Hi Lisa! Right now my Lewisias (3 L. cotyledon hybrids) have finished or are finishing up flowering (the second wave this year) and I noticed that the soil mix is not drying out as rapidly as when they were pushing out their flower spikes. So I have cut back on the watering and am letting them dry out a little-if it gets too bad their leaves will droop but hopefully I will time watering (actually all I do is squirt some water into the crack between the soil ball and the clay pot. Out here we get fog in the mornings. At this moment a storm front is coming in and will be out by Monday?? Hope it does not rain much down in this valley!! I am mulling over how to build a cliff face-will have to look at possible materials-as I think a cliff face on my south wall will be ideal for the plants as the area gets shaded by 3PM. Would like to get L. redivva!!! but not too sure if I am cold enough to get it to flower here. The other species that interests me is that miniature species-cannot pull the name out of my memory at this time. Anyhow in due time!!

This was a brutal year. Planted some new things in May-June and most have sucumbed. I have been trying to add only drought resistent plants; some do well, others are not as great as expected. The plant that did the best was Delosperma ("iceplant") by far. I love this plant, cute evergreen leaves and wonderful bright flowers. I think I could have a garden bed with just this plant. I have a fuschia one, a yellow one and an orange flowered one so far but I am on the lookout for more. A somewhat similar plant, Mesembryanthemum did poorly but maybe because it was newly planted. Others that did reasonably well are: artemesia, lavender, coreopsis, blanket flower, yarrow, dianthus, lewsisia, asiatic lillies, lemon balm (melissa), rudbeckia (but 1st year was tough) and Centaurea. I was suprised that salal, asters and echinacea did not do well at all. Thank goodness the rain and cool weather has arrived!

Oh JB, where to start? The list is endless (almost). For me, the most reliable native for flowers for bees and the birds has to be the grevillea. There are many cultivars available and you will be able to get small bushy groundcovers of 1m tall to 2m wide, to tall shrubs. Having read your profile, it seems to me that you would like a nice mix of drought tolerant cottage-looking natives. I am in WA, so some of these suggestions may not be suitable to Vic, and I am not sure what your soil is like. But the westringia (native rosemary) is gorgeous and looks in place in a cottage garden. So does any of the lilly pillies, which I use as a hedge. Small melaleucas of any type also fit in. As does the kunzea. But for me, I love the baekeas (very whimsical, semi-drooping habit, fine soft needle leaves and covered entirely in small white flowers), the leptospermum cadwell (similar to baekeas), the hibbertias (little yellow buttercups), and lescheunaltias. I also love the wedding bush, and the native WA irises. My front yard is a mix of exotics and natives, with roses growing next to melaleucas, leschenaultias growing near the apricot tree, lilly pilly hedges, and grevilleas, banksias and gum trees. Oh, and the scaevolea (fanflower) and native violet are also favourites. Also, I can't forget the correas and the croweas. The correas, native fuschias, are beautiful when in flower. They need some care during the first year or two, but now they get only the water that the good lord provides. The crowea, or star flowers, are also gorgeous - and come in white, pinks and reds. These will look at home in any cottage garden. If you want any of the botanical names, or some pictures (I have specimens of all of the above), please let me know. A very good plant list for natives can be found at zanthorrea.com.au - it is a WA native plant nursery - with lists of plants indicating the soil/shade/sun/growth aspects of many plants. Good luck and please let us know what you plant !!

I grow everything from all over the world, together. I keep things from overwhelming their neighbors through pruning and careful placement of the larger ones. Eventually it will look like the jumbled mess that nature is up close. I am careful about leaf color and avoid anything that looks too civilized or has large over-hybridized flowers. So it is mostly natives of Mediterranean climates from around the world. I especially like things that spread by underground runners and self sow as long that they are not too vigorous. Most self-sowers can be kept under control by judicious deadheading and runner pulling. I avoid plants that have been labelled noxious weeds in our climate, even those that might not be a problem where I live. I have seen enough broom and pampas grass in the wild to want to perpetuate the problem.