style of living attracting such celebrities as 'Our Glad', Gladys Moncrief (1892-1976) 'Queen of Song' who graciously waved to passing tourists while her glorious soprano voice was reproduced in a less than glamorous manner. The major influence on lifestyle at this time came via 'the magazine for western living' the Californian based Sunset Magazine especially the Patio edition which had as its design advisor the brilliant landscape architect Thomas Church.(1902-1978). 'The Sunset Look' was achieved by creating a close relationship between indoors and outdoors....evolving into the outdoor room we know today with everything including the kitchen sink within reach for rinsing your hands after artfully arranging the prawns!

A Thomas Church designed roof garden using cactus and succulents.

The Gold Coast was the perfect location to reflect the Californian Modernist ideal of Sunset Magazine of 'blue pools in the squinting sun and the hissing of summer lawns'* but it would be many years before the landscape profession was able to catch up with the likes of Thomas Church.

Reynold's sculpture, like so much of our public artworks, fails to sit comfortably in its given location but it is so generous in its scale and concept as to allow free reign to the imagination as to where it could find a home..Perhaps on loan to the New South Wales town of Parkes during the Elvis Festival in January, at a muscle car show ,or in a garden setting of bold and quirky plants? Overall it is a celebration of our 'cultural cringe' and our ability to laugh at ourselves. It would not be out of place on the set of Muriel's Wedding in the town of Porpoise Spit or gracing the entrance to Fountain Lakes, home to Kath and Kim.

*Title It's Clever...from The Pursuit of Paradise (A social history of gardens and gardening) by Jane Brown (1999 HarperCollins Publishers)

* 'neon mercury......Joni Mitchell from Otis and Marlena

*' blue pools in the .. Joni Mitchell from The Hissing of Summer Lawns(Nonesuch Records,Warner Music Group)

Some plants for an imaginary garden surrounding this artworkAgave americana 'Variegata'
Multi -coloured grafted Cacti

Bismarckia nobilis , Bismarck Palm

Bright flowering Marigolds and Vinca

A blue foliaged Agave species

Pandanus veitchii

And some favourite cars......

'58 Buick

'67 Ford Galaxie Convertable

'62 Ford Thunderbird Hardtop

'59 Ford Thunderbird Convertable

Ford Galaxie 500 on the street at Nelson Bay

Taraxacum officinale, Dandelion

Shockheaded dandelion,

That drank the fire of the sun:

Dandelion , Dent de lion, Dienta de leon

At this time of year the air becomes filled with floating seeds from the Dandelion looking for a new home . They usually end up on a lawn and become a cursed weed ,sending down a big tap-root and becoming firmly entrenched ,. However given a little care, the dandelion is a good plant to have around in the vegetable garden as the leaves are full of vitamins and minerals and it is quite a tonic herb. Dandelion is derived from the French 'dent de lion' because the leaf is shaped like the teeth of a lion. This grooving of the leaves is nature's ingenious way of supplying the plant with water,by conducting it straight to the root through the rosette of leaves. The leaves are at their best in spring when they can be added to salads or boiled with other greens and dressed with olive oil and lemon juice as in the Balkan ,Horta vrasta (Xopta in Greek) or baked into pies using filo pastry. The roots can also be roasted and make an acceptable coffee substitute. The leaves and flowers have also been used in the making of country wines. Drinking Dandelion wine may be quite a liver tonic.

Adiantum, Maidenhair Fern

Adiantum capillus-veneris 

 Maidenhair fern at the hundred fountains ,Villa d'Este, Tivoli ,Italy

Adiantum aethiopicum local species of Maidenhair fern

One of the memorable gardens to visit is Villa d'Este at Tivoli outside Rome where Maidenhair fern can be seen growing profusely out of rock crevices and clothing the fountains. The local species does much the same thing if given half the chance and only really needs the occasional cut back of old fronds to keep it looking good. After recent rains and milder temperatures, it is sending out a flush of pale new growth and looks exceptionally fine and delicate. It is actually quite a hardy plant though and 'goes to sleep' during dry periods coming back to life when conditions are right. It will even tolerate a position in sun without any burning of the fronds. Cutting it back to ground level seems to be the way to go if it ever looks tatty as it will quickly come back to life when conditions are favourable.

Austromyrtus dulcis. Midyim Berry

Austromyrtus dulcis 
 Midyim Berry
  growing as a low hedge in Hunter Region Botanic Gardens ,New South WalesMottled purple and white berries of Austromyrtus dulcis

Of all the native edible plants, the fruit of the Midyim Berry is the most pleasing to eat straight off the bush by the handful. It is sweet and just mildly aromatic with the small seeds adding a nice crunch. It made a brief appearance on the supermarket shelves as a 'bush food' flavour of jelly crystals about ten years ago and then disappeared without a trace. It impressed the 19th century Quaker missionary James Backhouse, who came across the bush growing in coastal sand-dunes in Queensland and wrote in his journal 'These are the most agreeable native fruit I have tasted in Australia; they are produced so abundantly, as to afford an important article of food to the aborigines.' Austromyrtus is easy to grow in any garden and quite ornamental .New leaf growth is silky pink and the small star shaped flowers are quite appealing. It grows to about a metre and can be used as a ground cover or kept trimmed to a low hedge.
2017 update: still a favourite though I no longer propagate for sale.

a sculpture

Metaphysica series 2007, bronze and brass

Ah Xian, China/Australia b1960

GOMA (Gallerry of Modern Art) Brisbane ,Queensland

a sculpture

Curlicue 1991,Copper Wire

Bronwyn Oliver 1959-2006

GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art), Brisbane, Queensland