[PotD] Grevillea from the garden.

[moonvoice]

I actually really love this grevillea,
mostly because - so far - it provides blossoms all year round,
and is extraordinarily robust.
I'll have to find out what cultivar it is,
because out of all of the shrubbing grevilleas I've gotten, this is both hardy,
and satisfyingly beautiful.

*


Grevillea from the garden.

Comments

Re: Off the Latest Things page

[moonvoice]

Wow, it's really unfortunate that they've become so expensive. :/ I do think it's awesome that people are cultivating them in their own gardens, I wish more Australians would grow local native plants where possible, but there's a real lack of education and the nurseries tend to stock exotics more than anything else, is that the same where you are?

Re: Off the Latest Things page

[needled_ink_1975]

Hey. Sorry this is late.

We have laws here about exotics. Sometimes they're brilliant laws, and sometimes they're... stupid. Nurseries, by law, have to stock indigenous species, and that's brilliant.

The stupid– blanket laws regarding exotic trees that result in them being felled. One example. Camphor trees really don't spread like weeds, and they provide shade, and secure nesting places and food for many species of birds and small mammals. Owls, in particular, love camphor trees. We've noticed that the number of Scops and Cape Eagle owls have dropped in our area since a bunch of people chose to fell the camphor trees in their yards rather than face a possible fine for having them. The wording of that law is bad. It reads like *everyone* WILL be fined for having a camphor tree or several, but when a lawyer reads it they interpret it thus: you'll get a fine if you allow the uncontrolled spread of camphor trees. Now, who has a camphor tree forest in their quarter/half-acre yard? This law also applies to bottlebrush, English willow, English/American oaks, walnut, NZ wattle, pines and firs, eucalyptus, and even central African mahoganny. Ugh. WTF? So there's been a lot of 'panic felling' of trees over the last 11 years.

Back to nurseries. Our nearest nursery doesn't only sell plants and trees. They breed several species of chameleons and you can buy chameleons to go with your indigenous shrub—but only if you buy indigineous plants. The whole idea is to get several chameleon species off the at-risk/endangered lists, and it's working (in this area, anyway).