Over the last ten years the types of plants that I’ve been interested in has broadened and developed. The part of the world where I live has now been in drought for about the last 12 years. Now when I use the word drought I use it in reference to the fact the our average rainfall has been significantly less over this period to the extent that most of our lakes, dams and water storages are now at an all time low.

Over the years the gardens in this area have been planted out with plants that relied on the availability of the water that comes from the garden tap to keep them alive during a hot Australian summer and as such most gardens up until just a few years ago were full of these types of plants. These days though the water isn’t as available from our mains water for the garden and as a result the type of plants you see in new gardens these days is slowly changing.

For my way of thinking I think that this is fantastic. I was lucky enough right from the start to be attracted to these plants. I refer to them as drought tolerant plants and there are so many of them out in the nurseries today that gardeners now have an unlimited amount to choose from.

When I first started gardening, I became instantly interested in plants that were rarely seen in most gardens. The plants I initially took a liking to were Australian native plants such as Grevilleas and Banksias as well as the Proteas from South Africa and more recently Eremophilas. Over the years though, I have broadened this interest, and these days anything that is a little bit different, interesting and obviously drought resistant, can become a welcome addition to my garden.

Over a period of time I’ll write some posts on most of these plants and hopefully introduce to you some great new plants you may not have heard of before.

The way I’ll classify these plants is the same as I classify most of the plants that you see in nurseries these days.

The first group are the plants that have been there for years. They’ve been there for years because they’re good looking plants, they obviously do the job well in the garden, are proven performers and gardeners obviously like to grow them. You probably won’t hear about them in here too often though as most gardeners are already aware of them and I’d just be going over old ground.

The next type of plant that you also see quite a bit of in the nursery is the type of plant that looks great in a pot, has a really colourful label and then goes on to under perform when you plant it in your garden. There are heaps of these in nurseries. They’re there because they sell really well and because they look great in a pot and as a consequence sell for a few dollars more. Another thing about these plants is quite often they require very specific growing conditions which in most cases, are never on the label. Some of these plants I’ve got in my garden and I’ll be exposing them for what they are.

The third type are the ones that I’d describe as Gems. These are rarely found in most nurseries, they quite often suffer from the ugly duckling syndrome when in a pot and as a consequence most nurseries that are interested in just selling stock don’t keep them. I’ve got lots of these in my garden and I’ve found that the best places to find them are at smaller specialty nurseries and also local markets. I’ve bought lots of plants from markets over the years not only because you save a few dollars but also because they can sometimes be a treasure trove for someone trying to find something a little bit different.

For me a garden is all about the plants. The plants are the main feature for me. I’ve often looked at a garden as a zoo for plants. But having said that it is also important to group plants not only for practical purposes but also so that the garden looks great as a whole. There as so many great plants out there that most regular gardeners don’t know about so hopefully I’ll be able to introduce a few here and hopefully make them a bit more popular.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Banksia Oblongifolia
• Banksia Seminuda Flowers
• Pruning your Alyogyne Huegelii
• Growing Agave Attenuata in a Pot
• Eremophila "Big Poly"