Australia is not a continent where succulents have diversified greatly, compared to Africa and the Americas. We have a few representatives of a few succulent families, e.g. Aizoaceae: Carpobrotus - 4 native species, only slightly different from some of the S African and S American species; Sarcozona - 2 species, genus endemic, rather similar to Carpobrotus; Disphyma - 1 species, also in NZ and S Africa. There are other slightly less succulent native species in genera like Tetragonia (6 native), Gunniopsis (endemic, 14 spp.), Trianthema (11 native). Portulacaeae: Many spp. of Calandrinia, now treated by some botanists as genus Parakeelya. These are quite succulent and have colourful flowers but are mostly annual and so seem to be disowned by succulent fanciers. Also 1 native Anacampseros sp. Euphorbiaceae: a few Euphorbia spp. with succulent stems, e.g. E. plumerioides (also in Asia), E. stevenii, E. tannensis. Asclepiadaceae: Sarcostemma - 3 native spp., true stem-succulents with twining or scrambling stems. But why not Hoya (7 native) and Dischidia (4 native)? - they have quite succulent leaves. Chenopodiaceae: now here are a lot of succulent species, in genera such as Maireana, Sclerolaena, Enchylaena, Sarcocornia, Halosarcia, Tecticornia, Sclerostegia, Pachycornia, Suaeda, Salsola. But they tend to be either leaf succulents with dry twiggy stems, or saltmarsh plants and have no appeal to succulent fanciers. Rubiaceae: why aren't the ant plants Myrmecodia (3 native) and Hydnophytum (1 native) regarded as succulents? They look pretty succulent to me. And finally, there are a whole lot of plants in various families that have large perennial tubers. If we went by the current fashion of growing these exposed to the air, we could add quite a few Australian 'succulents'. Like a Dahlia is a succulent? And then there are the monocots - Doryanthes? Bulbine? Borya? Xanthorrhoea even? (no less succulent than some Agave or Yucca spp.) What is a succulent?

Hi Nat....Alexander Palms are self cleaning so they are Ok but O boy do they self seed. Golden Came Palms I would give them a miss unless you really like them. Have a look at the link below plenty of info there on Palms. I have answered your Hibiscus question on another thread Yes you can move the Bird of Paradise if you can as it probably weights a ton . You may need a back end hoe or similar, I dont know how deep the roots grow But my neighbours growing in a pot near the fence is about 2 mts into one of my garden beds. I have Natives, tropicals, cottage, and exotic plants all growing on my 3/4 block . Mine is not a formal garden everything is mixed, to each his own, do what you like. And if you are not happy with it, put the plant somewhere else I do it all the time. And dont forget the Bougainvillea's Cheers..MM. Here is a link that might be useful: Palms.

Hi Linda, Might I offer a hearty congratulations on your upcomming wedding! I have some suggestions on species, but am not at familiar with florists in NSW, unfortunately. Perhapse contact your local ASGAP people on this link: http://www.austplants-nsw.org.au/index.htm Species (all should be available with a Google Image Search): Keep in mind the availability of these depend very much on the time of year you're getting hitched (sp. = various species, lots of different colours in most cases). Banksia coccinea (stunning dep red/scarlet colour, smaller inflorescence compared to most Banskia sp.) Goodia sp. Kennedia sp. Darwinia sp. Arthropodium strictum (Chocolate Lily) Hakea sp. Indigofera australis Callistemon (of course!) Grevillea (of course!) Eucalyptus caesia Eucalyptus macrocarpa (pretty hard to come by, very limited season, but brilliant flower) Corymbia ficifolia (they finished flowering about a month ago, so won't be available until the start of next year) Acacia sp. (hundreds, something should be in flower no matter what time of year) Tetratheca sp. Correa sp. Xerochrysum sp. (paper daisies) Eremophilla sp. Anigozanthos sp. (kangaroo paws) Scaevola aemula Dampiera sp. Doryanthes excelsa (Gymea Lily, huge flower, but would make a great centre piece for the boquet or table) Macropidia (more kangaroo paws) Haemodorum (kanga paws, again) Telopea sp. Good luck, Linda! I hope all goes well on the day. Don't forget the, "I do," bit! Regards, Jim

Tony said: [i]I can't recall ever visiting a native nursery in Qld that doesn't stock Gr. venusta. [/i] I suspect that you are right - I have even seen it at Bunnings, but I can accept that it may be endangered in terms of its numbers in the wild. Large tracts of Byfield have been subsumed for commercial timber plantations, and I'm sure that other parts of it were cleared for agriculture back when few realised the value of virgin bushland. One of the locals sells ferns at the Rocky markets, and he recalls seeing 'huge' Byfield ferns (Bowenia Serrulata) being torn out of the ground by bulldozers - particularly tragic when you realise how slow these plants are to reach maturity. On a happier note, I consider both the flower and foliage of G. Venusta to be extremely attractive, and even more so when companion planted with its hybrid, G. 'Orange Marmalade' (G. venusta X G. glossadenia). A real contrast to the lighter, sparser foliage of the other tropical Grevilleas in my front garden. Cheers, Artie