Unlike many of southern Australian wildflowers the main flush of Banksia come not in spring but in autumn and winter. To help you distinguish between a few of the species, we’re highlighting three of our fall faves: Banksia hookeriana, prionotes and victoriae.
Hookeriana or also referred to as Eneabba Banksia or Hooker's Banksia. This species’ long-stemmed, decorative orange flower is up to 5” or more in length developing from grayish-pink buds.
Prionotes or also called Acorn Banksia, Orange Banksia, Golden Bankisa or Orange Frost. This autumn favorite has large acorn-shaped flower spikes (hence the name) 6 to 8” long in cream and orange hues, opening from small silvery-white buds. The long stems and long, slender foliage contributes to flower’s stunning texture.
Victoriae or also named Woolly Orange. This Banksia starts as an intriguing woolly, greyish-white bud and becomes a brilliant orange as the styles open out. Victoriae blooms range in size from 6 to 10" in length and 5" in diameter and have fabulous, serrated foliage on long rigid stems.
Creating a fall arrangement is as simple as getting the right materials and mixing them together. The combination of banksia, protea, leucadendron, fruited branches and more provides a variety of colors, shapes, and textures that instantly makes the arrangement look complete.
Within the wonderfully diverse world of proteaceae, the Grevillea genus is starting to rank among the most coveted, captivating, and cool. This Australian genus includes almost three hundred species, numerous subspecies, and more than a thousand cultivars (a number that continues to grow). These amazing botanicals are not only popular for their colorful spider-like flowers, the foliage is fabulous too. Grevilleas helps create height, movement, dimension and textures in bouquets, arrangements and displays.
Ivanhoe is a hybrid cultivar derived from combination of G. Longifolia and G. Caleyi. It has very attractive serrated and deeply cut foliage with deep green leaves and silver undersides, while new growth is a reddish bronze color.
Hookeriana or also called Robin Hood, is hardy, prolific and versatile species. This lush plant which can reach heights of up to 7’ tall, has glossy, dark green, deeply divided foliage with bronze-brown stems.
Robusta or more commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is an evergreen tree with olive-green, fern-like leaves that have a beautiful silvery undertone.
Asplendifolia or longifolia has long (6 to 10”), straight army green leaves with a slight rust-red tinge when young and their undersurfaces are covered with flat, silky brownish hairs.
Grevilleas develop small cone-like buds and toothbrush-like flowers that are displayed primarily late winter through spring. This versatile foliage not only adds a distinctive texture and color to designs, they typically have a vase life of 14 days or longer.
Did you know the Australian genus of Grevillea consists of approximately 313 different varieties and 200 cultivars, and the numbers continues to grow? This amazing plant family was named in honor of the British patron of botany Charles Francis Greville, one of the founders of the Royal Horticulture Society in 1804.
Grevilleas are not only popular for their colorful spider-like flowers, the foliage is amazing as well. Yes, we’re all familiar with the fabulous Ivanhoe but do you know Hookeriana? This interesting cultivar, also called ‘Robin Hood’, is hardy, prolific and versatile. This lush plant which can reach heights of up to 7’ tall, has rich, green fern-like foliage with bronze tips and stems. Hookeriana adds incredible volume and texture to designs and it has a vase life of 14 days and longer.
The little cone buds and red tooth brush-like flowers, which are prominently displayed over the late winter and early spring, seem to turn this lush foliage into a fabulous filler flower!
