Splendour in the Garden
Many years ago I bought a $3 special from Bunnings. It was a slightly sad, but showing promise, 140mm potted Grevillea called ‘Splendour’. I had just started planning a little native patch in the back yard and have never been one to pass up a bargain - even if the tag did say ‘vigorous’ and ‘2 m x 2 m’. The garden I put it into is probably only 1.5 m x 1.5 m and its ‘vigorous’ tendencies result in it requiring frequent reigning in (because of course I've crammed a bunch of other things in there as well). But it hasn’t disappointed me.
‘Splendour’ is a hybrid between Grevillea oleoides and G. shiressii. Both of these species are naturally found on the east coast of NSW within the Sydney Basin. G. shiressii is very rare and restricted to two populations near Gosford (it also has beautiful bluish-purple flowers and is now on my wishlist!).
'Splendour’ has smallish dusky green leaves (which come from G. shiressii) and reddish-pink flowers (like G. oleoides). It often spot flowers throughout the year, but puts on its best show over winter. The flowers aren’t big, but there are lots of them. Combined with the dense shrubby nature of the plant it makes a perfect habitat for little birds and honeyeaters (in my case, mickeys/native noisy miners, but I’m sure if you were lucky enough to have something else around they’d love it too!).
Grevilleas are a member of the Proteaceae family and can be sensitive to too much phosphorous in fertilisers, so it’s best to fertilize with a special native fertilizer, or sparingly with a regular organic pellet. They can also be sensitive to water logging, although 'Splendour' seems to be fairly robust. G. oleoides grows along creek banks, so it seemingly doesn’t mind periodic waterlogging.
Ideally this would make an ideal screening/hedging shrub, however I keep mine lifted at the bottom so a) I can fit more plants in (obviously) and also, so I can tuck in a birdbath underneath. This is prime birdbath location, surrounded in a shrub that provides food and shelter! The only downside is the birdbath gets a bit gross and occasionally disappears out of sight if I haven’t pruned for a while... but thats nothing that a pair of seccies and a relaxing afternoon can't fix!
Don’t look at the colour of the water!