12 easy to grow Australian natives with spectacular flowers
Australian native plants are often chosen for their resilience, but many also produce flowers that rival anything in the ornamental plant world. The difference is that they do it while working with our climate, wildlife, soils and seasonal cycles rather than against them.
Many Australian native flowers evolved to be pollinated by birds rather than insects, which is why red, orange and pink appear so frequently. Tubular shapes, sturdy structure and generous nectar production are all adaptations to honeyeater feeding behaviour rather than aesthetic choices. The result is flowers that are both ecologically functional and visually extraordinary.
The following twelve species are not only striking but also reliable and relatively easy to establish in the right conditions. Each can be largely left alone once settled. For more options across a similar theme, see our guide to 12 low-effort natives for bold colour and interest.
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01Red flowering gum (Corymbia ficifolia)
Few trees produce a flower display on the scale of the red flowering gum. In summer, the entire canopy becomes saturated with dense clusters of flowers in shades of crimson, scarlet, orange or deep pink. Modern grafted cultivars like 'Summer Red' and 'Summer Beauty' produce consistent colour in a more compact form, making them practical choices for smaller gardens.
The flowers are substantial, lasting for weeks and producing nectar in quantities that draw every honeyeater in the neighbourhood. After flowering, the large woody seed capsules remain on the tree. In a garden setting it functions as both a shade tree and a seasonal spectacle. Once established through its first one to two summers, it is highly drought tolerant and largely self-sufficient. Plant in full sun with excellent drainage and avoid phosphorus-rich fertilisers.
02Grevillea 'Moonlight' (Grevillea 'Moonlight')
Where most grevilleas produce flowers in intense reds or oranges, 'Moonlight' flower spikes are large, white and produced almost continuously throughout the year, with peak flowering in late winter and spring. The scale of individual flower clusters is unusually generous for a grevillea. It attracts honeyeaters and spinebills throughout the flowering season.
It is fast growing, adaptable and performs well across a range of soils provided drainage is reasonable. It works well as an informal screen or background shrub where it can reach its natural size without too much intervention. Light pruning after the main flowering flush keeps the plant dense and encourages successive blooms. Avoid phosphorus fertilisers — as with all grevilleas, phosphorus sensitivity is a genuine risk. For more on growing grevilleas well, see our grevillea growing guide.
03Native broom (Viminaria juncea)
Native broom is one of the more architecturally interesting flowering shrubs in the Australian flora. Its stems are almost entirely without true leaves, giving it a fine, rush-like texture. In spring and early summer, masses of small golden pea flowers appear along the stems, creating a display that is unlike anything else in a native garden. The plant is a nitrogen-fixing legume, which means it actively improves the soil it grows in rather than depleting it.
What makes it particularly useful is its tolerance of heavier and wetter soils. Native broom performs well in clay, periodically wet positions and rain gardens. It establishes quickly and can be planted in sites that collect water during winter rain. It does benefit from a light trim after flowering to maintain a tidy shape and prevent it becoming straggly.
Planting for year-round flowers
The plants in this article collectively flower across every season of the year. Red flowering gum and guinea flower peak in summer. Native broom and grevillea 'Moonlight' carry spring into early summer. Pincushion hakea and common heath flower in winter when almost nothing else does. Planning for this kind of succession — rather than a single peak season — is what makes a native garden genuinely rewarding year-round.
04Pincushion hakea (Hakea laurina)
The flowers of pincushion hakea are among the most unusual. Each bloom is a deep crimson sphere studded with long cream styles that extend outward like the pins of a pincushion. They appear in winter, which makes them doubly valuable: colour and nectar at exactly the time when both are most scarce in the garden. Honeyeaters treat flowering pincushion hakeas as reliable winter feeding stations.
It grows as a large, dense shrub or small tree with attractive blue-green foliage. It prefers well-drained soil and full sun and is highly drought tolerant once established. It is also one of the better hakeas for windbreak planting in coastal or exposed positions. Unlike some western Australian species it adapts reasonably well to eastern Australian conditions. See our guide to Australian native flowers for pollinators for companion planting ideas.
05Native frangipani (Hymenosporum flavum)
The native frangipani produces one of the most fragrant flowers of any Australian tree. The blooms open cream to pale yellow and deepen to orange as they age, which means a single cluster carries two or three tones simultaneously. The fragrance is most pronounced on warm evenings. Flowering occurs mainly in spring and early summer and the display can last for weeks.
It is well suited to courtyards, sheltered garden positions and subtropical street plantings. In the right position it is genuinely low maintenance and is one of the most underused small native trees available. See our guide to small native trees for suburban gardens for companion options.
06Guinea flower (Hibbertia scandens)
Guinea flower produces flowers that are large, flat and intensely yellow. They resemble a simplified buttercup but are significantly more generous in size. In a warm temperate or subtropical garden it can carry flowers for nine months of the year or longer. Few plants can match that kind of sustained colour output.
It is a vigorous climber when given a support structure, but also performs beautifully as a groundcover, spreading across banks, spilling over retaining walls or threading through shrubs in a naturalistic planting. It is highly adaptable and genuinely tolerant of coastal conditions. It is also one of the better flowering native groundcovers available for a shaded or semi-shaded position.
07Geraldton wax (Chamelaucium uncinatum)
Geraldton wax produces masses of small, waxy flowers in shades of white, pink, mauve or deep pink, covering the plant so completely that the foliage almost disappears. The individual flowers are precisely formed and long-lasting, both on the plant and in a vase.
It requires excellent drainage and performs best in lighter, mineral soils. It is highly drought tolerant once established and genuinely easy in a Mediterranean or warm temperate garden. Avoid heavy clay and avoid overwatering. A light tip prune after flowering keeps the plant dense.
Getting the most from flowering natives
Almost every plant on this list will produce a significantly better flower display when pruned correctly immediately after flowering. For shrubs, removing spent flower heads and lightly shortening the new growth behind them redirects energy into the following season's flower buds rather than seed production. This is the single most reliable thing you can do to improve flowering year on year. Read our full guide to pruning Australian natives.
08Fuchsia heath (Epacris longifolia)
Fuchsia heath is one of the most genuinely beautiful small shrubs in the Australian flora and one of the most underused in home gardens. Its flowers are long tubes tipped with white, produced in dense rows along the stems from autumn through to spring. At peak flowering, a well-grown plant is covered from tip to base.
It grows naturally along the ranges and coastal escarpment of New South Wales and into Queensland, typically in sheltered positions with good drainage and dappled light. In a garden it performs best in well-drained, slightly acidic soil with some protection from hot afternoon sun and frost. It is particularly valuable as a winter nectar source for small honeyeaters through the cooler months when most other flowering plants have finished. A light tip prune after the main flowering flush maintains a compact, bushy habit.
09Chocolate lily (Dichopogon strictus)
The chocolate lily takes its name from the genuine chocolate fragrance its flowers produce on warm days. The flowers themselves are small and starry, three-petalled in soft purple with a darker centre. The plant grows from underground tubers and dies back after flowering, reappearing each spring with consistency.
It belongs in naturalistic and grassland-style plantings, planted in drifts among native grasses or low groundcovers. It is a perfect wildflower for native bees. It requires well-drained soil and does not tolerate waterlogging, particularly when dormant.
10Snowy daisy bush (Olearia lirata)
In spring, snowy daisy bush becomes covered in masses of small white daisy flowers with yellow centres. The sheer density of the display transforms the plant into something that looks like a flowering mist.
It is also one of the tougher plants on this list. It tolerates a wide range of soils, handles both dry and periodically moist conditions, grows reasonably fast and asks for almost nothing in the way of ongoing care. It works as a background shrub, an informal screen or a standalone specimen in a position where its spring display can be appreciated. It is highly valuable to beneficial insects at a time in spring when pollinator food sources are particularly important.
11Crimson turkey bush (Eremophila latrobei)
Crimson turkey bush stands out for the intensity of its colour. The tubular flowers are vivid red and the foliage is fine and grey-green.
It is a plant of dry inland Australia and brings genuine drought resilience to a garden. Once established it requires essentially no supplemental watering in most temperate climates, and it handles poor, sandy or gravelly soils with ease. It is less suitable for high-rainfall coastal gardens with humidity and heavy soils, but in dry temperate or inland conditions it is one of the most reliably flowering and low-maintenance shrubs available. Like all eremophilas, it resents overwatering and root disturbance, so plant it young and leave it alone.
12Native clematis (Clematis aristata)
Native clematis produces one of the best spring displays available from a native climber. In flower, it covers its support structure in masses of small, starry white flowers. The display transitions into silvery, feathery seed heads that persist for months after flowering. It is a plant with two distinct seasons of interest.
It is worth noting that this is not the invasive old man's beard (Clematis vitalba), a European species listed as a significant environmental weed in south-eastern Australia. It climbs by twining and can cover a fence, pergola or trellis in a single season once established. It prefers reasonable drainage and some shelter from the harshest summer sun.
Designing with flowering natives
What makes these plants particularly valuable is not just their flowers but how they fit into Australian conditions across time. They are adapted to our soils, climate and seasonal patterns, which means they become more reliable and more beautiful as they mature rather than requiring constant replacement or intervention.
By combining trees, shrubs, groundcovers and climbers from this list, it is possible to create a layered garden that provides colour across every season without relying on high-maintenance species.
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A Guide to Australian Native Gardening
How to plan, plant and care for a thriving native garden, whatever your experience level.
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