Every native we stock is chosen for where you actually live: hot Mallee summers, cold frosts, alkaline soil and not much rain. Plants picked by people who garden in this country, not out of a catalogue.
The Mallee is a particular kind of place. Summers regularly hit 40°C or more, frosts usually run from mid-May to early September, rainfall is low, and the soil is sandy in some places and alkaline clay in others, with salt in plenty of Swan Hill gardens.
Australian native plants evolved here, or somewhere very like it. They have deep roots, waxy or grey leaves, lignotubers, and flowering times that follow the Mallee seasons. Choose the right native and you're working with the country instead of against it.
Peta-Lyn and John have grown natives on their property just out of Swan Hill since 1981. When they recommend a plant, it's because they've watched it do well in the same conditions your garden faces.
All our natives handle the Mallee summer. Many need no extra water once they're established, which saves you time and money.
Swan Hill gets regular ground frosts. We only stock natives that won't die back in winter or need covering up.
Salinity is a real problem in a lot of Swan Hill gardens. Eremophilas and salt paperbark are two of the natives we stock that handle it.
Honeyeaters, lorikeets, wrens and native bees all rely on the right plants. We pick our range with them in mind too.
A mallee is a eucalypt that grows several stems from a woody base under the ground, called a lignotuber. Instead of one trunk you get a clump of slender stems rising from the same spot.
These many-stemmed gums are what gave the Mallee region its name. When people talk about mallee bush or mallee country, this is the plant they mean.
Looking for a mallee for your own garden? Stock changes through the year, so ask at the counter or call 0409 389 586 to see what's in.
Plant a few of these and something will be in flower in every season, which is exactly what the honeyeaters need. All of them are in the range below.
Acacia iteaphylla
Pale yellow flowers against blue-grey leaves.
Eucalyptus sideroxylon
Pink to red blossom on dark, deeply furrowed bark.
Grevillea rosmarinifolia
Masses of deep pink-red flowers on fine, rosemary-like leaves.
Grevillea lanigera
Pink and cream flowers over soft, silvery-grey leaves.
Eremophila maculata
Tubular flowers in red, orange or yellow that honeyeaters and spinebills love.
Acacia pycnantha
Cascading golden flower clusters with a strong, sweet scent.
Eremophila hybrid
Soft pink tubular flowers set off by silvery-grey leaves.
Callistemon viminalis
Brilliant red brushes along weeping branches.
Dianella revoluta
Sprays of blue-purple flowers, then dark blue berries through summer and autumn.
Brachychiton populneus
Small cream bells flecked with red inside.
Grevillea banksii × bipinnatifida
Large red spider flowers, full of nectar.
Westringia fruticosa
A steady flush of small white flowers on silver-grey leaves.
Shade trees, flowering shrubs, groundcovers and the salt specialists, all chosen for Swan Hill conditions.
Native tree10 to 20 m
Eucalyptus camaldulensis
The iconic tree of the Murray River and the Mallee. White-cream bark, a spreading canopy, and real resilience to drought, flood and frost. A long-lived statement tree for big gardens and rural blocks.
Native tree10 to 15 m
Eucalyptus sideroxylon
Deep, furrowed dark bark and pink to red flowers in autumn and winter, just when the garden needs colour most. Very drought tolerant and frost hardy, and a favourite with honeyeaters and lorikeets.
Native tree8 to 15 m
Brachychiton populneus
One of the Mallee's most reliable shade trees. It stores water in its swollen trunk, so it's extremely drought hardy. Cream, red-flecked bells in spring and summer, and it does well in heavy clay and alkaline soil.
Native tree6 to 10 m
Allocasuarina verticillata
Graceful weeping foliage that moves beautifully in the wind. A great windbreak and screen for exposed Mallee blocks: fast growing, very drought and frost hardy, and a favourite nesting tree for native birds.
Grevillea1 to 1.5 m
Grevillea banksii × bipinnatifida
Possibly Australia's most popular garden grevillea, and for good reason. Large red spider flowers almost all year, with enough nectar to bring honeyeaters in every day. A light trim after flowering keeps it at its best.
Grevillea1 to 2 m
Grevillea rosmarinifolia
Fine, rosemary-like leaves and masses of deep pink-red flowers from autumn through spring. Its dense, prickly growth is one of the best shelters for wrens and other small birds hiding from bigger, bossier ones.
Grevillea0.3 to 1 m
Grevillea lanigera
A low, spreading form with soft silvery-grey leaves and pink and cream flowers in winter and spring. One of the most frost hardy grevilleas you can buy, it takes temperatures well below zero. A good groundcover for slopes and dry banks.
Emu bush1 to 2 m
Eremophila maculata
One of the best natives for Swan Hill's toughest gardens. Tubular red, orange or yellow flowers through winter and spring bring in honeyeaters and spinebills. Handles salty and alkaline soil, frost and long dry spells. Comes in several colour forms.
Emu bush0.5 to 1.5 m
Eremophila glabra
Grey-green leaves that reflect heat and cut water loss: a textbook Mallee adaptation. Tubular flowers in red, orange or yellow. Copes with full exposure, poor soil, salt and frost, and needs very little care once established.
Emu bush1 to 1.2 m
Eremophila hybrid
A showstopper, with masses of soft pink tubular flowers from late winter through spring against silvery-grey leaves. Proven in tough inland conditions, frost hardy, and reliably drought tolerant once established.
Bottlebrush3 to 5 m
Callistemon viminalis
The classic bird-garden bottlebrush. Weeping branches covered in brilliant red brushes in spring and again in autumn, and a magnet for lorikeets, honeyeaters and spinebills. Suits garden beds and large pots.
Wattle3 to 6 m
Acacia pycnantha
Australia's floral emblem. Cascading golden flowers in late winter and spring with a beautiful scent. Fast growing, so it's great for screening and windbreaks, and it fixes nitrogen, which improves the soil for the plants around it.
Wattle2 to 4 m
Acacia iteaphylla
A mid-sized wattle from the arid Flinders Ranges that suits Mallee conditions perfectly. Blue-grey leaves, pale yellow flowers and outstanding drought and salt tolerance. A screening shrub that won't give up in a tough summer.
Shrub1 to 1.5 m
Westringia fruticosa
Silver-grey leaves and small white flowers almost all year. Very tough: it handles wind, salt, drought, frost and poor soil. One of the best native hedging plants, and it takes clipping into a formal or informal shape.
Native grass50 to 60 cm
Lomandra longifolia 'LM300'
One of Australia's toughest plants. This compact, fine-leafed form handles full sun, deep shade, drought, frost, wet feet and poor soil, which is why councils plant so much of it. Great for mass planting and borders in a low-care garden.
Flax lily40 to 70 cm
Dianella revoluta
Indigenous to the Mallee: it grows wild in the very country your garden sits in. Strappy blue-green leaves, blue-purple flowers in spring and dark blue berries through summer and autumn. Lovely under trees, on slopes and in dry shade.
Salt specialist3 to 8 m
Melaleuca halmaturorum
The gold standard for very salty ground. Where few other trees survive, salt paperbark grows happily in salt-affected soil that's wet for part of the year. Cream bottlebrush flowers bring in birds and native bees.
Salt specialistShrub to 3 m
Atriplex nummularia
One of the most salt tolerant plants there is, from the driest, saltiest parts of inland Australia. A spreading silver-grey shrub that's close to indestructible once established, for exposed, eroded or salty spots. Good habitat for birds and lizards too.
Autumn planting, March to May, gives natives the best start in the Mallee. They build roots through the cooler, wetter months before their first hot summer. Spring planting puts young plants straight under heat stress and takes far more watering.
A thick layer of mulch is one of the best things you can do for a native here. It holds moisture, keeps the soil cooler, stops weeds and slowly improves the soil. Keep it a few centimetres clear of the stem to avoid collar rot.
Water deeply when you plant and through the first two summers, then cut back gradually. The aim is deep roots, not roots that wait at the surface for the hose. Most Mallee natives become properly drought hardy once that root system is built.
A light tip prune after flowering keeps natives compact and bushy and sets up better flowering next season. Don't cut back into old wood on wattles and grevilleas: always leave some green leaves on the stems you cut. Less is more.
The Mallee was once alive with honeyeaters, lorikeets, pardalotes and native bees. The right plants can bring a lot of that back, even to a suburban Swan Hill garden.
They need nectar all year round, so layer your planting so something is always in flower.
They need dense, prickly cover to hide from bigger birds and cats. Plant in clumps of five to seven.
Native bees, beetles and butterflies need flowers, native grasses and undisturbed ground. Don't over-tidy.
Salinity is one of the most frustrating problems in Swan Hill gardens, but it doesn't have to mean bare ground. Peta-Lyn and John have dealt with salty soil on their own block since 1981, and they know which plants will do well in it and which will struggle. Come in for a chat, and bring a soil sample if you've got one.
Natives and Mediterranean favourites that hold up through Swan Hill's heat.
SALT TOLERANTTrees, shrubs and groundcovers for the patch where nothing else grows.
ALL PLANTSFruit trees, roses, succulents, seedlings and advanced trees.
Come in and have a chat. Peta-Lyn and John have gardened in Swan Hill for over 45 years, and they'll help you find the right plant for your soil, your conditions and your garden.