“Why wouldn’t you celebrate? Look at what this country’s got. Nice weather and nobody’s shooting at you.”
- Ronnie Tait, Australia Day reveller
While I agree that it’s nice not to get shot at, I dare say that there’s a bit more to it than that Ronnie. Despite our past and current shortcomings, and a remorseless pounding in the cricket, we do have plenty to celebrate on Australia Day beyond freedom and the weather. One of those things is our fauna and flora.
Despite their bizarre absence from the grounds of Parliament House, Australia’s plants are unique, diverse and resilient. They are survivors, supremely adapted to the wide variety of ecosystems found on our continent, but let’s not kid ourselves. Not every native plant is going to work in the average Darling Downs backyard. Thankfully, there are plenty that will, and those gardenworthy specimens got me started in garden writing a decade ago. I owe them in a way, so here are half a dozen that continue to be firm favourites.
Acacia cognata ‘Limelight’
When I hear the word texture in relation to plants, I can’t help but think of Acacia ‘Limelight’. This dwarf form of the river wattle is like a soft, billowing green cloud. It is perfect for positions where it can overhang, and is a great plant for softening retaining walls or planting around naturalistic water features. One of the toughest and most treasured plants in my garden, it will handle severe drought, but needs some shelter from really hard frosts.
Lomandra ‘Tanika’
Strappy plants have been seriously overused in my opinion. I cringe every time I drive past a new carpark filled with a mix of Dianellas and Lomandras, both of which are landscaper favourites. While strappies are low maintenance plants, the less creative landscapers wouldn’t know a Mat Rush from a doormat, and some new cultivars aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Lomandra ‘Tanika’ on the other hand, is one of the best natives to be bred in the last decade. Thanks to fine lime green foliage that’s more elegant than most, Tanika makes an excellent filler plant between bigger shrubs and perennials.
Westringia ‘Wynyabbie Gem’
As a native alternative to rosemary, Westringia is the plant to choose. It is frost and drought tolerant, and has a bushy growth habit ideal for clipped, formal hedges, though it works equally well as a specimen in mixed borders. The cultivar ‘Wynyabbie Gem’ is a hybrid between W. fruticosa and W. eremicola produced by Wynyabbie Nursery in Jindalee. A word of caution though – Wynyabbie Gem is a quick grower. Left unchecked it will reach about two metres, so keep it bushy through regular clipping.
Corymbia ‘Summer Red’
We all love to hate gum trees don’t we? They’re big, they’re messy, they drop limbs. But some, like the hybrid bloodwood Corymbia ‘Summer Red’ are absolutely exquisite garden plants. When in full bloom around Christmas or the New Year, ‘Summer Red’ is one of those plants that will take your breath away, but I like it for subtler reasons as well. For one, it only grows to around six metres, isn’t anywhere near as messy as most gums, and produces beautiful flushes of new foliage in lime green and scarlet. Because it is grafted onto a variety of rootstocks, ‘Summer Red’ and its cousins will suit most soils across the Downs.
Grevillea ‘Moonlight’
Do you ever wander through your garden on moonlit evenings? If you do, and don’t yet grow Grevillea ‘Moonlight’, you don’t know what you’re missing. Huge creamy lemon flowers are produced for much of the year, and set off by the bottle green foliage during a full moon, they actually do glow. ‘Moonlight’ is a vigorous grower to at least three metres, and is often used as a screening plant or pruned to form a small tree. Birds love the flowers, it resists drought, and will take light frost. Grevillea ‘Moonlight’ is one of my favourite plants, native or otherwise.
Syzygium ‘Cascade’
There are lots, but I regard Syzygium ‘Cascade’ as the best of all the lillypillies. Cascade has an elegant weeping habit, which makes a nice change from the many upright cultivars designed to hide the neighbours in record time. The new foliage is a terrific wine red, the flowers puffy pink, and it will cope with light frost and mild drought. A final important attribute is that Cascade is unaffected by psyllids, which disfigure the leaves of many lillypillies. Cascade is a top plant.
First published in the Toowoomba Chronicle 31st January 2009
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi. I visited an open garden in Toowoomba during the carnival of flowers celebrations and saw a very interesting wattle. The owner told me that it was called Lime Magic. I have not been able to source it at any nurseries and having read your description of Cognata Limelight I am wondering if it could be the plant I am after, although the plant I saw was approx 12 foot in height, weeping with lime coloured leaves.
Regards
Debra
Thanks for your comment Debra. The plant you are after is Acacia cognata ‘Lime Magik’. It is similar to other river wattle cultivars like Green Mist and Limelight, but is indeed taller, reaching about 3-4 metres, and has foliage in a lighter shade of green. It appears to be fairly common in the native wholesale nurseries, so any decent retail nursery should have little trouble getting it in for you.
Hope that helps,
Justin
Hi.
Thanks for the info. I am planting a suburban native garden in newcastle, nsw and need a 2-3m tall informal hedge along a fence line (winter-shade/summer dappled sun).
I am considering Syzygium ‘cascade’ but am worried about psyllid infestation. I have heard they are more suseptable to attact if grown in shady conditions.
Any ideas welcome.
Regards,
david.
Thanks for the question David. The best position for any lillpilly is full sun or part shade. Most varieties will thin out and be relatively weak in full shade. A healthy, strongly growing plant is the best defence against insects, but as a back up, go for a psyllid resistant variety. Cascade is one of the best lillypillies full stop, and because it has Syzygium luehmannii in its parentage, is far more resistant to pysllids than any of the Syzygium australe cultivars. You might also want to consider any of the cultivars bred from Acmena smithii (Hot Flush is a good one), as they’re also resistant to psyllids.
Happy hedge growing!
Justin