Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne: seven great plants that should be in wider cultivation!

This week on The Horti-Culturalists, the second in our four part series of videos filmed in the wonderful Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. And in this video Stephen shows us some of his favourite plants in the gardens that he feels should be more commonly available in cultivation - just not TOO available as he is an inveterate plant snob! Many thanks to Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne for letting us roam about and if find yourself in Melbourne, do visit, the gardens are considered one of the top five botanic gardens in the world!
You can see our first film in the series where we talk to the Director of the gardens, Tim Entwhistle, here: • Royal Melbourne Botani...
And you can plan your visit here: www.rbg.vic.gov.au/
The plants we talk about in this video are:
Gardenia thunbergia
Sophora toromiro
Aucuba chlorascens
Brillantaisia
Metapanax delavayi
Heptacodium miconioides
Acer pentaphyllum

[@besottedorchids3605]

Thanks for showcasing the seven sons shrub. I have one in my front yard. The bark is beautiful I live in Ohio USA

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@michaelcrabb677]

What a brilliant episode. Covered many large shrubs and small trees that should be planted more readily. A trip to the Melbourne Botanic Gardens is always a pleasure.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@annapala529]

Hello from NJ, USA, where it's only Thursday.❤❤❤❤

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Hello back and thanks for watching!

[@besottedorchids3605]

So glad to see you showcase the seven sons tree! I really enjoy the bark as well as the scented blooms. Mine blooms in Sept here in Ohio US

[@thehorti-culturalists]

It's really obscure here so needs a bit of promotion. Regards Stephen

[@augyannafacey7616]

Good morning/ Afternoon! I’m watching from the 🇺🇸

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@merryhaveman353]

Love that maple!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@LostInThisGardenofLife]

Loving that brilliantasia! 😍

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Isn't it fantastic!

[@doonslove9693]

I just found this channel and I am so stoked! Thank you for the info and enthusiasm ❤

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for finding us!

[@dianefields6056]

I looked up that magnificent gardenia because it hails from my part of the world and I remember coming across a Rothmannia on our farm in Zimbabwe. My old tree book (Coates Palgrave) told me that thunbergia grows down the south coast (what was Natal) of South Africa and that it was used to cure biliousness, syphilis and leprotic eruptions! It also said "plants are easily raised from truncheons" (whatever those might be!).

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching - it is magnificent!

[@Salmagundiii]

Elsa Pooley's Field Guide to Wildflowers of the KwaZulu-Natal reports on some rather extreme and/or amusing folk remedy uses of plants. I believe that's where I read that Brunsvigia grandiflora was used to "straighten the bones of children"! Disclaimer, as far as I know most Amaryllids are toxic to some degree, and one should not actually attempt to ingest any Brunsvigia or use it as medication!

[@makbruno1]

Really enjoyed this video

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@Salmagundiii]

Excellent video as usual! It's nice you included at least one plant that works for the majority of "CONUS" punters like myself, Heptacodium miconioides. Acer pentaphyllum is the next hardiest and grows in Philadelphia at the northern reaches of zone 7, but not places much colder. "Metapanax davidii", nowadays classed as another genus IIRC, is the hardiest of that particular swarm of SE Asian Araliaceae and is just barely hardy in my zone 7 garden...safer to rank it zone 8. As Zeah Lessley pointed out, the somewhat more tender Metapanax delavayi is hardy in the zone 8 PNW. (Melbourne is of course Zone 10 in our USDA system! Mt. Macedon zone 9 but on the milder end of the spectrum. I've been in parts of coastal Georgia, USA, rated zone 9a and you've got a lot more going on with subtropical/warm temperate plants than those locations.)

[@thehorti-culturalists]

I need to say that Metapanax is still classed as such byKew Botanic gardens in England which I chose to use as my authority.Regards Stephen

[@Salmagundiii]

@@thehorti-culturalists My mistake! I think I was confusing this genus with another that recently changed. Both M. delavayi and M. davidii are staying Metapanax!

[@zeahlessley6108]

Here in the Pacific Northwest (North America), Metapanax delavayii is an extremely quick growing tree for us. It's a really great specimen, but just know that it may take a bit more upkeep in terms of trimming compared to other slower growing trees. Luckily, it also smells pretty darn good while you're pruning! I should note that the only real shade ours gets is a very large and mature clump of Musa sikkimensis directly to the south, a tall Trachycarpus fortunei directly next to it to the east, and another even taller Trachycarpus fortunei a bit farther away to the west. Ours tends to grow these long straight shoots, and this year I'll be trying to redirect that growth into tertiary branches with some selective pruning.

[@Salmagundiii]

Fascinating! I'm curious what does it smell like? I've never read of Araliaceae having notable foliar odors.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@zeahlessley6108]

@@Salmagundiii great question! It's hard to describe from memory, but I'd say kind of astringent like eucalyptus or melaleuca, but not unpleasant. It was just a strong lasting fragrance.

[@MartinA-fs7kc]

Hi Stephen and Matthew, thanks for the great videos with interesting plants. I bought a 3 ft tall Dicksonia Antarctica Tree Fern last spring, it never did very well despite watering, positioning in shade etc and after this past cold winter in the north of the UK it has died :-( My question is can you put some compost and new small tree fern on top and create some kind of grafted tree fern. Possibly a silly idea but seen someone mention this online as if it was perfectly feasible??

[@thehorti-culturalists]

t could be done but will be difficult to establish and will look unbalanced for ever. Perhaps better would be to use it as a host for some epiphytic plants. Regards Stephen

[@helendempster1580]

I'd be grateful if you could please answer a question I have. I live in Dunedin, NZ. I have lots of winter dormant perennials like solomons seal, hosta, geraniums, among other species. I want to add some compost and bark mulch to the garden bed they are in. If I apply compost and mulch over them in winter, will that cause them to rot and die or will they still just grow up through the compost and mulch in spring?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

I wouldn’t hesitate to mulch over such plants. I’m sure they will love it. Regards Stephen.

[@jcking6785]

I just today received a plant order containing among other things, a Heptacodium miconiodes! Love your videos! ♥️

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Haha! Good luck with it and thanks for watching!

[@DanandPatKerr]

A question: do you use city-treated water or rainwater to supply and propagate your plants?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Melbourne water is good quality although it contains fluoride and seems fine for my purposes.Regards Stephen

[@Kay-qt2id]

Omgosh what beauties. Do you keep the tetrapanix Steven? And does anyone stock the brillantasia ? I’m in Melbourne

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Hi there - Treasured Perennials will have Brillantasia at the Yarra Valley rare plant sale this weekend! www.yarravalleyplantfair.com.au/

[@Kay-qt2id]

Found the Brilllantasia today yeh! Thank you for the info. Do you keep the tetrapanix please?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

@@Kay-qt2id Hi there, Stephen does have Tetrapanax in his nursery, but not the Metapanax featured in this video.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Kay - you might want to visit the Botanic Garden's plant sale this weekend - who knows, they might have a Metapanax! www.rbgfriendsmelbourne.org/autumn-plant-sale-5/

[@Kay-qt2id]

What a great idea thank you

[@laurelscott4466]

Hi Stephen, living at Torquay, I found 2 bushy grevilleas growing on a service road. Leaf very small, like a tea tree & small grevillea flowers one red,one orange. I’ve tried several times to strike them… no luck. Any tips?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Soft wood cuttings in late spring should work. Regards Stephen

[@laurelscott4466]

@@thehorti-culturalists Thanks, Stephen.