Gifts to grow the mind

That’s Christmas sorted for green thumbs.

Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom

It’s time for our annual garden book and gift roundup to help plan your Christmas shopping or holiday reading. You’ll love these...

Flower: Exploring the World in Bloom (Phaidon, $80) examines the ways artists and designers through history have depicted flowers and floral motifs. More than 300 images include botanical illustrations, photographs, paintings, herbaria, floral arrangements, sculptures, and fashion and jewellery pieces.

Stonefields By the Seasons by Paul Bangay

Paul Bangay’s Stonefields By the Seasons (Lantern, $60), with luscious photography by Simon Griffiths, is the inside story of Bangay’s own property and how it has changed over 15 years. This is an exceptional garden by an exceptional designer, who shares in this book his principles and aspirations as well as practical advice on planting and maintenance.

Edible Australian Succulents

Edible Australian Succulents is the latest book from succulents guru Attila Kapitany ($42 from australiansucculents.com). It aims to increase appreciation, understanding and use of these underrated plants, and to aid identification.

Living Outside

Living Outside: Reviving the Australian Modernist Garden by Sharon Mackay and Diana Snape (Thames & Hudson, $70) I found especially exciting. Many of the 18 featured projects are small, such as a vertical garden that wraps around a three-storey building on a tiny footprint; others celebrate their wild location such as coastal cliff or bush block. Use of native plants, provision of habitat and thoughtful water management are common themes. The Garden State: Inside Victoria’s Private Gardens by Richard Allen (Thames & Hudson, $80) is a big and beautiful showcase of 24 of the state’s finest private patches, from historic Mt Macedon gardens to contemporary creations. Rural estates, coastal places and climate- conscious gardens are in the mix.

My Suburban Farm

My Suburban Farm by Melbourne-based Ainslee Costa (Affirm Press, $35) is a guide to channelling the rustic romance of rural life no matter where you live. Costa shares her homegrown tips on setting up your first vegie patch, sourcing second-hand materials and practising mindful crafts, along with recipes.

And for “houseplant parents”, a practical gift is the Plant Lovers’ Essential Kit from start-up We The Wild ($44.99, wethewild.co). It contains three organic products to grow healthier and happier plants; all contain beneficial microbes sourced from worm farming.

Q&A

What sculptural plant would suit a large pot in part shade to feature in my 6m x 4m courtyard? Annie Austin, Southern Highlands, NSW

For a contemporary edge, try tree aloe (Aloe barberae), Agave ‘El Mirador’ or dragons blood tree (Dracaena draco). For lush foliage, fiddle-leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) or lady finger palm (Rhapis excelsa) are good. You could also try cycads such as Cycas revoluta and native burrawang (Macrozamia communis).

My columnar, spiky cactus has produced several offshoots at the base. Can I propagate them? Dave Bulbrook, Sydney

Yes. Cut them off with a clean, sharp, sterilised knife, and bevel the cut end towards the central core; allow cuttings to dry until they’re callused over, then plant into coarse sand. Spring is the ideal time. Water sparingly until roots form. What flowers could I grow to attract butterflies and for my grandchildren to pick? Jan Brammy, Adelaide Hills Butterflies love nectar-rich, bright flowers, particularly clusters of small flowers or ones with open flat petals. Butterfly bush (Buddleia) is the standout: look for sterile, dwarf cultivars that won’t become weedy. Others include daisies, heliotrope, sunflowers, pentas, verbena, cosmos and lavender. More at butterflyconservationsa.net.au

Nylex retractable hose reel

Send your questions to: [e-mail] or Helen Young, PO Box 3098, Willoughby North, NSW 2068. Website: helenyoung.com.au. The best question for December/January wins a Nylex retractable 20m hose reel worth $149.