Soil

Poor / Infertile Soil

38 plants · filter view, not indexed

Flannel Flower · Actinotus helianthi A soft grey-felted wildflower bearing daisy-like cream flowers with green-tipped petals that feel like flannel. A treasured short-lived perennial for sandy coastal gardens and cut flowers.
Smooth-barked Apple · Angophora costata A magnificent large tree with sculptural, twisting limbs and smooth pink-to-orange bark that sheds to reveal salmon tones. Clusters of creamy summer flowers feed bees and birds.
Dwarf Apple · Angophora hispida A gnarled small tree or large shrub of Sydney sandstone with bristly new growth and showy creamy-white summer blossom rich in nectar. A characterful bird-attracting feature.
Baxter's Banksia · Banksia baxteri A rounded WA shrub with deeply lobed holly-like leaves and squat lime-yellow flower domes nestled among the foliage. A drought-hardy feature and long-lasting cut flower.
Coast Banksia · Banksia integrifolia · from $5.50 A hardy coastal tree with dark-green leaves silvery beneath and pale-yellow flower spikes through autumn and winter that feed birds. Exceptionally salt- and wind-tolerant for seaside windbreaks.
Firewood Banksia · Banksia menziesii A WA banksia with zigzag pinkish new growth and large acorn-shaped flower spikes in shades of pink, red and gold. A striking bird-attracting feature and cut flower.
Old Man Banksia · Banksia serrata A gnarled, characterful small tree with serrated leathery leaves, thick warty bark and large grey-green flower spikes that age to the woody 'big bad banksia men' cones. Tough and long-lived.
Birthday Candles Banksia · Banksia spinulosa 'Birthday Candles' A compact dwarf banksia with fine green foliage and gold and burgundy candle flowers through autumn and winter. A neat, bird-attracting feature for small gardens.
Cherry Candles Banksia · Banksia spinulosa 'Cherry Candles' A compact banksia with deep cherry-red and gold candle flowers through autumn and winter. A colourful, hardy and bird-attracting low feature shrub.
Hairpin Banksia · Banksia spinulosa · from $5.50 A reliable evergreen shrub bearing golden-yellow flower spikes with distinctive hooked styles through autumn and winter, providing vital nectar for birds. Tough, frost-hardy and bushfire-adapted.
Honeypots Banksia · Banksia spinulosa 'Honeypots' A low compact banksia with fine foliage and gold honey-scented candle flowers in autumn and winter. A reliable, drought-hardy and bird-attracting dwarf shrub.
Stumpy Gold Banksia · Banksia spinulosa 'Stumpy Gold' A very compact dwarf banksia with golden candle flowers through autumn and winter on a low rounded bush. Excellent for containers and small bird-attracting gardens.
Paper Flower · Bougainvillea glabra A thorny, vigorous evergreen climber celebrated for its dazzling, long-lasting papery bracts in vivid magenta and purple surrounding tiny white true flowers. Thrives in heat and revels in poor, dry soils.
Great Bougainvillea · Bougainvillea spectabilis A robust, large-growing climber armed with stout thorns and clothed in showy crimson, red and orange bract clusters over a very long season. A spectacular subtropical screen for hot, sunny positions.
Kurrajong · Brachychiton populneus A hardy, drought-tolerant Australian native with a swollen trunk, glossy poplar-like leaves and cream bell flowers. An iconic, long-lived shade and shelter tree for tough conditions.
Weeping Bottlebrush · Callistemon viminalis (Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don · from $3.95 A fast-growing, tough Australian native with weeping branches and brilliant red bottlebrush flowers — a reliable screening and bird-attracting plant for almost any soil.
Pigface · Carpobrotus glaucescens A hardy coastal succulent forming a fleshy mat that sprawls over dunes and rocks, bright with magenta-pink flowers and edible salty-sweet fruit. Superb for sandy, salt-blasted sites.
Common Everlasting · Chrysocephalum apiculatum A low, silvery-grey spreading daisy carrying clusters of bright golden button flowers through much of the year. Tough, drought-hardy and excellent for pollinators and dry verges.
Silver Sunburst · Chrysocephalum apiculatum 'Silver Sunburst' A low spreading native with silvery-grey woolly foliage and clusters of golden button flowers over a long season. Tough, drought-hardy and great for bee-attracting borders.
Cotoneaster · Cotoneaster glaucophyllus A hardy evergreen with grey-green leaves, sprays of white summer flowers and heavy crops of orange-red autumn berries loved by birds. Tough and drought-proof, but bird-spread seedlings can become weedy.
Kalgoorlie Emu Bush · Eremophila glabra 'Kalgoorlie' A low spreading emu bush with silver-grey foliage and orange-red tubular flowers that draw honeyeaters. Extremely drought-hardy and ideal for arid and coastal gardens.
Tar Bush 'Kalbarri Carpet' · Eremophila glabra 'Kalbarri Carpet' A prostrate emu bush forming a dense silver-grey mat dotted with tubular yellow-green flowers that feed honeyeaters. An extremely drought-hardy groundcover for hot, dry banks.
Mottlecah · Eucalyptus macrocarpa A sprawling silver-leaved mallee famous for the largest flowers of any eucalypt - huge red-pink blooms followed by giant gum nuts. A striking arid-zone collector's feature.
Red Ironbark · Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' A handsome upright tree with deeply furrowed near-black ironbark and blue-grey foliage, carrying pink to red winter flowers rich in nectar. Tough, drought-hardy and excellent for birds.
Coral Gum · Eucalyptus torquata A small, hardy goldfields gum smothered in coral-pink to red lantern-shaped flowers for much of the year. An excellent drought-tough feature and street tree.
Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' · Grevillea 'Robyn Gordon' · from $4.50 One of Australia's most popular garden hybrids — a low-maintenance native shrub producing red toothbrush flowers almost year-round to feed the birds.
Grass-leaf Hakea · Hakea francisiana An upright shrub of inland WA and SA with slender grey leaves and dense cylindrical spikes of deep pink to red flowers in spring. A striking arid-zone bird-attracting feature.
Drumsticks · Isopogon anemonifolius A compact eastern shrub with finely divided leaves and yellow flower clusters that mature into woody, drumstick-like seed cones. A tough, tidy feature for sandstone gardens.
Golden Rain Tree · Koelreuteria paniculata A tough, rounded shade tree carrying large airy sprays of yellow summer flowers followed by ornamental papery lantern-like seed capsules, with bright yellow autumn foliage.
Oleander · Nerium oleander An extremely tough, heat- and drought-proof shrub flowering all summer in pink, white or red. Ideal for hot, dry and coastal screens, but every part is highly toxic to people and animals.
Native Pelargonium · Pelargonium australe A hardy native geranium forming a low clump of softly hairy scalloped leaves topped with clusters of pink, veined flowers in the warmer months. A tough, drought-tolerant groundcover perennial.
Chinese Pistachio · Pistacia chinensis A tough, drought-hardy shade tree with glossy pinnate foliage that turns brilliant orange, red and crimson in autumn. An excellent, reliable choice for hot, dry street and park planting.
Sweet Pea Bush · Polygala myrtifolia A fast, hardy shrub almost permanently dotted with purple-pink pea-shaped flowers brushed with a fringed keel. Excellent in dry coastal gardens, though it can self-seed and naturalise.
Pink Mulla Mulla · Ptilotus exaltatus 'Joey' A compact selection of the arid-zone mulla mulla with silvery foliage and showy conical spikes of feathery silver-pink flowers all summer. A heat-loving container and cut flower star.
Golden Robinia · Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia' A fast-growing tree whose pinnate foliage glows golden-yellow from spring through summer before turning amber in autumn, lighting up the garden. Tough and tolerant of poor soils.
Sturt's Desert Pea · Swainsona formosa An iconic arid-zone trailing annual bearing spectacular blood-red pea flowers with a glossy black boss over silvery foliage. A challenging but breathtaking wildflower and floral emblem of South Australia.
Kangaroo Grass · Themeda triandra An iconic native grassland species with blue-green tufts that turn russet-bronze in summer and nodding rusty seed heads. Drought-hardy, it suits meadows and low-water plantings.
Grass Tree · Xanthorrhoea glauca An iconic slow-growing Australian grass tree forming a stout dark trunk topped with a fountain of blue-green foliage and a tall flower spear after fire. A sculptural living feature.