Australia

A unique evergreen member of the Myrtaceae family native to moist, rocky areas within alpine and subalpine regions of Australia. This forms a dense mound with arching branches, 3ft by 4ft with early summer small white flowers en masse. Diminutive leaves become coppery in winter, smelling lovely when crushed. Appreciates some summer water during dry spells.

A shrub very rare in this country (we might be the first to introduce this) and one we are pretty excited about. This has some pretty good cold tolerance and will be an evergreen shrub to 2' high and wider. White flowers like a Leptospermum but long anthers so looks like a small bottlebrush. Good drainage, Zone 8-9 and might be worth trying in warmer parts of zone 7.

Nomenclature. Kew retains the genus Blechnum while others accept the newer Austroblechnum and at this point, we're not changing it back to Blechnum! This small form of the subspecies was shared with us by the Fern Madam, Judith Jones of Fancy Fronds Nursery. Excellent dense groundcover fern for moist spots. Can take full sun in cool sun areas if moist.

They say everything in Australia is out to kill you, and the fern enthusiast may just die without this beast in their collection. Jurassic-looking fronds up to 4' of a lustrous dark green, finely lined and so thick and rough as to almost seem plastic. It's difficult to imagine a fern more tall, dark, and handsome. Which I guess means now is a good time to talk about the fertile fronds, think a taller slimmer version of the gorgeous sterile fronds painted with the dark sori underneath. Perfect for a rich, wet corner of your private fernery, where you spend sweet life-giving time with your precious Pteridophytes.

Mint Bush. Brought to the UK from Australia by Jeffrey Irons and sent to us from a friend in Holland. A Welsh nurseryman describes it as "a cracking plant tolerant of heavy frost and sells on sight". We love the genus with the aromatic deer proof evergreen foliage and in this case, white flowers tinged with lavender in late spring and early summer. This will get 3'-4' tall and tolerates some dry once established but does best in the usual well-drained moisture retentive soil.

Evergreen alpine Aussie growing in the same habitat as Snow Gums. This has billowy gray-green foliage and 1" white flowers borne on last year's wood. With age, the bark exfoliates and reveals a very shiny trunk which adds to the allure. Sun, good drainage, dryish and phooey to the deer. Just a superb plant.

Availability fluctuates on this one so feel free to inquire even if it says sold out. Cuttings received from our friend Maurits in Holland who is obsessed with cold hardy Mediterranean style plantings. He is of that elite genre of indefatigable plant sleuths that source and share good plants and to whom we all owe heaps of gratitude for the dissemination. This is essentially a low evergreen groundcover - to 8" tall - in the Myrtaceae known from the Australian alpine area of Kosciuszko National Park but this clone hails from Mount Buffalo National Park in Victoria with Mount Buffalo being snow-covered in the winter. Better yet, this was collected from a frost pocket area. And to think this has profuse creamy flowers with an exuberance of stamens - it is nearly too much in one little package. Zone 8 for sure, likely zone 7. Please do comparative pricing on this one - we suspect it will be hard to do!

One of the hardiest of the Leptospermums which, in time and left alone, will achieve the appearance of a ruggedly handsome small tree. We say this in case you have control issues and mistake shearing for pruning in which case this will be a nice dense ball. Or square. Or blob. Evergreen, nice white flowers, deer-proof, drought tolerant. Thanks to Leptophiliac Ian Barclay for sharing this.

Alpine Bush Mint. This high elevation Aussie handled our 2010-11 Winter of Horror with scarcely a whimper. Dense shrublet with rounded packed leaves minty when crushed and white flowers with red-yellow-purple in the throat from spring and sporadically until fall. Excellent plant.

Endemic to the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, this dons prickly, Acanthus type leaves (hence the species name) and pinkish purple toothbrush type flowers. Evergreen and tough, this can tolerate more shade than other Grevilleas. The flowers are known for their sweet nectar and the birds will thank you for this one!

Grass Trigger Plant. Gorgeous and fascinating perennial found in Tasmania and Australia. Tidy perfection of evergreen grassy foliage speaks to a refined distillation of Aloe and Agave and the unexpected flamboyant spike of multitudinous pink flowers is over the top. There are sticky hairs under the flowers which can trap gnats and absorb those tasty insect nutrients. The pollination mechanism is fiendish. The stamens are cocked behind the flower and when an insect attempts to feed on the nectar, it trips the trigger, whipping the stamens forward resulting in the pollen-loaded anthers delivering a sucker punch to the insect, showering it with pollen. Can tolerate dry conditions and happiest in good drainage.

We have just a scant few of this dwarf form of the Tasman Mountain Pepper which we presume to be from an exposed high elevation site on Mt Wellington. This is ideally suited to rock gardens where it will make a slow and low ball of reddish stems bejeweled with white flowers and oh so peppery black fruit. We were given this plant by the late Michael Wickenden of Cally Gardens in Scotland. Possibly the first introduction to the US. Small plants of this small rarity.

Exceptional form of the species we received from the Master Of Leptospermum, Ian Barclay of Desert Northwest. This fast-growing Tea Tree will become a fine large shrub to 15' in mild areas. Silver-purplish needle-like leaves in summer turn darker purple in fall & winter. The small white flowers are visual madness. Ours has handled 10F in our dry garden. Deer proof.

Narrow evergreen leaves and clusters of rusty yellow flowers suitable for hummingbirds on this zone 8 hardy Aussie shrub. In the family Proteaceae which for garden purposes could be Latin for "hates phosphorous" so no need to fertilize. perfect for the gravel garden in full sun. Young plants, fast growing. Hardiness is increased by withholding water in later summer and fall to harden off and by growing it lean in soils low in organic matter. Can easily prune to size.

This is one of the hardier of the larger Grevilleas handling temps down to 10F and being quite drought tolerant. A good drying off in late summer and fall and grown in lean soil will add to its hardiness. Flowers for months in the yellow to salmon range. This was grown at Heronswood as miqueliana but Ian Barclay sleuthed the subspecies. As with all Protea family members, don't fertilize with any fertilizer except low phosphorous but you don't need to really fertilize this anyway unless it is looking hungry which is unlikely.

Quite the distinctive Grevillea being a true groundcover growing very flat to the ground. The oak-like leaves are bronze when young and mature to a dark green both colors providing a fine backdrop for the large feathery combs of red flowers. This is likely not hardy below the low 20's but is grown successfully at the Barca garden on Whidbey Island in a raised bed against a south facing wall and also is luxuriant at the Miller Botanic Garden in Seattle where it flows down a slope and where curator Richie Steffen gave us our cuttings. Sun and good drainage and low phosphorous if you do fertilize. At least this is easy to cover being flat in the event of a severe cold snap!

We saw this at the O'Byrne's in Eugene and Plant Lust caused our pollen to shed and our stigma's got a bit sticky. It is so embarassing but Ernie and Marietta are used to it. Completely hardy here and clothed in small white crinkled fragrant flowers in Apr-May. Yes. Yes. Yes! Yes! Yes!
(photo thanks peganum Wikipedia Commons)

Bottlebrush. Fun and very hardy selection that has willowy and twisting branchlets sporting 2" light yellow flower brushes on the branch tips all pointing willy-nilly for a wild Medusal effect. Length of bloom is longer on older plants so it is true that some things get better with age. I feel that way about Sue and another month o the diet, she'll feel the same about me.. Happy in nearly any soil and happiest with regular water. Not deer fodder.

This clone of an already hardy bottlebrush species has been hardier than the typical offering by a few degrees and personally, our most grievous losses have been by a few degrees. This is likely from a higher and more exposed location in Tasmania as it is also more compact than typical and has handled one winter where it went into single digits. This is the PNW so that sort of thing doesn't last long but still, pretty damned good. Cream flowers and bark that gets white and corky with age and hey, the deer don't like it! Thanks to Ian at Desert Northwest for sharing this one.

One of the hardiest Bottlebrushes to 10F with the added benefit of having red flowers. In growth, this this tends to have graceful arching branches which softens what can sometimes be a rigid look to Callistemon. Not that that is a bad thing but this looks a bit more cuddly. This grows on stream banks in Australia and can take quite wet spots but is also tolerant of dry. Deer proof!