Long-flowering Australian cultivars

By Daniel Fuller

Flowers are highly-functional green infrastructure. Beyond looking pretty, they can support both at-risk urban ecological communities and pest-suppressing insects such as hoverflies and micro-wasps. However, with gardens becoming smaller, it is harder to obtain a full spectrum of flowers throughout the year. Through targeted breeding programs and extensive field trials, a growing range of Australian plant species and cultivars that flower either year-round or for extended periods is now available. Combine cool-season and warm-season flowering Australian plants for full coverage.

Year-round flowers

Scaevola humilis ‘PFS200’ PBR Trade Name Pink Fusion™ and Scaevola humilis ‘PFS100′ PBR Trade Name Purple Fusion™ are substantially taller than other forms and flower year-round. Both varieties have continued to flower in my Brisbane garden from winter right through the dry summer. I have noticed they are a favourite with native bees, and they grow above the creeping oxalis while other forms do not.

Hibbertias will often flower year-round, but a limiting factor for their specification can be their unruly shape. Two new cultivars answer this problem. Hibbertia scandens ‘HBS02′ PBR intended Trade Name Straightup™ grows as its name suggests, straight up. With support, it is a very tight climber that requires little pruning to keep tidy, and without support it grows as an upright shrub. On the other hand, Hibbertia scandens ‘HBS01’ PBR Trade Name Groundswell™ has a natural prostrate habit and grows as a groundcover, although it will climb where it finds support. Both varieties sustain Australian pollinating bees and beetles year-round, while offering minimal resources for European honeybees.

Many westringias flower mainly in spring. Westringia hybrid ‘WES03’ PBR Trade Name Blue Gem™ gets that major flush in spring, but it will continue flowering for most of the year.

Warm season flowers

Eremophila sp. ‘EREM01’ PBR Intended Trade Name Thriver™ complements gardens that already have winter and summer sorted, with prolific, tubular, purple-fuchsia flowers in spring and autumn.

Pandorea jasminoides ‘PJ01’ PBR Trade Name Ozbreed Flat White™ has tubular, clean white flowers throughout the warmer months, including through the heat of summer. Give it some irrigation during drought for an absolute carpet of flowers.

Carpobrotus glaucescens ‘CAR10’ PBR Aussie Rambler™ displays masses of pink flowers through the warmer months, especially in the height of summer. These open-pollinated flowers are visited by a wide range of pollinators, and the fruits are edible for humans and birds alike.

Cool season flowers

Banksia spinulosa ‘BAS03’ PBR Intended Trade Name Narrow Nugget™ flowers for most of the year, especially throughout the cool seasons. This upright, medium-sized shrub or hedge fills your winter floral gap and buffers the transition into and out of summer.

Grevillea rosmarinifolia ‘H16’ PBR Trade Name Crimson Villea™ is an incredibly prolific winter flowerer with a mounding habit, ideal for domes and low hedging. It has red flowers, and, if you would rather have yellow flowers or a plant with a lower ground-covering stoloniferous habit, opt for Grevillea juniperina ‘H22’ PBR Trade Name Gold Cluster™.

Good designers are always looking for ways to keep interest and support ecosystem health through the seasons. Matching diverse, floral resources to provide coverage throughout the year is a great way to tick multiple boxes at once and keep projects looking their best.

All images supplied by Ozbreed.

Daniel Fuller

Ozbreed Planting Strategist

M: 0426 169 708

E: Horticulture@ozbreed.com.au

W: ozbreed.com.au