One of Australia’s most popular gardens will open as part of the Australia’s Open Garden Scheme in early November 2006. The Wickes garden located at Buderim on the Sunshine Coast always attracts a lot of interest as it is a ‘cottage garden in the subtropics’ – a garden featuring perennials, flowering sages and old roses. It is the home of Barb and Rex Wickes.

Many people come to get inspiration from this romantic garden with its arbors, axial layouts and picturesque dam. Other people come to learn more about the perennials that thrive in our humid subtropical climate. Barb is a collector and manages to track down unusual plants from across the country. She then trials them in the garden – if they perform they have a home.

Hidden away in a quiet street in Sydney’s north-western suburb of North Rocks is the tropical garden of Fred and Danuta Moody.

Their garden is reminiscent of a rainforest; with vines climbing up the palms, staghorns (Platycerium superbum), elkhorns (Platycerium bifurcatum) and native orchids growing on the palm trunks. There are rainforest trees scattered throughout the garden, adding contrasting foliage effects to the canopy of palms.

Last issue we looked at the general history, propagation, cultivation and care of the frangipani.

This issue Steve focuses on new trends in breeding and introduces readers to some of the hottest new frangipani cultivars available in Australia today, including lesser known species.

Bamboos include some of the most versatile and fastest growing plants in the world. They are regarded as giant long living grasses and have a broad distribution including temperate and tropical Asia, Australia, the Pacific and North, Central and South America.

Mention the word ‘bamboo’ and most people immediately think of some of the running bamboo species, however there are many superior forms of bamboo suited to garden culture – the clumping bamboos. These bamboos tend to form tight clumps rather than spreading out and taking over the garden. They are non-invasive.

Aglaonemas (common name of Chinese evergreens) have the undeserved reputation for being difficult to grow.

Yet, they are the easiest plant to grow indoors and they are easy to grow in the garden, in a protected position in the shade.

Over recent years, aglaonemas have almost disappeared from garden centres in Sydney.

In the last two issues we have looked at growing allamandas and some of the species and their cultivars which are commonly grown in gardens.

This issue we look at some of the newer cultivar plants which have appeared in garden centres.