12 Australian natives with small, delicate flowers
Many of Australia's most recognised native flowers tend to be large and structural — banksia, grevillea, callistemon. But there is an entirely different register in the Australian flora: plants whose flowers are so small and so precisely constructed that they repay the opposite of distance. They reward looking closely and work perfectly in cottage-style plantings.
The Australian flora contains some of its most intricate flower structures at the smallest scale — plants whose individual blooms are architectural in their precision and best appreciated at close range.
Shop Tools for Australian Gardeners
Everything you need in your garden.
1. Tree violet (Melicytus dentatus)
Shade-tolerant small treeTemperate east coast
Tree violet (Melicytus dentatus) — the individual flowers are tiny and cream-yellow, almost hidden in the foliage; the vivid purple-black berries that follow are conspicuous and eaten by a wide range of birds.
Melicytus dentatus has individual flowers that are tiny, five-petalled, cream to pale yellow and borne directly on the stems rather than in the standard leaf-axil position. This cauliflorous habit means each flower is presented in isolation rather than competing with surrounding foliage, which makes them individually visible. What follows the flowers is small, vivid purple-black berries, eaten by silvereyes, currawongs and other fruit-eating birds. In the garden, it performs best in shade (the understorey of established trees, a south-facing wall, a shaded courtyard). It is one of the more useful and visually interesting plants available for deep shade positions and one of the least known.
2. Slender rice flower (Pimelea linifolia)
Flowering shrubTemperate to subtropical east coast
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Slender rice flower (Pimelea linifolia) — rounded heads of tiny white four-petalled flowers with silky tube extensions; at close range the individual flower structure is among the most precisely constructed of any small-flowered native.
Pimelea linifolia produces its flowers in tight rounded clusters at the ends of slender stems. The genus name comes from the Greek for fat or oily, a reference to the oily seeds. It is an easy plant in well-drained soils across the temperate east coast and flowers through spring and into early summer. It is short-lived in the garden but self-seeds freely and produces tube stock reliably from cuttings. Worth planting in groups of three or five rather than as a single specimen, both for display and to ensure some replacement plants are always coming through. The smaller Pimelea species collectively represent one of the most underrated groups in the Australian flora.
3. Long-leaf wax flower (Philotheca myoporoides)
Flowering shrubTemperate to subtropical east coast
Long-leaf wax flower (Philotheca myoporoides) — the five white petals have a distinct waxy texture that gives each flower the quality of something constructed rather than grown; flowers appear through winter and spring when most other shrubs are dormant.
Philotheca myoporoides produces its flowers through winter and spring on a compact, aromatic shrub. The individual flowers are five-petalled, white to pale pink, and have a waxy, almost porcelain quality. In the garden, it handles dry conditions, rocky soils and exposed positions reliably once established. It accepts light pruning after flowering to maintain shape. A long-established garden plant that is significantly more beautiful at close range than its general reputation suggests.
4. Small crowea (Crowea exalata)
Compact flowering shrubCool temperate
Small crowea (Crowea exalata) — five-petalled pink stars with a waxy, almost enamel-like surface; flowering from late summer through winter, they fill the garden season when almost nothing else of comparable quality is available.
Crowea exalata's petals spread and reflex slightly as the flower opens fully, so each bloom sits as a flat star rather than a cup. They appear from late summer through to winter and are produced so continuously that the plant is almost never out of flower during this period. It handles dry shade under established eucalypts, a position that defeats most other compact flowering shrubs, and stays tidy with minimal pruning. In the garden it is one of the most reliably useful and undervalued small shrubs available for cool temperate southeast Australia. The closely related Crowea saligna covers similar territory at a slightly larger scale and is equally worth growing.
Why small flowers repay close attention
The relationship between flower size and flower complexity is not straightforward in the Australian flora. Many of the most architecturally intricate flowers in the country are also among the smallest and the reason is pollination. Small flowers tend to target specific pollinators: native bees, hoverflies, small beetles and wasps rather than the birds that pollinate large tubular flowers. Precision targeting means precision design. A flower that needs to position a specific bee in a specific orientation to achieve pollination has to be exactly the right shape.
5. Twiggy myrtle (Sannantha virgata)
Screening shrubTemperate to subtropical east coast
Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Twiggy myrtle (Sannantha virgata) — the individual five-petalled white flowers are almost impossibly small; the effect at garden scale is a fine mist of white along slender arching stems through summer.
Sannantha virgata (formerly known as Baeckea virgata), belongs to the myrtle family. Examined closely, the arrangement of stamens around the central ovary is as precisely organised as anything in the larger-flowered myrtles. In spring and summer thousands of these flowers open simultaneously along the slender, arching stems. In a garden the plant functions well as a screening shrub, a loose hedge or a background plant behind lower-growing perennials. It responds well to pruning, which keeps it dense and promotes the new stem growth that carries the most flowers. It is common in its natural range but significantly underused in cultivation.
6. White myrtle (Hypocalymma angustifolium)
WA wildflower shrubMediterranean WA
pimelea, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
White myrtle (Hypocalymma angustifolium) — tiny pink to white flowers pressed close to fine stems through winter and spring; in flower the plant reads as a fine pink mist and is one of the most photographed wildflowers of the WA season.
Hypocalymma angustifolium is one of the most distinctive of the WA wildflowers that can be cultivated in a garden setting. Individual flowers are no more than 8mm across but each one is perfectly formed and the mass of them along fine stems through winter and spring creates an amazing display. It requires the same conditions as most WA Mediterranean shrubs: sandy or gravelly well-drained soil, full sun, dry summer and no phosphorus fertiliser. For WA gardeners it is a rewarding and relatively easy plant in the right conditions; for eastern states gardeners it is container territory.
7. Rock thryptomene (Thryptomene saxicola)
WA wildflower shrubMediterranean WA
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rock thryptomene (Thryptomene saxicola) — minute pink to white flowers studded along arching stems through winter and spring; one of the most used WA wildflowers in the cut flower industry and one of the most beautiful at close range.
Thryptomene saxicola's petals are almost translucent at their edges, graduating from deeper pink at the base to near-white at the tip, with a central cluster of stamens so fine they are almost invisible without magnification. The overall plant is graceful, with arching, pendulous stems that carry the flowers along their full length through winter and spring. In cultivation it requires the same approach as most WA Mediterranean shrubs: excellent drainage, full sun and dry summer conditions. It handles alkaline soils better than many WA species which extends its usefulness in eastern state gardens with limestone or clay-derived soils, provided drainage is good.
8. Brown boronia (Boronia megastigma)
Aromatic flowering shrubTemperate WA coastal
Carlquist, Sherwin John, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Brown boronia (Boronia megastigma) — pendant cup-shaped flowers in deep chocolate-brown outside and yellow within; at close range the colour combination and waxy petal texture are unlike anything else in the Australian flora.
Boronia megastigma has fragrance at a scale that bears no relationship to the size of the flower. The small, pendant, cup-shaped flowers produce a penetrating scent and a single plant can fill a garden on a still morning. It is a demanding plant in cultivation — well-drained, acidic, sandy soil, a cool root run, morning sun, no root disturbance and no fertiliser — but within those requirements it is reliable and long-lived. The named yellow form 'Lutea' is slightly more forgiving than the straight species and produces flowers that read as pale yellow-green rather than brown, which suits some garden contexts better.
9. Asterolasia (Asterolasia trymalioides)
Cool temperate flowering shrubCool temperate, VIC and SA
Melburnian, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Asterolasia (Asterolasia trymalioides) — star-shaped yellow flowers with a distinctive woolly texture on the backs of the petals; one of the least known members of the citrus family in cultivation and one of the most architecturally unusual small-flowered natives.
Asterolasia trymalioides is a member of the citrus family. The flowers have the same structural precision and aromatic foliage that characterises the family, with five petals arranged in a star and a cluster of stamens at the centre. What distinguishes Asterolasia is the texture of the petals: the backs are covered in fine woolly hairs that give each flower a soft, velveteen quality. It occurs naturally in dry scrub and rocky woodland in VIC and SA, often in exposed positions and handles dry conditions and poor soils reliably. In the garden it is one of the most genuinely unusual small-flowered plants available in the temperate Australian palette.
10. Blue halgania (Halgania cyanea)
Arid-zone flowering shrubDry temperate to arid inland
Allthingsnative, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Blue halgania (Halgania cyanea) — vivid blue five-petalled flowers on a compact shrub from the dry inland; one of the few genuinely blue small-flowered natives and one of the most striking plants of the Australian arid zone in flower.
Halgania cyanea's five-petalled flowers are a vivid, saturated blue and each one is small enough to sit on the tip of a finger. The plant is compact, rarely exceeding 80cm, and occurs naturally in dry scrub, mallee and arid inland conditions across SA, inland WA, NSW and VIC. In cultivation it requires full sun, excellent drainage and dry summer conditions. For inland and dry-climate gardens where the palette of small-flowered shrubs is limited, it fills a gap that almost nothing else can. The genus Halgania contains several other species of similar delicacy and merit, most of them equally unknown in cultivation.
11. Wax plant (Hoya australis)
Tropical climbing perennialTropical to subtropical
Wax plant (Hoya australis) — the individual flowers of each rounded cluster are five-pointed stars in white with a waxy, almost synthetic surface quality; at close range the precision and texture of each flower is extraordinary.
Hoya australis is a climbing or trailing perennial from the rainforest margins, rocky escarpments and coastal scrub of tropical and subtropical Australia. Its individual flower is a five-pointed star roughly 15mm across, brilliant white with a waxy, almost synthetic surface finish. The flowers are also fragrant, particularly in the evening. In cultivation it is more tolerant of cool and temperate conditions than its tropical origin suggests. It grows well outdoors in frost-free temperate gardens, in a sheltered position, and is a long-established indoor plant. It requires good drainage, moderate to bright indirect light and a period of dryness between waterings. Left on the same stems, it will flower from the same spurs year after year.
12. Lance-leaf platysace (Platysace lanceolata)
Cool temperate flowering shrubCool temperate to alpine
Lance-leaf platysace (Platysace lanceolata) — minute white flowers in flat-topped umbel clusters; the effect at garden scale is a fine mist of white that reads similarly to gypsophila but is entirely native and adapted to cool temperate and alpine conditions.
Platysace lanceolata belongs to the carrot family which explains the flat-topped umbel arrangement of the tiny white flowers. Each individual flower is minute, five-petalled and white. It handles frost, exposed positions, thin rocky soils and dry summers reliably, which makes it more broadly useful in cool-climate gardens than its rarity in cultivation might suggest. For cool temperate and alpine gardens where the range of fine-textured, delicate-flowered plants is limited, it is one of the most interesting and underused options available in the Australian flora.
Growing plants with delicate flowers: what to know
LIMIT INTERFERENCE
Most of the plants on this list share a cultivation requirement that is not obvious from their flower quality: they dislike interference. Many of the most delicate-flowered Australian natives — boronias, pimeleas, philothecas, thryptomenes — have fine, sensitive root systems that do not recover well from disturbance, transplanting or overwatering. The approach that works consistently is to prepare the position well before planting, establish the plant in autumn or early spring, mulch the root zone and then leave the plant alone. No fertiliser beyond a light application of low-phosphorus native slow-release in year one.
Long-leaf wax flower (Philotheca myoporoides) — in full flower; the waxy white petals catch light differently from every angle, giving each bloom a slightly luminous quality.
PROVIDE EXCELLENT DRAINAGE
Drainage is non-negotiable for every WA species on this list and important for most of the others. The fine root systems that support fine flower production are also the first casualty of waterlogged soil. In clay soils, planting on a raised mound of 15–20cm improves drainage enough to make the difference between a plant that establishes and one that does not.
Yellow boronia (Boronia megastigma 'Lutea') — the pale yellow pendant cups are as precisely constructed as the brown form and carry the same extraordinary fragrance.
PRUNE LIGHTLY
Prune back by no more than a third immediately after the main flowering flush, to a point where there is visible green growth below the cut. Hard pruning into old wood on most of these species produces a plant that does not recover. The goal of pruning is to encourage new stem growth, which is the growth that carries the most flowers in the following season, not to reduce the plant's overall size significantly.
keep reading
A Guide to Australian Native Gardening
How to plan, plant and care for a thriving native garden, whatever your experience level.
Read the guide →
_-_DPLA_-_08ff45ee530caf3ad44d5333c94f3b84.jpg){kind=link}
