Apothekerrie

05/04/2026

Can confirm they love bok choy and basil but leave the thyme and oregano alone 🌱

Fun fact Friday: Eastern Pygmy-possum 🐾

The Eastern Pygmy-possum (Cercartetus nanus) is tiny, often mistaken for a mouse! They weigh only 15–43 grams, have round heads, big eyes and pointy ears. Their fur is light brown with a white underside and their tails help them grip branches when climbing.

In NSW, these little marsupials live from the east coast west to Dubbo, Parkes and Wagga Wagga. They make their homes in forests, woodlands and heath, often hiding in tree stumps and hollows. Their small size and night-time habits make them hard to spot 👀

Eastern Pygmy-possums mostly eat nectar and pollen from banksias, eucalypts and bottlebrushes, helping pollinate these plants. When flowers are scarce, they also eat fruit, seeds, and insects 🍯

They build small, round nests in tree hollows, forks or old bird nests using shredded bark. Mothers give birth to 3–8 tiny young and carry them in a pouch until they’re about 2 months old

During winter or stressful times, Eastern Pygmy-possums go into a deep rest, curling up, folding in their ears, and lowering their body temperature. This can last for hours or even days.

These possums are listed as Vulnerable in NSW. Threats include habitat loss, feral predators like cats and foxes, and road accidents. Some of them even call the Wildflower Garden home. 🏠

16/03/2026

Grow your own... and let Apothekerrie get your garden going for you so all you have to do is water, wait and watch for the food that follows.

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15/03/2026

The perfect pair for a roller derby birthday!

Give the gift that keeps on growing, and let Apothekerrie customise yours to suit any occasion or interest 🌿

14/03/2026

There are a whole bunch of really good reasons to grow your own, but the last week has given us all a sombre few more.

If you need a hand getting growing at your place, there is no better time than the present. You can grow enough food to feed your family and many more of your neighbours besides in pots, on balconies or cement driveways, as well as in a lovely garden.

Ask me how I can make it happen at your place, long before the panic stations set in.

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12/03/2026

Oh it's a bit gorgeous 'round here 😍

11/03/2026

When Summer delivers monsoon like rain, the turning of the leaves happens sooner and faster. Falling already, some of our usual Autumn stunners will be bare by equinox this year.

Quick as we are to rake and bin, fallen leaves provide shelter for many a handy garden critter, as well as contributing beautifully to mulching and feeding. Keeping a beautiful loop of decay and nourishment in your garden that stops the need for chemical substitution.

If your place needs a seasonal spruce-up or a whole new refresh, give Apothekerrie a call. Free quotes. Impeccable refs. No mess left behind. Blooming discounts for all the single ladies 😘

07/03/2026

Peering out at the world every morning before disappearing back into a garden

07/03/2026

Our beautiful local sugarbag bees 🐝

Fun fact Friday 🐝

Meet Tetragonula carbonaria, better known as the Australian native stingless bee or Sugarbag bee. Unlike the European honeybee, these tiny pollinators don’t sting, which makes them some of the friendliest bees you’ll ever meet.

Sugarbag bees are social insects that live in colonies inside hollow tree trunks and branches. Their nests are made from a mix of wax and plant resins, creating intricate spiral brood structures where new bees are raised. Instead of storing honey in hexagonal combs like honeybees, they keep their honey in small resin “pots.” 🍯

The honey they produce, often called sugarbag honey, is much more tangy and runny than regular honey and only produced in very small amounts. For thousands of years, Aboriginal people across Australia have sustainably harvested this honey from bush nests as a valued bush food and medicine.

Despite their tiny size, these bees play a huge role in pollination, helping native plants reproduce and keeping bushland ecosystems healthy. You might even notice them hovering in little clouds near their nest entrance, which they do to help guard the colony. 🌼

If you’d like to see these incredible native pollinators up close, you can find our Sugarbag bee hives in the SOL Garden, Caley’s and opposite the Visitor Centre - keep an eye out for the tiny bees coming and going from the hive entrance.

13/02/2026

A big shout out to all of our plant ancestors, they who walked with what matters most.

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🔗 https://aus-geo.com.au/go/women-botany

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and we're celebrating the women who've been shaping Australian botany for over 200 years.

Take, for example, the Scott sisters, who documented native flora with scientific precision in the 1800s; or Barbara Briggs, who used "detective botany" to help solve a criminal case; or D'harawal woman Fran Bodkin, who connected Western science with Indigenous knowledge. And there are so many more. Their stories are wild, wonderful and well overdue for your attention!

06/02/2026

And THIS is why I create gardens, it's all for the critters!

A gorgeous ecosystem is not just a sea of flowers, it is refuge and shelter as well of food and frolic for a vast range of winged and clawed creatures. They are the ones who make our gardens, and our worlds, work.

This is Buddy, my garden's water dragon resting on his black amethyst in the sunshine, drying off after a play in the pond. And I get to delight in it all up close, which feels like a blessing.

Build it and they will come.
(Or I can do it for you)

27/01/2026

Gardens that bring in creatures and critters, birds and bees 🌿