Family: Asteraceae
Common Name: White Paper Daisy, Winged Everlasting

Belonging to the paper daisy clan, Annnobiurn is native to the tablelands of south-eastern Australia. This hardy perennial, usually grown as an annual, forms quite a large clump. The flowers are like paper daisies, smallish and white, with yellow centers, and the leaves are a silvery gray.

Species

A. alatum grows to a height of 1 m (3 ft). The foliage forms a basal rosette of soft, grayish, woolly leaves and the shining white and yellow flowers, up to 2 cm (1 in) in diameter, bloom abundantly in summer. The flowers are suitable for dried arrangements as they retain their true colour if cut before the bracts are fully open and hung in bunches upside down in a shady, airy spot to dry.

Cultivation

This plant is suitable for both pots and garden, but looks best sown in informal drifts. Plant in a light garden soil in a sunny position. Raise plants from seed sown in spring in situ. Alternatively sow seed in trays under glass in well drained seed compost, prick out seedlings into further trays and plant out in late spring or early summer, when frosts are over.

Climate

Zone 9 and above.

Family: Proteaceae

There are more than 250 species of these decorative, evergreen Australian plants, the largest genus in the family Proleaceae. They vary greatly in form, habit, leaf shape, flower structure and size, from tall rainforest trees (G. robusta) to prostrate rockery plants (G. lavandulacea). There are grevilleas with clusters of flowers, called the spider flower grevilleas, and those with elongated, spike-like, one-sided flowers, called the toothbrush grevilleas.

Grevillea flowers have no separate petals, the long styles forming a major part of the clusters of flowers. Most grevilleas have brightly coloured flowers, often during spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, and attractive foliage, and make beautiful ornamentals.

Many smaller species can be used as pot plants. The low-growing species are particularly suitable for planting on banks and on tops of walls where their pretty flowers can be seen to full advantage. Other species make excellent cut flowers, and some are already grown commercially.

A good deal of research has been carried out on these plants and there are several major groups of cultivars available, among them the 'Poorinda' and 'Clearview' range. 'these cultivars are now being grown extensively in various countries, especially in warm areas of the United States, South Africa and New Zealand.

Grevilleas are easy to cultivate and ecologically beneficial, as long as soils are well drained. A large number of species are readily available from garden centers throughout the year.

Species

G. acanthifolio occurs nat­urally in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales and is one of the few grevilleas that can tolerate wetter soils and some shade. It varies in form from an upright shrub of about 3 m (10 ft) to a low, spreading one. It has stiff, deeply divided leaves, with sharply pointed lobes, and mauve to pink flowers of the toothbrush type.

G. alpina varies a good deal in form, leaf shape and flower colour and can tolerate very cold con­ditions. It generally has small, grayish green leaves and either red, yellow, pink or white flowers.

G. banksii, a popular species from Queensland, named after Sir Joseph Banks, is an erect grower with large heads of red flowers throughout most of the year and deeply lobed, dark green leaves. It grows to 2-8 m (6-26 ft) tall. There is also a white-flowered form.

G. biternata (Synonym: G. curviloba) generally takes a prostrate form. It has become a popular groundcover. It has fine, green, fern-like foliage and white flowers in spring.

G. buxifolia, gray spider flower, endemic to sandstone areas of New South Wales, is an open, rounded, bushy shrub, to 1.5 m (5 ft). The closely set leaves are oblong in shape and hairy, and the reddish brown flowers, borne in clusters, are also hairy, which gives them a grayish tinge.

G. x ga­udichaudii, a natural hybrid between G. acan­thifolia and G. laurifolia, is a very useful...