My Favourite Plants to Grow
No matter what, I’ll always find a place in my garden for these precious inclusions
In my garden I grow a huge diversity of vegetables, fruit trees, berries, nut trees, and many ornamental plants to support a healthy garden ecosystem. I’ve collected a huge range of rare berries, trialled dozens of varieties of carrots, and killed plenty of avocados in my avocado graveyard. There are plenty of plants that I can now dismiss as unreliable, invasive, insipid, gimmicks, or just downright disgusting. But then there are a few plants that have earnt their place on an elite list that I call my favourites. My home in Kyneton is my forever home. But if for whatever reason I had to start again, maybe here, or maybe somewhere else, these plants would all find a place in my garden.
Greengage plum
My grandparents Peggy and Leighton were hugely influential in my life and helped foster my passion for growing food. Some of my earliest memories are of tucking into greengage plums from their suburban backyard tree. It’s been years since their house and beautiful garden was bulldozed by developers to make way for townhouses. But the first harvest from the greengage plum tree that I planted in my own orchard recently refreshed my memory of just how good these plums are. The tree in my own orchard was planted in honour of Peggy and Leighton and it brought me to tears to see how much my own children enjoy eating the plums. What a greengage lacks in size, it makes up for flavour. These plums are like little balls of sugar. I know no other plum like it and everyone I know who has tasted a greengage agrees with me.
Blueberries
Blueberries are productive in small spaces. They really suit growing in pots. When I was a renter, blueberries were my focus where perennial crops were concerned. For their size, blueberries are incredibly productive, and I consider the fruit from some cultivars to be unsurpassed for flavour by any other home grown fruit. Not all varieties are equal: some blueberry cultivars produce fruit that is gritty or tart, or bland. Check out my guide to growing blueberries for a list of my favourite cultivars.