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Native Alternatives In The Garden Part of my ethos is this; when most people think 'native', they think
of a handful of plants (gum trees, wattles, various proteaceae) in untidy
gardens. Nurseries, being commercially driven, accommodate this by generally
providing a limited range of flora. Unfortunately, alot of people don't
like what they see; one of my bosses is an avid Cottage Gardener who
admits she's no fan of the average native garden style - but we got
talking and she was interested in a few natives which may fit into a
cottage-type theme. For any one of us converts there are ten gardeners
out there who wouldn't give a native plant a second thought, but if
I could get a few of them reading this..... Also the idea of natives
as bonsai or formal plants to increase their use overall. Unfortunately
there are only a limited number of sites in Sydney (or most other cities
for that matter) which can be revegetated or preserved, so any private
space (i.e. garden) that can be made more fauna friendly is in some
ways more of a necessity than a bonus. Oh, and many thanks to Bruce Clark from the ACT, Warren Sheather from New England (Northern NSW, not USA), Beryl & Clare from Queensland, Cara from Victoria, Adrian Dent from Victoria, Gil Muller from SA and Margaret, Robert from NSW, and Estelle & Natasha Burrows from Sydney, NSW for all their bloomin' great ideas (as Peter Kundall might say). Needless to say, these plant ideas are primarily for a subtropical climate like in Sydney. |
| PLANT or PLANT ATTRIBUTE/IDEA | NATIVE OPTION(S) |
| Daisy or anemone-like foliage | Isopogon anemonifolius or anethifolius (both to 2m, winter flowers), Lomatia silaifolia (native parsley), Petrophile pulchella or canescens |
| Daisy flowers | Olearia microphylla (an excellent native daisy (medium shrub) very suitable for the cottage garden, also local to inner western Sydney), or flannel flowers (Actinotus helianthi) for that matter.. |
| Buttercups | Ranunculus lappaceus, R. collinus and others. Alternatively, guinea flowers (Hibbertia spp.) |
| Daffodils | Bulbine bulbosa |
| Camellias | Lillypillies such as Syzygium australe "Aussie Compact", S. paniculatum. |
| Fuchsia-like flowers | Correa reflexa, - red and/or green flowers Epacris longiflora - pink/white flowers (Native Fuchsias) |
| something edible | Macadamia tree (Macadamia spp.), Lillypillies, Lemon Myrtle (Backhousia citriodora), Native citrus, Davidson Plums (Davidsonia pruriens), Midgen Berry (Austromyrtus dulcis), native mints (Mentha diemenica, M. australis), native pennyroyal (M. satureioides) |
| A mossy groundcover (not for walking on) | Canberra grass (Scleranthus biflorus) |
| A flat groundcover for shady areas | Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens) - can be walked on |
| A white flowering agapanthus | Crinum asiaticum pedunculatum |
| green strappy plants (Dracaena marginata, Agapanthus, Agave spp.) | Cordyline stricta, Dracaena angustifolia, Doryanthes excelsa/palmeri, Crinum asiaticum var. pedunculatum, Dianella spp. |
| Oleander-like (lanceolate leaved) foliage | Tristaniopsis laurina (Water Gum), Grevillea venusta, Grevillea "Orange Marmalade", Hakea dactyloides (white & pink flowered forms), H. archaeoides, Persoonia lanceolata, P. levis (both of these have bright green leaves and small yellow flowers. Hardy once in, getting them is the problem) |
| Mondo Grass (in Vogue these days) or some form of small formal border plant | smaller Lomandra spp., such as Lomandra spicata "Joey" (but slow growing) (Try Randwick community nursery (Sydney)), Poa 'Eskdale', Dianella spp., Acacia cognata 'Green Mist' |
| Hedges, possibly formal | Grevillea rosmarinifolia, Westringia (spp.), Dwarf lillypillies, Agonis flexuosa |
| Prickly Hedges/Plants | Hakea sericea, H. teretifolia, H. gibbosa, H. corymbosa (though a WA plant, seems to handle east coast OK), H. purpurea, Grevillea rosmarinifolia, G. juniperina |
| Gardenias | Native Gardenias (Gardenia, Kailarsenia & Randia spp.) - try Annangrove Grevilleas (Sydney) or Fairhill Nursery (Qld.) |
| Jasmine | Native Jasmine (Jasminum suavissimum) |
| Orange Jessamine (Murraya paniculata) | Murraya ovatifoliolata - closely related |
| Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) | Lagerstroemia archeriana - closely related, culivated in Qld. |
| Those cute 5-petalled flowers off a Geraldton Wax, but you live in Sydney (hence run the risk of rootrot) | lots of Leptospermum species and cultivars, especially L. rotundifolium 'Lavender Queen', L. macrocarpum and L. spectabile |
| Robinia pseudoacacia | Acacia decurrens (well sort of.., try to get local stock as can naturalize) |
| Small tree; Grey Green foliage, like a blue-grey Cootamundra wattle (Acacia baileyana) | Acacia binervia (try to get local stock, if possible), Hakea petiolaris |
| Pine trees - with the nice sounds they make when the wind blows through them | She-Oaks (Allocasuarina / Casuarina spp.), but beware near drains.., also Hakea macraeana & H. ochroptera |
| Cypress trees | Callitris spp. |
| Blue Spruce | Allocasuarina grampiana Good foliage colour, fast growing and heaps cheaper |
| Weeping Willow-type foliage | Acacia cognata (to 4m), green. There is also a cultivar, "Copper Cascade" (has coppery bronze new growth); Hakea macraeana, Agonis flexuosa "After Dark" (purplish foliage) |
| A gum tree but you ain't got the room | Angophora hispida (Dwarf Apple) - 5m, Eucalyptus
obstans (Port Jackson Mallee) -5m, E. burgessiana(Mallee Ash),
E. luehmanniana (Yellow Top Mallee Ash) - 6m, E. pumila
(Pokolbin Mallee) -6m, E. stricta (Blue Mountains Mallee Ash) -
8m.
Angophora costata "Little Gumball" grows to 5m but is very slow and allegedly doesn't flower. |
| A gum tree with red flowers | Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp. megalocarpa (also called var 'rosea'; at least this plant comes from Vic/SA), E. ficifolia, E. phoenicea, E. 'Summer Beauty', E. 'Summer Red' |
| Hardy proteaceae (i.e. you got a brown thumb and your grevillea or banksia's gone to that great big nursery in the sky) | "If in doubt, plant a Hakea", the late Ron Hill of Adelaide botanical gardens. |
| Bonsai subjects | numerous; figs (Ficus rubiginosa, F. benjamina) (except Moreton Bay - leaves too big) standing out; also she-oaks, Banksia serrata (great gnarly lignotuberous trunk); bottlebrushes & melaleucas, hakeas. This is another subject entirely.... |
| Cottage garden-type plants | Ajuga australis, Actinotus helianthi (Flannel Flower) Viola hederacea (Native Violet, including 'White Glory' and 'Baby Blue' cultivars), various daisies(Chrysocephalum, Rhodanthe anthemoides, Olearia spp., Brachyscome spp. including 'valencia', Bracteantha bracteata), Eriostemon myopoides, (for an azalea) Westringia fruticosa, Hardenbergia violacea (shrubby forms), Indigofera australis (native indigo), Hovea spp.,Plectranthus argentatus & P. nitidus (nice silvery foliage), Ixiolena brevicompta (flat billy buttons), Melaleuca thymifolia ('Cotton Candy', 'White Lace'etc),Pimelea spp. including P. ferruginea ('Bonne Petite' and 'Magenta Mist'), P. linifolia, Rulingia hermannifolia, Stylidium graminifolium, Swainsonia greyana (Darling pea), Thryptomene saxicola, Leptospermum 'Pink Cascade', L.'Cardwell' Wahlenbergia spp. (Native violet - self seeding). Scaevola spp. , Correa alba and others, Conostylis aculeata (related to kangaroo paws, one of the only members of the genus reliable in Sydney), Pink or white Isopogons such as I. fletcheri and (all better grafted) I. formosus, I. cuneatus or I. latifolius, Small dainty spider flower grevilleas such as G. sericea (pink or white), G. buxifolia, G. mucronulata, G. scapigera (grafted), G. flexuosa |
| Plants suitable for an oriental rock-garden | Acacia cognata "Green Mist", or A. fimbriata, Scleranthus biflorus (Canberra Grass), any one of the small Banksia spinulosa cultivars ("Birthday Candles", "Coastal Cushion", "Honey Pots", "Stumpy Gold"), Rhododendron lochiae, Dendrobium spp., Adiantum aethiopicum, Crinum pedunculatum, Podocarpus elatus, Microstrobos fitzgeraldii, Agonis flexuosa, Correa spp., esp. reflexa, glabra and cultivars such as 'Marion's Marvel', Xanthorrhoea spp., Lillipillies. |
| Odd looking plants for a succulent-type garden | Hakea corymbosa (Cauliflower Hakea), has very odd-looking foliage, a bit like a yucca, and the related H. eneabba. Hakea clavata (has thick, fleshy leaves). Carpobrotus spp. (pig-face, a fleshy ground cover with pink flowers), Cordyline spp., Crinum spp., Lomandra spp., local cycads - Macrozamia communis & M. spiralis, Brachychiton rupestris (Qld Bottle Tree) |