More to roses than just blooms
Roses have a beautiful long flowering season with abundant flowers and that can be enjoyed outside or picked for indoor displays. But roses can provide us with much joy throughout the whole year.
Garden Life
Odd plant likes it hot, cold
Odd plant likes it hot, cold
It is a fairly weird and wacky plant, the Dioscorea elephantipes.
Camellia collection in botanical order
Camellia collection in botanical order
Dunedin Botanic Garden's comprehensive camellia collection has a strong emphasis on health, landscape design and education.
Scent bonus with winter treasure
Scent bonus with winter treasure
Winter may be the so-called dormant season in the garden, but there are still treasures to be found, not least being the scent from a variety of different plants.
Daisies huge varied family
Daisies huge varied family
One of the biggest families in the plant kingdom is the daisy family. The world has more than 32,000 different species distributed widely.
Native mistletoes conserved in garden, dwindle in wild
Native mistletoes conserved in garden, dwindle in wild
During winter, when deciduous trees around Dunedin have lost their leaves, blobs of incongruous evergreen foliage can be spotted high up in bare branches.
Fiery foliage from long-esteemed plant
Fiery foliage from long-esteemed plant
Early morning dew glistens on the eye-catching multicoloured autumn foliage of dwarf heavenly bamboo. In shades of plum, red and green, Nandina domestica Nana Purpurea stands out from the crowd.
Perennial mainstay
Perennial mainstay
Penstemons would have to be one of the mainstays of a perennial border, for good reason. For a start, they have a large variety in colour. The hardest thing is choosing which cultivars you want to...
Spiky pods’ flesh widely useful
Spiky pods’ flesh widely useful
The winter garden glasshouse may be closed for now but as life grows on there are still many interesting plants to share with you.
Aviary still a popular daily destination
Aviary still a popular daily destination
"Sid" the Sulphur Crested Cockatoo has noticed a reduction in his adoring fan base over the past few weeks.
Autumn’s hidden gems
Autumn’s hidden gems
It's hard to miss the dramatic cues of colour in the garden at this time of year. Maple, liquidambar, flowering cherries and rowan are some of the well-known trees which deliver incredible autumn...
Dahlias a popular splash of colour
Dahlias a popular splash of colour
The dahlia is a very popular perennial garden plant — it comes in the most amazing and often flamboyant colour ranges with distinctive flower characteristics and sizes.
Flowers thriving in restored glasshouse
Flowers thriving in restored glasshouse
It's now been almost 12 months since the Winter Garden glasshouse was reopened after its refurbishment and most plants are thriving under the new environmental systems.
The ancient giants among us
The ancient giants among us
Sometimes, we can’t see the wood for the trees. As humans, we often don’t reach much more than 2m tall and at these heights it’s easy to focus on life at eye level or below.
Kaka conservation a shared job
Kaka conservation a shared job
What a great breeding season it’s been at the Dunedin Botanic Garden aviary. Six South Island kaka chicks have been produced by two breeding pairs.
Yellow-white flower heads of ‘Astilbe rivularis’ decorate dell
Yellow-white flower heads of ‘Astilbe rivularis’ decorate dell
With the passing of mid-summer the pinks, reds and creams of most astilbes in the Rhododendron Dell at Dunedin Botanic Garden have now faded away. One species though, Astilbe rivularis, from the...
Dunedin a Goldilocks zone: not too hot, not too cold
Dunedin a Goldilocks zone: not too hot, not too cold
As much as some of us might complain about Dunedin’s climate, it’s actually the best of many worlds
The good, the bad and the not-so-ugly
The good, the bad and the not-so-ugly
Many "weeds" have their good sides, but poroporo (Solanum laciniatum) can get a bad rap.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet
Common names can be misleading and confusing.
Saying it with roses
Saying it with roses
There are many special occasions and milestones we all like to acknowledge. A surprising number of roses have been bred and named for such anniversaries.