MY LIFE WITH PLANTS: I Geraldton Waxflowers
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Words and pictures by Jim Bishop, for Let's Talk Plants! July 2026.
The first half of our Western Australia trip was from Perth south to Albany. The second half was from Perth up to Geraldton. When we visited Western Australia in 2017, we didn’t have enough time to venture north of Perth. We’d wanted to see the famous Geraldton Waxflowers, Chamelaucium uncinatum and maybe even find the much photographed wreath flower, Lechenaultia macrantha, in bloom. So this trip was a chance to complete the tour.
As it turns out our waxflower visit was to a commercial grower. And guess what? They look just the same when grown commercially there as they do when grown in California—or in landscapes all over Western Australia, like Kings Park and the freeways around Perth.
Besides the native plants, they were also cultivating some fascinating Australian species, such as Banksia coccinea, the crocheted-looking red Banksia. While it’s a real challenge to grow this in California, we spotted it several times in Western Australia. Some were thriving in the wild near Albany, and others were part of carefully designed native gardens. In 2017, after searching high and low, we finally stumbled upon it growing in a drainage ditch near Bremer’s Bay.
Equally impressive was a plant that was new to us, Isopogon cuneatus. It has thick egg-shaped leaves with flattened-topped spherical flowers heads with an unusual purple-pink flower color and orange pollen. Turns out it is native to around Albany where we the previous week and it was growing commercially here 500 miles to the north. Isopogons are notoriously difficult to keep alive in gardens in California and I’ve not been able to find anyone growing them here.
There also were some Eucalyptus macrocarpa which always are fun to see the oversized flowers with grey foliage.
But the best part of the visit was the Australian plants and wildflowers growing in and around the cultivated flower fields
This short bicolored Banksia dallanneyi was and interesting find
TThis Thysanotus patersonii, fringe-lily growing up through a bitter pea bush created a contrasting combination
contrasting combination
I wrote about the interesting botanical history of Synaphea spinulosa in my previous blog.
I thought this Johnsonia pubescens (pipe weed) with grass-like foliage and papery, pink bracts was very cute.
