If different plants would not grow happily under similar conditions in nature, they probably won t look happy together in the garden either. Designers try to see a plant in terms of both its appearance and its growing requirements. In an Australian garden, changes with the seasons are more subtle than in those of the Northern Hemisphere. Wonderful tree colour is provided in turn by buds, flowers, fruits and the magnificent new foliage of numerous species. When particular plants flower in sequence, I have seen the same natural area bathed in the yellow of acacias, white of tea-trees, or pink and purple.
Summer features silver, golden or tawny grasses.
Winter is not bare and bleak, but green and often colourful with flowers. Our vision of the garden we want is influenced by our cultural background and personal experiences. Forty years ago, we gardeners grew a number of Australian plants from cuttings or seeds, and experimented with their horticulture. Knowledge about cultivation is now amassed in reference books such as the Encyclopaedia of Australian Plants, so it s much easier to use our plants successfully in design. Nurseries now stock a range of many more species, especially exciting small plants.