Gardening Australia episode 17 2020: Costa Georgiadis meets GA presenter Clarence Slockee at a native rooftop farm, Jane Edmanson explores a patch of highly endangered grassland and we meet Yindjibarndi artist Katie West to explore her plant-based art practice.
Gardening Australia has always provided practical, trustworthy and credible gardening advice to inspire and entertain. Inspiring, entertaining and full of practical advice, join Costa Georgiadis and the team as they unearth gardening ideas, meet avid gardeners and look at some of the most inspiring gardens from across the country.
Gardening Australia episode 17 2020
Native Rooftop Farm
Costa visits Australia’s first Indigenous run rooftop farm growing edible native plants in inner city Sydney to catch up with the co-founder of the project, our very own Clarence Slockee! This is Australia’s first Indigenous-run rooftop farm, sitting on 500 square metres atop a 4-storey building. Clarence notes that the design of the project “combines indigenous knowledge, collaborative design and permaculture principals”.
Its primary purpose is a demonstration farm and cultural space. It also aims to improve biodiversity in the city by providing food and habitat for insects and birds, to improve the wellbeing of humans visiting the space and to research the suitability of local plant species for public plantings. Project manager Matt Mackay says that landscaping is a great job for indigenous people, getting to care for country again.
Plant Profile – Murnong (Yam Daisy)
Millie profiles the yam daisy, a plant that might be new to some gardeners but has been in cultivation on this continent for tens of thousands of years. Millie is in the NSW alpine region on Walgalu Country, looking at a plant that has been cultivated by First Nations people for tens of thousands of years. It is a new and exciting plant that many Australian gardeners are growing for the first time.
Murnong (Microseris sp.), also called the yam daisy, is a grasslands plant that produces edible tuberous roots. It can be hard to identify in the wild because it looks like a lot of other yellow daisy plants, including dandelions and flatweed, also called cats ears.
Ikara Inheritance
Sophie visits the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to see flora from the Ikara-Flinders Ranges and learn about the crucial work conserving some of South Australia’s rarest plants. Sophie visits Adelaide Botanic Gardens (on Kaurna country) to see plants from the Ikara-Flinders Ranges (Adnyamathanha country) and learn about the work of the seed conservation centre. The collection grows in a special pocket of the gardens, built using 30 tonnes of rock, creating a microclimate that mirrors their native environment.
All the plants are growing from wild-harvested seed. Seed biologist Daniel Duval explains that many of the plants are rare or endangered in the wild so are hard to see, which is why the Botanic Gardens has chosen to display them.
There are 40 species growing in the collection including the daisy Ixodia flindersica and the wax-flower Philotheca difformis. There are also plants that are undescribed (not yet formally named), including a pea plant with an unusual flower from the Gammon ranges area of the Flinders Ranges, from the genus Tephrosia.
FAQS – Local natives | Edible natives
Costa asks Clarence to answer commonly asked gardening questions about native plants.
My Garden Path – Katie West
We meet Yindjibarndi artist Katie West to explore how her plant-based art practice has helped her connect with her culture and history.
Plant Me Instead
Josh provides some easy native plant choice alternatives to environmental weeds that are hiding in everyday gardens.
My Garden Path – Robert Riley
We meet the people behind ICaN Growing Nursery, a native Indigenous run nursery in Dubbo that is giving people new skills, jobs and a connection to the local flora.
Guarding Grasslands
Jane explores of the best patches of wildflower grasslands in the Melbourne area – a living museum of an ecosystem that once covered much of Victoria.
Bunya Dreaming
Jerry visits an indigenous cultural event that celebrates the iconic bunya pine and its connection to local identity.
