New grevilleas from Kings Park team
Four stunning new grevilleas developed by the Kings Park plant development team are now commercially available.
One of the new grevillea cultivars, Tangerine Dream | Credit: Digby Growns, Botanic Gardens & Parks Authority
The new varieties, Kimberley Moon, Tangerine Dream, Pink Profusion and Raspberry Dream, have long flowering periods and brilliant colours from orange and red to deep pink. With their highly respected Kings Park provenance, they’re proving very popular.
The benefits of the plant development program are two-fold, with more hardy ornamental native plants available to customers and a percentage of profits returned to Kings Park.
The new grevilleas not only look spectacular but are good for the environment and easy to grow according to Kings Park’s senior plant breeder Digby Growns.
‘We want more people to grow WA plants in their home gardens. Our view is that by growing plants adapted to our environment, they will use less water, less fertiliser, provide habitat for native fauna and celebrate our unique sense of place,’ explains Digby.
Digby Growns has been responsible for the release of more than 50 new plant varieties of native plants
Creating these cultivars requires patience and the expertise of Kings Park’s plant breeding experts, with each new cultivar taking up to seven years to develop. These four new grevilleas add to the suite of spectacular Kings Park releases in this iconic plant group that also include Grevillea ‘RSL Spirit of ANZA
C’, Red Coral, Scarlet Moon, Honey Moon and Outback Sunrise.
The Kings Park breeding program is currently focused on iconic WA plant genera including kangaroo paws, wax flowers, boronia, flowering gums and grevilleas.
Digby Growns, who has worked for many years on the development of Australian native plants for horticulture, is responsible for the release of more than 50 new varieties. He’s leading research into new technology developments in plant tissue culture, biotechnology and plant breeding.
See the new grevilleas from Botanic Gardens & Parks Authority in the gallery below:
