Special Qualities

Rare / Collector

45 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.
Christmas Carol Aloe · Aloe 'Christmas Carol' A compact hybrid aloe with deep green rosettes marked by raised red bumps and toothed red margins that intensify in sun, sending up coral-red flowers. A festive small collector's pot plant.
Red and Green Kangaroo Paw · Anigozanthos manglesii The floral emblem of Western Australia, with vivid green flowers rising from a woolly red stem in spring. A spectacular but short-lived paw best in sharply drained, sunny sites.
Bishop's Cap Cactus · Astrophytum myriostigma A distinctive spineless cactus shaped like a star of broad ribs, dusted with tiny white woolly scales over a grey-green body, opening yellow flowers from its crown. An elegant, geometric collector's plant.
Albany Pitcher Plant · Cephalotus follicularis A rare carnivorous plant from south-west Western Australia, forming a low rosette of intricate ribbed, lidded pitchers that flush deep red in good light. A prized, slow-growing collector's species.
Silver Torch Cactus · Cleistocactus strausii A slender columnar cactus densely clothed in fine white spines giving a silvery silken sheen, sending out horizontal deep-red tubular flowers from mature stems. A graceful upright accent for hot dry spots.
Buddha's Temple · Crassula 'Buddha's Temple' A curious hybrid forming tight stacked columns of grey-green folded leaves resembling a tiered pagoda, topped with dense heads of tiny white to pink flowers. A prized collector's oddity.
String of Pearls · Curio rowleyanus A delicate trailing succulent strung with rows of round pea-like green beads, each with a translucent window, spilling in long curtains and producing small fragrant white brush flowers. A favourite hanging plant.
Venus Flytrap · Dionaea muscipula The famous carnivorous plant whose hinged, spine-fringed traps snap shut on insects that brush their trigger hairs. A fascinating bog plant for a sunny windowsill, grown in pure peat with rainwater.
Spoonleaf Sundew · Drosera spatulata A small carnivorous sundew, native to Australia, forming rosettes of spoon-shaped leaves studded with glistening sticky tentacles that trap tiny insects. An easy, charming bog plant for sunny pots.
Perle von Nurnberg · Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg' A sought-after hybrid rosette flushed in dusky lavender-pink and grey with a fine powdery bloom, intensifying to deeper purple tones in bright light. A signature feature plant for containers and arrangements.
Golden Barrel Cactus · Echinocactus grusonii A magnificent globular cactus forming a ribbed ball clad in fierce golden-yellow spines, slowly broadening with age into a glowing sphere. A prized sculptural specimen, now rare in the wild.
Queen of the Night · Epiphyllum oxypetalum An epiphytic cactus with long flattened leaf-like stems that produce enormous fragrant white flowers opening for a single night. A spectacular, fragrant nocturnal basket and patio plant.
Silky Eremophila · Eremophila nivea A choice shrub clothed in silvery-white woolly foliage and soft lilac-blue flowers in spring. A standout silver feature for hot, dry, perfectly drained positions, often grafted.
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.
Tiger Jaws · Faucaria tigrina A small clumping succulent whose paired triangular leaves bear soft white teeth along their edges, snapping shut like tiny jaws, and opening golden-yellow daisy flowers in autumn. A fun, easy collector's plant.
Blue Barrel Cactus · Ferocactus glaucescens A handsome barrel cactus with a powdery blue-green ribbed body armed with golden-yellow spines, opening a ring of pale yellow flowers at its crown in summer. A striking, slow sculptural specimen.
Ox Tongue · Gasteria bicolor A shade-tolerant succulent with thick tongue-shaped dark green leaves speckled in white, bearing arching sprays of curved stomach-shaped red-and-green flowers. An easy, forgiving, pet-safe collector's plant.
Fred Ives Graptoveria · Graptoveria 'Fred Ives' A vigorous large rosette intergeneric hybrid in shifting shades of bronze, lilac and pinkish-purple with a soft bloom, easily offsetting into clusters. A showy, forgiving feature for pots and gardens.
Chin Cactus · Gymnocalycium mihanovichii A small ribbed globular cactus, famous in its chlorophyll-free red, pink or yellow grafted 'moon cactus' form, producing delicate pink flowers. A colourful, compact novelty for bright windowsills.
Cooper's Haworthia · Haworthia cooperi A jewel-like rosette of plump translucent blue-green leaves with glassy 'windowed' tips that glow when backlit, allowing light into the buried plant body. A coveted collector's miniature.
Zebra Plant · Haworthiopsis fasciata A small slow-growing rosette of stiff dark green pointed leaves banded with raised white tubercle stripes like zebra markings. A tough, pet-safe windowsill gem that tolerates lower light than most succulents.
Panda Plant · Kalanchoe tomentosa A charming succulent clothed in dense silvery felt, its plump leaves tipped with chocolate-brown notches like furry ears. A soft, tactile, easy-care novelty for bright windowsills.
Pineapple Zamia · Lepidozamia peroffskyana A tall, fast-by-cycad-standards Australian native forming a slender trunk crowned with long, glossy, gracefully arching fronds. A lush rainforest feature for shaded subtropical gardens; seeds toxic to pets.
Living Stones · Lithops spp. Extraordinary mimicry succulents of paired fused leaves patterned and coloured to imitate the pebbles around them, splitting to reveal a daisy-like white or yellow flower in autumn. A prized collector's curiosity.
Moore's Cycad · Macrozamia moorei A massive Australian native cycad developing a thick trunk to several metres, crowned with a huge symmetrical rosette of stiff arching fronds. A dramatic long-lived feature; seeds are toxic to pets.
Rose Grape · Medinilla magnifica A spectacular tropical shrub-like perennial with large leathery leaves and huge pendent panicles of pink flowers shrouded in showy pink bracts. A luxurious feature for warm, humid, shaded positions.
Tropical Pitcher Plant · Nepenthes alata A tropical carnivorous plant whose leaf tips extend into dangling lidded pitchers that fill with fluid to trap insects. Spectacular cascading from a hanging basket in a warm, humid, brightly lit spot.
Moonstones · Pachyphytum oviferum A captivating succulent with plump egg-shaped leaves coated in a frosted lilac-pink bloom resembling sugared almonds, on short stems. A slow, jewel-like collector's plant for bright pots.
Slipper Orchid · Paphiopedilum hybrid A terrestrial orchid with mottled leaves and a single waxy bloom bearing a distinctive pouched lip in green, mahogany and spotted tones. A long-lasting, shade-loving collector's orchid.
Pink Princess Philodendron · Philodendron erubescens 'Pink Princess' A sought-after climber prized for dark, near-black leaves splashed with bubblegum-pink variegation. A standout collector's aroid that needs bright indirect light to keep its colour.
Mexican Butterwort · Pinguicula moranensis A carnivorous rosette of soft, greasy-feeling leaves that catch fungus gnats on their sticky surface, topped by pretty pink-purple flowers. An easy, ornamental carnivore for a bright windowsill.
Mistletoe Cactus · Rhipsalis baccifera A soft trailing epiphytic cactus of fine cylindrical green stems cascading in a dense curtain, dotted with tiny cream flowers and translucent white mistletoe-like berries. A lush, spineless hanging plant.
Ravine Orchid · Sarcochilus hartmannii A compact Australian native orchid forming neat clumps that throw arching sprays of rounded white flowers with crimson-spotted centres in spring. A choice cool-growing native for shaded, airy positions.
White Pitcher Plant · Sarracenia leucophylla A carnivorous bog plant forming upright trumpet pitchers laced white and veined crimson at the top, luring and drowning insects. Striking in a sunny bog garden or water-saucered pot of peat.
Christmas Cactus · Schlumbergera truncata An epiphytic forest cactus with flat segmented spineless stems that arch and trail, erupting in vivid pink, red or white tubular flowers in the cooler months. A long-lived heirloom basket plant.
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.
Fraser Island Creeper · Tecomanthe hillii A handsome Australian native rainforest climber with glossy foliage and showy clusters of rosy-pink trumpet flowers in spring. A choice, frost-tender vine for sheltered subtropical gardens.
Waratah · Telopea speciosissima (Sm.) R.Br. · from $4.95 The floral emblem of New South Wales — a striking evergreen shrub crowned in spring by vivid red flowerheads, prized as a feature plant and cut flower.
Fringe Lily · Thysanotus tuberosus A delicate native perennial bearing exquisite purple flowers with finely fringed petals on wiry stems over grassy foliage in late spring. A dainty bush-tucker tuber and collector's wildflower.
King Fern · Todea barbara A massive, long-lived Australian native fern building a broad fibrous crown of leathery dark green fronds from a thick mounding base. A bold, statuesque feature for moist, sheltered gardens.
Vanda Orchid · Vanda hybrid A bold tropical orchid grown in open baskets with bare aerial roots, bearing large flat flowers in striking blues, pinks and tessellated patterns. A spectacular warm-climate orchid for hanging displays.
Plumed Featherflower · Verticordia plumosa A small WA shrub bearing dense heads of feathery, fringed pink flowers that hold their colour for weeks. A delicate, drought-hardy feature and prized native cut flower.
Wollemi Pine · Wollemia nobilis A rare living-fossil conifer discovered in 1994 in a remote NSW canyon, with bubbly bark and fern-like dark green foliage. A prized collector's feature tree, hardy and adaptable in pots or the ground.
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.