16 Dec
0
23
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 16th December 2025
This is very important to be on the alert for if you use Microsoft 365 and Outlook.
(By way of context: The vast majority of you won’t even know this, but we (Optimate) run our own server and hosting busines..
14 Dec
0
22
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 14th December 2025
Hello everyone, this is the last newsletter for this year 2025, and thank you for all who choose to receive these by email at all!
Again keeping to the format of previous newsletters:
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Item 1: Things ..
10 Dec
0
44
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 10th December 2025
Did you know that there are carnivorous bromeliads? Not too many, only three or four in the entire Bromeliaceae (Bromeliad) family of roughly 80 genera and 3,700 species. (How I would love them to all be here ..
09 Dec
0
81
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 9th December 2025
Here we are going to explore the botanical structure of a sugarcane stalk. These parts are common to all stems and branches regardless of species, but they are particularly distinct here in sugarcane (and the s..
08 Dec
0
112
Title image above is a still taken from a video by Andy Stapleton entitled “Academia’s 5 Most Disturbing Open Secrets Everyone Just Accepts”
First published 8th December 2025
The following video is presented as a public service announcement. These goings-on are truly a kick in the guts.
And as ..
05 Dec
0
71
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 5th December 2025
There are many Queensland Bottle Trees (Brachychiton rupestris) throughout the the Wollongong Botanic Garden, and this particularly stunning one always draws my eye:
A magnificent Brachychiton rupestris (Queen..
05 Dec
0
95
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
(This article was originally published 2nd February 2021 here on our Jujube Tree Nursery site.)
First published here 5th December 2025.
Have you ever seen these very smooth round and oval shapes in leaves before, and not known what made them?..
03 Dec
0
78
Title image above is copyright © Optimate Group Pty Ltd
First published 3rd December 2025
The postie and I were recently chatting venting to each other regarding our respective dealings with Australia Post.
He told me of a scam well worth drawing to your attention, and which couldn’t be more timel..
01 Dec
0
99
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 1st December 2025
Dragon Fruit ‘Dark Star’ (Selenicereus guatemalensis × Selenicereus undatus) Rooted Cutting
Family: Cactaceae (the cactus family)
Genus: Selenicereus (includes several dragon fruit species)
Botanical/Binomial..
22 Nov
0
135
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 22nd November 2025
Back on 28th August 2025 I received a magnificent silk floss tree cutting (Ceiba speciosa) from my wonderful pen pal Helen, and potted it right there and then into a used 4.1 L Air-Pot seed tray. If I didn’t a..
22 Nov
0
144
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 22nd November 2025
Some time around winter 2025 (I stupidly didn’t take notes) I uprooted a self-seeded sandpaper fig (there are several species buit this one is most likely to be Ficus coronata), took a bunch of cuttings, and p..
22 Nov
0
142
Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos
First published 22nd November 2025
Some time before 2020 (exact date unknown) I potted up some tiger grass (Thysanolaena latifolia) in a 9 L Air-Pot. More for the aesthetic than for root development as I really like the look of Air-Pot containe..