Melbourne University garden tour: ten amazing trees & plants!

This week on The Horti-Culturalists, part three of our four part series looking at the wonderful grounds and gardens of the University of Melbourne. This week we're going to take a look at ten interesting trees and plants that struck our fancy as we wandered around the incredible environment that the buildings of the university are situated in. Some rare, some you wouldn't think stood a hope in hell of surviving in Melbourne and others that are just plain spectacular! The university is open to the public so do take a look if you are in Melbourne and many thanks to The University of Melbourne and to head gardener Virginia McNally for taking the time to explain the garden to us. The plants we cover in this video are:
Ficus dammaropsis
Brachychiton acerifolius - the Illawarra Flame Tree
Rhododendron viriosum
Eucalyptus deglupta - the Rainbow Gum
Dioscorea elephantipes
Brachychiton rupestris - the Queensland Bottle Tree
Dendrobium speciosum
Ginkgo biloba
Cussonia spicata - the Cabbage Tree
Castanospermum australe - the Black Bean tree - the Moreton Bay Chestnut
We have a playlist with all the videos from this University of Melbourne tour which you can see here: • UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURN...
0:00 introduction to The University of Melbourne gardens
1:15 Ficus dammaropsis
2:51 Brachychiton acerifolius - Illawarra Flame Tree
4:11 Rhododendron viriosum
5:14 Eucalyptus deglupta - the Rainbow Gum
8:27 Dioscorea elephantipes
10:59 Brachychiton rupestris - the Queensland Bottle Tree
12:15 Dendrobium speciosum
13:27 espaliered Ginkgo biloba
15:20 Cussonia spicata - the Cabbage Tree
18:07 Castanospermum australe - the Black Bean tree - the Moreton Bay Chestnut

[@brocktoon8]

Absolutely LOVE the big fig! How Fab!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Me too!! Regards Stephen

[@GardeningatDouentza]

Loved all the plants presented. Axe murderer 😮 That flame tree was jaw dropping though!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching Rachel!

[@dianefields6056]

We had one of those Illawarra flame trees in our garden in Zimbabwe (North East). It was attacked by termites and was essentially ring-barked. My Grandfather packed the affected area with mud and then wrapped it with plastic (I think - it was about 50 years ago), and it survived and flourished. Interesting video.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

What a story! Thanks for watching!

[@lingxi27]

Woah the elephants foot is huge! No idea there was one at UniMelb! Definitely will need to check it out. Thanks for this video!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@Kay-qt2id]

So interesting thank you

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@bethellingworth7814]

Lovely program - I’ll look forward to the one about the other Cussonia species. Thanks!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@michellematthews2414]

Shorts request: I love the fragrance of Linden trees and would like a recommendation of the best variety to plant for this purpose. Size isn't a factor and the climate is Southern Grampians.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thank you! We'll add it to the list.

[@juliacolton1259]

That eucalyptus deglupta is amazing. Had to Google it as I’ve not heard or seen one before - I’m in the UK so it’s non starter for me. FYI - Deglupta is Latin and means peeled off, husked or shelled! 😊

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Aha!! Thanks for the Latin explanation - Stephen will be very happy!

[@krishohman750]

Fascinating!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thannks for watching!

[@besottedorchids3605]

I have a ginkgo tree! It's still somewhat small 5' my apple trees are espalier style along my enclosed garden. So nice to see that method

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@heatherhigman38]

I'd love for you to tell us where north, south, east or west is in the gardens you visit.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere it could be even more confusing because for us North is the direction of hot winds and sun. Regards Stephen

[@dianefields6056]

It is surprising the number of people who pronounce Baobab as bo-a-bab, and not bay-o-bab. I think Stephen is particulars about pronunciation, so perhaps he can shed light on the subject. Secondly, I think I'm right when I say veld (as in lowveld) is pronounced 'felt'.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

All we can do is our best I guess, particularly when it comes to words in non English languages when English is our mother tongue. I do love the fact that you are engaging with us on our KZbin journey. Regards Stephen

[@railiedouglas3018]

Irritatingly your video’s keep losing signal at intervals. No problem with any others but yours it just doesn’t like for some reason. I have to jig the bar thingy back & forth to a new location to start you off again. Those fastigiate ginkgos are fantastic! What a fascinating array of plants.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@Salmagundiii]

I watched most of the video and didn't have any issues. It's probably due to your connection.

[@mawkernewek]

I thought the Rainbow Eucalyptus was a hoax by people selling magic beans on eBay.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Well the tree's real, the seeds might not be though!