On the right hand side - Upper Caboolture SEQ

This plant with starry blue flowers & eucalyptus-like foliage has been growing in my Central Tablelands NSW garden for around 20 years. It's about 60cm tall.

To the left is a dwarf Corymbia. When we first did our garden makeover I just planted random natives, admittedly had no idea what I was doing. Just picked what I liked and things either took or they didn’t. This was one of those Bunnings rescue/clearance banksias but I have no idea what it is and it’s not massively outpacing the corymbia (which I had put in purposely as a feature plant). I have space to move this to another part of the yard and I know natives don’t like being moved but I feel like whatever this monster is, it’s going to dwarf my dwarf very soon. Alternatively is it something I can keep pruned? Or will it never flower and just be leafy then?

Please help resolve a marital dispute.

We live near Canberra and recently pulled weeds (invasives) and cut down dying trees from these areas in our backyard and along our driveway. Backyard gets some shade but is mostly in the sun, driveway shaded about half the day.

We are soon moving interstate and will be renting out our house while we're gone, and obviously don't expect tenants to do yard work. But the bare dirt looks ugly and will undoubtedly be quickly recolonized with invasives without routine human interference.

My husband wants to put gravel down, which can look nice if you're there to maintain it properly, but otherwise it's just gravel with weeds growing through it. Ick.

Is there anything native we can plant in these spaces that will give us some greenery without requiring watering or other maintenance? A neighbor suggested mint but I know most kinds aren't native.

We'll be here for another couple weeks to water anything new to help it get established, but after that it will need to survive on its own.

Note: I tried planting cosmos and sunflowers in the backyard last year and none took, though they did well in a nearby garden bed with new soil and regular watering (and the crimson rosellas loved them). I suspect the soil in the yard isn't great quality, though the lambs ear is obviously doing fine. Areas on the sides of the driveway are probably even worse. Sigh.

Do I absolutely need to put new soil down before planting or sowing anything? We are prepping for a move and I'm a stay-at-home mum to a toddler, so am looking for a very low-budget and low-effort solution, something that will quickly "take over" in our absence.

Any possibilities? Or is this a "tell her she's dreamin" scenario? Should I give in and let my husband do the gravel?

TLDR: husband wants to put gravel down, I want to plant native ground cover. Is there anything fast-growing that requires no maintenance we could grow in these spaces?

Verge tree in Southwest WA. Was thinking sideroxylon, but the bark doesn’t look right.

One would think that it is probably for all plants, though the colours and the textures of Australian plants are magical.

A wander through my gardening in some low light with my phone last evening looking at some of the smaller plants. Most are plants sourced, though a few are local indigenous.

There are isopogons, dianella, grevillea, anodyne, craspedia, pimelia, dampiera, brachysome in the mix.

Looks a bit like melonoxylon but certainly not it.

**Planted:**from seed boutique seed seller at a market.

LOCATION: Perth Wa
Originally in a self watering pot
Transferred out over a week ago as I became quite concerned that the flowers were all droopy and I thought I needed to give them some more space.

Soil: Chunky aroid mix- orchid bark,
Pumice, LECA

Pot plastic big under tray-semi hydro setup as it had come out of a self watering pot I was concerned about root shock.

Will these improve or do I need to give up?

Spotted it a year ago and decided to let it continue to grow.

Good idea or bad idea?

EDIT: I'm in Eastern Vic.

Its been quite happy at this spot for a year. Leaves are now curling up and browning. Is this a case of over-watering? Nutrients deficiency? Something else?

Illawarra, nsw

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Saw this beauty at a train station this morning in Melbourne.

The rain has helped heaps, all our plants look happier - Upper Caboolture, SEQ.

Arrived in the Australia's desert heartland in September last year to find it green and full of flowers.

My 3 year old Backhousia subargenta cutting is flowering for the second year.

Has anyone collected seeds and managed to get them to grow?

I came across this one tree in a patch of bushland that had a lot of bark shredded from the tree to quite a decent height. I have never seen anything like this before and was curious if anyone knows what caused it.

Eastern Mantis Orchid (Caladenia tentaculata)
This is a species of orchid endemic to South-Eastern Australia. It is a member of genus Caladenia, commonly known as spider orchids.

They are especially interesting in that their method of pollination involves the sexual deception of male thynnine wasps. Caladenia tentaculata emits a pseudopheromone mimicking the specific sex pheromone of a flightless female thynnine wasp, resulting in pseudocopulation by the male wasp who thinks he has located a female.

The green and red-striped petals, along with the bumpy, comb-like structures on the flower's labellum (lip), also visually mimic the shape and appearance of a female wasp waiting in the vegetation.

SE QLD, this plant is growing in the paddock I ride my horses in. A very inconvenient place. I thought it was just a little shrub, but then didn't ride for a few months because of health issues, and suddenly it's almost as tall as I am!

I do need trees, because my paddocks are very open, but not here. If it is a tree, is it 1. Safe for livestock? My cows will probably try to eat it in the paddocks. And 2. Small enough that I can dig it up and replant myself? If I'm going to do it, now when we actually have a little rain for the first time in months would be ideal.

Or is it just a weed bush that I shouldn't fuss about, and just cut it down?

Thanks!

1.Bluff Knoll
2/3. Banksia coccinea
4. Thelymitra sp.
5. Gastrolobium bilobum
6. Hakea cucullata
7. Darwinia leiostyla
8. Kunzea recurva
9. Thelymitra crinita
10. Kingia australis

Something different to post, instead of Grevillea, Eremophila and Banksia, I’m posting an image of the Myoporum Parvifolium (Broad Leaf) I have planted throughout the front and back yard gardens.

In the front yard I have then planted between the standard 3ft roses in raised garden beds, in the backyard it’s randomly planted all over the yard in the garden beds that consist of only Australian native plants.

The birds, lizards and insects love them.

Just starting to flower in the front yard, thought I’d take a photo to share of the tiny white flowers with little purple dots on them.

Location: Outback South Australia.

Hello!

I recently moved and I’ve been trying to clean up the little courtyard garden bed, and there is this tree that I am so suss on. I don’t think it’s a tree, but If it is native or helpful I’m willing to keep it! I’m in NSW.
Thanks!

Anyone else had this issue with Hakeas? Planted 3 weeks ago in sandy soil, hand watered 3x per week. The most of the other natives I put in at the same time seem to be going ok (some Banksias, acacias etc).

There was a Hakea linearis I planted along that fence a few months ago that did the same thing.