Dec 10, 2012

Xanthorrhoea 'Grass Tree'

I think it's fair to say that the Xanthorrhoea 'Grass Tree' epitomises the Australian landscape and that every Aussie plant enthusiast yearns to own at-least one of these in their garden!! Xanthorrhoea is native to Australia and apparently there are 28 species and five subspecies.

I have the X.johnsonii in my front garden and I've had it about 4 or 5 years now.  It produced it's first flower spike within a year of planting it and since then I've had a flower every year, but this year there were two flower spikes!

While they do grow slowly, apparently short trunks (about 10cm) and leaf crowns of up to 1.5m (to the top of the leaves) can be achieved in 10 years. That means I only have to wait 6 more years!!
Gibraltar National Park, NSW
This massive Grass Tree must be hundreds of years old !!

 Two flower spikes on my X.johnsonii in 2012









I had left the old spike from the previous year on the plant, so that as you can see, 
it made a nice contrast with the new blooms. 



This post has been linked to OUR WORLD TUESDAY
  
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14 comments:

  1. That's great Leanne. Was that planted from a seedling or small plant?
    I've got one in that I grew from seed (still only 2 or 3 strands, so I think I might be waiting a while. :) I also have a bunch more coming up as seedlings.

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  2. Thanks ... I bought it as a registered plant (official tag & all) when it was about half the size it is now. You'll be waiting a while with yours ;)

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  3. Great photo of your grass tree. I have one in my garden that a friend gave me but it is X. fulva - the swamp grass tree that does not grow a stem at all. The insects and the birds love the flowers.

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  4. Such details! very informative, thanks for the pics.

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  5. Congratulations for reaping the fruits of your labor! But can you possibly pollinate it yourself? I've seen a tree in NSW bush maybe 3ft high. But i think the size of your plant is nicer than the older ones.

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  6. I first saw these when I visited Magnetic island in Oct. I had never seen anything like them before and was fascinated. Thank-you for your informative post.

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  7. That is truly an amazing plant to see. You will have to do a post about it each year so we can see its progress.

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  8. I am big fan of spiky looking plants... never ever seen this one before but I love it.

    Mollyxxx

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  9. Magnificent photography of awesome flora of nature ~ love the spiky plants ~

    (A Creative Harbor) ^_^ aka ArtMuseDog and Carol

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  10. Great look at some native species!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  11. Hello Leanne - I popped by following your kind comment on my blog recently. I too am a big fan of Xanthorrhoeas, and enjoyed this post; I also look forward to ambling through your postings in the coming days. Glad to have found you!

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  12. The grass tree is beautiful! Lovely photos.

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  13. I really appreciate this positive feed-back, thank you all !!

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Thank you in advance for your comment. I'll be sure to visit your page in return ... Leanne@B&B

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