Like bright red beacons shining out of the bush, wild waratah blooms are one of the most iconic spectacles among Australian flora, the perfect embodiment of their botanical name Telopea: “seen from afar”.
With some attention to horticultural detail we can bring these flaming red flowers into the garden as spectacular feature plants that not only attract nectar-feeding birdlife but also make beautiful cut flowers.
There are five waratah species in total, all found in southeast Australia. They occur from Tasmania (T. truncata) to the New South Wales/Queensland border (T. aspera).
Dotted through the southeastern part of the Great Dividing Range are other species such as the Gippsland waratah (T. oreades) — found in the cool temperate rainforest of the Errinundra Plateau and occasionally closer to the coast — and…
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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, 15.5