August 2nd, 2025Beetham’s Botanicals

Well here I am penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…
This time I’ll be featuring exotic plants with ornamental bark, flowers and foliage. FYI, I plan on championing Aussie native plants in an upcoming article that fits these categories. Stay tuned.
So let’s start with bark. Often this stunning character is overlooked when designing a new garden or adding interest to an established one.
Here’s what I think are a few gems: acer griseum (paperbark maple) from China (widespread), pinus patula (weeping Mexican pine) from Mexico (widespread) and ulmus parvifolia ‘Frosty’ (variegated Chinese elm) from garden origin. Each of these species have the added bonus of autumnal foliage (maple), weeping foliage (pine) and variegated foliage (elm).

Next are flowers – well just let’s just open Pandora’s Box shall we, I mean what was I thinking? Soldiering on I’ve chosen an eclectic group of climbers, perennials, shrubs and trees for your perusal.
I’ve had to truncate the list somewhat with the exclusion of popular plants such as camellias, hydrangeas, irises, Japanese flowering cherries, peonies and rhodies for example.
So here we go – akebia quinata (chocolate vine) from China, Japan and Korea, calodendrum capense (cape chestnut) from Africa (widespread in the south), clematis x jackmannii Daniel Deronda (Jackmann’s clematis) from garden origin, cornus Eddie’s white wonder (dogwood) from garden origin, leucospermum high gold (pincushion) from garden origin, magnolia Star Wars (magnolia) from garden origin and salvia corrugata (ribbed sage) from Southern America.
And now for something completely different (a nod to you know who and if you, the reader doesn’t, then I guess I’m showing my age (sob)). Ah, yes, foliage, which is yet another subjective category with all of us having our faves.

So I’ve decided to throw a few of mine into the mix. Araucaria araucana (monkey puzzle tree) from Southern America (Argentina & Chile), catalpa bignonioides (Indian bean tree) from Northern America (South-Central and Southeastern USA), liriodendron chinense (Chinese tulip tree) from China and Vietnam, magnolia delavayi (delavay’s magnolia) from China, and paulownia tomentosa (empress or princess tree) from China and Korea.
So there you have it, a little snapshot into the myriad choices available to us all when we venture out to see what may be in our local nursery and beyond.

Cheers JB (Trees in Australia)

Next time: a stroll through some of the botanic gardens of the world I’ve had the privilege to visit

Scan the QR code to see JB’s instagram post