Australian Succulents

Grass trees

Grass trees in Cultivation

Australian grass trees include the genus Kingia and Xanthorrhoea.  These iconic grass trees are endemic to Australia, and are not succulent plants at all. They are very popular in landscape design, especially when planted with cacti and succulents. (Interestingly in Europe, grass trees are sold as Australian succulent plants!) These plants are xerophytes so able to survive and grow in similar conditions to cacti and succulents and so it is understandable that there is confusion in the general public.

Unfortunately, grass trees also have a bad reputation for being difficult to grow, rarely flowering, then usually dying after several years in the garden. Therefore we would like to showcase a  few great examples of the opposite, of in fact-- how well they can look, grow and flower in a garden.

Ian Menkins, an amateur botanist from Queensland has been growing numerous grass tree species in amongst cacti and other succulents, successfully within a garden setting for about 30 years.The image below is only  part of his garden, however it does clearly show three very different Xanthorrhoea species, all flowering annually. (The larger specimen in the foreground only has the thick inflorescence stems showing). Behind the Golden Barrel Cactus Echinocactus grusonii at the far right of this image, is an unusuall blue-leaved species of Xanthorrhoea, which has at least 8 flower spikes present.

A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH IAN MENKINS:

How many grass trees do you have in your garden? 6 + 1 in a pot

How many species do you grow? About 4 species: X. johnsonii, X. glauca, X. australis (?) or latifolia (?), plus the blue one (unknown species).

How many years have you been growing grass trees? About 30 years.

Have any died? Surprisingly, none ever died. It is important to have good drainage, but also water them well for the first few years until they get their roots established.

Were they all seedlings or larger habitat plants? I recall 4 were seedlings: the blue one, the two glauca and the small australis (?). 3 were small habitat plants with the NSW permit labels and were all labelled X. australis, but I think only one might be that species.

Have you found any to be faster or slower growing than others? X. glauca is clearly the fastest, followed by X. johnsonii.

How many years did you have to wait before your grass trees first flowered? Grown from seed you can get flowers in 3-4 years. Pretty amazing really!

Do your grass trees flower every year for you? Yes, and very reliably.

Have you ever had seedlings come up? Never, despite seeing lots of seeds fall in the past.

The above images show Ian in part of his garden. The last picture clearly show how well and  regularly some of these grass trees flower for him. There are sixteen flower spikes in this image!

These next 7 images show a striking bluish Xanthorrhoea in Ian's garden that flowers prolifically every year. We have not been able to identify it as yet so in the meantime we are just referring to it as X. 'Menkins Blue'.

Ian frequently travels to visit and observe various species in their natural habitat, often consulting with senior botanists about their identification which at times have been confusing. Like many of us who sometimes struggle with the identification of grass trees, especially when encountered in habitat, Ian has been extra studious, at times with a lot of frustration, has decided to create his own 'Simplified Key' to the genus Xanthorrhoea. While this key was only ever intended for his private use, he has given us permission to share it with  those who are interested. It has proved useful to us! Why not try it yourself!

Simplified Key to the Grasstrees of Australia, by State or Teritory. Compiled by Ian Menkins, 2017.Adapted mostly from Flora of Australia

Apart from Ian Menkins' garden, work and key to grass trees, we are now seeking more pics, stories and garden settings of grass trees in cultivation. We want to publish and show others how wonderful and worthwhile these plants are. Do you have a garden pic or story you would like to share?

We are also pleased to be able to offer a special small publication devoted just to this topic:

click here Australian Grass Trees. Seeds of Xanthorrohea are also available in our eBay store link on the home page.

Update:  February 2018

Margaret from Upwey, Victoria has offered to share her garden experience. She and her husband live on a large semi-rural, elevated property, covered mostly with natural native forest. Approximately one acre was cleared for the house and garden which has since matured to merge with the native forest. Planting schemes for the garden varied over the last two decades, but Australian native plants have featured predominantly. Succulents and other waterwise plants were incorporated as highlights here and there.

In 2003 she employed a landscaper who sourced (from nurseries) and planted numerous mature grass trees into her garden. Last week I visited Margaret and her husband in their garden to ask a few questions. I took the above picture and the one below, last week, after several very hot summer days. The last two pictures were taken by Margaret, weeks prior during cooler weather. The blue succulent is Senecio serpens and in the close-up picture, it has an even more bluish plant growing and flowering amongst its stems -  Blue Lechenaultia,  Lechenaultia biloba.

A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH MARGARET:

How many grass trees do you have in your garden? Nine

How many species do you grow? We were told that they all originated  from Queensland and were labelled as Xanthorrhoea species, but a few of them stand out as being quite different. (While most look similar and most likely Xanthorrhoea johnsonii, one appears more like X. glauca and one is most certainly X. latifolia. All three species are found in Queensland.)

How many years have you been growing grass trees? About 16 years.

Have any died? 10 were planted and only one died since. Probably too shaded where it was originally planted.

Were they all seedlings or larger habitat plants? They were all habitat plants with permit labels.

Do your grass trees flower every year for you? We get flowers most years, but not heaps, between 1 and 3 stems. (Most likely the heavy shade in parts of the garden influences the flowering regularity.)

It may be interesting to note that even though these Xanthorrhoea all originated from over 1000 km north from where Margaret lives, the plants certainly show no signs of climatic stress, as frost and cold are a more regular winter occurrence in Upwey, Victoria.

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