Plant of the day - the pincusion hakea

This is the time of year when the fewest plants are flowering on the verge - though I can think of at least seven species that are.  This is the pincushion hakea (Hakea laurina).  We have two that were about 30cm high when planted two-three years ago, but are now both over head height.  

There seem to be big differences in growth form between individuals of this species, and also in the number of flowers they have (which are very unusual and eye-catching).  We have one bushy and erect form, which has sparse flowers, and another more open and weeping form that has abundant flowers. 

This is an early morning photo of our verge garden last week.  Because not much is flowering and there is so much foliage its hard to pick out the different plants (there must be more than 50 species).

We think the shade provided by the verge garden as well as its general buffering effect has made a significant difference to the heat load the house receives in the summer.  The garden is on the west side of the house and in summer the morning sun generates a lot of heat on our old solid stone shop wall.  The growing shade provided by the pincusion hakea and the (as yet unknown) Eucalyptus tree mean we must get 1/3 to 1/2 fewer sun-hours on the wall.  Just another practical benefit that has come from planting our native verge garden!

Plant(s) of the day

I think this is Alogyne cuneiformis - the coastal hibiscus. It was an unlabelled tubestock that I bought from the excellent native nursery APACE in North Fremantle.  It has turned out to be one of the most spectacular plants on the verge and thrives on Fremantle's  limestone soils.  In summer it has hundreds of purple flowers like this one.  Each flower only lasts one day.

Here are two varieties of kangaroo paw (Anigozanthus spp.) about 1 year after we began planting the verge. We got the green ones from our block at Walpole where they grow like weeds in disturbed ground.  You couldn't get more different soil or climatic conditions between Fremantle and Walpole but they've thrived. It may be because they're an early succession plant so have wide tolerances.  I think the orange form is a nursery variety and we got it (like many of our plants) from the inspirational Lullfitz nursery.  Thats the Alogyne (coastal hibiscus)  in the backround and the groundcover is Myoporum parvifolium, which covered about 3 square metres in its first year.

Laying the foundations

We started by getting rid of the invasive cooch grass.  For such a big area the only option seemed like a chemical one - glyphosate in a watering can. But it worked well and we have needed hardly any hand follow ups.  The verge is an island surrounded by concrete, so once the cooch is gone its unlikely to re-invade  (not quickly anyway).

We spread a layer of coarse mulch over the entire verge.  This was great stuff and supplied for free by the City of Fremantle as part of its verge beautification program.  Since then we've also used the Mulchnet free mulch and delivery service  and occasionally dug our own mulch from the depot opposite the Claremont Showgrounds .

We planted our first plants in December 2005.  Its not the recommended time of year (!), but all survived the long hot summer - no doubt partly because of the moisture retained by the mulch. 

In the beginning

The streets around our house in Fremantle have extremely wide verges.  Who knows why - perhaps something to do with the trams that used to travel past our house.

We moved in to The Blue House in the middle of 2004.  Here is a photo of what the verge consisted of.  Not much, and actually this is as good as it looked because its the middle of winter and the grass is actually alive and quite green.

Welcome to my native garden blog.

Our street verge garden is now in its fourth year, and plants like this Banksia ashbyi are starting to mature and produce some spectacular flowers.

Its hard to imagine that fewer than four years ago our street verge was totally empty except for a few dusty weeds, some scrappy cooch grass, and an old Eucalyptus tree.

Its now more like a woodland than anything else!  

The idea of this blog is to document that transformation. When I get a chance I will also record interesting goings-on on the verge and discuss what's worked and what hasn't.

I hope the pictures of the amazing plants that can be grown so easily will encourage you to reconsider the size of your lawn, to think about pulling out a few rosebushes and.... to go native!