Annual Everlastings

These are wonderful flowers which can be naturalised in the garden. That is, have them growing in patches rather than in rows. They flower over a longer period if extra water is available, but still give a marvellous display on diminishing moisture in the soil. You will have seen photos in brochures about Wildflower tours to Western Australia, where it is pink or yellow or white for as far as the eye can see. That is not trick photography!

You can do the same thing on a smaller scale in your own front or back yard. Set aside a patch a few square metres in area, and put in some plants or seeds. Seed of some species is available from supermarket garden centres as well as specialty seed merchants. You can buy seedlings, or more advanced plants in the same way that you buy “potted colour” from nurseries. Instead of buying petunias, look for Rhodanthe (Helipterum) species.

These will drop seed which will probably germinate with the first rains in autumn and continue to appear year after year if you have a sand mulch on the garden bed rather than leaf litter or other organic mulch.

Don’t forget the mass planting in a large tub… be creative about your pots.

These plants need a lot of sunlight to do well, so the location of your few square metres, or your planter is an important issue for these species.