Now,Clarence, our viewers always have questions.
Are you ready to answer a few?
I'm as ready as I'll ever be.
Okay, he goes.
Why is my red flowering gum orange?
Well, this is Corymbia ficifolia and although it's from Southwest Western Australia.
It's used in gardens right across Australia and isrenowned for beautiful red summer blooms.
It's also renowned for its genetic variability in form and flower colour.
That colour can range from white through pink to orange.
Although this genetic diversity has limited use in home gardens, it has led to some incredible cultivars and hybrid forms.
If you really must have the red flower, go for a name variety.
But if you've got the space and the time, plant a seedling, spin the bingo barrel of genetic diversity
and see how you go.
Are there any deciduous native trees?
Well, yes there are, but we don't have anywhere near the number that they have in the Northern Hemisphere.
So we've got the white and the red cedar, which occur naturally in rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland,
and the deciduous beach from Tasmania.
The right here on the Illawarra is the gorgeous Illawarra flame tree.
Which although is not strictly speaking is deciduous drops all of its foliage so those beautiful red flowers
can burst forth and give you that amazing and stunning flame tree.
Try growing one in your backyard if you got the room.
I prune my grevilleas and it made me itchy. Why?
Grevilleas commonly cause reactions in gardeners when they come into contact with them through pruning or through planning.
Primarily, that's through the sap that's found within the wood of the plant.
The nectar, well, that's quite a sweet drink, if you're someone like me,
who likes to go through the garden, give it a little bit of a tap and have a drink.
But the sap itself that's a whole other chemical compound and grevillea robusta, the silky oak was highly prized timber.
And that also caused quite a few different reactions to a lot of the timber getters and people who still use that as a timber today.
And that sap can cause an allergic reaction.
So if you're going to get into a garden with these long sleeves, gloves shouldn't have a problem.
Some people may think you can't mix exotic plants and native plants in the same garden.
But native plants are just plants.
So conditions are right, they'll grow just about anywhere.
It's a myth that you can't prune or fertilize native plant species,
or indeed growing together with exotics.
Maintenance requirements of plants is determined by the individual species rather than the country of origin.
Are there any native plants that you can grow indoors?
Yes, there are, there are lots, perhaps the maiden hair fern that you've had in your bathroom for a while.
That's a beautiful little native that you can grow indoors.
Just like many of our native ferns, you find them the rainforest floor.
Things like the bird's nest fern, perfect for indoors.
Some of our native figs spectacular indoor species.
And just like outside, it's about finding the right plant, the right position.
So experiment and have a go.
You know, how do I find out more about local native plants in my area?
Well, interestingly, a lot of national parks are co managed by Aboriginal communities.
So it's handy to get out into the bush and your local national park or nature area.
Regional Botanic Gardens fantastic information.
A lot of times they have a native collection that is beyond par.
Local council nurseries, yeah, native nurseries, crop swap, garden clubs, landcare and re-vege groups.
What about your favorite native flavour?
There are a lot but I'm gonna go with Bushmen.
The prostanthera is there are so many of them.
Absolutely stunning flower great plant to grow route anywhere.
You can use it as a beautiful flavour when you're cooking your kangaroo in particular,
Dry it out as a tea if you got an upset stomach, that's allround, it's a cracker.
There's so many ways to use our native plants, isn't there.
Well, look, there's so many flavours and they're so unique.
I like to introduce you to one of my favorite native herbs.
This is native pennyroyal. Mentha satureioides.
It's been really valuable in my garden, because if you have recipes that require mint added to them
and you don't want the flavor to mask everything else, this is the one.
It's a delicately flavoured mint.
Now although it is native, it's not drought resistant, so it will die right back down to the ground, a fine adaptation for the plant.
But if you want to an all year round harvest, you need to stand them in a dish of water and to top that up all the time.
And it will be producing leaves all year round.
Now the main thing about this plant is that it is vigorous and so growing it in a pot
restricts its ability to spread.
And every year I'll split it up into four equal portions and put one portion back into this bowl
and it'll fill it within six months.
If you don't do that, then plants tend to wither away.
Finding this plant is not too difficult.
It's usually sold by native specialists, community nurseries, and in the wild,
it will grow anywhere from Townsville, right the way down to Melbourne and across to Adelaide.
So it's a plant which will adapt readily to many climates.
Now, I'm getting really used to this position on Gardening Australia but I do love being close to nature.
And this beautiful specimen I've got here this is Eremophila debillis or Amulla.
Also known as the winter apple, because the beautiful little fruits that you've got here.
Now we can eat these they're so tasty.
There is a seed in the middle, beautiful flower, the lovely grand cover that grows in the dry forests of Queensland and New South Wales.
It's pretty and productive.
Now imagine growing this instead of an invasive species like blackberry.