A small selection of proven Aussie native plants for Melbourne

Fantastic long lived shrub, adaptable to many uses.	An excellent hardy green shrub, very drought tolerant. A great green filler plant in the middle of large beds.
Eremophila groundcover
Acacia aphylla (leafless rock wattle)
Fantastic tough as nails, small, slow growing shrub	Tough as nails
	Scaevola albida ‘Mauve Clusters’ – Fan Flower
Xerochrysum "Sundaze Lemon" A prolific insect attractor to the garden. Native bees come for miles for the pollen. A large genus with many varieties colours and growth habits. worth a look for a splash of colour.	A large genus with many varieties, great little front line filler plants for a splash of pink.

Lovely structural plant, with very large green leaves	Flower spike in spring, this one I have growing in a pot
Doryanthes excelsa in full bloom
An awesome tough small tree, from inland Australia. lovely weeping habit and almost indestructable. Will die from excess water.	Casuarina glauca 'Cousin It' – Sheoak. A prostrate and beautifully ground hugging form of a very adaptable coastal plant. Flowers are insignificant but the foliage more than makes up for it. ... A very easy care plant that does well in a wide range of soil types, and from cold temperate to subtropical areas.
	Acacia cognata ‘Limelight’ River Wattle A compact form of A.cognata that makes a stunning foliage plant all year round with its graceful weeping foliage. Small ball-shaped flowers are a secondary pleasure when they appear in spring. It can be prone to root rot in humid climates, where it may be short lived, it is at its best in the southern states. The naturally dense growth habit is great for deterring weeds and is low maintenance.
Anigozanthos ‘Bush Fury’ – Kangaroo Paw. My second favourite after "Big Red"
An ancient Australian cycad, can be used to great effect as a single feature plant in a courtyard. Very hardy but slow extremely slow growing. Lepidozamia peroffskyana, commonly known as Scaly Zamia or Pineapple Cycad, is in the family Zamiaceae. It is naturally distributed in the wet sclerophyll forests of north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland

	An old chesnut, but will always be around for it's simple beauty and ease of maintenance. Fantastic edging plant.
	Old Man Saltbush
An old favourite of mine, gets up to 3 metres. Myoporum species are a fantastic genus, suitable for many situations/positions	Nearly 2000 varieties of this species, Australia is blessed with quite a few species.
Poa labillardieri, this is the original stock from seeds I collected in the mid 90's, I am still growing it from the parent stock. this strain has a lovely blue (glauca) hue.	A favourite of mine since I was a child, great in the cooler months and in sheltered moist areas for best results
A favourite	Wonderful grey foliage and joyful yellow flowers
A wonderful groundcover, extremely hardy, full bodied/ dense
	Lomandra have long been a favourite genus of mine, if maintained correctly should always look good.
	Great little green filler/rambler for moist shadier areas, its preferred position
Lomandra longifolia, a well known old favourite, many good qualities. A good cut down to ground level every 3 to 4 years and comes back like new.	Looks frail but is tough, lovely texture. People just want to touch and feel this plant
Lomandra confertifolia 'Little Pal' – Mat Rush. A clumping grass-like perennial with bright green narrow foliage which is slightly weeping. Great as a border or pot plant. Good for coastal plantings, drought and frost tolerant.	Callistemon ‘Kings Park Special’ Bottlebrush. This is my favourite medium large bottlebrush, can be pruned to make an interesting shape or left natural. Hardy with few problems, occasionally scale.
	Fantastic climber, creeper, indigenous to Melbourne
Great medium/large shrub tree. Prune to keep bushy. Prefers some moisture for best results
Bush tucker lemon myrtle. I use a leaf in my tea occasionally	Correa lawrenceana, commonly known as mountain correa, is a shrub or small tree
Excellent hardy shrub, prolific flowers	This variable, adaptable and beautiful banksia will grow slowly to eventually attain tree size, and suits many different positions from coastal gardens where it will handle salt laden winds with ease, to inland cooler areas where it is frost and drought tolerant. The leathery leaves have attractive dark green colouring with silver reverses. The large lemon yellow flowers are produced from autumn through winter to spring, are nectar rich and attract wildlife, and are followed by the iconic fruit.
An old favourite of mine, reminds me of many memorable trips to outback NSW, along the long paddock heading to the Lachlan, Bidgee and Darling rivers. Drought tolerant. Has a graceful, weeping habit, and striking blue-grey foliage. Will grow in clay soils. Is frost tolerant. The rhizobium nodules (a feature of all leguminous plants) help in fixing atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. Provides good shelter or windbreak. It would help to attract native birds to the garden, as parrots eat the seeds	Hymenosporum flavum is the only member of the genus Hymenosporum (ie. it is a monotypic genus). The genus is closely related to Pittosporum, which it resembles in certain respects. It is native to the coastal brush forests of eastern Australia from the Hunter River in New South Wales to Atherton in Queensland and extending to New Guinea. Lovely smelling perfume, flowering time early spring. Fantastic, hardy feature tree
The perfect flowering and fruiting Australian native garden tree. The delectable nuts are reason enough to plant a macadamia, but this one also has bright pink flowers in spring. Growing to no more racemes of than 4- 5m, macadamias are ideal as a garden shade tree as they love it hot and sunny, yet can take the cold weather too. Easy to hedge or trim as a specimen tree in most Aussie climates.	Hakea francisiana is a large shrub up to 4 metres high with linear leaves up to 150 mm long x 3 mm wide. The species is similar to H.bucculenta and H.multilineata and all have fairly fairly similar cultivation requirements. Hakea francisiana now also includes the species formally known as Hakea coriacea. The flowers of Hakea francisiana occur in large racemes up to about 100 mm long which are seen in the leaf axils in winter and spring. The flower colour is usually red or reddish purple.
Probably the toughest of all Lomandra's, and the most widely used. Weeping habit, fine leaves, fresh lime green and hardiness are what makes this most desirable	Probably the toughest of all Lomandra's, and the most widely used. Weeping habit, fine leaves, fresh lime green and hardiness are what makes this most desirable
A hybrid Grass tree, fastest growing and frequent flower spikes in mid spring.
Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess, a wonderful small tree with a variety of growth forms. These can be a bit hit and miss in Melbourne. I have learnt a few tricks to get these to perform at there best and get longevity. The most common problem is they blow over in the wind.	Flowers late autumn, winter, finishing up in spring, excellent bird attractor, small feature tree
I collected seeds from this species from on top of Mt Finke in South Australia. Propogated them and this is the results. The flower colour may be red, yellow or cream and they occur from late winter through to early summer. The "gumnuts" which follow the flowers are also an interesting feature of the tree. They are large and conspicuously ribbed. As a species native to relatively dry areas, E.youngiana is best suited to cultivation in climates which have a dry summer. It has been grown in sub t	I collected seeds from this species from on top of Mt Finke in South Australia. Propogated them and this is the results. The flower colour may be red, yellow or cream and they occur from late winter through to early summer. The "gumnuts" which follow the flowers are also an interesting feature of the tree. They are large and conspicuously ribbed.
Fantastic smaller euc, feature tree or group together. trunks can be bent to create interesting growth forms	Flinders Ranges wattle, excellent screening large shrub, super tough
Known as the Staghorn fern Platycerium superbum is native to lowland rainforests in Queensland and northern New South Wales.	Platycerium bifurcatum, the elkhorn fern or common staghorn fern, is a species of fern native to Java, New Guinea and southeastern Australia, in New South Wales, Queensland and on Lord Howe Island. It is a bracket epiphyte occurring in and near rainforests.





	Nymphaea Stellata not an Australian variety. This Nymphaea is quite cold tolerant, sweetly fragrant, and blooms all year round in hot climate. The Indian tropical water lily, Nymphaea Stellata, has many hybrid varieties with a wide range of shade of blue to violet. This is a beautiful plant with star shaped light blue to purple flowers on tall stems.
Nymphaea Stellata not an Australian variety	Perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb, branches spreading and rarely to 30cm long, rooting at nodes. Leaves succulent, flat above and convex below, 3-18 mm long, 0.4-3 mm wide. Solitary flowers on stalks from where leaves join stems, white-red petalsÃ•around white, pale green or red centres.
Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife, known commonly as Purple Loosestrife, is an interesting species native not only to Australia but widespread in Europe, Asia and North America. It is a herbaceous perennial related to Lagerstroemia (crepe myrtle) and known from ancient times.
	An excellent, climber or groundcover.
Fantastic vine or creeper.	A fantastic vine or creeper, easy maintenance

A small selection of proven Aussie native plants for Melbourne

Fantastic long lived shrub, adaptable to many uses.

An excellent hardy green shrub, very drought tolerant. A great green filler plant in the middle of large beds.

Eremophila groundcover

Acacia aphylla (leafless rock wattle)

Fantastic tough as nails, small, slow growing shrub

Tough as nails

Scaevola albida ‘Mauve Clusters’ – Fan Flower

Xerochrysum "Sundaze Lemon" A prolific insect attractor to the garden. Native bees come for miles for the pollen. A large genus with many varieties colours and growth habits. worth a look for a splash of colour.

A large genus with many varieties, great little front line filler plants for a splash of pink.

Lovely structural plant, with very large green leaves

Flower spike in spring, this one I have growing in a pot

Doryanthes excelsa in full bloom

An awesome tough small tree, from inland Australia. lovely weeping habit and almost indestructable. Will die from excess water.

Anigozanthos ‘Bush Fury’ – Kangaroo Paw. My second favourite after "Big Red"

An old chesnut, but will always be around for it's simple beauty and ease of maintenance. Fantastic edging plant.

Old Man Saltbush

An old favourite of mine, gets up to 3 metres. Myoporum species are a fantastic genus, suitable for many situations/positions

Nearly 2000 varieties of this species, Australia is blessed with quite a few species.

Poa labillardieri, this is the original stock from seeds I collected in the mid 90's, I am still growing it from the parent stock. this strain has a lovely blue (glauca) hue.

A favourite of mine since I was a child, great in the cooler months and in sheltered moist areas for best results

A favourite

Wonderful grey foliage and joyful yellow flowers

A wonderful groundcover, extremely hardy, full bodied/ dense

Lomandra have long been a favourite genus of mine, if maintained correctly should always look good.

Great little green filler/rambler for moist shadier areas, its preferred position

Lomandra longifolia, a well known old favourite, many good qualities. A good cut down to ground level every 3 to 4 years and comes back like new.

Looks frail but is tough, lovely texture. People just want to touch and feel this plant

Lomandra confertifolia 'Little Pal' – Mat Rush. A clumping grass-like perennial with bright green narrow foliage which is slightly weeping. Great as a border or pot plant. Good for coastal plantings, drought and frost tolerant.

Callistemon ‘Kings Park Special’ Bottlebrush. This is my favourite medium large bottlebrush, can be pruned to make an interesting shape or left natural. Hardy with few problems, occasionally scale.

Fantastic climber, creeper, indigenous to Melbourne

Great medium/large shrub tree. Prune to keep bushy. Prefers some moisture for best results

Bush tucker lemon myrtle. I use a leaf in my tea occasionally

Correa lawrenceana, commonly known as mountain correa, is a shrub or small tree

Excellent hardy shrub, prolific flowers

Probably the toughest of all Lomandra's, and the most widely used. Weeping habit, fine leaves, fresh lime green and hardiness are what makes this most desirable

Probably the toughest of all Lomandra's, and the most widely used. Weeping habit, fine leaves, fresh lime green and hardiness are what makes this most desirable

A hybrid Grass tree, fastest growing and frequent flower spikes in mid spring.

Eucalyptus caesia Silver Princess, a wonderful small tree with a variety of growth forms. These can be a bit hit and miss in Melbourne. I have learnt a few tricks to get these to perform at there best and get longevity. The most common problem is they blow over in the wind.

Flowers late autumn, winter, finishing up in spring, excellent bird attractor, small feature tree

Fantastic smaller euc, feature tree or group together. trunks can be bent to create interesting growth forms

Flinders Ranges wattle, excellent screening large shrub, super tough

Known as the Staghorn fern Platycerium superbum is native to lowland rainforests in Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Platycerium bifurcatum, the elkhorn fern or common staghorn fern, is a species of fern native to Java, New Guinea and southeastern Australia, in New South Wales, Queensland and on Lord Howe Island. It is a bracket epiphyte occurring in and near rainforests.

Nymphaea Stellata not an Australian variety

Perennial aquatic or semi-aquatic herb, branches spreading and rarely to 30cm long, rooting at nodes. Leaves succulent, flat above and convex below, 3-18 mm long, 0.4-3 mm wide. Solitary flowers on stalks from where leaves join stems, white-red petalsÃ•around white, pale green or red centres.

Lythrum salicaria Purple Loosestrife, known commonly as Purple Loosestrife, is an interesting species native not only to Australia but widespread in Europe, Asia and North America. It is a herbaceous perennial related to Lagerstroemia (crepe myrtle) and known from ancient times.

An excellent, climber or groundcover.

Fantastic vine or creeper.

A fantastic vine or creeper, easy maintenance