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Flower and Garden articles

The History of the Tulip

The history of the Tulip is filled with intrigue, skulduggery, thievery, instant fortunes and broken hearts. And, although these flowers are synonymous with the Dutch, Tulips did not originate in the Netherlands nor were the Dutch always at the forefront... more

Top Tips for your Spring flower garden

With Spring comes a very busy time in the gardening calendar. It’s wonderful to watch the garden come alive after its winter rest, and to rediscover the joys of so many plants showing off their fresh new foliage and colourful flowers. What could be... more

Never a dull moment

Winter is a busy time in the garden ! Now the heat of summer is over, it`s the perfect time to tidy up, trim into shape, and plan ahead for colourful displays in your garden in the following seasons. Freshen up your garden beds with a steady round... more

Spring Bulbs in a dry climate

In the southern states of Australia, the beauty of autumn will soon be with us, and the trees will be changing into their glorious colours that herald the cooler days and chilly nights. This must be the most beautiful of all seasons, and comes as a ... more

Summer Gardening

Gardening in Australia is quite a challenge when you stop to consider our temperature extremes, and yet we gardening addicts still strive to achieve our dream gardens! Whatever the elements throw at us, we just get right back out there into the gard... more

“With Golden Soil ....“

Contrary to the well known words of our national anthem, many parts of Australia have soil that is anything but golden ! It is a rare thing to have perfect soil, and most gardeners face the reality of very inferior soil. Events such as urban devel... more

Dazzling Daylilies

If you have not yet discovered the many wonderful qualities of the daylily, you have a surprise in store ! The beautiful daylily, or Hemerocallis, is fast becoming a very popular choice for gardeners everywhere, in just about any garden situation, b... more

Water, Water everywhere ….

“Water, Water, everywhere.....” The rise in popularity of gardening as a way to enhance our home environment and lifestyle means increasing demand on our water supply. With the decline in our annual rainfall continuing to be of real concern,... more

In your Spring garden

Now that the days are getting warmer, our gardens are springing into bloom. This is a great time to give the garden a facelift and tidy-up after winter, and what could be better than to get out into your garden and enjoy all the pleasures of a spr... more

Days of Lilies and Roses

Now that we are well into the cooler days - and nights - of winter, we can revel in the fact that this is the perfect season for planting out two of mother nature's best creations - Lilies and Roses. The sheer delight of these flowers speak for thems... more

Water Wise

With the necessity to save water becoming such an important part of our everyday life, it’s changed the way we think about water usage in our gardens and has also influenced trends in new garden design as a long term approach towards being water wise... more

Winter Gardening

The cold days of winter are anything but a quiet time in the gardener’s calendar ..... it’s one of the most productive times of year because it’s the best time to plan for the year ahead and make changes in your garden. Winter is one of the best t... more

Autumn in the Garden

When you suddenly see those fabulous belladonnas (…or “beautiful ladies!”) showing off their gorgeous pink flowers held high on tall stems, you know it’s Autumn! They seem to appear almost overnight, magically creating stands... more

SPRING BULBS - NOW !

For a wonderful array of colour in Spring, now is the time to start planning ahead and organising your spring flower bulbs……. and it couldn’t be easier! The choice of bulbs for spring flowers is enormous, and no matter where you... more

Time Out

It takes quite a bit of physical endurance to be a gardener, but it’s something that any serious gardener doesn’t even think twice about when it comes to achieving what you want within the world of your own garden. Yes, your hands get s... more

The Magic of Bulbs

One of the great joys of being a gardener is that you constantly travel upon the road of discovery. Having been seriously addicted to gardening for some time, I was delighted to have the opportunity to create a new garden from scratch some seven year... more

A garden lover`s Summer in southern Victoria

The kind of Summer we're experiencing in southern Victoria is a garden lover's dream! There have been lots of rainy days intermingled with warm sunny ones and the result is vibrant, fast growing gardens filled with flowers that last longer than usual... more

Entrancing Tree Peonies

Nowhere has their popularity been so intense as in China, where the peonies invoke mass hysteria. It is impossible to compare the frenzied adoration for these flowers. It is as if a whole nation is besotted with tree peonies, which have been enshrine... more

I`ve found the “holy grail“ of plants!

Gorgeous, glamorous and no special care required! I’ve discovered these fantastic new plants- they’re going to revolutionize the way we garden. They’re gorgeous and interesting and yet one of the most obliging of all plants. The... more

The year round importance of evergreens.

A lush Summer backdrop and a centre piece in Winter. Winter is a very peaceful time in the garden. I find it very soothing to quietly wander the garden while most of the plants are resting beneath newly laid layers of mulch. However, it’s ... more

The joy of Geraniums

I probably should clarify here that I’m referring to the "hardy Geraniums" as opposed to the Pelargoniums ("ivy-leafed Geraniums") - the latter of which I have had very little experience. "Hardy Geraniums" make up a very diverse and large gr... more

You`ll be `over the moon` with this world first release!

Australian home gardeners will be the first in the world to have the opportunity to grow these unique blue/violet carnations. We’re very excited to announce that the Florigene Moon Series™ carnations will be available to home gardeners... more

We have returned from the first `Tesselaar Travel` adventure

An intrepid group of Tesselaar customers joined us for a wonderful and unique trip - a garden and cultural tour of Europe and Scandinavia. Little did we know when we left Tullamarine airport that there would be so many adventures (and laughs) ahea... more

Hydrangea `Snow Queen`

Once considered old-fashioned, Hydrangeas are now enjoying a resurgence in popularity which we find rather nice since we believe these big and beautiful plants are well deserving of much admiration. However, it wasn't until very recently that many... more

Say bye, bye to the Winter blues by planting some early flowering bulbs.

As much as I enjoy the sparse, bare beauty of Winter, by the time August comes around I'm already eagerly anticipating the glory of Spring. By planting early flowering Spring bulbs I don't have to wait until the days pass well into September before I... more

Our best-ever bulb tips!

It begins quietly with the little Crocus, the early Jonquils, graceful Anemones and the cute but unassuming Spring Star Flowers. The high note follow as we see parades of glorious Tulips, drifts of golden Daffodils and sways of scented Hyacinths. The... more

Wise Watering

When and how to water to reduce waste. For those of us fortunate enough to live with the luxury of mains water it's amazing how quickly we forget about all those water-saving techniques our mothers taught us. However, with the likeliho... more

The little gems - Spring’s charming buried treasures!

"Buried treasures" is how you'll often hear bulbs being referred to. They hide, unobtrusively, in the soil for much of the year and then pop up in brilliant colour. So it's apt that the smaller ones among them be affectionately known as the "little g... more

Come and explore with us!

Come and Explore the world with us on the garden tour with a difference. For some time now we've been developing the very exciting idea of inviting our customers to experience with us some of the most inspirational gardens on this planet. Now, ... more

Dreaming of Daylilies

Many gardeners have had some contact with Daylilies at some time in their lives. Perhaps it was with the old fashioned taller varieties (in traditional gold and rusty red) or with the gusty miniature Daylily "Stella D'Oro". However, I wonder how many... more

Spring - and life begins again in the garden!

There's nothing that compares to the sheer magic of Spring, the gradual building of colour to an extraordinary intensity and the itch to dig into the garden now that the days are warming up and the rain showers growing fewer. What gardeners sho... more

True blue baby, I love you…

Blue - in its purest form - is undoubtedly the most beloved of all garden colours. It’s also the most ambiguous and versatile. It can be cool and distant and yet, at other times, warm and soothing. Either way, it’s easy to have all the various shades... more

Plant some Iris & discover why they’re legends in the garden!

Make the most of this wonderful time of year to plant some noteworthy members of one of the greatest ‘families’ in the plant kingdom - the Iris family. They make wonderful garden plants - so undemanding, versatile, beautiful and, as you might easily ... more

Creating long flowering gardens is much easier than you think - the secret is starting with the right plants.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is having a garden which is continuously filled to over-flowing with flowers. I revel in such luxuriant bounty and love nothing better than seeing flowers spilling onto the lawns and pathways surrounding the gard... more

Winter`s wonderful work with ugly ducklings!

If you're not already converted to the joy of Winter planting you should try it this year! It's a great time of year to be transplanting plants and it makes you feel fantastic. I always do the majority of my planting in Winter chiefly because it's w... more

Liliums - the luscious ladies of the Summer Garden.

Add a little glitz and glamour to your garden by planting some luscious liliums now. There's a variety of styles to choose from and they're all wonderfully easy to grow. Amongst our favourites are the Asiatics, Orientals and Christmas Lilies. And now... more

How to add vibrant and powerful colour to your garden using the brilliance of Spring bulbs.

Well placed colour has the power to influence the 'mood' of the garden, to create visually appealing "pictures", to express individual style and even to change the perceived size and shape of an area. So it makes sense when planning some planting to ... more

Naturalising Bulbs.

At the sight of a patch of naturalised bulbs we invariably catch our breath with pleasure. There's just something special about naturalised bulbs. They create lovely, natural looking Spring time pictures whether it be an informal drift of daffodils, ... more

Early blooms to beat the Winter blues indoors.

Successful bulb 'forcing' There's no doubt that bulb flowers are one of the greatest joys of Spring but it's quite possible that Spring flowers are even more greatly appreciated when they appear ahead of schedule in Winter. They bring loads... more

The simple secrets for successful bulbs.

Once you know the secrets to bulb growing success you'll know that bulbs are really quite simple. In fact, most of the bulb growing secrets are logical because in many ways they are like humans in that they want food, sunlight and room to grow. They'... more

Delightful Daylilies - wonderful in the Summer garden.

Daylilies are wonderful in the Summer garden because they provide a daily crop of fresh flowers & are exceptionally versatile with their hardy, self-sufficient nature. Daylilies are not only pretty in their myriad of colours & shapes, they'... more

Nerines - the ultimate source of low maintenance colour in Autumn & Winter.

The secret of their success. These wonderful bulbs have been deservedly popular with generation after generation of gardeners. When I first came into the industry I could not understand their timeless appeal. After all, most bulbs & perenn... more

Perennial Geraniums (or “hardy“ Geraniums)

Perennial Geraniums are well worth discovering because, if you choose the right variety you'll have plants which are very pretty in foliage & flower, are free-flowering over long periods and provide attractive protection against weeds! Since we've... more

New Spring 1999 catalogue - Hot off the press!

Our newest catalogue is rolling off the press & it's filled with loads of colourful & garden worthy bulbs and perennials to make your Summer Garden really sizzle! New & interesting selections include: Aster 'Monch', 2 brand new Geraniums, Verbena... more

Discover glorious Gladioli

Gladioli are amongst the most wonderful bulbs available for the Summer garden. We find that you simply cannot suprass them in terms of towering elegance, colour & versatility. They provide graceful spires which can be vertical accents and colour hi... more