Costa looks at some of the best spring flowering Australian plants for any garden. Subscribe 🔔 http://ab.co/GA-subscribe

The bees and nectar feeding birds are really loving the Native Frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum) right now. It’s not actually related the common frangipani we all know and love, it’s got a much more typical tree habit, but the flowers are just as beautifully sweet smelling, which is where the common name comes from. It’s worth growing just for the spring scent alone! Whilst a great food and habitat tree, it’s also a great specimen for shade or privacy without compromising on flowers. Native to north-eastern forests it can grow up to 25m tall but also thrives in the southern states, out of frost and coastal winds, only getting to ~10m max which is much more suitable for smaller gardens!

Lower to the ground, you can have just as much flowering going on with a functional groundcover like the prostrate Grevillea ‘Bedspread’ with uniquely shaped leaves and flowers, that cascade over the ground as a living mulch in part to full sun (more flowers in more sun) supressing weeds, keeping soil cool and providing shelter at a low level for little critters. Or it can flow over a large pot or retaining wall like a living sculpture. The dense, quick spreading foliage is very textured and, combined with stunning brush-shaped pink-purple flowers, it’s a real winner.

Dramatic Colour:
You can’t really go wrong with grevilleas and the flowers are so diverse it’s worth having more than one. Such an array of flower and foliage types attracts lots of different birds in particular, which in turn help keep certain pests under control on both ornamental and productive plants so another win for all! The Grevillea flexuosa or Zig Zag Grevillea is an open, spreading shrub to 2m with large, lemony coloured flowers on mass that really light up a space and make a great cut flower. Its unusual messy habit can be offset by planting with other shrubs or let it show off its wild form and lobed leaves – a good way to distract from unsightly walls, sheds etc.! It’s from WA and vulnerable in its natural habitat; a great choice if you can get one grafted on local rootstock or have very well-draining soil.

For a dramatic riot of blooms that makes you stop and take notice, tea trees like Leptospermum ‘Cardwell’ & ‘Cardwell Pink’ are dripping to the ground in tiny flowers on lovely arching branches that you can even sit underneath to observe your hard work on a warm day (or kids can use as a spot to play hide and seek!). Pop these in a full sun spot with good drainage (either as a single feature specimen or go all out with a multi-colour mass planting for full effect.) And whilst they don’t flower all year round, the soft evergreen foliage makes it a great quick growing screen or informal hedge to about 2m high.

A Flower for Every Space:
There are some spots in the garden that are a little trickier to fill with flowers, but this garden has the solutions! White and pink dendrobiums are in full bloom, and these are epiphytes or lithophytes – they grow on trees and rock nooks so are absolutely brilliant for adding colour and form when you don’t even have soil! Even when not flowering, the glossy strappy leaves are a brilliant, unexpected display popping out of a rockery or branch.

Shady spots - Eupomatia bennetti (Small Bolwarra) is a small, lesser-known shrub to 1m that produces sweet smelling unusual flowers from August through to January. Each flower only lasts a day or two so it’s something to draw you out into the garden each day to discover. They are thought to be self-pollinating but set fruit best when pollinated by a tiny weevil!

Featured Plants:
GREVILLEA ‘SUNKISSED WATERS’ - Grevillea cv.
ZIGZAG GREVILLEA - Grevillea flexuosa
TEA TREE ‘CARDWELL’ - Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. polygalifolium cv.
TEA TREE ‘CARDWELL PINK’ - Leptospermum polygalifolium subsp. polygalifolium cv.
DENDROBIUM ORCHID - Dendrobium sp.
WONGA WONGA VINE ‘SNOWBELLS’ - Pandorea pandorana cv.

Filmed on Dharug Country | Kenthurst, NSW
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