Hakea laurina is a small evergreen native shrub that produces spectacular flowers from March to August with nectar-rich, rounded balls of bright crimson, resembling a pin cushion covered in thin, creamy-coloured styles protruding like short pins, maturing to a vibrant, deep red.
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Its versatility doesn’t stop there. It’s widely used as a hedging plant and combats soil erosion. It also adds colour to municipal parks and gardens, is a popular cut flower and is planted as a wildlife habitat and haven for nectar-feeding birds, like honeyeaters, during a time of year when there are very few plants in flower.
Another bonus is that it prefers cooler climates, so it’s ideal for our gardens in Tasmania.
Named after Baron Christian L. von Hake, Hakea laurina is more commonly known as the pin cushion hakea and is endemic to the southern coastal plains of Western Australia.
It can vary greatly in its growth habit in that some plants are upright, whilst others can be quite pendulous and weeping. Light pruning and regular clipping will help promote bushiness and flower production.
The ideal planting position is an open, sunny spot, but hakeas will tolerate some shade. An acidic to neutral, well drained soil is preferred.
They will tolerate frosts and sheltered coastal conditions.
Most hakeas are propagated from seed. Collected ripe fruits, stored in a warm dry place, open within one to four weeks to release winged seeds. There is no need for pre-sowing treatment, and germination usually begins to occur in 15 to 100 days if the temperature is maintained at 20-28 degrees Celsius.
Paper Daisies
The daisy is the largest of all plant families with over 20,000 species and includes tiny plants with almost microscopic flowers, through larger herbs and shrubs to medium-sized trees.
Tasmania has many native daisies that make excellent garden plants and the variety of sizes, forms and colours means that many can be found to suit most gardens.
A very colourful group is the paper daisies or everlastings. Paper daisies are wonderful garden plants, providing a brilliant display of colour for long periods during spring and summer, and suited to growing in rockeries, tubs or mass planted to form a floral carpet. They are perennial or annual herbs which have colourful flower heads ranging in size from about one to five centimetres in diameter. The most common colour is golden although there are many species and varieties with white, pink, red, bronze and orange flowers.
These generally drought- and heat-tolerant little gems will grow in most soil types preferring a sunny, well drained position. Some can be persuaded to flower twice in a season by cutting back after the first flowers wilt. They are great for dried floral arrangements and as a pollen source for bees.
Diary
August 16: The Australian Plant Society will meet at the Max Fry Hall on Gorge Rd, Trevallyn, Launceston at 7.30pm.
Visitors are welcome to attend the meeting at no charge and will be able to gain expert advice on gardening with native plants from the friendly members over a cup of tea or coffee. Information on the APST can be obtained from its website at www.apstasnorth.org
August 17: The Launceston Horticultural Society will meet at the Windmill Hill Hall, High Street, Launceston at 8pm. Visitors are welcome. A homemade supper is provided.
August 18: The Launceston Orchid Society will meet at the Newnham Uniting Church Hall, George Town Road, Launceston at 7pm. Visitors are most welcome.