Tasmanian Flora at the TMAG

Tasmanian Flora at the TMAG

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I recently visited the newly renovated Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.  What a treat!  The renovations and restorations are just brilliant - I felt very proud to be a Tasmanian!  There were many favourites from the visit - some spectacular printmaking by Tasmanian artist Raymond Arnold  

and some wonderful contemporary paintings.  I really enjoyed the section of Australian art from the 1950s and 60s too.  I also found this gorgeous hand painted screen that I thought I'd share with you.  I was so excited when I found it, taking photos and enjoying it, that I forgot to take note of the artist and the year - all I remember is that it was in the same room as a Margaret Preston painting so I can only assume it was produced in the early 20th century.  

I'm sharing it here because it has some beautiful representations of plants that we grow here at Swallows Nest Farm.  The first panel on the left depicts the Tasmanian plant Richea Dracophylla, or the Pineapple Candle Heath.  It is a rainforest shrub that generally grows at higher altitudes and can be found growing in the wild on the slopes of Mt Wellington, among other places.   It is a very striking plant that I'm very proud to be growing.  Its an unusual cut flower and gets a lot of comments during its flowering season in spring.  

The next panel depicted the Mountain Pepper Berry plant or Tasmannia Lanceolata - it wasn't lit well enough to get a good photo.  Then, one of my fabourites - the Tasmanian Waratah - Telopea Truncata, which we grow here at Swallows Nest.  Its another spring flowering Tasmanian Native.   Its cheery red flowers are a sight to see in the wild.  They are such a beautiful cut flower too, smaller than the well known mainland Waratahs but finer.  I love them!

Next, no Tasmanian floral screen could be complete without the Blue Gum, Tasmania's floral emblem.  It's a bit of a strange floral emblem, actually, because it is such an imposing large tree.   Eucalyptus Globulus can grow to 60m and is a gum tree that grows wild in the area around where I live.  Its beautiful flowers appear in October - January.  They are creamy white and quite large as far an gum blossom goes - 4cm.  They make good honey! The gum nuts are distinctively shaped and coated in a silvery blue bloom with a very strong eucalyptus smell.  Eucalyptus trees often have different foliage as a sapling and then develop their more typical "gum leaf" shape as a mature tree.  The foliage of a juvenile Blue Gum is really lovely - very large leaves covered with the same silvery blue bloom as the nuts.  I use it in bunches and arrangements - its colour really contrasts well with other flowers and foliage. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little peek at the treasure I found at the new TMAG.  If you are local, don't miss it - the renovations are really fabulous and there are some great pieces to see.  

In Full Bloom

In Full Bloom

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Spring is coming to an end, and the Tasmanian Waratahs are in full bloom.  The smell of summer is in the air!  Many of the spring flowering leucadendrons are starting to loose their colour now and the summer flowering proteas are getting ready to make their appearance.  Watch out in the next week or so for the bright and beautiful Leucaspermums, commonly known as pincushions, that are popular coming into Christmas.  

I'll be posting about the amazing varieties of pincushions that we have here at Swallows Nest Farm as they begin to flower.  In the meantime, enjoy the last of spring and its spectacular colour!

Tasmanian Waratahs

Tasmanian Waratahs

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This week, I picked my first Tasmanian Waratahs for the season.  I have one bush that flowers in late October - just a bit earlier than the rest.  Almost over night, it seemed to be covered in bright red blooms.

Most people associate the Waratah with New South Wales, probably because its is that states floral emblem, but Victoria and Tasmania are also home to some wonderful species of waratah.  At Swallows Nest Farm, we are lucky to be growing the waratah endemic to Tasmania called Telopea Truncata. It is a smaller flowered plant to its mainland cousins, but size isn't everything!  The Tassie waratah is about the size of a carnation and looks a bit like a cross between a "normal" waratah and a grevillea.  It has lovely bent styles the give it a charming sculptural quality.

The Tasmanian Waratah grows as a large shrub to 3 m, but can that can get to over 8 metres tall.  In the wild, it grows in wet forest areas and flowers in November and December.  It is often picked in the wild for the flower trade. The flowers are striking red making the bush really stand out when its in bloom.  Very rarely, the flowers are actually yellow.  The yellow form has been used to make hybrid waratahs which are available to purchase as garden plants called "Shady Lady Yellow".  It is the only waratah to have a yellow variation.  

I love it that these cheery Tasmanians are ready to pick in the lead-up to Christmas.  As a flower grower, its the plants that help to mark the seasons and this one is such a lovely Christmassy flower.  It brightens up a bouquet and compliments the other flowers that are available in the Christmas season. 

The Tasmanian Waratah is best propagated by seed.  After the plant has flowered it produces some fantanstic seed pods.  I'm a bit of a collector of seed pods and waratah seed pods are definitely worth collecting!


Look out for Tasmanian Waratahs in your florist or in the wild during November and December.  They are a real treat and a great reminder that Christmas is fast approaching!

If you'd like to have a go at growing your own Tasmanian Waratah, you can buy fresh seed collected from Swallows Nest Farm here.