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G a r d e n
Local native plants for
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SHARE THE ENTHUSIASM
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We actually have a page
called Enthusiasm for Australian
plants (see below for the link). To see some of our
local plants in great garden settings, you have to visit some great
gardens. A good place to start is botanical gardens, and several
are listed on this page,
including our own Kings Park.
So far, we do not have a public garden in our part
of the South West (Capel to Augusta) with a significant collection
of our local species, but many private gardeners are enjoying
developing collections of local species in their
gardens.
- An Out of the Blue public garden in Busselton
with a small collection of local plants.
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| Many of our native local species are great
for gardens and
landscaping |
Many of our
native local species are suited to gardens and landscaping, and we
welcome our plants being used in this way so that together we can
learn more about how to cultivate our local flora.
Together with other nurseries and individuals learning to grow our
native flora, we are learning to embrace local plants, and
promoting their potential for cultivation in home gardens, in
public spaces, and in small and large revegetation
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Some of
our native local species are difficult to
cultivate
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As with all
garden plants, some are easier to cultivate than others. The
Australian flora has some species that are very difficult to
cultivate, but can be cultivated by skilled gardeners. Many of our
local species are sought by plant collectors and
connoisseurs.
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| Many of our native local species are easy to
cultivate |
The good news
is that many of our native local species are easy to cultivate. If
they are planted with the Winter rains, many are so tough they will
survive without further watering. But some local plants grow
naturally in moist soil, and although some of these are tolerant of
the natural drying out of the soil in Summer, in a garden
situation, they require watering, at least a couple of times a
week.
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GEOGRAPHE COMMUNITY
LANDCARE NURSERY grows over 180 local species many of which are ideally
suited to gardens, even small gardens, or container gardening. As
the nursery develops, we hope to have a wider selection of
species.You can see what we
grow by looking at our Nursery List.
You can also see our nursery list in other
formats:
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Our website also has some pages on local flora we don't grow. Hopefully, in time,
we will be able to grow more of the local flora.
We are attempting a description and listing of the flora of our
region - roughly the flora between Capel and Augusta. In time, we
may be able to grow a larger proportion of them.
Some of these pages can be accessed
from New
Pages (slow load -
because it has many small photos), and there is a list at the bottom of the main Nursery List page (fast load).
A fairly comprehensive list of our local flora can be found on
the
A more general introduction to our local flora can be found
in the Our Flora
pages.
Other internal
pages perhaps of interest to gardeners:
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Melaleuca teretifolia grows from north
of Busselton to north of Perth, as far as the Watheroo
district. It has white flowers.
A red form was discovered growing near Armadale and it has been
given the cultivar name 'Georgiana Molloy'. It is available from
some specialist Australian plant nurseries.
Click on the photo below to jump to a larger
image of this melaleuca growing in an Eagle Bay garden.
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Several Australian
organisations and businesses help to promote the use of Australian
plants in gardening. One of the most useful web contacts is
the Australian Native Plants Society
(Australia),
ANPSA. This is
an umbrella organisation that includes our own Wildflower Society of Western Australia. |
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WE WELCOME
YOUR HELP
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PHOTOGRAPHS
If you have a
good garden specimen of a local plant, we'd love you to send us a
photograph. See the note on photos on the Feedback page or here.
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PLANT PROPAGATION
Whether or not
you are a keen propagator of plants, you might consider lending the
nursery a hand and helping us with some specialist tasks like
seeding, taking cuttings, and monitoring the seed trays or
cuttings. There are notes on how you can help on our Volunteer page.
Our nursery is
a community nursery, which
means that a lot of the work is done by volunteer helpers. Those
who help benefit the nursery and its involvement in our local
environment, but there are personal dividends and benefits to those
who help at the nursery:
- we learn more about the incredible richness of our local
flora, and how to grow some of it
- we meet people who are involved in helping to make the
natural environment better
You might like to call in (Mondays and Tuesdays) just to
have a look, in which case a courtesy phone call to us is
appreciated - 0429 644 885.
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