I found this information about Lilly Pilly at Burkes Garden Site: Lilly Pilly Fruit: Lilly pillies are handsome rainforest trees native to Australia and south-east Asia. They've become tremendously popular in Australian gardens, particularly for hedging and topiary. As well as having evergreen, glossy leaves and masses of fluffy white flowers in late spring to summer, they also produce colourful, edible berries. The purple fruit of Syzygium australe. This lilly pilly is about the size of a small marble, but fruit size does vary from one species to another. Although lilly pilly fruit is edible, it is not very tasty. However, it is delicious made into a chutney, or try the recipe below for lilly pilly jelly.

Breynia oblongifolia is very popular with Brown Pigeons. I haven't seen anything eat my lillypilles, though. I think that the problem with might be that our "bird-attracting" gardens have focussed heavily on nectar production. It's great to see native birds returning to gardens, but so far we get more nectar-eaters than anything else. The native fruit-eaters have retreated with the rainforest, and may not find their way back to the suburbs unless you are in an area where a goodly number of like-minded souls are providing food for them. We probably need more fruit varieties for year-round supply, too. There are lots of suitable garden species among the dry rainforest trees and shrubs. Bird-feeders are typically filled with seed, attracting a second range of birds. Occasionally we see people whose bird-feeders are filled daily with fresh fruit. I've seen koels come to these and have been told they attract a range of things but can't remember what. Getting balanced bird populations is something we native plant growers could work on. Trish

Hi Aggie, This is likely to upset some people, but I havent seen a native LP which has fruit comparable to the exotic varieties for size. Syzygium Jambos and Jambolana both have large fruit, but the mention of these species elicits howls of protest from many of the regulars. Cheers, Artie

We are in Summer Hill and had exactly the same problem. Several bought quite mature and planted in a row along a back fence - died completely except for the very bottom fifth of the plant that remained healhy. We never found out what the problem was - i imagined it was the roots suffering and only having the strength to keep the bottom part alive. - i thought perhaps as they were planted just before we had that long wet season 18 months ago that it may have been too wet. I also thought it might be cut grubs in the soil so i mixed up neem oil with some detergent and water and soaked around the base. In the end i left them to their own devices - a year later and the main trunk is dead on each of them but the majority of them have created a new trunk from a side branch and doing very well. They were bought at about 1.4 m height, died down to about the bottom 20cm and whilst most of the original upper plant is a dead stick, the new branches now reach past a metre again - it took a year for them to recover. Pissibly cut grubs but not sure. i just lesve then alone now.