Meet the world beaters Discover our unique flora making an impression around the world

OUR UNIQUE FLORA IS MAKING QUITE THE IMPRESSION NOT JUST IN MUSEUMS BUT IN GARDENS AROUND THE GLOBE

When you think of iconic Australian plants, there are gums, wattles and grevilleas. And they dominate in our backyards and parks. But it’s our minor stars that are having a huge impact in gardens all over the world. They can be as punky as a solitary grass tree pulling focus amid cacti in Central America or as quirky as a mass of kangaroo paws adding spike and spice in the Mediterranean. Even little lovelies – daisies, buttons and sneaky climbers – have infiltrated European, American and Asian gardens. So if you don’t have one, or some, of these in your garden, you’re letting the side down!

MANY NATIVES NEED LESS WATERING AND FEEDING

18 ANCIENT BUT HARDY

With mop hair like a shaggy sheepdog, the grass tree (Xanthorrhoea sp) can grow as tall as 6m, but smaller ones up to 1m high still make a splash in your garden. You’ll need patience as it’s extremely slow growing, but the dramatic effect is worth the wait, especially when the flower spear emerges. It loves a sunny spot and will steal the show when planted among similarly sculptural succulents and cacti.

1 HAVE A SPRAY Turn a rocky road into an enticing path – grass trees are impressive and dominate, but li le things fill out the picture. Line steps with native violets, let dwarf casuarinas (C. ‘Cousin It’) spill so ly and make things pop with mulla mullas and kangaroo paws!

2 WEIRDLY WONDERFUL With flower heads shaped like a kangaroo paw, it’s no wonder this quirky plant (Anigozanthos sp) is much loved around the world. Originally from the dry environment of Western Australia, it has been bred to handle many climates – except deep shade and cold. And the wonderful colours? That’s the covering of fine velvety hairs.

3, 4 NEVERENDING SUMMER Everlasting daisy, straw flower, paper daisy – call it what you will, but officially it’s Bracteantha bracteata – grow anywhere except wet or heavily shaded areas or in heavy soils. The flowers last from spring to autumn and, if you pick a few blooms for indoors, the plants will produce even more flowers! For pure gold, place them in company with chillies and yellow bu ons. 5 GROW A ‘WOW’ FACTOR The firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus) is a clever thing. It grows in rainforests to about 30m – much smaller in gardens and where it’s cooler – but many of the mass of flowers in summer emerge at the bo om of the crown, so you can get up close and personal with them as you walk under the tree.

6 GO WILD You can still have the quintessential English garden with Aussie natives. Create the typical lack of symmetry with mixes of yellow bu ons, red kangaroo paws, everlasting daisies and delightfully fluffy pink or lavender mulla mulla (Ptilotus sp).

7 SOCIAL CLIMBER The perfume is delicate rather than intoxicating, however the native jasmine (Pandorea sp) is a hands-down winner in the climbing stakes. It’s a rainforest native and will clamber over anything and everything to reach sunlight. Most pandoreas flower profusely in early spring but the pink-throated bower of beauty (bower climber) flowers from spring to late autumn. 8 WILD AT HEART WA’S spring wildflower season is world-renowned and the pre y blue Swan River daisy has made it into gardens. Sow a pack of seeds in autumn and you’ll get this in spring. 9, 10 HANDS DOWN THE WINNER The fan flower, or scaevola, is named a er a Roman soldier who plunged his right hand into a fire to prove his strength. The five one-sided petals on each flower represent the fingers of his le hand – tough and still terrific, in a bed or a hanging basket!

11, 12 TAKE A TWIRL Imagine celebrating Christmas in your garden with the ivory curl tree (Buckinghamia celsissima) in bloom – there’s no need to confect the northern hemisphere’s traditions of snow on trees when you get this lush proliferation of spiralling flowers. In the wild parts of north Queensland, the plant will grow to 30m, but in domestic gardens as far south as Melbourne it’s much smaller. Like many natives, this is a set and forget plant. It’s guaranteed to light up your summer! 13 SIMPLY SUBLIME Flannel flower (Actinotus helianthi) is a pre y addition to any garden. It thrives in coastal heaths, scrub, sandy soils and exposed situations, so in most gardens it’s best in a pot with a well-draining mix, such as those suitable for succulents. It’s so charming you want to reach out and touch it, for the warm, woolly feel of blankets. Hence its name.

14 PURPLE REIGN The native wisteria (Hardenbergia sp) tells you spring is on its way as it explodes with sprays of purple or white pea-shaped flowers in late winter. This evergreen climber will hide an ugly wall or elegantly drape a garden arch. Or, you can get it as a groundcover – it flowers in spring and summer and is a natural weed suppressor!

15 STUNNING CONSTELLATIONS The mass of bursting stars on the golden penda tree (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) is spectacular. It flowers in late winter in the northern Queensland rainforests, where it grows to 15m. But in domestic gardens as far south as cooler temperate regions, it’s much smaller and can flower through summer and autumn. Put it in a sunny spot in well-drained soils where it will a ract nectar-loving wildlife. 16 SUNNY DISPOSITION Yellow bu ons (Chrysocephalum apiculatum) is another everlasting daisy. It pushes out masses of tiny, bu on-like flowers from so , silvery green leaves, from spring to autumn all over Australia. Mass plant this spreading low-grower in a sunny spot to cover a bare patch, along a border or to decorate a rockery garden, or you can put it in a pot. It’s extremely hardy, waterwise and a racts bu erflies to your garden.

17 SHADY CHARACTER The bird’s nest fern (Asplenium australasicum) is perfect for pu ing in a shady spot that can otherwise be a plant cemetery. The nest-shaped rose e of light-green radiating fronds can also grow on trees or on rocks. With its fronds growing up to 1.5m, it makes a stunning focal point in a difficult area of your garden.