Jennifer Stackhouse

Including plants in your favourite colour adds your personality to your garden and also helps to unify the design. One of the top colours to include in gardens (both indoors and out) is blue, as it adds coolness and works well with other colours such as green and white; or contrasts with hot colours such as red, yellow and orange...

Star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), also known as Chinese star jasmine, is a lovely climbing plant that ticks a lot of boxes for gardeners. It is vigorous, evergreen and easy to grow in temperate and subtropical climates. It is also highly perfumed indeed. Its name of ‘jasmine’ comes from the clusters of beautifully perfumed, creamy-white, star-like flowers that smother the vine...

While it is lovely to live near the sea, or even better, have a sea view, it can be a challenging environment for gardening. Salt air and winds take their toll on plants; meanwhile, often-sandy soils, can be constantly thirsty or may become water repellent. Coastal gardening also provides the challenge of keeping nutrients available, as fast-draining soils are readily...

Evergreen magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is a tall, long-lived, spreading tree showcasing large, dark green leaves with brown undersides. From late spring to autumn, it produces big white flowers, which have a lemony fragrance. This tree is native to the southern American states and is well-known to fans of the classic movie, ‘Gone with the Wind’. Although a magnificent tree, the...

Perennial plants are softwood plants that grow year after year. Some, the herbaceous perennials, die down for part of the year, especially in cool areas, while others grow year-round. All add colour to gardens over a long period and, in flower, bring beneficial insects into the garden. Here are 20 of our favourites for easy flowering and growth.   Top...

Convolvulus are delightful silver- and green-leafed groundcover plants that thrive in hot and sunny spots in the garden. Although these plants are sometimes called morning glory, don’t confuse this excellent garden plant with a weedy plant also known as morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea), which is highly invasive. It is often seen as a weed in bushland or neglected gardens. Weedy...

Bottlebrush (Callistemon syn Melaleuca spp.) are popular native trees and shrubs with a place in every garden. Here’s our comprehensive guide to growing these magnificent plants and the best varieties to grow. Bottlebrush Plant Profile Bottlebrush growth potential These plants can be grown as low shrubs or small trees. They have dense, evergreen foliage and tend to flower during spring...

The answers to these five often-asked questions will help your indoor plants to thrive. Which light is best for indoor plants? Indoor plants like bright light but should be out of direct sunlight which can burn their foliage. Bright light can be assessed by holding your hand over a sheet of white paper. It should cast a clear shadow. The...

Spring is the season that entices even non-gardeners into the garden with a yen to plant, prune or simply enjoy the flowers. Felt the pull of spring but not sure about gardening ideas and projects you can manage? Fear not! Here’s our pick of spring ideas to get you growing. Spring Gardening Ideas from The Garden People No matter the...

Palms have shone as indoor plants since their introduction to indoors back in the 19th century, when there was a craze for lush, leafy house plants. But for all their elegance, are palm trees good indoor plants? Good news - many are remarkably resilient to life indoors. Indeed, Chamaedorea elegans is known as the parlour palm as it does so...