Australian Native Plants at the ANBG Canberra

[Paul T]

Thanks everyone.

David,

The Hakea laurina is also a favourite of mine, although it is a scrubby looking large shrub when out of flower.  Still had to buy one for myself though when I saw them available.

A couple more from the rockery in mid May, that I didn't get posted last night. 

Homoranthus darwinoides is quite a dense plant, with little touches of orangey yellow all over it that you realise are tiny flowers.  Each flower is maybe 1cm long in total, always in pairs.  I've  posted two pics of the flowers to show them from in front and beside, because the flowers really aren't that easy to appreciate from just one angle.    They are made up of two covering sepals (I think?) with the tubular flower emerging from between them.  One pic shows the flower side on, but doesn't show the fact the flowers are in pairs, and the other one shows the pair.  They fade to a dark orangey colour as well.  The plant really doesn't come up well in the picture because it is such fine foliage that you lose the detail with my camera and this size of picture for posting.  It is approximately 3 feet tall by 1.5m wide.  I must find myself a small measuring tape I can attach to my keyring so I can more accurately work out sizes.  I'm running most of these from memory, so there is probably a reasonable margin of error! 

And the last thing that I had prepared last night are a couple of pics of Pelargonium australe, which was starting to show it's autumn colours coming through.  Lovely flowers on some of the plants still, but definitely heading into autumn slowdown.  These were not in the Rockery, but were down in the Tasmanian section.  Just happened to be here in the sequence of things I photographed as I am working through the hundreds of pictures I have taken and stored to process later for sorting through and posting a selection here.

[ranunculus]

Hope we are going to be treated to some images of that gorgeous Kosciusko native; Ranunculus anemoneus, Paul?

Only joking ... I know how rare and difficult this beautiful plant is!

[Paul T]

Cliff,

Nope, not even seen that one.    I haven't seen them flowering, but I know the Tasmanian section as R. collinus and R. glabrifolius, but I have no idea whether they are particularly unusual or not.  Managed to track down a couple of small plants from friends too, so have a pot of each at home now as well. I keep seeing things at the ANBG and then having to try to track down a source.... because I just HAVE to grow them myself.    Bought a half dozen more Aussie native shrubs in the last couple of days to add "somewhere" in my garden.  Goddess only knows where.   I really should stop visiting nurseries, but when they have 25% off sales I can't help myself, and then the other one has what we call the TLC table (stands for needing Tender Loving Care)... and I find I just have to liberate plants from the TLC table and take them home and grow them myself.  Can't stand seeing a poor dying or somewhat ratty plant looking for a home at a mark down price. 

[David Lyttle]

Paul,

I remember visiting the ANBG in the early 1970's. I thought at the time they were being a bit optimistic trying to establish a rain forest in Canberra but obviously time and persistence and no doubt lots of water have borne fruit.

We can also claim Scleranthus biflorus as a New Zealand native: it is not surprising as the New Zealand and Australian floras share many genera and have a number of common species.

Please keep posting. I am looking forward to seeing more.

[Paul T]

David,

Until I actually worked there I never had twigged to the layout of the rainforest gully at the ANBG..... the bottom is the Tasmanian section, then there is the Victorian, then the NSW and finally the Queensland... designed to mimic the arrangement of Australian states heading north (in this case up the gully).  There were also plans to cover the upper end of the gully to create a Far North Queensland tropical rainforest, but funds never stretched far enough to afford that sort of major infrastructure outlay apparently.  Would be a big job, covering and enclosing the top end of the gully to effectively create a massive glasshouse.

[Luc Gilgemyn]

Wonderful show Paul - this is all so new to me !   Do go ahead, don't be shy to post dozens more... 

[fermi de Sousa]

Just outside the main entrance (there are a couple in the grounds as well) is a fine example of the Queensland Bottle Tree, Brachychiton rupestris.   I can't help it, I brought a small one recently at a nursery.... heaven knows where I'm going to plant it.    Into a pot for now. 
Hakea laurina.  .. Another plant I HAD to buy when I saw it for sale at a nursery, but again I guess it is doomed to a pot for the moment. 

Paul,
you could always try Bonsai as a number of Aussie natives are suited to it despite their reputation for resenting root disturbance. If you get to Gentiana Nursery in the Dandenongs ask Craig for a look at the ones he's done.
cheers
fermi

[Diane Whitehead]

Paul, since it takes you some effort to track down the plants
you want to buy, that suggests that the garden doesn't sell
plants.  Or do they have occasional sales?

[Paul T]

Diane,

There is a "Friends" group that sell plants a couple of times a year, but there are limits on what they can propagate.  The ANBG does not sell it's own plants unfortunately.

For those others reading.... I do intend to post more pics, just barely even had time to view much of the SRGC forums themselves, let alone prepare stuff for posting.  Back at work now so rather tired by the end of the day.... will be better once my body acclimatises again.   

[shelagh]

Paul our Correa backhousiana is just coming into flower, if it ever stops raining I'll go out to the greenhouse and take a photo. We had C reflexa nummularia in flower and on the Show Bench from March to June this year. C 'Dusky Maid' is very straggly so I have cut it hard back and hope for a better shape next season, the flowers though are beautiful a wonderful deep pinky red.

[Paul T]

Shelagh,

I've found that most of the Correas like regular pruning to thicken them up.  If done from young they can be kept quite small, although that depends on variety of course.  Some of them can get a bit straggly if left to grow without at least tip pruning.  And the birds love them so much I can never steel myself to prune them when in flower, and then when I next remember to look at them for pruning they're back into bud again.  I just love em!!

[Brian Ellis]

Paul and Shelagh, you have given me heart, I tip pruned this year as I wasn't sure but will definitely have a good go next year on them all to get a better shape.  Thanks

[shelagh]

OK it has finally, after 3 full days, finished raining temporarily, so I have rushed out and taken this photo of Correa backhousiana which is just comming into flower.  There are plenty more buds and from our experience of these shrubs it will flower away for a couple of months or more.

[Paul T]

Correas certainly do flower for a long time.  I don't think I've yet come across one with a brief period..... at least a couple of months, sometimes much longer.  I find some of them will tend to spot flower at other times a bit, too.

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Well, it has been a while since I've posted pics in this thread, but I've finally managed to prepare some.  Rather than continuing to try to catch up I am posting here some pics that were taken in the last couple of days, and if I get to some of the other pics I have taken I will specify when they were taken.

So..... these pics were taken at the ANBG in the last couple of days (i.e late September 2008)...

These first 4 plants are all ground cover types, although they can mound up to a certain amount.  There are SO many Acacias in flower right now, but these smaller types are particularly spectacular right now.  The Acacia pravissima 'Kuranga Cascade' is about 7 feet across, and maybe 2 feet at it's tallest point (it cascades out from a garden bed, but the actual growth is no more than 2 feet, even though the plant effectively is a bit taller as it drapes down further).  Far better in real life than in the picture too!!    The Acacia triptera is another smaller type, this one about 2 feet tall by maybe 3 feet wide.  Not exactly a ground cover, but definitely still small.

Another lower or ground cover plant is Banksia 'Stumpy Gold' which is about 6 feet wide and around 18 inches tall.  The inflorescens are approximately 7 inches tall, made up of hundreds of nectar containing flowers.  Great for the honeyeaters.

And last ground cover for right now is Brachyscome formosa which has flowers about an inch across and spreads by stolons.  Quite flat, but very pretty when it is in full flower.

More pics shortly......