Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Miriam on August 22, 2008, 05:31:10 PM
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Edit by M; this thread was started by Paul and I have moved Miriam's post here as it seem more appropriate
Paul,
Thanks for sharing those wonderful pictures!
I grow several Australian Plants in my garden like:Anigozanthos, Grevillea, Eremophila, Pimelea...
The Australian Plants are very successful in the climate of Israel.
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Howdy All,
I'm just starting a second topic for posting Aussie native plants in our gardens. I figure it is easier to keep my postings from the ANBG separate to those from my own garden (which are grown MUCH more poorly! ;D), and this provides a place for others to join in with their Aussie natives as well. I'll post a couple of pics here later today to start the ball rolling, but Fermi or others if you've got pics to share go right ahead! 8)
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OK, here's a few that are in bud or flower in my garden at the moment....
The two Correa are very different, with the Correa 'Dusky Bells' being a dense shrub up to 4 feet tall or larger (if I allowed it to get that big, but I keep it trimmed down) with flowers that are more than an inch (that's the coloured bit) long. The ground cover form of Correa pulchellus is no more than maybe 4 or 5 inches tall in the garden I got my cuttings from, and about 3 feet wide. The flowers are only around 1.5cm long. Adorably cute!!
The other two are again different types of their genus. The Grevillea bipinnatifida is a grafted specimen as it is one of the Western Australian species I think, and they don't like striking from cuttings etc. Many of the WA plants are grafted onto plants with roots better suited to the eastern clay conditions, instead of the WA sandy soils. The colour doesn't show up properly as the rich deep red that it is. The leaves are very unusual for the genus, and you can see them in the bottom left of the picture.
The second is Grevillea 'Wild Beauty which is a small mound of main foliage (maybe 2 or 3 feet tall when it gets older) with long, waving, flowering stems (up to an extra 3 feet in height?) topped by these lovely pink "brushes". Very striking, and not looking much like a Grevillea at all. Mine is in a pot, as are most of my Aussie native plants, so I don't know how big it would really get in the ground. I can go and find the tag if anyone really needs to know. :D
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Very interesting to see these plants. All unknown to me. Keep on posting :)
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Nice Paul. By the way, which of the coloured bits did you mean? ;D
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Please keep this thread up for us, Paul. I grow a few Aussie plants, but there are always more.... my friend was telling me she got Arctostaphylos recently, never heard of it, so looked it up and it appears to be from your part of the world. I like many NZ shrubs too, wish I had room for more.
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Hi Paul ,
thank you for all the nice pics - really interesting to see these plants from Australia !
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The tubular coloured bits, David. Which other coloured bits were there? ::) Then again, I suppose if you were red/green colourblind that would all be shades of grey anyway, so maybe there wouldn't be coloured bits at all. :-\
Glad you're all enjoying.
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hi Paul very nice to see. The correa dusky bells is delightful and is easy to grow here although tender where I live. I also like C backhousiana which is perhaps described best as quietly attractive. No hope with the grevillea.
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Tony,
Neither of those Grevilleas would be terribly cold tolerant. OK here with some mild protection, but nothing colder than us. There are other more cold tolerant species though.
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Paul,
there is a marvellous nursery for Native Plants only 10 minutes from here, it is a must for you to visit, an opportunity to take many photos to post on the forum ,so please allow some extra time when you visit us in 3 week,s time .
Otto.
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Hi Otto, just puzzled, where is your 'here'? If you can add your location to your sig it would be very helpful....
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Otto,
Eeeek! I'm not sure I needed to know that. Already not got enough space for what I have. ;D My problem is I start back at the ANBG on teh 1st of September, so really I shouldn't even be taking time off to come down to the talk and visit you guys that weekend. I'd hoped to be able to extend a bit and get back here on the Wednesday, to allow a bit of wandering, but thinking now we may make a marathon trip back on the Monday. Staying at Tim's Sat and Sunday nights, so I'll get to see your area at the very least.... just have to work out how much more time I can spare. I think it is about a 9 or 10 hour drive from Melbourne to here isn't it? :o
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Howdy All,
This Myoporum is currently flowering on the nature strip a few houses down from my place.....
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It is about 2.5m wide, but perhaps 15cm tall, without flowers throughout. Very impressive. I shall be asking if I can take a few cuttings as I think this would be a wonderful weed suppressant right on the corner of my nature strip. ;D
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I have to single out the kangoroo paw! I really like that plant! I only have sen it once here, in the botanical garden, and it grows quite big!
The correa is also very nice, nevr heard of that one ;)
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Mike,
Kangaroo Paws range from over 2 metres tall in some varieties, down to 30cm tall in other varieties. They're coming into full bloom at work at the ANBG at the moment, so I've phtoographed a few different ones in the last few days. As I get to them I'll be posting them in the ANBG topic. They range through red, yellow, green, pink etc in both tall and short varieties (the shorter varieties are what is being bred and released in nurseries now-a-days predominantly, even a dwarf white form now) and assorted bicolor types. The Western Australian floral emblem is Anigozanthus manglesii which is a red/green bicolor to about 60cm tall (from memory). It is a bit touchier to grow than most of the new ones, which I think are based from the original A. flavidus (which is likely to be the taller type that you have seen in a Bot Garden) which has been available for many years in nurseries. Many of the newer varieties are resistant to "ink spot", a fungal disease that leaves ugly black spots on the leaves and affects the health of the plant. The older varieties so often were plagued by this.
As you like them in particular, I'll make more of an effort to track down other varieties to photograph and post in the ANBG topic. 8)
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In the UK we see "kangeroo paw" in cut flower bouquets from the "better" florists.... i.e. more expensive!
I have no idea where these are grown or the UK market....... perhaps Luit can tell us if these are a glasshouse crop in the Netherlands?
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Thank you very much Paul!
Yes i really like these, as they are new to me. I used to see them on nature series on TV, with birds pollinating them. But to see them in real life is even more interesting. I like the velvety appearance of the flowers and their arrangement on the spike. The one i have seen was deep red (no idea of the species). I guess it was in flower in August (here in Madeira).
Maggie i am surprised that you can find such a different plant, from so far away, on flowershops there. HEre i had never seen them. Only the same boring things year after year... I hope that this will change soon ;)
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Paul it's good to read you are working.
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Mike,
I was at a local market this morning and picked up a very dwarf variety of kangaroo paw.... only grows to maybe 35cm tall or so at the maximum, and it is only 3/4 of that in the pot at the moment. I haven't come across one that small before, so I just HAD to buy it! ;D
Mark,
I worked at the ANBG from April to June and then got another contract from the beginning of September until the end of next June. After that I can but hope to get another contract, but at least I'll have been working there for more than 12 months by that time, which will help for the future, wherever I may be working. So nice to be well enough to be working again, particularly as it is most definitely quite heavy work at times and I seem to be surviving it just fine.
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In the UK we see "kangeroo paw" in cut flower bouquets from the "better" florists.... i.e. more expensive!
I have no idea where these are grown or the UK market....... perhaps Luit can tell us if these are a glasshouse crop in the Netherlands?
I believe they come mostly from other countries like S. America or Africa, because marketed from November to April.
Would cost to much of energy here to make it profitable, I think.
Last years lots of "kangeroo paw" are offered as pot plants, (from a special breeding programme) and they are grown here.
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I haven't come across one that small before, so I just HAD to buy it! ;D
Oh yes Paul, i understand you perfectly and know how that feeels like. I also tell my mum, that the main reason for wich i trade and buy plants to get new different ones, is not because i like them, but because i NEED them!! ;D ;D
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This is an addendum to the Grevilleas in the ANBG topic. It is Grevillea 'New Blood, which is a relatively new release ground sover. I am growing it in a pot in my own garden. The picture doesn't do it justice as it is a good blood red colouration. Will be stunning as it increases in size. Lots of buds are coming on it now, but I thought I would post a quick pic of it here now as I have been posting pics from teh same genus over in the ANBG thread.
Enjoy.
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I like grevilleas, too. I'm not going out in the rain to photograph my two
winter flowering ones (G. victoriae and Canterbury Gold), so I will post
some pictures taken in southern Western Australia. I have hopes that
they will prove hardy here - I'm sure they get icy winds from Antarctica
sometimes, and we are due for cold to come tumbling south from Alaska
this weekend.
I would prefer to grow tall ones - nice to look a flower in the eye, and
I wouldn't want our hummingbirds feeding at ground level in the way of
the neighbourhood cats.
However, mindful that this is a rock garden site, I will show only prostrate
ones, G.nivea, G. lanigera, G. Bronze Rambler, G. Gaudichaudi and G.
Boongala Spinebill.
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Diane,
In that case I shouldn't have posted a fraction of what I have posted in the Australian Natives at the ANBG topic, as very few of them would be useful in a rock garden situation. I don't think we're that limited here are we?
Thanks for posting the pictures. Nice to see more Aussies getting around the world. ;)
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No, we're a very inclusive group.
I do find it interesting how many Australian woody plants
creep.
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So... re you calling Australian creepy then? ;)
We do have groundcover versions of a lot of our plants. I think it is just that given our harsh conditions here plants evolve clones to fill different niches. We have many shrubs that have low versions of them, the only difference being their growth habit and nothing else.
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It might also have something to do with how much space they get to spread.
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I have wondered whether groundcover plants have evolved that way to give themselves some wind protection, and also to provide a cooler root zone. That way they create their own shade for their roots, and trap moisture below it? I have no idea of the accepted reasons, just my own musings.
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Paul,
You mentioned you are happy to see your native plants being
grown elsewhere.
One odd thing to me, is that it is only your woody plants we
grow along the Pacific coast of North America. Eucalyptus,
Correa, Grevillea, and a couple of Banksias (I think - I haven't
tried them yet) grow here on the coast of Canada.
Why don't we grow any of the non-woody ones? Are they more
difficult? Have people tried and given up? Recently, Scaevola
has been sold as "basket stuffers" for hanging baskets and other
containers. I don't know whether anyone has tried them as
permanent garden plants.
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Diane,
Some of the Scaevola are excellent groundcover plants, supressing weeds more than adequately. Hibbertia are another genus that has some good groundcovers from small groundhuggers to much larger growers that can climb as well as cover. Some of the Dampiera should do well, as they grow here fine (OK, I'm only talking -8'C, but that still should cover a lot of climates up there), climbers such as Kennedia and Hardenbergia should do OK for some of you I would imagine, although they are evergreen and I don't know what full snowcover etc would do for them. I am not sure what exactly the Pacific Coast covers by way of climate extremes, but there should be a lot of our plants that should grow there. The few I have mentioned are just off the top of my head, without actually thinking too heavily about it (well it is a weekend after all. ;)) and there are heaps of others.
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I'm making a seed order to send to Nindethana, and I will be trying
lots of small plants.
If the plants you grow can cope with -8, they should do fine here most
years, unless they abhor winter rain.
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Diane,
The plants I grow here in my own garden will get -8'C in the open, but not as cold as that under canopy cover etc. Those in the ANBG are a different cup of tea, as the ANBG is located on the side of a hill and set up with microclimates in areas to minimise frost (i.e tree cover etc) for those plants that struggle with it. The biggest help though is the hillside effect, where the cold pools at the bottom, minimising the frosts within most of the rest of the site. Seeing some things growing at the ANBG has inspired me to try them here in my garden if I can locate a source for the plants. Many of the things I see at work are pretty hard to find a nursery that sells them. ::)
If there is any help I can give in working out which is likely to survive in my garden (and therefore over in North America) just ask. 8)
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The following posts are copied from a Flowers and foliage now December 2008 page
( http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2737.new#new ) because the subject is relevant here....
Quote from: Paul T on December 27, 2008, 10:38:38 PM
Due to their intolerance of Phosphorus I do tend to keep many of the Proteaceae family in large pots where I can keep their root system separate from the other plants in my garden. They rather like the extra drainage as well.
Paul,
I would be glad if you'll explain this.
Why do you keep those plants in pots? Does your soil contain too much phosphorus or do you use a different fertilizer (which?) for the pot-grown species?
What kind of symptoms do plants show when they received phosphorus in excess?
Gerd Knoche
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Gerd,
The Proteaceae family have roots that are designed to extract the maximum phosphorus (I'll refer to it now as P, as in NPK) from extremely poor soils (South Africa and Australia have some of the oldest and most P depleted soils on the planet). As such, the addition of P rich fertilisers is deadly to most of the them. By putting them into pots I can give them the excellent drainage they require, while also cutting them off from the plants in the rest of my garden that I may apply traditional fertilisers which contain P. If they were planted amongst my normal garden plants then I would have to be careful not to fertilise those garden plants with any fertilisers that contained P, as I could easily kill the natives amongst them. Pots allow me to "plant" these natives amongst my other garden. Other natives that aren't Proteaceae don't have this problem and I can plant them in the garden without concern, it is just the things like Proteas (South African), Telopeas, Grevilleas, Banksias etc that are sensitive to it. I also have a small area of my garden where I have planted a couple of the natives together in the ground, and I know to keep the other fertilisers away from them.
Has that explanation helped, or have I just muddied it up even more?
Paul T.
To minimize P for these plants I use subsoil mixed with plenty of sharp sand & grit. Some callistemon, melaleucas and grevilleas seem to tolerate our P-rich soils quite well, but others (e.g. banksias) become chlorosed and gradually die when planted in the open garden. Interesting that S American Embothrium coccineum thrives here.
Paul, do you know why Australian Proteaceae are P-intolerant but other families such as Myrtaceae are not (or less so)?
Ashley A.
Ashley,
I don't know for sure why, but I would be assuming that they have "P intensive" flowers, i.e they actually require more P to produce their flowers than the others do. For that reason they have engineered roots that strip every bit of P out of the soils they are in. I can only assume that the other families (such as the Myrtaceae you mention) do not require as much P for their flower production so they have never had the need to develp roots that extract higher levels of P from poor soils. I tend to side with caution when i comes to Grevilleas. Some do indeed seem to be less intolerant in a garden situation, but I prefer to take no chances.
Gerd,
I realised that I forgot to answer your question about which fertilisers I use for my potted natives.... I just use a commercial low P Aussie native fertiliser. I can check for the NPK ratios if you're interested?
Paul T.
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Thanks Maggi. You're on the ball as usual!! ;D What would we do without you? :o
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Our local native nursery recommends a similar routine to Paul's for Richea's, though they're equally sensitive to excessive heat.
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What about the rest of the Epacrids? Or is it just for the Richeas?
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Thank you, Maggi and Paul!
Paul, your explanation is excellent. Glad you mentioned Embothrium - the only Proteacea I cultivate (in a pot).
The plant looks fine although I gave traditional fertilizer in a lower dose - unfortunalely it never flowers.
Gerd
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Embothrium - the only Proteacea I cultivate (in a pot).
- unfortunalely it never flowers.
I imported a Norquinco form from Hilliers. It took 32 years to flower, but now flowers
every year in the garden with rhododendrons and a Moroccan broom as company.
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Gerd,
I have no knowledge of Embothrium at all, barely even heard of it. I'm glad that Ashley was able to provide the info on it, because you would have had me scratching my head! ::)
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I imported a Norquinco form from Hilliers. It took 32 years to flower, but now flowers
every year in the garden with rhododendrons and a Moroccan broom as company.
In this case I am looking forward to my 90th birthday - hoping the plant is with me then ;D ;D ;D
Paul,
Sorry, I mixed up your answer with Ashleys!
Gerd
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Very interesting discussion I just found here!
Gerd,
I realised that I forgot to answer your question about which fertilisers I use for my potted natives.... I just use a commercial low P Aussie native fertiliser. I can check for the NPK ratios if you're interested?
Paul T.
But in relationship to our 'normal' rock plants I would love to know which fertilizer you use Paul.
We used to grow many plants for visual effects and noticed when for instance the stock plants of
Aubrieta got short of P, they flowered not so good in spring after been divided and potting in autumn before.
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I would be assuming that they have "P intensive" flowers, i.e they actually require more P to produce their flowers than the others do.
Thanks Paul and Maggi.
Very interesting Paul; I haven't come across the idea of 'P-intensive' flowers before. Presumably part of the Australia flora evolved in soils that did not require adaptation to very low P levels, whereas Proteaceae predominantly did. However in general the P-intolerance must reflect evolutionary conditions rather than family, so that very different plants from separate families share this trait. By contrast, South American Proteaceae evolved in young soils where P was abundant.
A mix of ericaceous compost, rather than the subsoil I use, with sharp sand and grit is recommended here: http://www.thompson-morgan.com/info/articles/proteas-from-seed.html (http://www.thompson-morgan.com/info/articles/proteas-from-seed.html)
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Ashley,
The "P-intensive" idea is my own rationalisation.... it is the only reason I can come up with for them evolving roots to get as much of it as possible from a depleted soil. The P-intolerance may have been evolved by an ancestor, that then passed that trait on through speciation afterwards? That may explain why so many of them have it, yet have such a wide variety of conditions they come from? I really don't know for sure the "why" of any of it.
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On the Agriculture Western Australia site (http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/HORT/FLOR/CP/F06901.PDF (http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/HORT/FLOR/CP/F06901.PDF)): '...in our experience the phosphorus intolerance of Proteaceous plants is vastly over-rated. If such plants are raised from the start with a complete fertiliser they do not develop the proteoid root structure that leads to phosphorus sensitivity and indeed respond very well to normal fertiliser regimes.'
Nevertheless even seed-grown Australian Proteaceae seem to show P-sensitivity, if not the full-blown intolerance of plants transferred from a P-poor soil. Conversely some grevilleas for example (like 'Canberra Gem') are quite happy with 'normal' P levels.
Am I wrong in thinking that some non-Proteaceae also show P-intolerance Paul?
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Ashley,
That is really interesting. I certainly had never heard that seed grown Proteaceae were not P-intolerant. I don't know if there are others that have the same intolerance, it is just that the Proteaceae are the ones that are most known for it. Apparently a lot of the other families native to Australia quite like P, flowering much better with a balanced fertiliser than without it. Often here natives are all put in the "must avoid P" basket, which is most definitely inaccurate. I'll see what I can find out for you regarding other Aussie natives that are P-intolerant, but I won't have a chance to do that until I am back at work in the new year and can access the library at work. MANY more reference books there than in my own little library. ;D
Actually, I'm just going to add a little bit to this posting a few minutes later...... I am using the term P-intolerant when it really isn't an accurate term. The plants do need a certain amount of Phosphorus, it is just that some plants are sensitive enough to it that levels of it in a general fertiliser can be detrimental (or toxic in some cases). I realised that I have been talking with Gerd and Ashley like they are totally intolerant to ANY Phosphorus, so I just wanted to add this qualification for anyone who is reading this and had thought that that is what I meant. It all comes down to the level of tolerance, and with the Proteaceae family I would just tend to err on the side of caution, particularly with Banksias and some of the Grevilleas, but I would also guess that careful experimentation with plants in your own conditions would be worthwhile if you were thinking of growing them. If it works for you in your area, then grow them that way. Phosphorus is locked into the soil via various mechanisms, so your soil may quickly neutralise available P and lock it away from sensitive plants anyway.
Anyway, just wanted to clarify what I had been saying. I am by no means an expert either, just another grower of these plants.
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That is really interesting. I certainly had never heard that seed grown Proteaceae were not P-intolerant.
... I'll see what I can find out for you regarding other Aussie natives that are P-intolerant, but I won't have a chance to do that until I am back at work in the new year and can access the library at work. MANY more reference books there than in my own little library. ;D
Excellent Paul; much appreciated.
To be clear, seed-grown Proteaceae may tolerate P somewhat better than mature plants established on nutrient-poor soils but I find that they are still sensitive and rather tricky to manage.
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Paul,
What about the rest of the Epacrids? Or is it just for the Richeas?
I was told that it was because they are Epacrids. Personally I grew R. dracophyllum for a number of years in open ground without seeing any ill-effects, but I'm on sand.
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Rob,
Thanks, I'll see what I can find out re the Epacrids. I have had an E. longifolia growing in my garden for a number of years now (the only Epacris that survives for any length of time for me so far, be it pots or the ground) near a Camellia and some Lilium henryi, both of which get fertiliser. It has grown and flowered just fine, so it at least will take some P, although the others may have taken the available P from the fertiliser. I also try to fertilise those plants on the other side of them to the Epacris, just to be safe. ;)
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Homebase, a UK home DIY store, has stock of living Christmas trees. They are Grevilleas!
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Some grevilleas can cause quite severe allergic reactions.
Have to say I have been enjoying the pics in this thread.
I would love to be able to have a couple of banksias in my backyard, they have so much character.
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A very cute little "Emu Bush" I bought recently.... Eremophila glabra. The whole thing is only under 2 inches tall. Will be great to see how wide it gets, as it should produce a great groundcover by the look of it.
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Lovely little plant Paul, have never seen anything like it before.
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I think Paul has put some yabbies in there for a laugh ;D
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You might be right Mark, I have to admit my first thought was they looked more like prawns than emus.
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You're right you know. They do look like Prawns or yabbies. I had never noticed that before.
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You're right you know. They do look like Prawns or yabbies. I had never noticed that before.
That was my first thought and when I showed Ian that's what he said, too..... the thought has been with me all day... had to have crayfish tail salad for supper as a result :D Yummy!
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Howdy All,
While I am catching up on the Aussie natives for the ANBG topic, I'm going to probably post a couple in here from the last few months as well......
This is a lovely little orchid that bloomed for me in January (then a second pot bloomed for me in Feb/March from a different source, hopefully they'll stay that way so I can enjoy them for longer each year ;)).
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
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Spiranthes australis, formerly Spiranthes sinensis. Each flower is only a few mm wide, with the whole plant maybe 30cm in the pot at my place. The spirals are just amazing.
I'll also be posting a couple of pics taken at the ANBG in that topic ( http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3339.0 ) as well, as they grow wild there.
Enjoy.
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Oh wow Paul how fascinating - what is their habitat?
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Pat,
They just grow out in the open, not sure exactly where in the wild but can be from full sun to some shade in the ANBG. The areas they are in are watered year around, so obviously don't mind water when dormant. Apparently in orchid collections they can become a bit of a weed as they seed freely and come up in pots all over the place. Mine at home are in the shadehouse, so they weren't pollinated by anything. Interestingly though mine in the shadehouse are now sending up new leaves when I thought they should be going dormant. Very strange. Looks like they may be multiplying well in the pot though, as there are plenty more than the 2 rosettes there were when they shot in spring..... looks like there might be a half dozen or more shooting now, but who knows what will happen to those as they're I think coming up out of season. The ones at the ANBG, as pictured in that topic, are going dormant with no signs of new shoots at their bases.
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Great orchid! That spiral effect is stunning! The basal flowers seem to be perfect and the spike anthesis is really advanced, wich makes that effect even greater, very cool!
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Thanks Paul for the inf on the spiral orchid - would love that "weed" around here.
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they can become a bit of a weed as they seed freely
I wouldn't complain! ;D
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A couple of quick pics of Ptilotis nobilis, which I have in flower at the moment. I can't really claim any amazing cultivation breakthrough with this plant, as I only bought it a month or so ago. ;)
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An unusual double form of Epacris impressa is flowering here at the moment. In a pot, so the plant itself is nothing to write home about, but the individual flowers almost look like little rosebuds at the tips.
Enjoy.
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A couple of quick pics of Ptilotis nobilis, which I have in flower at the moment. I can't really claim any amazing cultivation breakthrough with this plant, as I only bought it a month or so ago. ;)
I bet that flowerhead tickles ;D Really like it - how tall is it and does it grow from a clump?
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Robin,
It is a small "shrub" to about 30cm tall if that. Just looks like a little perennial, but it is permanent above ground (if you know what I mean). Very soft. All the flowerheads you see in the picture originate from the same point at the soil surface/lower stem. It doesn't "spread" like a clump, but rather is a single shrub. I hope I am explaining that alright?
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Paul,
Is the Epacris a named form? Our local botanic gardens has three or four such, though I've yet to see them commercially available down here.
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Rob , Epacris impressa is the national floral emblem of the state of Victoria , and the double
form is sometimes available from Kuranga native plant nursery close by.
Over the last 2 years I planted all commercially available Epacris species and forms,
19 in all [there are more ]in the rockgarden devoted to australian native plants , in the grounds of our local Ferny Creek Horticulturel Soc.-a 10 acre garden.
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Rob,
Mine came from Kuranga when I was down there visiting Otto etc last year. Also a rather pretty double form of E. gunnii. Kuranga sell lots of different Epacris, including 4 different forms of E. longifolia (my favourite of the genus I think). I have had a few on order from them since last September but have never heard from them, so I am guessing that I am unlikely to ever hear from them in that regard.
have you managed to get all the forms from them that they offer Otto, or are you still waiting on some as well?
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A couple of Grevillea that are in flower for me at the moment here (still small plants, so no point photographing the whole thing).
Grevillea jephcotti has tiny flowers that you can easily miss.
Grevillea 'Fireworks' you can't miss as they're so bright.
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Hi Paul,
I do like your Grevilleas, small maybe but delightfully curious with attractive colour combinations!
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Great little surprises - how big does the Grevillea plant actually grow, Paul?
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Robin,
The Grevillea jephcottii at the ANBG (I will be posting pics in there of some of them, when I catch up eventually) is probably 2.5m wide by 1.6m tall, or thereabouts. I am not sure how big the 'Fireworks' gets as I haven't seen mature plants of it as yet. I would be assuming at least 1.5m tall, but can't recall the tag at the moment. I can check for you if you'd like?
Thanks Chris. The 'Fireworks' in particular you just can't miss the display, but to be honest I almost walked past the jephcottii at the ANBG and didn't realise it was in flower. ::)
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Grevillea victoriae flowers all winter here. It is currently midsummer
and both of my grevilleas are noticeably in bud. I can't remember
whether this has happened before - I don't usually look at them in summer -
but I don't think so.
We are having unusually hot weather (30 C today), but whatever triggered
them must have happened a while back. I had a few days of rain a couple
of weeks ago (also an unusual occurrence), so maybe that was what set
the plants up for flowering.
The other flower is Acanthus spinosus.
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Howdy All,
A couple of Aussie Natives flowering here at the moment.....
Anizozanthos - dwarf bicolor form
Pandorea pandorana, known as the Wonga Wongs vine. Beautiful perfume too, right outside our front door.
Prostanthera species.
Enjoy.
Please click on the pics for a larger version.
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Nice little Kangaroo paw, Paul.
Firstly here's a shot of part of a Rock Garden where Thrift and Dianthus grow with a local Pimelea,
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And a close up of the pimelea, P. glauca,
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Close by is this charming trio, Dampiera rosmarinifolius(purple), Darwinia nieldiana (pinkish) and Acacia cognata in soft spring green.
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An endemic "Pigface" or "Ice plant": Carpobrotus modestus, though there's nothing modest about it when it's in flower!
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This next one is a bit curious as I automatically assumed when I saw it that it was a Dampiera, but I was assured by the proprietor of the Native Plants Nursery that it is a blue flowered Goodenia, G. caerulea - go figure!
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
The little Anigozanthos is only about 15 to 20cm tall, if that. A little cutie!!
I would have thought Dampiera or Scaevola for your last one, but there ARE goodenias of colours other than yellow. I have a pink flowered species whose name escapes me right now. ::) Whatever yours is... I like it!!
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Howdy All,
I realised afterwards that I should have specified that my Pandorea pandorana is a variety called 'Snowbells' as it has no throat markings like in the straight species. Here's a closeup of the flowerheads.
Please click on the pic for a larger version.
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Is it scented, Paul, a lovely thing looking very exotic?
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Robin,
At the top of the page I posted a pic of the plant itself.... that was just a closeup of the flowerhead. It is a climber, and has a lovely perfume, but I can't quite work out what it smells like. It is familiar, reminds me of some sort of food I think, but can't quite place it. ::)
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A couple more from the rock garden: Dampiera diversifolia
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and a species of Philotheca
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cheers
fermi
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So many beautiful and plants! And none I can grow. :( They are not hardy here. :(
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Hi Paul,this is how you grow Pandorea Snowbells on your front fence :)bye Ray
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Hi Paul,this is how you grow Pandorea Snowbells on your front fence :) bye Ray
Hi Ray,
is that a powerline going through the middle? :o
Here's a flower on one of the creeping banksias, B. blechnifolia
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cheers
fermi
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Ray,
Well I am very glad that it is easily controllable and we can keep it quite well behaved outside our front door. The main mass of our plant would be perhaps 6 feet by 6 feet, more or less, with the stems coming up from down in the ground 6 feet below that. The greenery itself would be no larger than the 6 x 6 though. It produces a lovely display, as you can see from the pics..... I'm glad it is controllable because I certainly wouldn't have wanted your front fence outside my front door!! ;D ;D
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These pics were taken at the weekend Flower Show at Ferny Creek Hort Society; most of these native Australian plants were grown by a friend, Shirley Carn, who often opens her garden for charity.
cheers
fermi
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Fermi,
Very nice. Do you have the name of the Grevillea in the second picture? I think it is "Wildwood" something or other, or a name something like that. If so, I am growing it here quite successfully, although I have it in a large pot. The Darwinia are gorgeous, as is that Kunzea and the beautiful Banksias (both yours and the show one). Thanks for posting. 8)
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Hi Fermi,no the power line is not going through the Pandorea.bye Ray
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Hi Fermi,no the power line is not going through the Pandorea.bye Ray
Hi Ray,
I'm glad of that as it's a magnificient display. It would be heartbreaking to have the Power Company come through and "trim it"!
cheers
fermi
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I can't see anywhere else to put this one.
It is Australian ;D
Cephalotus follicularis 'Big Boy'
I obtained the mother plant 25 years ago and have never had any trouble growing it as a bog plant.
This is a 'stem cutting' I accidentally pulled of a couple of years ago when I was cleaning off old leaves.
It's growing in pure sphagnum moss
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Amazing plant ... super image.
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Do tell us more, Fred, about this survivor - somehow it reminds me of Edward Lear's "Jumblies" who went to sea in a sieve :D
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Fred,
I mentioned before that you must have a good collection of carnivorous plants..... you're just showing me I was right!! ;D I've tried it a couple of times and lost it. I just love the look of it, probably my favourite of the pitcher plants. Very nice shot, and congrats on propagating them so easily. 8)
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Paul,
Many have great difficulty growing Cephalotus successfully, most say they can only be kept damp.
I grow them mainly in a Sarracenia compost and sit them in water trays ( it doesn't half irk people I get away with it ).
As I mentioned the one I pictured is in pure sphagnum.
I think it's on it's 3rd tier of pitchers due to the sphagnum growing..
I give them no heating here in the UK ( Midlands)
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So do you actually grow it outside then? How cold do you get, and what do you do with it during winter?
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No Paul, it's grown in an unheated greenhouse year round.
The conditions do get below freezing in winter.
I'm officially Zone 8b which is a minimum of 15 - 20F (- 6.7 to -9.4C)
Your zone is about the same on minimum.
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Fred,
The unheated glasshouse will make a big difference to actual cold level though. I thought it was too good to be true! ;D Still, seeing your pic (and pics a while back from another topic) has me wanting to try it again. Not that easy to get of course, but I think I might have to try.
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Paul,
It's a lean-to greenhouse on a NW facing wall, it gets very little winter sun and vents are always open.
Cephalotus is a lot hardier than many people think, it's home temperature range in the SW tip of Australia does drop to 0C,this is an average minimum and it does fine for me below that.
I have also noted that one of the best stands of the plant is/was ,there has been a report the area was robbed out :-X, on a South facing cliff, minimum sun in that position.
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Fred,
I didn't realise it was a shade lover. Maybe that is why mine haven't done so well. Hmmmmmm.... :-\
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I can't see anywhere else to put this one.
It is Australian ;D
Cephalotus follicularis 'Big Boy'
I obtained the mother plant 25 years ago and have never had any trouble growing it as a bog plant.
This is a 'stem cutting' I accidentally pulled of a couple of years ago when I was cleaning off old leaves.
It's growing in pure sphagnum moss
wow! what a stunning plant! the fact that it is a shade plant makes it sound more feasible for indoors (in a cool room, of course) than many of the other boggies that want full sun..hmm will have to look it up a bit; it looks like it scarcely produces chlorophyll? are they growable from seed?
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i can also commend fred on cultivation of carnivorous plants,i only live round the corner from him and have seen his plants they are as good as his photos his Heli's are incredible,and a very generous chap with his time and plants as well.
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This is the double form of one of our native "bluebells", Wahlenbergia "Blue Mist"
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Related to verticordia is Pileanthus peduncularis, "Copper Cups" from WA, said to be tricky on the East Coast and we've only just planted it so we'll see if it's still here next year! Although I'd be tempted to try again and again as it is an unusual colour "for a native".
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I can't grow gentians in the open garden so for that "gentian blue" we grow Halganias! H. cyanea comes from the Mallee but grows widely in Australia,
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Halgania preissiana comes from WA and has prickly, little ilex-like foliage - sharp!
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To finish, the lovely new growth on Banksia petiolaris, one of the trailing types.
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cheers
fermi
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Lovely native plants growing for your Fermi, Banksia petiolaris is a wonderful wavy leaf in your young growth shot
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Philotheca myoporoides just starting to flower in the garden, in a pot ;)
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Philotheca myoporoides just starting to flower in the garden, in a pot ;)
Very nice Ashley, the buds are also lovely 8)
Angie :)
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Thanks Angie. A bud forms in each leaf axil, then when the flowers open the tips of the petals remain pink.
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Thanks Angie. A bud forms in each leaf axil, then when the flowers open the tips of the petals remain pink.
Sounds lovely, is it scented.
Angie :)
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Unfortunately not.
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Nice to see the Philotheca, Ashley, especially as it will be a few weeks before they start to flower here.
It's the foliage which is scented, Angie!
Many Aussie native plants are coming into bloom as winter nears it's end, here are a few in our garden
The pink form of Dampiera rosmarinifolia
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A low growing Hibbertia (label lost when the the bed was awash in January!)
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One of the paper-daisies
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cheers
fermi
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Fermi like the Hibberita 8)
Angie :)
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Can anyone give me advice on growing Epacris microphylla please?
Would it prefer gritty acid soil in an open sunny position, and with reasonable drainage how hardly is it likely to be?
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Ashley,
I struggle with Epacris, even in pots here. I've never managed to keep an E. impressa going more than a couple of years, but E. longiflora seems to do well here both in the ground and in pots. Not sure whether I've tried microphylla before. Hopefully Fermi can help, many of this genus are from his neck of the woods, although I think the microphylla comes from the sandstone escarpments around Sydney from memory, so it may need entirely different conditions. :-\
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Thanks Paul. Sandstone here too, but very different otherwise.
Maybe I should try it in a big pot with sandy/gritty humus and damp substrate beneath, then bring indoors for the winter.
In the meantime if I can root cuttings then there would be more scope for experimentation.
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A hybrid rather than a species, but flowering now: Correa 'Federation Belle'
Registered (http://www.anbg.gov.au/acra/descriptions/acc850.html) as Correa ' Marion's Marvel' x ? Correa reflexa var. speciosa
& named for the centenary of Australia’s federation in 2000.
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Thanks for that Ashley, I must update my label ::)