NOVEMBER
Australian Native Plant Job List
•Many of the Melaleucas are tough, adaptable plants. A number of species such as M. hypericifolia will also tolerate poor drainage as well as dry conditions. Have a look at the selection available to you at your local retailer and give them a try as they are also great bird attractors when they are in flower.
•Spring flowering natives such as boronias, eriostemons and Philothecas should be trimmed back behind their spent flowers at this time of year and given a feed with a low phosphorus fertiliser for Australian plants. Dead head low growing flowering native perennials such as brachyscome daisies and fan flowers (scaevolas) after they have finished their first big burst of spring flowers.
•Summer flowering shrubs such as the NSW Christmas Bush need to be kept well watered and mulched to give you the best possible flowering for Christmas. Do not fertilise until after they have flowered to avoid encouraging new vegetative growth that hides the flowers. This plant also makes a tremendous cut flower throughout its flowering season.
•Watch for signs of borers on older native trees and shrubs such as wattles and grevilleas. Tell-tale signs are the appearance of sawdust-like frass and/or oozing of sap on the stems. If the larvae of the borer are still evident in the hole then give it a good poke with a piece of wire to arrest its progress. Once the pest is gone the plant will be able to repair itself if the damage is not too extensive.
•Pot up a Wollemi pine into a large container to create an indoor Christmas tree for next month. For the rest of the year it can make a fabulous pot plant for your deck or courtyard where it can become a talking point when you entertain. Use a potting mix for native plants that carries the premium Australian standards logo.
•Ensure that any new plantings you have made through spring are being toughened up for the hot summer months ahead. Plants straight from retail outlets have been watered constantly during their production so you need to keep the water up to them for a couple of months until their root systems get properly established in the soil.
•Take 5-10cm long tip cuttings of native daisies (Brachyscome species) and plant them in a free draining potting mix in a sheltered position until roots appear at the base of the pot.
•Black eyed Susan (Tetratheca thymifolia) is a lovely compact purple flowered perennial native plant that flowers beautifully at this time of year. Plant it for a cottage garden effect with other low growing natives such as the fan flowers (Scaevola species).
•Tall varieties of kangaroo paw will be flowering in most parts of Australia and the top half of the flower stem can be cut for indoor decoration now. This also has the bonus of prolonging their blooming for an extra month or two because it stimulates the dormant buds lower on the stem to grow out and flower.
•Watch out for the development of webbing caterpillars on a range of woody native plants such as tea trees and melaleucas. They show up as clusters of webbing amongst the foliage and should be cut out and put into a bucket of boiling hot water.