Olearia magniflora

Olearia magniflora

I do like daisies. All sorts of daisies, including those that are not native to Australia. It was with excitement that I noticed the dark mauve flowers on my small Olearia magniflora, with some buds still to open. Mine doesn’t do as well as those we saw along the side of the road on the way back to Meribah in SA, after an excursion in Murray-Sunset National Park in Victoria. We call this park ‘Sunset’ as it was known by that name to the locals near where husband lived as a child. The Victorian Border could be seen from the property.

Olearia magniflora is a small shrub to about a metre high and half a metre wide. It seems to grow in the dappled shade of mallee trees. Even though this is growing in a relatively tough environment, they are not the easiest to grow in a garden situation. Many of these plants resent too much moisture and exposure to wild winds. Hardy is a word that has different meanings to people depending on where they live.