KINGDOM Plantae
FAMILY Onagroideae
GENUS Fuchsia
Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae, native to rainforest and more open habitats in Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Sulawesi and other Indonesian islands east of the Wallace Line. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville.
From the towering Silky Oak G Robusta to numerous hybrids, there is a grevillea for everywhere.
Thanks Wikipedia (and Editor Sue)
Common name is Spider Flower
One of Australia’s most loved native beauties, this wide diverse group will have what you’re looking for in your Coffs Garden. With such an immense variety of form, shape, size and growth habits there is bound to be a perfect position in your garden for the Grevillea. The wonderful flowers, so colourful and rich in nectar, make this plant family a must for attracting birds to the garden and for this reason alone, they should be a top choice in plant selection and garden design. They are rapid growing, hardy plants and flower over a very long period. They respond to a prune after flowering—although it is hard to tell when they have finished as they always seem to be in flower!
When travel restrictions are lifted, perhaps this beautiful destination could be one to put on the NSW bucketlist.
This garden has to be one of the best you will find in Australia that showcases Australian natives (particularly Grevilleas). This 1980s garden established by the Australian Plant Society houses their wild Grevillea collection. A must see if you are travelling to Bulli (see map here). Be mindful though, that this garden IS NOT open 24/7 – each year the gardens are open for four weekends. The rainforest section of the park and the many Grevilleas on show outside the gate are accessible all year round though. If you require more information on open days check out their facebook page (The Illawarra Grevillea Park).
To see some absolutely lovely images of the Illawarra Grevillea Park and read a GardenDrum article written by John Elton please click here.
About John: (from GardenDrum)
My interest in native plants stems back some 40 years. Since retiring from my work as a history teacher and selective high school principal, we have moved to the NSW South Coast where I am establishing my new 2 acre garden and I have already planted about 1000 plants. About half of these are grevilleas but there are also many other native species. I am particularly interested in Western Australian natives most of which need to be grafted to survive the humidity of the east coast. My volunteer work at the Illawarra Grevillea Park over the past year fits nicely with my interests and continues to teach me a great deal about the art of growing Australian natives.
