Plant your history

Plant your history

A harvest of melons and pumpkins

Learn how to care for your cucurbits with horticulturist Anita Rayner, read about the great watermelon heist of 1811 and discover some forgotten heirloom varieties

Plant your history

A mossy analogy for Susannah Place: small but mighty

Mosses are everywhere! They are small, mighty, unsung and inhabit the most unusual places. They can be found in all our museum outdoor spaces if one looks closely enough

a yellow and black sign reads "caution spraying in progress" anlongside a sandstone wall and path
Plant your history

A new weapon in the war on weeds

A black and yellow sign warns me there is “Spraying in Progress”, and I wonder for a moment why no one is wearing a mask, or even gloves. But the dangerous looking mist enveloping these men is not what it seems

Plants against a sandstone wall in the front garden of The Mint.
Plant your history

Acanthus - an apt symbol for The Mint

Look at any classical building today, anywhere in the world and chances are you will find an acanthus leaf lurking somewhere

Plant your history

Aloe arborescens ‘candelabra aloe’

Tours at Elizabeth Farm often start alongside a large bed of succulents, dominated by towering cactus

Adiantum aethiopicum growing in the sandstone at the Argyle Cut. foot path can be seen on the right hand side going through the argyle cut
Plant your history

An accidental fernery at Susannah Place

Deep in the basement of one of the terraces at Susannah Place in The Rocks grows a small patch of vibrant green native Maiden Hair Fern

Plant your history

Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia arborea) at Vaucluse House

Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia arborea) is a beautiful perennial shrub native to South America. It was introduced to the colony from Rio de Janeiro for its attractive trumpet flowers

Rogiera amoena
Plant your history

As the seasons turn

As the seasons turn there are those plants we look out for, those changing leaf colours and flowers that punctuate the year and remind us that time is rolling on

Garden scene.
Plant your history

Autumn bonanza

As summer’s heat finally fades, autumn’s lengthening shadows and burnished golden sunsets signal the start of a busy season for the Horticulture team at MHNSW, with many garden plants bursting into colourful life