Two have gone onto a raised mound, and the third at ground level but with a dose of gypsum in case there is clay below the root ball. Mounds need only be 120 mm above ground level to achieve the drainage required.

This is the hardiest of the kangaroo paws and is used in breeding the new hybrids that are in many nurseries these days. I must say that I like the species plants even though I admire the new colours.

The strappy leaves on this plant can grow up to a metre tall and the clump to a metre across. However the flower spikes can grow to two metres . The seed I was given came from plants that had these very tall spikes and many flowers on the stalk.

It grows best in moist, light to medium soils, in partial to full sun, but will tolerate dappled shade. It can be damaged by frost.

Black ink disease is a problem in misty areas or locations where there is not enough air movement. Slugs and snails will cause a lot of damage.

Chloris truncata (late summer)

After I decided to not water a patch until it became unacceptable as a lawn to test the time between waterings, we had 3.5 mm of rain. This was three and a half weeks between waterings and was almost at the stage of considering it to be in need of a watering. As a general rule I would say that 3 weekly intervals would keep a reasonable greenness about the grass. It is looking a bit tatty at the moment as it hasn’t been trimmed since late spring. We have also had many days above 35C and at least ten days above 40C.

I certainly think it is worth persevering with this grass in low rainfall areas, especially in areas where it occurs naturally.

See here for other posts on this topic.

Triodia scariosa (Porcupine Grass)

A plant that I admire but treat with great caution is Spinifex, Triodia scariosa (used to be called Triodia irritans). Just getting the photos was a hazard. Backing into one of these is a painful experience. It is the dome shape that I like and when in flower it is attractive. Even these with the seed heads were good to look at.

Triodia scariosa (Porcupine Grass)

They are amazing plants. Bush creatures find them a welcome refuge. Even Brer Rabbit would not have wanted Brer Fox to throw him into these. We saw a small spiny dragon lizard scuttle into one as we drove along the track at Lowan Conservation park. As the plants become older, the centre dies out and we have seen kangaroos resting in the middle of large clumps of spinifex.

I just checked one of my reference books. It appears that I should be calling this Porcupine Grass, as the coastal plant is Spinifex sericeus.

At an Arboretum near here, Xanthorrhoea preissii and Xanthorrhoea semiplana have both been planted on deep sand. After four years of growth in the ground, the cluster of leaves is about 60cm tall and beginning to ‘vase’ out in a very graceful way. The width of the clump is larger than the reach of two hands joined finger tip to finger tip as if holding a large bunch of flowers.

It is certainly worth while growing these for the leaf display if this is what the growth is like after 4 years. Xanthorrhoea semiplana generally does not make a trunk although sometimes one up to a metre will appear, whereas the other does to about 3 metres tall. However to see a ‘decent’ trunk on Xanthorrhoea semiplana in one’s lifetime is probably only to be dreamed about!

Xanthorrhoea need a sunny well drained position. They look wonderful growing in a rockery and will also look great in a large pot as an impressive feature plant. Specimens have flowered after 7 years in Brisbane and 10 years at the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

It has been discovered that the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos love the seed pods that form along the flower stem which can be as much as 4-5 metres tall. They have been observed eating them soon after sunrise between Tintinara and Keith on the side of the road.

These plants also can be planted in pots for outside cultivation or be used as indoor plants. The foiliage will arch over and be useful for concealing areas in the garden, or softening the edges of concrete.

Other species with this tufted growth habit look good growing at the base of trees. This Lomandra would look good in that situation also.

I haven’t seen this in flower yet. What does attract me to the plant at the moment is the fact that it is frost hardy, a distinct advantage here. We haven’t had this number of frosts for a number of years. Fortunately I seem to have made the right choices in plants to propagate, as only a few have had new growth tipped by the frost.

The Lomandras  seem to be not only frost hardy but reasonably hardy in our hot dry summers also. I will be testing that out this year seeing that I have been able to divide some pieces even if I did hack them about a bit while doing so. I should be able to save a few stock plants ‘just in case!’

These are attractive clumping plants. The male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. They look great in groupings of plants rather than one isolated plant. On the other hand they are very attractive growing amongst other plants in a rockery.

Lomandra effusa is the species which occurs on our block. It has leaves to 30cm tall. The flower spike in both the male and female are similar in appearance. The flowers are a pretty creamy white formed along a stem rising from the base of the clump. The common name is Scented Mat Rush. When down on hands and knees the perfume can be detected and it is very pleasant.

Male and female flowers are borne on separate plants. Growing from seed gives no control over which type of flower will be carried by the plants.

I checked on my ‘bible’ for germinating native plants Murray Ralph’s ‘Growing Australian Native Plants From Seed’. Some do germinate readily from seed. Others need some sort of pre-treatment. In general germination takes 8-10 weeks and seed should be sown soon after collection. (I had not muddled them. It seems that the species that are indigenous to South Australia are not as easy to germinate as some.)

Is there anything else I could have said? Is there other information I should have given? Could I assume a particular cultivar is available overseas?

Anyway, not having the facilities to put photos on the blog yet, I sent Suzanne a link to the Australian National Botanic Gardens where she will see photos of the flowers and form of the plant.

I should have done this with my previous posts and will do a separate entry to catch up the backlog.

Meanwhile, maybe the inducement of a nice chocolate cake by post will encourage IT Whizz Son to set the blog up with photo capability sooner rather than later!

Others in the genus are Orthrosanthos polystachys, and Orthrosanthos laxus. Orthrosanthos polystachys has deep purply- blue flowers on tall stems held well sbove the foliage. Orthrosanthos laxus is a light mauve blue with the stem a little taller than the foliage. Again these look good planted in groups of three to five plants together. That way the succession of flowers prolongs the flowering period.

These are all from Western Australia. What’s more they are frost hardy and need a well drained position with full sun to part shade. Mine get morning sun and then dappled shade for the rest of the day.