Description: There are 365 species and 100 subspecies of grevillea, making grevillea the third largest genus in Australia. Many species attract birds into the garden as they produce huge quantities of nectar. They are so many different colours, shapes and sizes and they flower for such an extended period of time, there's so many reasons to grow them.
Uses: Bird attracting, larger varieties for privacy hedge, smaller growers for a driveway hedge or single specimen. They are great in flower borders as they never seem to stop flowering.
Care: Grow your grevilleas in well drained soils is the key to success. In areas with clay soils you will need to build up the soil to knee height to improve the drainage before the grevilleas will do well! Feed with a specialized native plant food such as Garden Gold for Natives. Prune lightly and often after every flush of flowers to avoid legginess. Pruning a little and often will extend the length of your grevilleas life and create a handsome compact bush. Yes you may need to sacrifice some flowers for the sake of pruning, but they'll quickly bounce back with more.
Planting: Saturate the root ball before planting. Dig a hole twice the size of the pot. Prune off all coiled roots at the base. Plant will quickly develop straight roots. Water every 2 to 3 days until established. All grevilleas prefer a well-drained spot with plenty of sunshine.
Where to find: You can see a thousands of grevilleas at the Grevillea Park in Bulli NSW. The garden is not always open so enquire about opening times before you go. Otherwise check out Sydney Wildflower Nursery at Heathcote.
Our favourites:
'Sylvia' (pictured) is a seedling from 'Pink Surprise' with long flowering with rosy pink flowers, hates frost, grows 2m. Some varieties are grafted with a much broader tolerance to weather conditions. We just love this cultivar and growing to only 2m it makes the perfect soft privacy hedge between neighbours. 'Peaches and Cream' (pictured) is one of the best bloomers for a hot summer garden with lime, peach and cream coloured flowers. We love this little gem. It grows to 1.2 m and spreads 1.5m. ...tough and drought resistant! Spidery flowers are palest cream lightly tinged with pink with a touch of lime green at the tip. They would make a superb flower arrangement. In fact the pruning will keep your plant compact and free flowering. 'Golden Lyre' (pictured) has long golden plumes of flower.
'Flamingo' (pictured) grows 3m x 3m with up to 13 flowers on each stem, waying down the branches so it looks like a flamingo feeding. Tolerant of light frosts and prefers a sunny spot, with well drained soil.
'Honey Gem' grows to 6m, a cultivar between G. banksii and G pteridifolia. Flowers are apricot with orange-yellow style and long flowering. Needs full sun and good drainage. Leaves have silvery reverse. This is possibly the best of the tropical cultivars. There is a variegated form called 'Honey Wonder'.
'Misty Pink' - Grows well in warm gardens to 3m and hates cold and frost. Needs full sun and plenty of drainage.
'Moonlight' - Grows well in warm gardens to 3m with creamy white flowers for most of the year, great at night to attract moths that your birds can feed on.
'Pink Surprise' grows to 2m with pink flower spikes 18 cm long. A wonderful flower to cut for inside.
Look out for grafted 'Ivory Whip' that grows 1.5m x 1.5m, a pure white flower with a touch of palest pink at the base ... simply divine! This grevillea tolerates a huge temperature range from -3 to 40 degrees centigrade.
Grevillea rosmarinifolius 'Pink Pixie': Small shrub (1m x 1m) with narrow foliage. Pink and cream spider flowers completely smother this shrub in late winter. Plants develop into a dense bun of foliage. Good in the front of a flower border, in rockery pockets and in pots. An open sunny spot with good drainage. Light prune after flowering.
Kay Williams has orange/honey coloured flowers, 2-4m x 1.5m
Billy Bonkers is metallic pink, 1m x 2m, (grafted)
Lana Maree is Billy's big sister, 1.5m x 3m and rich pink
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