Cyclamen coum Mill.

Fully-hardy tuberous perennial with rounded leaves, sometimes with silver patterns, and white, pink or carmine-red flowers, with dark carmine-red stains above white-rimmed mouths, produced with the leaves in winter and spring.  To 8cm.  [RHSE]. 

Added on January 18 2009

Potentilla x hopwoodiana Sw.

Potentilla nepalensis Hook. x Potentilla recta L. hybrid.  A fully hardy hybrid with palmate leaves consisting of 5 leaflets and yellow flowers edged with rose, in terminal panicles, in summer.  To 45cm.  [RHSD, Hortus].

Added on October 06 2009

Eupomatia bennettii F.Muell.

Evergreen shrub with lance-shaped leaves to 12cm long, similar to Eupomatia laurina R.Br., which see, except that it only grows to about 1m in height.  [RHSD].

Added on March 15 2009

Russelia equisetiformis Schltdl. & Cham.

Frost tender, deciduous, branching sub-shrub with rush-like, erect and pendant stems, very narrow elliptic leaves, to 1.5cm long, falling early, and pendant cymes of tubular scarlet flowers, to 3cm long, from spring to autumn.  To 1.5m.  [RHSE].

Added on February 17 2010

Rosa ‘French Crimson’

A Moss rose.  ‘French Crimson’ has rosy-crimson, medium-sized, full and expanded flowers on a moderate, branching bush covered in red spines.  

Added on February 12 2010

Gladiolus blandus x cuspidatus

Gladiolus carneus x Gladiolus undulatus hybrid.  No description is extant.

Added on October 21 2009

Iris pseudacorus L.

Fully-hardy, vigorous, beardless iris with branched stems bearing 4-12 yellow flowers with brown or violet markings.  To 1.5m.  [RHSE, Hortus].  A useful water-margin plant.  

Added on November 05 2009

Improvements to Hortus Camdenensis

The Hortus software has been upgraded. This led to some minor errors in the layout of plant names, particularly in the headings of Plant Profile pages but these have now been largely overcome. Improvements are also progressively being made to the content of the Hortus in three main areas, botanical and horticultural history, cross referencing and illustrations. Some enhancements will be done as the opportunity arises but most will be completed family by family. This will take at least two years to complete.

Published Sep 14, 2010 - 04:06 PM | Last updated Aug 12, 2012 - 04:36 PM

Sir William Macarthur on Vines and Vineyards

Sir William Macarthur wrote extensively on vines and Vineyards. It is our intention to publish all his writings in the Hortus.

Published Aug 01, 2010 - 04:58 PM | Last updated Oct 04, 2010 - 04:47 PM

Working Bee dates

Working Bee dates for 2012.

Published Jun 29, 2010 - 02:59 PM | Last updated Jan 10, 2012 - 05:19 PM

Open House and Gardens

Camden Park House and Gardens will be open to the public on Saturday 22nd September, 2012, from 12.00 noon until 4.00 pm, and Sunday 23rd from 10.00 am until 4.00 pm.

Published Dec 30, 2009 - 02:58 PM | Last updated Jan 09, 2012 - 05:31 PM

History of the Florists’ Gloxinia

In the 19th century the florists’ Gloxinia was a very popular plant with hundreds of varieties under propagation.  Out of fashion today, these beautiful and easily grown plants deserve to be revived.  William Macarthur would not have recognised the large, multi-coloured flowers that dominate the show bench today but the plants he grew, predominantly of the slipper, or wild type, were equally beautiful.

Published Mar 14, 2010 - 01:56 PM | Last updated Jul 26, 2011 - 04:59 PM

Vineyards at Camden

The vineyards of Camden Park are widely considered to be the first commercial vineyards in Australia. James and William Macarthur were certainly not the first to sell wine for profit or the first to export wine but were pioneers in the development of vineyards intended to produce a profit from the sale of quality wine. Prior to this wine was produced from small vineyards planted primarily for home consumption, with excess sold and sometimes exported.

The first vineyard was small, only one acre in extent, and largely experimental, but the second and third were on a much grander scale. As the closing words of this pamphlet demonstrate, James and William certainly had a vision of what was possible for Australian wine production, as they had previously for fine Merino wool.

‘Whether these Colonies can also hope to provide for the benefit of every class here at home, and at an equally moderate rate another exportable product, remains yet to be seen — so that even the tired artizan, in his hours of relaxation from toil, may not unseldom exclaim, “Go Fetch me a quart of (Australian) Sack.” ’

Published Aug 25, 2010 - 05:34 PM | Last updated Aug 25, 2010 - 05:51 PM

Memorandum from the Antipodes: Colouring of Grapes

The following Memorandum was submitted to The Gardeners’ Chronicle by William Macarthur in 1854. Although written in response to a particular problem aired in the columns of the newspaper some months earlier, it adds considerably to our understanding of commercial wine production at Camden Park, in particular the preferred grapes and the style of wine best suited to the colonial conditions. We are also given insights into the problems caused by ‘sudden abstraction of labour attending our gold crisis’, which caused considerable disruption of agrarian and other commercial activities in Australia for some years.

Published Jun 30, 2011 - 04:42 PM | Last updated Jul 21, 2011 - 11:12 AM

Letters on the Culture of the Vine Part 8: Fermentation of the Wine

Letters on the Culture of the Vine and Manufacture of Wine by Maro, pen-name of William Macarthur. Letters XIV and XV describe primary and secondary fermentation of the wine. The illustration used here is a photograph of the cellars at Camden Park House.

The entire book is reproduced in the Hortus in ten parts. For background information and Macarthur’s Introduction to the book see Part 1.

Published Sep 30, 2010 - 05:11 PM | Last updated Jul 21, 2011 - 11:14 AM