Hakeas For Dry Areas

Hakeas are interesting and tough plants to grow. Many are very prickly plants which makes them great for nesting sites for small birds like wrens. These are also good for hedge plants and foot traffic control as well as security. I wouldn’t like to scramble around Hakea mitchellii or Hakea leucoptera for example.

These two plants smother themselves in dense white flowers. They are both native to South Australia and Hakea mitchellii is prevalent around the mallee areas. Like all hakeas they prefer good drainage and an open sunny position. They are easy to raise from seed which should be poked into the surface of the seed raising mix and covered to twice the thickness of the seed with mix and a very thin layer of small washed gravel.  The seed can be sown into individual pots or transplanted soon after germinating when the seedling is large enough to handle.
The fruit (seed pod) of hakeas split to give two seeds per fruit. Place older seed pods in a paper bag until opened and the winged seed can be shaken from the fruit. The fruits of a number of species are often used in floral art work as well as a variety of crafts. Children often have fun creating imaginary creatures from the different shaped pods.