Photo/s of the day. The garden.

[moonvoice]

Well, things are just starting to flower in our garden. And the Lechenaultia biloba, which I only put in a few weeks ago, already has flower buds! So that's taken really well in our soil. HUZZAH. It will have lovely blue flowers. I find myself hoping they won't flower when I'm on holiday!


Our 'no water' garden. It looks really scruffy right now, because it's due some re-mulching. But the plants are all thriving, and require NO water for 9 months of the year. The other three months, about 10 plants only require watering once a week, maximum. The rest require no water 12 months a year. They need a twice yearly sparse distribution of low phosphorus release fertiliser designed for local natives, and they're all Australian, and many are endemic to the SW corner of Australia, and stunningly beautiful. They attract native flora and fauna (and parasites and pests! - but this being said, many of the plants have developed their own ways of dealing with these pests, which makes the garden an interesting ecosystem to observe).







The sprawly thing you can see in the foreground on the right is an Acacia. Acacia spathulifolia. It is perfect for many Western Australian gardens that have sand or well-draining soil. It will also grow on laterite/limestone soils (our fossilised, impoverished sand-dunes in the Perth metropolis), and in coastal regions. It's about three weeks away from flowering. And then the whole thing will blaze yellow.





Grevillea. I can never remember the variety, unfortunately, but the bees (and everything else on the planet), love it!





Acacia merinthophora in tentative flower. Also known as the Zig Zag Wattle.





Acacia merinthophora over the brilliant crimson Lechenaultia formosa, which has been flowering for a month now, and will continue to flower for maybe another two. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the camera cannot capture how vividly red this Lechenaultia is. It is a stunning, lovely, flowering groundcover. I just wish it was easier to get. It's very hard to find, even though it's endemic to the South-West corner of Western Australia.





Lechenaultia formosa. It's a crime it's not more well-cultivated. Once established, it requires very minimal watering during heatwaves only, and flowers like this.





Thryptomene baeckaecea. Prostrate form. From Lullfitz nurseries. There's an even lower form available, and a tall form. This flowers intermittently throughout the year but most happily in Autumn and Winter. It's such an interesting, unique looking plant. Once established, it is an extremely vigorous and will happily throw down more and more roots from shoots, meaning that if you like propagating from cuttings, this is the groundcover for you. It's ridiculously hardy, and will seek out areas of space that you wish covered, it can also be walked on and will take light foot-traffic. This requires no watering all year once established, even during heatwaves. I highly recommend seeking it - or any of its variations - out if you want to xeriscape in Perth.





x-posted to oz_native_gardening

Comments

[ariestess]

Gorgeous gardens! And I'm in love with the bee!

[shatterpath]

Now you have a garden to be admired! Smart choices in natives and a lovely palate. The blooms the bees and everything else loves are fascinating in a beautiful, alien sort of way. and the red? Gorgeous even without the camera doing it justice! If I can ever do my dream homestead in California wine country, perhaps I shall try to cultivate some!

[shistavanenjedi]

It's great to see that the plants are all natives. We have a werid mix of stuff in our garden (we'd not planted everything, so it wasn't our choice) including until recently a stupid Mediterranen grass tree type thing which was killed by the last two bad winters. I don't understand people's obession over here for planting non-natives, espeacially species which aren't adapted to our climate. We do have some wonderful apple trees, foxgloves (they aren't flowering this year), holly and some ivy. We do get bluebells in the spring, but they seem to be that annoying Spanish variety rather than our natives. I did consider last year of planting some native bluebells because there are companies which sell native bluebell bulbs but then I noticed that the spanish variety was widespread outside our garden as well, so even if I removed the spanish ones, we'd still get hybrids from those. (I really don't know why our government allows the sale of non-native plants which are harmful to wildlife because they bring all sorts of things which shouldn't be here.)

[feralkiss]

OMG, the plants have grown so much! The garden is gorgeous.

[unaspenser]

So beautiful! I love the buddha nestled in the red flowers, and the photo of the bees. Southwest Idaho is a desert too, and I am gradually working to convert part of our garden to native xeriscape, but it's a big job. Thanks for giving me something to aspire to. :)

[moonvoice]

We did ours in bits and pieces (i.e. the rest of our 'garden' is still a sandpit). One thing you can do, possibly, is look into enthusiast's clubs; like wildflower enthusiasts, or enthusiasts based on certain species. A lot of the time they self-cultivate and propagate their own cuttings and seedlings, and will give them away for free, or at least very very cheaply. Local national parks and certain nurseries will probably have information about these organisations, or give you a place to start.

They tend to be quite small and independent, and usually run by later generations who aren't online much (though this is starting to change with time), but they're out there and usually really helpful and free with advice too. :) It could be a good way to get started that isn't financially daunting, and allows you to search for things that won't present too much maintenance either.

[unaspenser]

that's how you eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time?

The bureau of land management in Idaho has a native plant sale once a year, which is where I've gotten many of my native plants, though I have gone out and collected seeds myself in the past. I also go to a yearly local seed exchange in the spring, though that's more for native fruit/veg/garden plants.

I'll keep my eyes peeled for clubs, though, that's a great idea!

[silverjackal]

Your garden really is coming along beautifully. As always, thank you for sharing the photos. The Lechenaultia formosa is well named, as it is indeed formosa (beautiful)!

[red_trillium]

It just goes to show that natives can be as beautiful as imported plants. You have a nice garden!

[sidheblessed]

I love your yard.

[shimmerhawk]

So pretty, I never get tired of looking at these. :) Love the sprawly Acacia and all of these really. They're so different looking from anything that I'm used to.