Autumn’s cooler weather can bring some glorious colour to gardens, but don’t limit your choices to maple trees and other exotics – there are plenty of native plants that can spice up your garden, too. Clarence suggests a few to grow. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe
Hairpin Banksia - has tall spires of yellow with intricate details that look lovely and attract lots of birds. Normally a tall shrub or small tree, there are several cultivars available with different flower tones and varying plant sizes, including the compact ‘Birthday Candles’, which only grows 50cm tall and 1m across.
Suited to cool to subtropical climates, it grows in full sun or part shade. Prune after flowering, or simply cut those glorious flowers for a vase to keep compact.
Grevillea ‘Bush Lemons’ - bright yellow flower spikes against fine, grey-green, feathery foliage make a lovely contrast on this fast-growing, large shrub, which reaches about 3m x 3m. Prune after flowering. Grows in most well-drained soils from sub-tropical to cool climates, and like a sunny spot, or light shade. A feed of native-suitable fertiliser in spring will keep it flourishing.
Diamond-leaf pittosporum - this is one of several Australian rainforest trees that produce colourful berries in autumn. After heavily perfumed white flowers in summer, this plant is covered with clusters of golden yellow berries. Native to Queensland, it suits warm-temperate to sub-tropical climates. While it can reach 25m in a rainforest situation, it is smaller in cultivation – usually between 10-15m. Not to be confused with the weedy Pittosporum undulatum.
Angophora costata - a large tree from coastal NSW and Qld, where it’s widely grown in parks and as a street tree. There are large, showy white flowers in summer but in autumn the gorgeous bark comes into its own. The old bark is shed in spring, revealing a gorgeous, smooth salmon pink, which is a dramatic feature in any garden.
Paper daisies - a beautiful plant that flowers for most of the year in a range of colours from pink, red and purple to yellow, cream and white. The first flush of flowers is in spring but the papery, everlasting blooms last right through until autumn. They are fast-growing plants up to 1m tall, easily raised from seed and, depending on the climate, can be a annual, biennial or a short-lived perennial. They like well-drained soils and grow well in pots. Cut flowers for the vase to keep plants compact.
Kangaroo grass - some plants set seed in autumn and have seed heads that are just as colourful and interesting as flowers. Kangaroo grass is one of them. Its architectural seedheads are very distinctive and the whole plant takes on a reddish-bronze hue in autumn that looks superb en masse. It is found across the country, but regional forms can vary, so source seed or plants from a local supplier to get a form suited to your soil and climate. It grows in full sun to part shade and in all soil types, although it responds well to extra moisture in summer. Cut back in autumn, rake out old leaves, and enjoy its bright green, new leaves in spring.
Featured plants: Hairpin Banksia (Banksia spinulosa ‘Yellow Wing’) Grevillea (Grevillea ‘Bush Lemons’) Diamond-leaf Pittosporum (Auranticarpa rhombifolia) Smooth-barked apple (Angophora costata) Paper Daisy (Xerochrysum cv.) Kangaroo Grass (Themeda triandra)
Filmed on Boon Wurrung & Bunurong Country in Cranbourne, Vic ___________________________________________
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