Australian Succulents

Australian Calandrinia germination

Australian Calandrinia germination in our own field trials in Victoria.
Seedlings of various species are self sown and germinating naturally on an open plain. Parent plants were sown here five years ago and now every year the Calandrinias come up by themselves. Interestingly in very wet periods they germinate and grow here out in the open but when rainy days are followed by hotter dry weather, the only seedlings that seem to make it are those protected by nurse plants. A more detailed account of these trials and the species involved is available on request.

Australian succulent Calandrinias in habitat

Australian succulent Calandrinias in habitat.
Near the town of Payne's Find, Western Australia. After consecutive days of rain, the ground came alive with annuals and dormant perennial species. Note the different germination environments compared to the germination trials in video 1. Rains and overcast weather occurred here for several days allowing for good germination and consequent high survival rates.

Sarcostemma in Western Australia

Australian succulent Sarcostemma in Western Australia.
Here Sarcostemma viminale is becoming rare due to overgrazing wherever cattle can reach the new growth. This plant only survives here as it is out of reach of cattle, however increasing goats populations are now a bigger threat.

Australian Boab

Australian boab, with me inside it and then crawling out.
Adansonia gregorii or more commonly called the Australian boab or baobab. The oldest and largest trees often develop large hollows but don't often develop such a large, gaping entrance as this one.

Brachychiton rupestris attracts rare butterfly

Brachychiton rupestris attracts rare butterfly Tailed Emperor, Polyura sempronius, to my garden in Melbourne.
While most common in Queensland, this butterfly is rare in Victoria. It stayed for two weeks, laying eggs on our many assorted Brachychiton trees. Several larvae have since been found on Brachychiton compactus. This butterfly visited B. populneus, B. compactus, B. acerifolius and B. rupestris but not B. discolor and a few other smaller-growing species.

Australian succulent garden

Australian succulent garden - an eclectic mix of both native and exotic succulents in our Melbourne, Australian garden.
Admittedly the exotic succulents are shopstoppers that dominate much of the garden however we have in recent years been trialling some native species with varying degrees of success. In this case we already had a riot of colour elsewhere so wanted something a little more subdued on our desert plain hence the sweep of mostly Calandrinia eremaea. Other years we have trialled larger flowered species, again with some success, but we personally liked this softer statement.

Australian native succulent Maireana sedifolia

Australian native succulent Maireana sedifolia being pruned to keep it healthy, short and compact.
In front is another native succulent Carpobrotus virescens. These are just two native succulents that grow well together and look really good in a landscaped garden environment. Both plants need attention once or twice a year to keep them looking tidy. Maireana is often grazed by stock in habitat which is a regular form of tip pruning. Garden trials reveal that without pruning shrubs easily collapse or often become straggly within a few years. Anecdotal speculation by a few leading growers is that the life expectancy of Maireana sedifolia can be substantially increased with this sort of pruning.