In Flower This Week A weekly news-sheet prepared by a Gardens volunteer  Numbers in brackets [ ] refer to garden bed 'Sections'.

These foggy, midwinter days are brightened with flowers in the Rock Garden. Frost damage is quite apparent but come, seek out these lovely flowers. At the bottom of the waterfall Lechenaultia formosa [Section 15V] bears its bright yellow flowers over a very small plant. Climbing the steps, Correa ‘Ivory Bells’ [Section 15D] is dense and rounded with its dangling ivory tubal flowers and, opposite, the lovely Crowea ‘Pink Blush’ [Section 15C] is dotted with deep red buds and white, with a dash of pink, starry flowers. Acacia alata [Section 15E] is severely damaged by frost, however the lower branches are green and healthy. Worth noting are the unusual flattened stems, the sharp spines and the almost white flower balls.

Homoranthus darwinioides [Section 15F], with green-grey leaves and stems tinted red, bears uniquely designed flowers coloured lemon and red. Behind is Eremophila maculata var. brevifolia [Section 15F], still radiant with cerise-coloured bugle-shaped flowers. Around the corner Micromyrtus ciliata [Section 15G] is a low shrub with arching branches of warm red buds just beginning to open to small white flowers. Grevillea lanigera [Section 15H], snug between the rocks, is covered with lovely pink spider flowers.

Down near the sundial, Baeckea crassifolia [Section 15R] is a small, many-branched, upright shrub covered with small, mauve flowers. Leucophyta brownii ‘Cape Le Grand’ [Section 15L] may not be flowering, however the stark grey foliage is so attractive. And all the time the tiny blue Superb Fairy Wrens seem to spring among the shrubs with their companions, the less-colourful, brownish Scrub Wrens.

Grevillea brachystylis [Section 15P] is a small, rather sparse, upright plant with orange- red flowers radiating from a central point. Compare this plant with Grevillea maxwellii [Section 15P], a prostrate plant with trailing branches of dense, finely divided leaves and dense, red flowers. Nearby, Hakea myrtoides [Section 15P] is also prostrate with trailing branches massed with crimson flowers.

See the tiny mauve daisies of Brachycome multifida ‘Evan’ [Section 15S]. The flowers are much smaller than those of Brachycome multifida seen in other areas. Note too, the bright yellow straw daisies of Bracteantha bracteata [Sections 15A, 15B and elsewhere]. On sunless days they stay closed.

Correa pulchella ‘Pink Mist’ [Section 15S] is a dense, rounded shrub with pink tubular flowers dangling from the branches. Nearby, Correa ‘Canes Hybrid’ [Section 15S] is a taller, more open shrub bearing tubular flowers coloured pink with yellow mouths. The low, compact Crowea exalata ‘Bindelong Compact’ [Section 15S] is a wee beauty decorated with deep red, changing to pink, star flowers. Across the path, Lechenaultia formosa [Section 15R] with cherry red flowers on a somewhat rounded prostrate plant is another eye-catcher.

Cold days, many flowers … Barbara Daly.