Drought Tolerant Plants

Eremophila "Big Poly"

When I first came across Eremophila Big Poly (E Bignoniiflora x E Polyclada) I thought of it more as just another addition to my collection and just grew it in a pot for about 2 years. It wasn’t until I planted it into the ground though, that it actually came into it’s own.

The first thing I noticed was it grew very quickly to about 3m tall (in about 2 years). The other thing I’ve discovered is it does respond very well to harsh pruning, so my initial conclusion about this Eremophila is that it is ideal for someone who wants to grow a quick growing, dense hedge.

Most of the flowers fell off after yesterdays thunderstorm. But it's covered in buds so it will flower up again over the next few days. Melaleuca linariifolia (dwarf) is in the foreground.

Sounds pretty good really but this Eremophila has some other great features as well. First of all it is very drought tolerant. The first two years after it was planted it grew very quickly and this was despite receiving very little rainfall and practically no extra water from me. Another feature is that you can plant it areas that suffer from inadequate drainage, as it naturally grows in areas that flood after rainfall and then dry out during summer.

Eremophila Big Poly flowers in late spring and then into summer and this year it’s putting on a spectacular flowering display as it’s the first winter it’s experienced some reasonable rainfall, which as I write this, is now continuing into spring and hopefully early summer.

The flowers are a soft creamy/purplish colour which I must admit aren’t as spectacular as some of the flowers colours of other Eremophilas but nevertheless they make a welcome contrast to some of the deep reds, purples, blues and yellows of other Eremophilas. And as I said if does get some extra rainfall it is very floriferous.

Most of the flowers got blown away in yesterdays thunderstorm but there are still plenty of buds left. It will continue to flower for the next couple of months.

It will continue to flower for the next couple of months and then it will get it's annual prune.

So there you have it, an Eremophila that will grow quite a bit larger than most of the others. It is very drought tolerant, responds best to sunny areas, is fairly wind tolerant, will except badly draining soil (at least for short periods), grows quickly and can be hedged easily (after flowering) into a hedge or a screen.

Sounds too good to be true really as it could be a solution to lots of problem areas you have in the garden. So I suppose the next question is, what are it’s drawbacks?

Well the biggest negative about this Eremophila is that it isn’t readily available in nurseries. In fact the day I purchased it was the only time I’ve ever seen it in a nursery. As such, specialist Australian Plant Nurseries and Markets may be the only place you’ll find it, if you’re lucky.

This I think is a shame and unfortunately is the case for many other very garden worthy Eremophilas as well. I’ve often wondered though why this is the case and have come to a very obvious conclusion, but I’ve decided I will leave this for my next post, so stay tuned.

In the meantime though if anyone is interested in growing Eremophila Big Poly (or any of the other Eremophilas in my garden) and lives in Melbourne (or is willing to travel) I’m more than happy to give away cuttings and if you’re not sure how to propagate from cuttings I’ll also give you a quick lesson. Just send me an email message from my contact form if you’re interested.

So if your looking for a quick growing, drought tolerant plant you can hedge then Eremophila Big Poly may be your answer. That is of course if you can source it from somewhere.

Possibly Related Posts:

Posted in Eremophila, Hedge | Tagged Big Poly, Bignoniiflora, drought tolerant plants, Eremophila, Eremophilas, Hedges, Polyclada, quick growing | 3 Comments

Grevillea "Pink Ice"

Grevillea Pink Ice, a Gem amongst the Gravel.

One of my favourite things to do where shopping for plants is to search through the “sale” plants at the back of the nursery. Not only because sometimes you can pick up a bargain but also because sometimes you can find a gem in amongst the rubbish.

Back in Autumn I was doing this and came across a Grevillea which had a label that indicated it was grafted and that was all it said. The only identification it had was “Grevillea Pink Ice” written on the pot with $28 crossed out and replaced with $15. This Grevillea caught my attention straight away as I wasn’t familiar with it. The good thing about it though, was it was grafted onto the rootstock of the Silky Oak, Grevillea Robusta. This meant that it would grow quite happily with the phosphorus toxicity in my soil. On the downside though, it didn’t appear to be doing very well as the potting mix was dried out and the thin needly leaves also reflected that it was really struggling.

The first flower for the season in August.

Never the less my curiosity got the better of me so I purchased it and took it home. Now normally when I buy a new plant I’m pretty quick to plant it but in this case I decided that it might need some pampering before hand so the first thing was to soak it in some Seasol for a few minutes. I then potted it up into the next size pot, left it a protected place for the last few months and then pretty much forgot about it.

Grevillea Pink Ice. Still narrow and sparce but I'll tip prune it after flowering so it will thicken for next season.

Then about a month ago it started to flower. The flowers in fact didn’t turn out to be pink as the name suggested but instead they are white which is reasonably uncommon with most Grevilleas you find in nurseries. Then again it has been groing in the shade for the last few months so maybe when it starts to get some sun the flowers may have a pink tinge to them but we’ll wait and see. The other option is that it might not even be Grevillea Pink Ice?

Anyway yesterday being the 5th day of spring I decided to go ahead and plant it. It’s still in flower with lots of small buds still appearing as well so it appears as if it may have a reasonably long flowering season. The other thing I like about this grevillea is that it does appear to have an erect growing habit which will make it fit in well in a small garden with lots of plants in it.

So looking at my purchase today I must say that I’m pretty happy with it. Whether it has pink on white flowers doesn’t make much difference to me. The important thing is that it looks like it will put on quite a nice flowering display, it is a little different to the other grevilleas in my garden and it should be very hardy and drought tolerant.

Grevillea Pink Ice Flowers and Buds

So next time you’re at the nursery have a look out the back and see if you can find a gem. You may not find the same one I did but never the less you may find one just as good as Grevillea Pink Ice.

Possibly Related Posts:

Posted in Grevillea | Tagged drought tolerant plants, Grevillea, Grevillea Pink Ice, Grevillea Robusta, Seasol, Silky Oak | 2 Comments

Grevillea Petrophiloides

Grevillea Petrophiloides is a Grevillea that really breaks the typical Grevillea stereotype. When most people look at it for the first time they could quite easily be forgiven for mistaking it for a Bottlebrush or maybe even a Hakea.

This Grevillea petrophiloides hasn't quite reached it's peak flowering

The plant itself is quite rounded and bushy but where it differs from the “typical Grevillea” appearance is with the long leafless branches, known as canes, that grow above the rest of the bush. The flowers are held quite proudly on the ends of these canes and seem to act like beacons to draw Honeyeaters from some distance.

New Holland Honeyeater

The plant itself is quite spectacular when in flower and is obviously quite prized as a feature for the garden. The downside of this Grevillea though is that it is very fussy with it’s soil requirements. Growing naturally in sandy areas of Western Australia this Grevillea requires perfect drainage and detests hot, humid, tropical conditions. It you do live in a desert type enviroment though this plant will be much better suited to your conditions.

Grevillea petrophiloides flowers. There is also a creamy flower as well.

On the up side though Grevillea petrophiloides can be grafted onto more reliable rootstock. This one here, growing in my mothers garden, has been growing for about the last 6 or 7 years. I’m not sure what the rootstock is though, it may possibly be Grevillea Robusta.

The rootstock may be Grevillea Robusta.

Apart from pruning the canes after flowering, Grevillea Petrophiloides requires little maintenance or special care. It is a very drought tolerant plant and definitely makes a great feature plant especially when in flower.

Grevillea petrophiloides also has a variant that has creamy colored flowers as well. I’ve often wondered what these two color variants of Grevillea petrophiloides would look like growing into each other. The pinky red and the creamy yellow, together, would look interesting indeed.

Possibly Related Posts: