Here’s some new plant inspiration!

Don’t wait until spring to get the most out of your garden, autumn is a great time for gardening. Autumn is my favourite time of the year for planting; the ground is still warm from summer, days are milder and we usually get a bit of rain creating the perfect conditions for plants to establish. Letting your new plants settle in during autumn lets you reap rewards the following spring.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, keep an eye out for some of the many new plants available this season; here’s a few to get you started.

Citrus meyer dwarf ‘Lemonicious’

( New )

This new, small growing lemon is super new in garden centres. Citrus ‘Lemonicious’ is a strong plant that produces masses of fruit. It will grow to around 1.5m x 1.5m in approximately 10 years when planted in the ground. In a large pot Citrus ‘Lemonicious’ will grow to around 1m x 1m, it will fruit well and live happily in a pot for many years, without needing to be re-potted.

A couple of things to remember when planting in pots are that you need to make sure the pot has good drainage and fertilise with small amounts more often; Citrus growing in the garden are usually fertilised twice a year, in August and again in February. However, citrus in pots do better if they are fertilised with smaller amounts more often. Use citrus food, pelletised manure or a slow release fertiliser for pots.

So whether your garden consist of pots on a balcony or large sprawling garden beds, Citrus ‘Lemonicious’ makes a valuable addition and produces such versatile fruit.

Coreopsis ‘Cherry Pie’

( New )

Coreopsis ‘Cherry Pie’ is a stunning new plant that grows as a lush green, cushiony mound to around 40cm x 50cm. From mid-summer until the end of autumn the foliage is absolutely smothered with small, deep red daisies flowers with overlapping petals, these flowers nestle themselves just on top of the foliage.

Coreopsis ‘Cherry Pie’ was bred and selected due to its compact habit and profuse flowering. Coreopsis prefers free draining soil and a sunny position for best flowering display. Coreopsis creates a great border and due to their long flowering time, they make ideal colourful fillers. Coreopsis cherry Pie has a perfect natural shape and suits a vast range of garden styles.

Coreopsis ‘Fruit Punch’

( New )

Coreopsis ‘Fruit Punch’ is an eye catching plant featuring sweet two-toned daisy like flowers with a light pink edge and a red eye. Coreopsis ‘Fruit Punch’ grows to around 50cm x 50cm. It is very free flowering with flowers covering the fresh green foliage through summer and autumn.

For best flower display plant in a sunny position with well drained soil, prune as desired or after flowering to maintain shape and fertilise annually with a long term slow release fertiliser. Coreopsis ‘Fruit Punch’ is great for rockeries and adding a splash of colour to the garden.

Coreopsis ‘Mango Punch’

( New )

Coreopsis ‘Mango Punch’ has a similar habit to ‘Cherry Pie’ being that it has a naturally neat round shape growing to 40 cm x 50cm. Vibrant daisy flowers of mango-orange with a red overlay cover the plant close to the foliage from summer right through autumn.

Ideal for border, rockeries, decorative pots and is a handy colourful filler for gardens. Coreopsis ‘Mango Punch’ is best suited to a sunny position with free draining soil and can be pruned as desired or after flowering.

Hebe ‘Jewel of the Nile’

( New )

An interesting new Hebe with cream and green foliage featuring contrasting magenta red stems. The magenta colour on the stems spreads across the foliage to give the plant a sparkling jewel like appearance during autumn. Through winter the pink trimmed foliage intensifies to a pinkish red enhancing the impact

Hebe ‘Jewel of the Nile’ is a compact evergreen shrub growing to approximately 60cm high x 50cm wide. It combines several features that make it attractive throughout the year. Require free draining soil and is best grown in a sunny position. Great for all gardens and creates a striking decorative pot. No matter its use, the effect will be stunning.

Dahlia Dream Series

( Dream Weaver, Dream Catcher, Dream Maker, Dream Seeker )

The Dahlia Dream Series are a real break through in plant breeding from eminent NZ plant breeder Dr Keith Hammett. The Dream Series all have dark foliage & bright colourful reverse collerette blooms. These will still be available in your local garden centres now, it’s not too late.

Plant Dahlia Dream Series in autumn, and let them establish before they go to sleep for winter, come spring when the new growth erupts you will have nice strong plants and plenty of flowers. Just remember to plant in a sunny position and no extra watering once the foliage has died down.

If you missed it on the weekend, the new season of The Garden Gurus kicked off. Featured on the show was our very own Pittosporum Golfball (video below). Also, a reminder that our new Facebook competition is open! All you have to do is go to the page, like Touch of Class Plants, click the competition tab, and enter your details. Good luck!

Did you know that we have a search function that allows you to find your nearest Touch of Class Plants retailer?

Simply head to Postcode Search, enter your postcode, and view your nearest garden retailer!

Although not every retailer may stock the entire Touch of Class Plants range, you should be able to place an order with your local nursery.

Yes, it is that time of year! Christmas, BBQ’s, the beach, hot weather, and spending quality time in the garden (either working or relaxing).

Here is Touch of Class Plants’ guide to a low maintenance Summer garden.

Lomandra Seascape

Non-invasive and easy to maintain, ideal for patio pots, rockeries and border perimeters, such as paths and retaining walls to create a softening effect by covering harsh edges. Mass plantings give a wonderful seaside or mediterranean feel to gardens, simulating a rippling ocean surface as the foliage is moved about in the breeze.

Scaevola Cobalt Candles

Cobalt Candles features an abundance of purple fan flowers from spring through to autumn on a back drop of fresh mid green foliage. A neat compact plant growing to approximately 30cm high x 50cm wide.  This hardy plant is great for hanging baskets, decorative pots and general gardening.

Dianthus Scent from Heaven Series

Scent from Heaven’ Dianthus are available in a range of three different flower colours and flower profusely almost all year round, except for the middle of winter. With very easy care requirements, these Dianthus are drought tolerant, suffer from few pests and diseases and require little to no maintenance.

Dahlia Dream Series

The Dressed to Impress™ range provides you with a living bunch of flowers. Enjoy long lasting blooms with the added value of a plant for your garden afterwards. Perfect for modern containers on the deck or patio, or as a colourful accent in the garden border. Best grown in full sun in rich moisture retentive soil. Dies down in winter before erupting again the following spring.

For the past week Touch of Class Plants had run a trade and invitation only event to showcase our up and coming plants.

We saw a need to host an event that would allow our Growers, Wholesalers, and Retailers to view the latest in what we had to offer. We are proud to show a wide variety of trees, shrubs, edibles, succulents, and high impact colour.

Thankyou to everyone that came out, we hope you had as much fun as what we did!

Just in case you have misssed it, we have had five plants featured on The Garden Guru’s over the past few weeks. We have had a great response and awesome feedback over on our Facebook page, so we thought we would feature them in a little more depth here. There is a link below each plant where you can view even more details, enjoy!

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Hoorah! Spring is only just around the corner!

Has anyone started or does anyone have any plans for their garden this coming season?

Let us know here, or over on Facebook!

Well, here in the southern states of Australia, Winter has certainly kicked in and it is freezing! With overnight lows of zero degrees, we thought we could offer a couple of solutions to help keep you warm!

Touch of Class Plants has always had edible plants in our range, but there are a couple that are perfect for beating the winter blues!

Laurus Flavour Master

What could be more perfect than making a warm, delicious soup to help keep you warm!? Laurus Flavour Master is the perfect addition to a tomato or vegetable soup (matter of fact; there is a delicous recipe on the back of the label) and can add plenty of flavour!

Flavor Master Bay Tree is the ideal choice for the smaller garden, pot and container, not to forget use in the herb garden! It is very hardy, and is an excellent option for hedging those tight spaces in any landscape.

Laurus Flavour Master will grow to a height of 1.8m and a width of 0.5m.

View more information on Laurus Flavour Master.

Rosemary Chef’s Choice

Roasts! Who doesn’t love a warm winter roast!

Rosemary Chef’s Choice is the perfect addition to this warming, winter dish. Being high in oil content makes it perfect as a garnish in a variety of dishes, and can bring a great burst of flavour! Included on the back of the label are a couple of great recipes for you to try.

Rosemary Chef’s Choice is perfect for decorative pots within your outdoor entertaining area. As an added bonus, Chef’s Choice has a great frangrance that can be enjoyed.

View more information on Rosemary Chef’s Choice.

If you have been tuning into Channel 9 each Saturday (4.30pm to be precise), you would have noticed that a Touch of Class Plant has been featured each week! In case you have missed it, don’t fret, the four plants that have been showcased on the program so far are here below!

Carax Goldy Locks

Acacia Dazzler

Euphorbia Lipstick

Cordyline Designer Burgundy

We are very excited to announce that our parent company, Greenhills Propagation Nursery has taken out the NGIA Best Propagation Nursery (National Winner) award!  This was drawn from Propagation Nurseries Australia wide, so it is a great result.

Greenhills has been on a bit of a roll in the past year taking out the Melbourne South East Business Awards for Environmental and Sustainability and Medium Enterprise.

We would also like to take this oppurtunity to thank our fantastic team. Without them, we would have never been in contention for these awards.