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

24 May 2002

This walk continues from last week’s newssheet, commencing at the cross roads above the Nursery. Frankenia sp. [Section 41] is so small yet covered with open mauve flowers and Olearia ramosissima [Section 41], of similar size, is well covered with mauve daisies over a compact shrub. The road is edged with many correas, ending with Correa ‘Cane’s Hybrid’ [Section 82] low-growing with long lateral branches of tubular pink and cream flowers.

Crowea 'Pink Blush'

The path now passes through an area with many plant cultivars suitable for the home garden. Crowea ‘Pink Blush’ [Section 87] is so prominent with a complete covering of white starry flowers, with a dash of pink, over a compact shrub. Behind, Crowea ‘Festival’ [Section 87] has only its lowest branches still displaying deep pink flowers. Crowea ‘Cooper’s Hybrid’ [Section 87], upright and dense, has somewhat larger flowers while Crowea exalata ‘Austraflora Green Cape’ [Section 87] is a low, dense and spreading shrub with smaller soft pink flowers.

Callistemon ‘Austraflora Firebrand’ [Section 87] has disorderly branches of red bottlebrush flowers. Correa ‘Ivory Bells’ [Section 87] is another dense shrub laden with tubular ivory-coloured flowers. Grevillea ‘Scarlet Sprite’ [Section 87] has fine foliage with buds now opening to scarlet spider flowers. Rounding the corner, other bottlebrushes include Callistemon viminalis ‘Prolific’ [Section 87] tall and dense with branches arching over the footpath laden with red bottlebrushes … a beauty. Callistemon citrinus ‘Angela’ [Section 87] displays its delicate pink flowers.

Taking the narrow path, Mountain Devil, Lambertia formosa [Section 75], is upright with dark leaf clusters and a scattering of clusters of tubular red flowers. Hakea drupacea (Syn. H. suaveolens) [Section 75] has long meandering trunks leading to acorn-shaped clusters of perfumed white flowers dotted with pink. Hakea cristata [Section 75] has cream lacey flowers over this tall upright shrub while, further on, Hakea verrucosa [Section 75] has a gnarled old reclining trunk leading to branches smothered with open lacey flowers with shades of pink.

Opposite, in the section of wattles, a group of young trees of Acacia saliciformis [Section 77] have soft fluffy cream flowers on pendulous branches. There are numerous Banksia ericifolia var. ericifolia [Section 75] shrubs here, all with deep gold cylindrical flower spikes. Banksia oblongifolia [Section 75] is a low shrub bearing green flower spikes. On the upper path, the Port Lincoln Wattle, Acacia iteaphylla [Section 75], is a dense, many branched tall shrub sprinkled with perfumed yellow flower balls, very different from Acacia jibberdingensis [Section 75], named after the W.A. town Jibberding, with long wavy trunk and wavy branches ending with bright yellow flower rods and long curved fine leaves. (A bonus is the large flock of yellow tailed black cockatoos seen today.)

On your way back, another plant worth seeing is Rhododendron laetum [Section 61], short and upright with large yellow trumpet-like flowers. This rhododendron is from New Guinea, used here to hybridise with Australia’s rhododendrons native to north Queensland.

A most pleasant, somewhat long walk …                               Barbara Daly.