Postage : Seeds only $4 / Plants $20
A medium evergreen shrub tolerant of dry conditions. Rosettes of lance shaped silver-green foliage are produced on woody branches to form a dense mound. In spring fat spikes of brilliant blue flowers appear from the centre of each rosette. Excellent.
A dome of fine silvery grey rosettes bearing flattish heads of palest pink flowers that darken to burnt sienna and last until stripped by winter rain. From the Channel Islands off California and revelling in coastal conditions and hot dry summers.
Offers great potential for avant-garde designs with earth toned pottery or paving, or brightly coloured glass forms and background walls for more modernity.
For any well drained soil though the leaner the better. Tolerant of some irrigation but less so with increasing temps.
Questionable in eastern states and definitely not for the tropics.
Seemingly not very exciting this evergreen from Chile forms a semi-lax shrub whose stiff, slender branches are loosely clothed with small, wavy, elliptic, satiny, green leaves and carry short panicles of small, tubular, white flowers. Though quietly appealing it is the fallen foliage that emits a pleasing curry like aroma when crushed or walked on that makes it an attractive low input candidate for planting besides paths or seating areas in formal or informal gardens.
Easily grown in any well drained but not too rich or moist soil in all but the most exposed sites. Appreciates a little summer water in Perth but in cooler regions should be fine with none. Prunes well and could even make an informal hedge but is otherwise happy to be left alone for many years.
This intriguing member of the Rose family bears pure white five petalled rose flowers on very slender, twiggy, silvery-white branches, sparsely adorned with small, evergreen, clasping, leathery, filigree leaves and followed by long lasting, feathery, silvery pink plumes.
Quite quickly forming an airy shrub at it's very best backlit by late afternoon sun when the feathery seed heads take on an ethereal glow.
Found in desert regions of the south west United States and northern Mexico it should prove to be extremely heat, drought and cold tolerant as well as enjoy being baked by hot walls, paving, car parks and road edges. Unlikely to perform well on the east coast though it may prove more successful inland.
All but poorly drained soils should be ideal.
Evergreen in Perth, it could be deciduous with cold enough weather that few places in Australia are likely to provide.
One of the worlds most unique and amazing plants, fittingly named to honour a queen and native to sandplains on our own southern coast.
Broad, leathery, prickly edged leaves (scratchy rather than dangerous) hug the vertical branches and borne among them during spring are creamy white pincushion like flowers, followed by woody fruit. The true spectacle however is that upon flowering all the leaves flush with amazing shades of red, yellow and orange with the whole plant appearing like a gaudy artists impression of some long lost prehistoric life form.
Low summer humidity and poor sandy soil are likely to bring out the best colouration and most likely chance of survival. Not suitable for the east coast but a possibility perhaps in drier, less humid, inland areas.
It does have a reputation for being challenging to grow. I suspect largely due, as is so often the case, to overwatering and too rich a soil. As young plants they have been vigorous and perfectly heat tolerant in the nursery and would appear to have the utmost chance of success.
Offered here so that you may experiment too. Report back with results.
A small, evergreen shrub. Tiny,silvery blue leaves are held along black stems. During the warmer months dense spikes of tubular, lavender flowers with prominent stamens are produced. Prune regularly to promote compact growth and flower production.
A deceptively delicate looking shrub, happy in any impoverished soil, with or without root competition, preferably quite dry and well drained, in bright or dark shade, though less likely to flower well in the later. Alkaline soil or even pure limestone are to it's liking though it seems quite content in acid soil. Given adequate drainage it will grow rapidly, forming a loose bush of glossy, dark green, pinnate leaves, flowering constantly through the warmer months of the year with racemes of 2.5cm wide, pale pink, trumpet shaped flowers, in all likelihood self seeding into paving cracks and other inconvenient places, from which it's happily transplanted when very young.
Dead head to promote flowering but only prune back old spent stems when new basal growth has matured, or else risk a fine specimens premature demise.
An upright evergreen shrub tolerant of dry conditions. Coarsely textured deep green lance shaped leaves occur in pairs on erect woody stems. At the top of each stem during autumn and winter dense whorls of bright orange tubular flowers are produced. Attracts nectar feeding birds. Very tough.