Australia’s climate can provide enormous challenges for gardeners. Whilst it supports a wide variety of plants to grow and thrive, it also provides some harsh conditions in Summer and Winter depending on where you are located. This should not be a deterrent to gardeners as there are lots of plants that will survive and thrive in our diverse climate. For those looking for year round blooms and pops of colour in the garden we have researched and complied a list of the top 8 plants that we recommend to provide year round colour regardless of where you are across our great continent. Visit our Flower Gardening Page for more information on planting, growing and maintaining beautiful flowers in your garden or flower pots.
1. Geranium
Geraniums come in many colour variants such as white, red, pink and mauve and are well know for providing beautiful bursts of colour in the garden. Geraniums flower for many months of the year starting in Spring through to Autumn and sometimes all year round if grown indoors. They require a minimum of care and whilst they are well suited to the dry and hot summers in Australia they will also survive colder conditions making them a great all rounder for our weather extremes. Geraniums are versatile adapting well to garden beds, hanging or indoor pots.
2. Daisy
Daisy’s are another hardy flowering plant that come in a variety of colours and are relatively low maintenance. They prefer full sun and well drained soil but will still thrive with a few hours of indirect sunlight each day and can tolerate wet, not water logged soil making them another great contender for Australian climate challenges. Daisies are known to become invasive in climates with hot moist conditions penetrating grass, drains and paving however generally they make a wonderful inclusion to any garden. Annual varieties flower from spring to autumn and perennials during spring and summer.
3. Petunia
Bringing a beautiful scent and lots of colour options to the garden, the petunia is another hardy option for Australia gardens. It has been frowned upon by gardeners over the last few years as being old fashioned however the petunia is making a comeback into Australian gardens en masse. Given petunias are hot and dry hardy and will adapt to pots and indoors, it is another plant that will thrive with little attention, some sunlight and a regular water and reward you with an abundance of colour year round with regular fertilisation.
4. Bird of Paradise
A stunningly beautiful addition to any garden, the bird of paradise has a distinctive purple and orange flower top that resembles a birds head. The flowers appear on long stems from a large bushy base and the plant will generally not start producing flowers until the fourth or fifth year so it is a long term addition to your garden. A mature plant can yield up to 36 flower spikes each year and if conditions are perfect, they can flower all year round. Requiring only basic maintenance with a monthly fertiliser and a warmer position this is a hardy and exotic flower to boost the visual enjoyment of your garden.
5. Bottlebrush
Native to Australia the well loved bottle brush can produce vibrant red cylinder spike flowers all year round but in some climates may be limited to Summer and Autumn. They can be useful as ground covers, shrubs or small trees depending on the variety. Traditionally bottlebrushes were only available in a bright red colour however new colours have been cultivated making pink, mauve, cream and green bottlebrush colours available to light up your garden. Said to be almost impossible to kill the bottlebrush is extremely hardy and
6. Jasmine
A fast growing plant with the right conditions this hardy plant can withstand hot and humid conditions but will also adapt to cooler climates when required. It produces small star shaped flowers with a sweet, musky fragrance that is also known to have healing and de-streesing properties when used as an essential oil. The Jasmine plant can grow to 3-4.5 metres if grown in a moist, well drained, sandy soil with an annual prune after they have finished flowering. The Jasmine will flower in form Spring to Autumn.
7. Rose
An all time favourite, roses are well known for the beauty they bring visually and with their alluring scents. “Stop and smell the roses’ is a term coined to remind us all to not take the beauty in front of us for granted. Roses spawned from amateur gardens are more likely to have a scent than those cultivated for the cut flower market. Given the alluring and heady joy of a scented rose, they are well worth the effort to grow in your home garden. Roses do require some work to ensure they enjoy 6 hours of daily sunlight, specific nutrients via a rose fertiliser and pruning three times a year. If attended to as they like, roses will reward you with blooms during Spring, Summer and Autumn.
8. Kangaroo Paw
One of our best loved natives, Kangaroo paws come in beautiful warm colours such as yellow, orange, red and pink. The flower is said to resemble the paw of a kangaroo. They flower durning Winter, Spring and Summer months. Kangaroo Paws are a hardy plant that enjoy a warm position with well drained soil and thrive with a slow release fertiliser during its flowering months. This plant regenerates easily if pruned after flowering season. To promote vigorous growth they can be pruned back to half size.