GARDEN CARE

Banksia 'Giant Candles'
- the great all rounder

This Australian native is a great all-rounder. It has beautiful burnt orange flower brushes up to 40 cm long, which can be seen at a distance, making it an excellent specimen plant (focal point) in the garden from autumn to early spring.

It is an evergreen shrub which grows between 3-4 metres high, and branches low, with fine, dark green foliage making it an excellent screening plant.

Grown in multiples it makes an ideal informal hedge or barrier planting. Birds are able to shelter in this shrub whilst feeding on flower nectar.

This plant is a fast grower in an open, sunny position. However, it does tolerate some shade.

Soils need to be well drained. If you live in an area with clay soils use gypsum and coarse sand to break up the clay and improve drainage.

The other alternative is to raise the area were you intend to plant with a sandy soil mix, either in a raised bed or large mound.

Banksias are members of the Proteaceae family and the rule is don't fertilise, unless it is a slow release native fertiliser certified for use on Proteaceae species (ie very low in phosphorus).

The best way to tend your Banksia is to lightly mulch the base of plants with leaf litter, eucalyptus fines or straw.

This plant is not prone to attack by either insects or disease. Yellowing may occur on leaf tips, which indicates an iron deficiency which can be easily corrected with an application of iron chelates.

It can also be affected by Phytophthora which has became endemic throughout much of Australia. This is a fungus which can be controlled with fungicides such as Fongarid.

This plant is especially tolerant of coastal winds and the sandy, low nutrient soils found in areas with naturally occurring sandstone.

It's a Sydneysider to boot, but also does well in coastal regions to the south and north of Sydney. It will also grow well off the coastal fringe including the Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands and Canberra and Victoria. Banksia 'Giant Candles' is a hybrid between B. ericifolia and B. spinulosa var spinulosa.

Banksia ericifolia is common in Sydney bushland and along the coastal fringe north and south of the city. Banksia spinulosa is a coastal dweller but also extends to the Blue Mountains and tablelands.

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Last updated March 15, 2003
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