Remarkable, hard-working Australian native pea flowers
The pea flower is one of the most recognisable forms in the plant world. In Australia, the Fabaceae family has diversified into an extraordinary range of forms, colours and ecological strategies.
Every plant on this list is a legume, which means it forms a partnership with soil bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use. They are, in the most literal sense, improving the soil around them as they grow. Several have evolved seed dispersal mechanisms that are remarkable. Others have flower structures that are precision instruments for depositing pollen on visiting insects.
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Remarkable, hard-working Australian native pea flowers
Cockies tongue (Templetonia retusa)
Specialist nurseriesCockies tongue is named for the shape of its flowers: a vivid red with a broad reflexed standard petal that resembles a parrot's tongue. It grows naturally in the mallee and coastal scrub of southern WA and SA in shallow sandy or limestone-derived soils, high alkalinity, salt exposure and seasonal drought. The flowers appear in winter and spring and are heavily visited by honeyeaters. In the dry garden, it is close to unmatched for colour in the difficult conditions it prefers.
Plant in full sun in the best-drained position available. It resents clay and excess moisture and don't add fertiliser. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs.
Bat's wing coral tree (Erythrina vespertilio)
Specialist nurseriesThe bat's wing coral tree's leaves are shaped like a bat in flight, giving the tree a silhouette quite unlike anything else in the Australian flora. In late winter and spring, the bare branches are covered with vivid scarlet pea flowers in dense clusters. The flowers are tubular, producing abundant nectar that attracts honeyeaters and lorikeets in large numbers. It is one of the most dramatic flowering trees in the native palette.
Mark Marathon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
It grows naturally in woodland and dry rainforest margins, often in heavy clay soils on creek flats that flood periodically and dry out in summer. Plant in full sun in well-drained to moderately heavy soil. Plant in late dry season in tropical gardens, or in autumn in subtropical positions.
Holly flame pea (Chorizema ilicifolium)
Moderately availableHolly flame pea's flowers are a vivid combination of orange, pink, yellow and red in the same bloom. It flowers prolifically in late winter and spring, covering the plant in colour at a time when most of the garden is dormant. It is native to the southwest of Western Australia, where it grows in jarrah and marri woodland on well-drained, sandy, acidic soils.
Geoffrey Derrin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In eastern Australia, it performs best in a raised bed or well-drained sandy mix with acidic pH without compost or fertiliser. Prune lightly with sharp secateurs after flowering. It also works as a living mulch beneath taller WA species in the right conditions.
Southern tick-trefoil (Desmodium varians)
Specialist nurseriesSouthern tick-trefoil is a plant that rewards close attention. The tiny pink to purple pea flowers are easily overlooked in the understorey, but the seed pods that follow are ingeniously designed. The pods are covered in tiny hooked hairs that attach readily to fur, feathers and clothing — the same principle as the modern hook-and-loop fastener, evolved tens of millions of years before its existence. Each pod segment breaks off independently and is carried away, giving the plant a remarkably effective dispersal mechanism.
It grows naturally in open forest and woodland across eastern Australia. Nitrogen-fixing, it gradually improves soil quality as it grows. Plant in part shade in well-drained but moisture-retentive soil using a hori-hori.
How the pea flower works
When a bee lands on the wing petals of a pea flower and pushes down to reach the nectar, the keel petal is flattened and a column of stamens and stigma springs upward, depositing pollen on the underside of the bee's body. The mechanism is tuned to the weight and movement of specific bee species. The flower's architecture is the result of millions of years of co-evolution between plant and pollinator.
Gorse bitter-pea (Daviesia ulicifolia)
Moderately availableThe spine-tipped leaves of gorse bitter-pea are a defence against grazing animals. The flowers are vivid yellow with a red-orange centre, produced in spring across heath, dry sclerophyll forest and woodland in poor, well-drained soils where its nitrogen-fixing roots give it a competitive advantage. It is one of the most important plants for native bees in cool temperate heathland.
Melburnian, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant in free-draining, low-nutrient soil using gloves and a hori-hori — the foliage is genuinely sharp. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs. Works well in a native heathland or meadow planting.
Heath mirbelia (Mirbelia oxylobioides)
Specialist nurseriesHeath mirbelia is one of the most underrepresented shrubs. The fine, heath-like foliage is attractive year-round and the vivid pea flowers produced in spring are intensely coloured. It grows naturally in heath and dry sclerophyll forest across southeastern Australia in poor, gravelly or sandy soils. It is valuable for layered planting in the groundlayer to mid-shrub zone, providing fine texture.
Melburnian, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant in free-draining, low-nutrient soil using a hori-hori. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs. Source from specialist native nurseries or native plant society sales in Victoria and NSW.
Twining glycine (Glycine clandestina)
Widely availableTwining glycine climbs delicately through grasses and shrubs, its fine stems almost invisible until it flowers in spring. It is one of the most graceful flowering plants in the temperate Australian understorey and one of the most overlooked. It fixes nitrogen, provides forage for native bees and small butterflies and is also the closest wild relative of the cultivated soybean.
John Tann from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant where it can scramble through an existing native grass or low shrub using a hori-hori in late summer or autumn. No staking, no fertiliser, no pruning required.
Variable bossiaea (Bossiaea heterophylla)
Specialist nurseriesVariable bossiaea's leaf form varies dramatically from plant to plant, from broad and flat to almost entirely reduced, with photosynthesis taken over by flattened green stems called phyllodes. This capacity to modify its architecture is unusual in shrubs of this size. The flowers are yellow with a red keel, produced along the stems in spring across dry sclerophyll forest and heath in nutrient-poor, well-drained soils.
Poyt448 Peter Woodard, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant in free-draining soil in full sun to part shade. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs. Works well in a layered planting beneath open-canopied eucalypts.
Matted bush-pea (Pultenaea pedunculata)
Moderately availableIn spring, matted bush-pea covers itself so completely in yellow and red pea flowers that the foliage is almost invisible beneath them. The genus Pultenaea contains over 100 Australian species — one of the most significant legume radiations in the flora. P. pedunculata is among the most reliable in cultivation, compact, long-lived and highly effective at attracting native bees through its flowering peak.
Allthingsnative, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant in full sun in free-draining, low-nutrient soil. Performs well on exposed sites. Prune by about one third after flowering with sharp secateurs each year to maintain density.
Common hovea (Hovea heterophylla)
Widely availableCommon hovea is the first vivid colour in the cool temperate woodland each year, flowering in late winter before most other understorey plants have stirred. The flowers are a deep, saturated purple-blue produced in dense clusters along the stems while the surrounding bush is still largely bare. It is one of the most important early-season pollen sources for native bees emerging from winter dormancy.
Plant in part shade to full sun in free-draining soil using a hori-hori. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs. Works beautifully beneath established eucalypts.
Smooth darling pea (Swainsona galegifolia)
Widely availableDarling pea has one of the longest flowering seasons of any native pea flower, producing blooms in red, pink, purple, white or bicolour combinations for most of the year. A soft-stemmed perennial that dies back in cold winters and reshoot from the base in spring, it is associated with the drought-adapted flora of the western slopes and inland plains.
Moonlight0551 from Australia, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Plant in full sun in well-drained soil. Deadhead regularly and trim with sharp secateurs after each flush to extend the flowering season. Replace every three to four years as older plants become woody. Propagate from cuttings in spring.
Native indigo (Indigofera australis)
Widely availableNative indigo is one of the most elegant of the Australian pea flowers. The arching stems carry pinnate leaves and in spring produce pink to mauve flowers along their length. The genus Indigofera gives its name to the blue dye indigo and the Australian representative shares the characteristic blue-green cast to its foliage. It is widely distributed across eastern and southern Australia in dry sclerophyll woodland, heath and coastal scrub.
Plant in full sun to part shade in free-draining soil. Prune back by about one third after flowering with sharp secateurs. Propagate from cuttings in spring. Works well as a mid-layer shrub in a layered native planting.
Dusky coral pea (Kennedia rubicunda)
Widely availableDusky coral pea is unusual among Australian pea flowers in producing red flowers — most of the family works in the yellow, purple and pink range. A vigorous climber, it covers fences and structures quickly without destructive root systems and the pendant flower clusters are heavily visited by honeyeaters in spring.
Plant at the base of a fence or structure. Prune after flowering with sharp secateurs or loppers, cutting back by about one third. It can also be grown as a sprawling groundcover.
Hardenbergia (Hardenbergia violacea)
Widely availableHardenbergia closes this list as the most widely grown of the Australian pea flowers — but its familiarity should not obscure how useful and ecologically valuable it is. It flowers in late winter and spring in vivid purple, providing one of the most important early-season pollen and nectar sources for native bees. The prostrate works particularly well as a living mulch beneath taller shrubs.
Plant using a hori-hori in autumn. Prune lightly after flowering with sharp secateurs. Specify climbing or prostrate form when ordering. See our guide to covering fences without damage for how to use the climbing form effectively.
Growing pea flowers well
Almost every plant on this list shares the same basic requirements: free-draining, low-nutrient soil, full sun to part shade, no phosphorus-rich fertiliser and a light prune with sharp secateurs after flowering to maintain density. The nitrogen-fixing root systems of legumes mean these plants actively improve the soils around them over time, making them excellent pioneer plants for new garden areas or positions being rehabilitated from compaction or weed pressure.
See our planting guide for establishment technique and our first year failure guide for what to watch for through establishment.
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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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