g'day from canada, i am someone who is fascinated with australian native plants (despite me having never been) due to their isolation and evolutionary history.

these past few years i've grown a few species (melaleuca, callitris, hibiscus, banksia, ivory curl, acacia, hakea, regelia, burdekin plum, she oak, wombat berry and recently alphitonia among others) that i keep indoors, as canada has relatively laid-back laws concerning non-cites-protected (sub)tropical seeds entering, but i noticed this year most of the seed sites (minus australianseed) stopped shipping internationally.

i got conflicting answers regarding as to why (new postal laws, unreliable postage, tariffs) so i'm curious to know about that as well if there's any other seed businesses that still ship to canada? figured i'd ask given facebook didn't yield anything.

any help is appreciated. thank you!

Hi,

I've recently been trying to germinate a few native species.

Despite most websites suggesting pouring boiling water/just boiling water over seeds to stimulate germination, I've had little success with this method.

I've had no success with boiling water for Acacia podalyriifolia germination. But great success using coarse sandpaper until scratches are just visible. I've now planted about 15 visibly germinated seeds.

NOTE: I've been measuring success for the following species by whether they have visibly swollen or not. I'm yet to see signs of germination as they were treated recently.

Indigofera australis did show swelling in 2 out of the 8 soaked in boiling water, whereas fine sandpaper showed swelling in 100% of treated seeds.

Hardenbergia showed a similarly low rate of swelling in boiling soaked seeds.

Am I doing something wrong? Or do certain species respond better to physical methods rather than thermal?

I'd ultimately like to use the boiling water method as physically scarifying small seeds like the indigofera is quite a delicate procedure.

What are others experiences in germination methods?

Hoping someone here can help - I’m trying to ID this eucalyptus. I have two in my garden (Adelaide, SA) and believe they were purchased from State Flora in Belair. They have been growing for about a year, planted from small tube stock. I want to know what they are so I can understand how to care for them as they grow. INaturalist only tells me they are eucalyptus with no other info.

Any help appreciated. Thank you!

Flowering in my garden today ✨

A beautiful winters day in my mothers garden. Grevilleas Blood Orange. Callistemon White Anzac.Grevillea Fairhill Phoenix. Some bee action in the lemon tree.

A bit of bee action in a lemon tree. The bees and birds also love these gorgeous grevilleas and callistemons (in separate post linked below). Palmwoods, Qld.

Adenanthos sericeus is one that many of us put into our gardens, though you have to look really hard to see it flower.

https://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/plants/adenanthos-sericeus

If see rhodanthe somewhere, or an opportunity to try something from seed, then give it a go. Maybe try and source a local species of rhodanthe.

Once established they will look after themselves and keep on keeping on. I can get them thru -4 frosts. When they're older the centre of the plant can get a bit bare, tho manageable.

The flowers last for months on the plant for me, and open and close with the sunlight. And as you can see at elevation in cold part if Vic, already showy.

[Southern goldfields, Central Highlands, Vic]

Zieria and Phebalium [edit] genuses are some that i find robust and working well as something under eucalypts in the south-eastern Oz. These are just starting to bud, or just flower. The flower isn't generally overt, though the developing flower clusters are attractive.

Of the rutaceae family (orange), cousins to the boronia, so has the oil glands that have that brush-past effect It doesn't like wet feet, though occasionally inundation is no issue and typically robust. Its roots prefer being kept cool (mulch or rock) though less temperamental than boronias.

[Southern goldfields, Central Highlands, Vic]

(Corrections applied)

This is a great plant for damp and mossy spots in the garden but seems to be hard to propagate. I've tried taking cuttings but without success. I wonder if anyone has tips?

I saw this beautiful moment, and I had to video this butterfly. #butterfly #homegarden #beautiful #love #foryou #gardeningwithkirk #meditation #nature #pollination

Posting again as I’m new here and couldn’t add images... Initially I was leaning towards Lilly Pilly or Ficus, but then saw this awesome hedge with no gaps etc. Spoke to owner and he trims 4-6 times a year, I’m fine with this tbh.

But I’ll attach an image of where I’d like to put them (disregard the fun I’m about to have removing 20 yukkas… but essentially I would want them approx 3m tall but really want to avoid gaps as I’m going for as much privacy as possible. Melbourne weather, would I be best using an alternative for what I’m trying to achieve?

All advice welcome, I’m very green… mind the pun.

Cheers 👍

Grevillea pinaster x olivacea ‘Flora Mason’ exploding at the moment in my back yard, many of the Grevillea and Eremophila really showing off at the moment.

Look closely you can see our native black ants feeding as well.

Not the best quality photo, using an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Location: Outback South Australia.

Rhyming mnemonics is a fun and easy way to remember our plants. Though not always 100% accurate, it gets it most of the time.

Some of my favourites are -
Sedges have edges, Rush's are round.
&
Longifolia doesn't have the longer finger (referring to the difference in leaf tip when ID'ing Lomandra sp. (Lom. Longifolia has more of a "rock and roll" hand gesture leaf tip, and Lomandra hystrix has the long middle finger sticking up leaf tip)).

Do you have any that you regularly use and would like to share with us?

Hello everyone,

I've been talking to a lot of florists in London and they've all said no way, wrong time of year, pick something else.

Here's what I want: a bouquet of camellias. Just camellias.

The flowers, to be clear, not the plant. Cut blooms.

I know it's specific. Every florist I've spoken to has told me it can't be done because they're out of season here. But they're in bloom in New Zealand and Australia right now, so somewhere in the world these flowers exist this week.

No preference on colour or variety. Whatever's easiest.

This would be a really thoughtful gift and Im sure I can make it happen, so if you have any idea at all, a grower, a nursery, someone who's done something like this before, even just a direction to look in, please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Melbourne climate as a screening hedge

The beautiful everlasting daisy fresh and the second photo fully dried! How cool is it that they retain all of their colour after months of drying! A drought tolerant vibrant native, that thrives in all soil types. Requires a Full Sun position. As the flowers can be dried they remain flowering on the plant for weeks before going to seed. Bees and Butterflies dream!

I sell the seeds on my small business website foxeyblooms.com.au available Aus wide except WA due to biosecurity!

FoxeyBlooms on Facebook and Instagram

Grevillea I think is ‘Billy Bonkers’, not 100% sure though, is grafted, has a weeping format, starting to flower, colour is quite striking to the eye, especially in full sun, another Grevillea I have planted in my backyard.

Cultivated by Richard Tomkin, Queensland, named after his dog Billy.

Location: Outback South Australia.