PAGE 50 - “THE STAR”, Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Winter colour spectacular WHEN planning a garden, many aim to attract birds and one of the best ways to do this is to use Australian natives. Over the years, there has been a lot of breeding and experimentation with grafting especially with grevilleas and hakeas and the
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results are spectacular. Grevilleas have nectarladen flowers that attract honeyeaters and many other native birds, and many flower most of the year, however many of the showy varieties originate from the sand plains of south west Western Australia and struggle to survive in our cold heavy south eastern soils. By grafting onto a reliable hardy rootstock (generally Grevillea robusta) it increases the vigour and allows many varieties of showy grevilleas to be grown
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and enjoyed in a much wider range of soils and climates than previously possible. Grevilleas can be grafted onto very short rootstocks so they look more like the natural plant or as a standard that can be used as a central feature in a garden. The advantage of a grafted grevillea standard over other more conventional standards such as a weeping cherry is they are evergreen (meaning they do not lose their leaves over winter) and flower for a much longer period and are of course bird attracting. Other grafted native standards include Acacia Cognata Waterfall, a weeping standard with bright emerald green foliage and soft perfumed yellow flowers that appear in spring, attracting birds, and Acacia Baileyana Goldilocks, a weeping standard with fine foliage and deep yellow flowers, appearing in late winter. It is an ideal feature and suitable for a tub or container in a sunny position in a courtyard. When growing native plants in tubs or pots it is important to use native potting mix. Many hakeas have spectacular flowers and like grevilleas belong to the proteacecae family. Of the 130 species half, probably with the greatest diversity, are found in the south west of Western Australia. Two stunning varieties are Hakea Bucculenta (red poker) and
Hakea Francisiana (pink Pokers). Both are ideal for cut flowers and have nectar rich deep pink or red spike-like raceme blooms in winter and spring. Both of these varieties are available ungrafted but need a warm frost free area with very sandy well drained soils to survive whereas when grafted have been known to survive in cold chilly Canberra National Botanic Gardens. Grafted plants are also resistant to the fungal disease Phytophthora cinnamomi of which many of the protaeaceae family to susceptible to. Most hakeas are tall shrubs and one of the most popular is Hakea Laurina which has nectar-rich creamy white and bright crimson flowers, in ball like clusters in autumn-winter. Like grevilleas, they do range in size and there even ground covers. Burrendong Beauty Hakea is a spectacular sprawling shrub reaching about one metre by three metres wide and is covered in pink pincushion flowers late autumn early winter and is terrific in a rockery. When it comes to bird attracting smaller shrubs, it is hard to surpass the correas also known as native fuchsia because of their attractive bell shaped flowers. They are hardy, long flowering and come in a range of colours and sizes to suit all sites. In 2013, to commemorate Canberra’s centenary, a new correa was released called Correa Canberra Bells. It has stunning two tone red and cream bell like flowers in full bloom for Canberra’s birthday in March and continues to flower throughout autumn. Correa Canberra Bells has fairly large showy flowers when compared to other correas and is frost
tolerant, drought hardy and low maintence. Another small growing shrub that is a real asset to the garden is Banksia Birthday Candles. This is a Banksia Spinulosa variety that only grows to around 50cm by 1.2m in width and stays very compact and has lovely dark green foliage which provides an attractive backdrop to the showy orange yellow flower spikes. Like the correas it is a low maintenance, hardy shrub that prefers well drained soils in full sun or part shade and can be pruned to maintain shape and is tolerant of drought, frost and salt spray. Flowering season autumn, winter and early spring and makes an ideal shrub for rockeries or as a container plant. With the right planning, it is possible to have bird attracting flowers all year round.
Natural beauty: Andrea Gunia with a barrow full of winter flowering plants ready to brighten any garden.
Winter colour: Erica party frock.
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