There is no better place to see our wonderful native flora than at the Illawarra Grevillea Park, writes the garden's John Elton.
Autumn presents a display full of variety, interest and beauty. While the time of the large tropical grevilleas is mainly in Spring, there are still many in bloom, including the wonderful ‘Bush Lemons’ (pictured) and ‘Bulli Beauty’.
But it is the time to see many of our special Western Australian plants, including Grevillea dielsiana and the black flowers of Grevillea hookeriana. Another plant to look out for is Grevillea ‘Bulli Envy’ with its giant flowers that begin as a deep green and open to yellow.
It’s not just Grevilleas on show. The Banksias at this time of the year are simply stunning.
A highlight is always the bed of Banksia Bush Candles. Seeing hundreds of banksia cones in the one bed blows the mind! Banksia praemorsa from the south coast of Western Australia has unique purple, red or yellow flowers. The large golden cones are especially beautiful and well worth
a close-up look.
A new addition to the Park is a garden of sensational standards – both Grevilleas and Eremophilas. Standing 2m high, the plants weep gracefully to the ground, making a real statement.
Increasingly, people visit the Park to buy their plants and hard-to-get grafted plants are always at the top of their list.
Bring your camera, your picnic rug, explore the rainforest and search the gardens for the plethora of flowers, and plant textures, forms and colours. As always bring your questions and Ray and the team will do their best to help out.