Loose-flower Bush-pea
The Loose-flower Bush-pea is a charming, slender native shrub growing 50cm to 1 meter tall with a graceful, semi-prostrate or arching habit. It features fine, narrow linear leaves along thin wiry stems, topped with a beautiful spring display of dainty, nodding yellow-and-red pea flowers that cascade down the outer branches. It handles partial shade from overhanging trees exceptionally well in any well-drained native border. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Medium (30cm-1m)
Mallee Wattle
The Mallee Wattle is a dense, sticky shrub growing up to 2 to 3 meters tall, often found naturally in dry inland areas. It features dark green, oblong leaves and bears bright, deep-yellow flower balls along its branches throughout spring. Because of its bushy and tough nature, it acts as an ideal low-level windbreak and provides great shelter for ground-dwelling native wildlife. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Privacy / Wildlife Height: Large (1-3m)
Manna Gum
The Manna Gum is an absolute giant of the forest, growing well past 3 meters and easily reaching majestic heights of 20 to 40 meters with a colossal trunk and wide-spreading canopy. It features smooth white bark that sheds in long, dramatic ribbons that catch in the branches, paired with weeping green leaves that are a primary, critical food source for koalas. It requires space, making it a magnificent habitat haven or windbreak choice for larger acreage[cite: 23]. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Some Best for: Privacy / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Matted Bush-pea
The Matted Bush-pea is an absolute favorite landscaping variety that remains completely flat under 10cm in height but spreads vigorously to form an extensive, dense green carpet up to 1 to 2 meters wide. It features tiny, narrow green leaves along creeping stems, completely blanketing the soil to suppress weeds, topped with a massive spring display of bright yellow-orange and red pea flowers, perfect for cascading over retaining walls. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot / Pot outside Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Small (<30cm)
Moonah / Rottnest Teatree
The Moonah is a rugged, long-lived large native shrub or small tree growing between 3 and 8 meters tall, forming a short trunk with dark, rough furrowed bark and an incredibly dense, umbrella-like canopy of deep-green linear leaves. In summer, it produces massed clusters of white-to-cream bottle-brush flowers. It is highly resistant to severe coastal winds, alkaline limestone soils, and extreme drought, acting as an elite acreage shelterbelt. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Privacy / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Mountain Mirbelia
The Mountain Mirbelia is a tough, densely branched native shrub growing 1.5 to 2.5 meters high, featuring small, opposite oval green leaves along rigid stems. In spring and summer, it puts on a highly vibrant seasonal show, completely smothering its branches in dense terminal clusters of bright yellow and coppery-orange pea-shaped flowers. It handles partial shade from overhanging trees exceptionally well, making a great mid-layer hedge. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot Watering: Minimal Best for: Privacy / Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Large (1-3m)
Mountain Tea-tree
The Mountain Tea-tree is a robust, large native shrub or small tree growing between 3 and 6 meters tall, featuring large, thick, leathery grey-green leaves with a beautiful silvery-silky underside. It produces attractive white flowers in summer and is naturally adapted to cold, high-rainfall riparian zones. It thrives in boggy ground, creek banks, and low-lying drainage lines that receive lots of water, offering elite soil stabilization. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot Watering: Lots Best for: Privacy / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Mudgee Wattle
Widely regarded as one of the most beautiful native wattles, the Mudgee Wattle grows as a graceful shrub up to 3 to 4 meters tall with a smooth, silvery-white trunk. It boasts soft, feathery blue-grey leaves and produces heavy, magnificent cascading sprays of large, bright golden flower balls in spring. It makes a stunning specimen plant or focal feature in any sunny backyard. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Privacy / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Muntries / Native Cranberry
Muntries form a dense, woody, prostrate groundcover that remains under 20cm in height but spreads widely up to 2 meters across to create a thick mat. It features small, glossy green rounded leaves and bears fluffy white clusters of star-like flowers in spring, followed by highly prized, edible green-and-purple berries that taste like spicy apples. It is an exceptional living mulch for sunny banks, borders, or large pots. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Pot outside Watering: Some Best for: Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Small (<30cm)
Myrtle Hakea
The Myrtle Hakea is a charming, low-growing or prostrate native shrub that typically stays under 30cm to 50cm in height but spreads widely across the soil. It features small, stiff, oval green leaves that look like myrtle foliage, and bears a massive, highly reliable winter display of bright, intense purplish-pink flowers clustered tightly along its wiry stems. It loves full sun and sharp drainage, perfect for rockeries or external pots[cite: 27]. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Pot outside Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Small (<30cm)
Narrow-leaved Grass Tree
This grand, long-lived iconic grass tree develops a thick, sturdy structural black trunk that can slowly surpass 3 meters over decades. It is topped with a majestic, radiating crown of thousands of ultra-fine, narrow linear blue-grey grass-like blades that arch gracefully. Periodically, it shoots up a massive, spectacular spear-like creamy-white flower spike up to 2 meters long that drives local nectar-feeding birds into a frenzy. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Pot outside Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Native Broom
The Native Broom is a fast-growing, highly unique erect native shrub or small tree growing between 3 and 5 meters tall. It features a highly distinct weeping silhouette composed of long, slender, green wire-like leafless branches that cascade gracefully downwards. In spring and summer, it provides a breathtaking visual display, becoming completely smothered in a dense waterfall of small, bright yellow pea-shaped flowers. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Some Best for: Privacy / Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Old Man Banksia
Old Man Banksia is an iconic, deeply atmospheric native tree growing 4 to 10 meters tall, famous for its gnarled, twisted trunk and heavily wrinkled, thick gray bark. It features serrated green leaves and produces massive, woolly, yellowish-green flower spikes that mature into rugged, open-mouthed woody cones. A brilliant architectural feature plant, it serves as a long-term habitat haven for native birds, possums, and wood-boring insects. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Privacy / Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Very Large (>3m)
Old Man Saltbush
Old Man Saltbush is a tough, woody native shrub growing between 1.5 and 3 meters tall, heavily distinguished by its striking silvery-grey, fleshy foliage. The salty-flavored leaves are highly valued as a nutritious bush tucker ingredient and livestock fodder, while its dense form provides a superb windbreak or privacy screen. It is virtually bulletproof, tolerating extreme drought, salinity, heavy clay, and severe frost with minimal watering. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Privacy / Wildlife / Eating Height: Large (1-3m)
Ovens Wattle
This highly unique small tree or large shrub grows between 3 and 6 meters tall, showing off distinctive, crowded, triangular-shaped blue-grey "leaves" along gracefully weeping branches. In early spring, it produces a spectacular, highly fragrant mass of golden flower racemes that completely coat the plant. It is fast-growing, frost-resistant, and makes a beautiful screen or feature plant in any garden. Where will it live: Sunny garden Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Privacy / Wildlife / Fragrance Height: Very Large (>3m)
Pale Rush
The Pale Rush is a robust, highly resilient native perennial rush forming neat, upright structural clumps of smooth, cylindrical pale-green to blue-green stems up to 1.5 meters tall. It produces airy branched clusters of small straw-colored flowers close to the tips in summer. Because it originates in boggy wetlands, it thrives in poorly drained clay, rain gardens, or pond margins that consistently receive lots of water[cite: 27]. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot Watering: Lots Best for: Privacy / Wildlife Height: Large (1-3m)
Pink Coral Pea
This beautiful color variation of the False Sarsaparilla shares the same climbing or sprawling footprint of 1 to 3 meters as the parent species, but replaces the standard violet blossoms with soft, delicate pastel-pink pea-shaped flower sprays. The soft pink blooms popping out against the leathery green foliage create a lovely color contrast in winter borders, trailing over walls, or inside decorative pots[cite: 27]. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot / Pot outside Watering: Minimal Best for: Flowers & colour / Privacy / Wildlife Height: Large (1-3m)
Prickly Tea-tree
The Prickly Tea-tree is a rigid, densely branched native upright shrub growing 1.5 to 3 meters high, heavily armed with small, stiff, and sharply pointed lance-shaped leaves. In summer, it fills with profuse, stem-hugging white star-shaped flowers that feed local pollinators. Uniquely adapted to wet environments, it thrives in waterlogged clay, swampy hollows, and riparian boundaries that receive lots of water, forming a defensive hedge. Where will it live: Sunny garden / Shady spot Watering: Lots Best for: Privacy / Flowers & colour / Wildlife Height: Large (1-3m)