Hello you all..An interesting little discussion happening here..'wigandia' is my wee creation..All I can say IS..Garden yer latitude with attitude..ignore the 'style council' (including my 'look') I am not long back from an extensive lecture tour of the west coast of North America (the so called mediterranean parts) Many of the younger garden types are looking at this more sustainable equation.. a wee excerpt from my talk notes "We, of Australia (and perhaps the west coast of North America) in this 21st century, in cultural and social terms, have embraced this Âalien land. Our identity is stamped on almost all facets of the ÂArts with the possible exception of Âornamental gardeningÂ. Few inroads have been made into the climatic/cultural sensibilities of our garden making Âunder the sunÂ. The lust for the unsustainable Âlook seems ingrained. How odd for seemingly modern and proud nations, of high Âindependent aspirations and competitiveness. In recent times the realization that we must consider the impact of overuse of natural resources for not only local existence but global existence has spurred a move towards a more sustainable approach, My garden ÂWIGANDIA and others are playing prominent roles in the Âpseudo ecological garden stakes. I have long believed that the somewhat Âslavish adherence toÂhosepipe culture has rendered us rather impervious to the true opportunities our climate presents. Some of us have Âtuned to the notion Ânative plants are best, a simplistic but positive step forward!" and "Many of us live in a climate far removed from the source of the majority of our most frequently used plants. Whilst many of these plants grow reasonably well in our rather diverse climatic range, many do not. Traditional irrigation habits have allowed a broad range of Northern Hemisphere woodland plants to be cultivated. These plants often require copious amounts of water during our long hot and dry summers that can extend into autumn and sometimes beyond! The disturbingly complex issue of water shortages and conservation will in the coming years alter our lifestyles. Garden culture as we know it could well be relegated to the archives filed under nice folly but hemi spherically bizarre! The opportunity to strive towards a garden culture that is of our climate offers endless possibilities. Let us look to our own social and cultural values in the creation of a garden that reflects who we are and more importantly where we live!" Nothing more and nothing less!! Best Billy William Martin. Gongoozler. +61 3 5592 5349 Email: williammartin@wigandia.com Web: http://www.wigandia.com "The plant never lapses into mere arid functionalism; it fashions and shapes according to logic and suitability, and with its primeval force compels everything to attain the highest artistic form." Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932)

Thanks all for your feedback. We visited the nursury yesterday and chose an ivory curl (looks like it will be okay space wise) and a Honey Gem grevilla as they seem to look best in the space we have available. We've got some cordylines and gingers to go in front of them and I think the colour contrast will look fantastic and help maintain our tropical look. We also visited the botanic gardens to see their mature versions and fell in love with the Parrot Tree "Schotia Brachypetala" which was swarmed with honeyeaters and lorikeets. There were none in the nurseries as it's not very common so we found one we were able to take a cutting from and hopefully propagate ourselves, just don't know what we'll do with it when it gets really big! We don't use any pesticides so we have abundant little insects in our yard, so now we just have to wait for the birds! Thanks again for your valuable input. Lauren

Shax, perhaps it is you who is in the firing line. Proteas native to Australia make up more than half those found worldwide and along with the suggestions made by Nathan that are the more commonly cultivated genera of Banksia (73) and Grevillea (250), Shanna could grow Australian Telopeas (4), Stenocarpus sp.(6), Hakea (125), Persoonia (45), Isopogon (35), Adenanthos (32) which are readily accessible and grow in many types of conditions from sand to water bogged clays and could be groundcovers to shrubs and large trees. Credit to Shax's website link as it had some good info. Sorry Shanna, no good websites to link to from me but perhaps some original soil conditions would be helpful as well as what you are trying to achieve. Important info is aspect with respect to new soil conditions sun, wind and rain. I assume you want a fast draining sandy loam in a full sun position and you probably have a clay soil. If the plants that you have suit this then perhaps grade the soil to a low spot, put in some agricultural pipe and crushed rock and bring in atleast 300mm of your sandy loam. Be careful with fertiliser but you probably already know which to choose. I am basing this on the assumption of what people do in my area with the South African Varieties that like a fast draining soil compared to our clays. Having said that, in future you could choose proteas that are better suited to your soil type and hence limit the amount of raised garden beds that are needed. For a special feature in any garden a weeping grevillea is sensational. Some clever people graft a ground covering Grevillea on to a 6ft Grevillea robusta with stunning results as a feature plant. Not sure if you can get one in the states Shanna but they do look great. Here is a link to a page that show a couple of weeping Grevilleas amongst grafted grevilleas. You need to scrooll down and look at the pictures on the left. There are two shown http://www.australisplants.com.au/ornamentals/graftedgrevilleas.htm Danili Here is a link that might be useful: Grafted grevilleas

Prune the shrub, and maybe the deeper roots. The bit that Grevilleas really hate is having the surface and near-surface roots disturbed. Your chances are better if you can get a good wide cut, and don't even disturb the mulch layer. Keep the surface good and moist for a while after the move. Don't fertilise at all at all! Trish rish