In Flower This Week

11 April 2003

On these lovely autumn days, this longer walk is so pleasant. With numerous flowers to admire along the route, it will finish above the Nursery. Along Banks Walk Eremophila nivea [Section 174] is of medium height with soft grey foliage highlighted with mauve flowers. Viola hederacea [Section 174] is a spreading groundcover well covered with mauve violets, while around the corner Crowea ‘Festival’ [Section174] is brilliant with pink star flowers over the small shrub.

Callistemon ‘Howie’s Fire Glow’ [Section 124] is an upright shrub displaying a few of its bright red bottlebrush flowers. Grevillea ‘Robyn Gordon’ [Section 124] is a smaller shrub displaying its pinkish-red terminal flowers. The Rock Garden abounds with colour including Scaevola ‘New Blue’ [Section 15R, 15J] which covers its prostrate plants with vivid blue fan flowers. Banksia integrifolia var. integrifolia [Section 15L] is prostrate, covering rocks and reaching across the path. Its upright cylindrical flowers are lemon and the leaves are silver-backed.

Leptospermum squarrosum - click for larger image

Walk by the Silver-stemmed Wattle, Acacia parvipinnula [Section 18], with soft grayish bipinnate leaves and scented light yellow flower balls. Leptospermum squarrosum [Section 44] has branches dense with pink ‘peach blossom’ flowers amid its thick foliage. Edging the path beside the Nursery are ground-cover border plants, which include Grevillea lanigera [Section 34], with pink spider flowers, and Chrysocephalum apiculatum [Section 34], with grey foliage dotted with the last of its small clusters of orange flowers. Brachyscome multifida ‘Break O’Day’ [Section 34] is dense with small mauve daisies brightening the soft foliage. Opposite, Halgania anagalloides var. preissiana [Section 100] is a small dense shrub with dark green foliage tipped with deep blue flowers.

Along the central boardwalk, walking in an anticlockwise direction, Scaevola phlebopetala [Section 100] is a prostrate plant revealing its large purple flowers with yellow throats along its spreading stems. Eremophila bignoniiflora x polyclada [Section 100] is of medium size bearing large white bugle flowers with a tint of mauve and dark spotted throats. Nearby, a patch of small plants of Lechenaultia biloba [Section 100] bears pale blue flowers. At the curve, Hypocalymma sp. [Section 100] is a low and spreading shrub clad with tiny pink lacey flowers. Grevillea centristigma [Section 100] is of medium size with soft silky, hairy leaves which conceal its bright yellow flowers.

Banksia epica [Section 100] has many juvenile green flower spikes sharing the old misshapen shrub with the mature flower spikes, which are light ochre with dark styles. Close by find Eremophila oppositifolia [Section 100] bearing curved white tubular flowers. Another banksia, Banksia ornata [Section 100], is a low dense shrub brightened with lemon flower spikes dotted with grey styles. At the end of this boardwalk, Banksia ericifolia var. ericifolia [Section 103] is a large old shrub alight with fiery orange, almost red, flower spikes, while, in the background, the bright orange fruits of Auranticarpa rhombifolia [Section 96] can be seen.

Native plants and native birdcalls, they go well together…      Barbara Daly.