Wild and woolly

WOOLLY BUSH OR JUGFLOWER IS YET ANOTHER COASTAL NATIVE RELATED TO BANKSIA AND GREVILLEA

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The aptly named woolly bush (Adenanthos sericeus) is one of my favourite plants because of its wonderfully textured, soft, silvery foliage. For me, it’s the perfect substitute for a cat or dog — stroking the branches of my furry plant friend gives me the same soothing sensation as petting a fourlegged buddy. Apart from this rather personal predilection, there is so much more to this fabulous group of Australian plants, also known as jugflowers because of their distinctive flask-shaped blooms. Adenanthos is yet another genus in the incredibly biodiverse Proteaceae family, which means it’s related to banksia and grevillea. This becomes more obvious when you look closely at the rather inconspicuous flowers in various shades of red, pink, yellow, and orange. Even though the flowers are small they are very attractive to nectar-feeding birds such…

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Good Organic Gardening (Digital) - 1 Issue, 14.6

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