The virtues of Grevilleas are numerous, especially for urban gardeners, and those who prefer a low maintenance garden. (Here I shall generalize; there are always exceptions.) They are very fast growing, tough and competitive. They thrive happily in poor soil, drought, and reflected heat. They are evergreen, with attractive foliage that always looks great. The flowers are spectacularly showy, and rich in nectar, attracting hummingbirds than most plants that are commonly used to attract hummingbirds. Many of them bloom over a long period, some right through the winter. So there is every reason to get excited about this fabulous group of plants.

Grevilleas are very easy to grow in gardens, provided a few simple rules are followed. In our climate, they are best suited to full sun. Though some will grow in partial shade, they will not bloom as well without the sun. However, they do make a good understorey for trees such as Eucalyptus that do not cast a lot of shade. As with all members of the Proteaceae, Grevilleas should not be fed with fertilizer containing phosphorus. Generally, they require no soil amendment or fertilizer at all once planted out, but they are not suitable for poorly drained sites. In our region, no irrigation is necessary after the first year (sometimes not even then!). But on very dry sites, some summer water will make the plant grow more quickly. Grevilleas exhibit greater cold hardiness if they are not pampered too much, and kept a little bit on the dry side, especially in late summer.

Grevilleas remain difficult to find in our region. One may occasionally find a few varieties for sale in the Seattle area. California wholesalers often carry G. 'Noellii', G. lanigera, varieties of G. juniperina, and others. Local specialty nurseries may offer G. 'Poorinda Constance' and forms of G. victoriae. Ask your local nursery to pursue the following Grevillea species and hybrids.

Grevillea acanthifolia is a tough and tolerant mid-sized shrub with divided, slightly spiny green leaves and showy pink or mauve toothbrush flowers at the ends of the branches. In my garden it blooms in the summer. It is one of very few hardy Grevilleas that is reported to tolerate poorly drained soils in Ausutralia. I'm not certain about it's hardiness; 15°F would be a conservative guess, or it could be much hardier.

Grevillea aquifolium comes in several forms, all with holly-like leaves. Some forms have felty grey new growth, which is very attractive. Flowers may be yellow or red, and spring seems to be the most common flowering time in our climate. Although not exceptionally cold hardy, this species has potential in future Grevillea hybridization with hardier species. It can probably take temperatures down to 15 - 20°F once established, or maybe a little lower for some forms.

Grevillea aspleniifolia is a fantastic plant with long, narrow leaves and big, bright red toothbrush flowers. It may be a bit large for some gardens, growing to at least 12' high and spreading to 15' or more. Its hardiness is also a bit iffy: although usually rated to the teens F by California nurseries, I recommend protecting this one for the first couple years and making sure it has excellent soil drainage. It should tolerate partial shade and thus benefit from the protection of an open tree canopy. In any case it is worth the effort!

Grevillea 'Austraflora Canterbury Gold' (juniperina x victoriae) is a vigorous and indestructible plant, growing much like a groundcover with the occasional upright branch for a slight mounding effect. The attractive leaves are very soft and felty, and showy sulfur yellow flowers appear over a long period including the winter. Given its parentage it ought to be very cold-hardy, perhaps around 5°F.

Grevillea 'Austraflora Fanfare' (x gaudichaudii x longifolia) is an outstanding hybrid that is sometimes available from California nurseries. It is a very vigorous groundcover with beautiful serrated leaves, and screaming red toothbrush flowers over a long period. It may spread as much as 15' across while remaining under 1' tall. Like G. 'Poorinda Royal Mantle' it has great potential for use covering banks and hillsides. Based on the performance of its parents I would guess its hardiness to be around 10 - 15°F.

Grevillea barklyana is a rather rare species that needs to be introduced to cultivation in the US! The UCSC Arboretum has a plant labeled G. barklyana, from which they have sold many rooted plants, but they are actually G. macleayana. I tried G. macleayana and found it to be hardy only to about 22°F. So the real G. barklyana, a rare tree of 25' or more from montane rainforests of Victoria, still needs to be introduced! It is very fast growing with huge lobed leaves (to 1' long) and pink toothbrush flowers. A few wild plants have been found to have superior flower colors of deep pink or red; these should be propagated vegetatively and introduced. Although I don't know anyone who has tried this species, it ought to be hardy to at least 10°F.

Grevillea 'Bronze Rambler' (parents???) is a new one for me; I have just planted it. It is a large, low shrub (or essentially a tall groundcover) having tough bronzy leaves with very large lobes, and crimson-magenta toothbrush flowers. Another outstanding texture plant for the garden, it is supposed to be hardy to all kinds of difficult conditions and poor soil. It is certainly one of the hardier hybrids, and should tolerate at least 15°F, maybe even 10°F or lower.

Grevillea 'Canberra Gem' (juniperina x rosmariniifolia) has been grown for some time in California and is occasionally available from specialists (sometimes it is sold as just G. 'Canberra'; I guess someone thought it wasn't a 'gem'!). This is a pretty nice plant; I would say it gets about a 7 on my 1 - 10 scale of how excited to get about a Grevillea. Like G. 'Noellii' it has deep green needle like leaves and bright red flowers, but unlike G. 'Noellii' it has a sharply angular growth habit and in my garden it has reached about 8' tall by 12' wide in 7 years. The flowers are held at the branch tips, and though it blooms over a long period, there are never a lot of flowers on it at once. It is hardy to about 5°F.

Grevillea x gaudichaudii (acanthifolia x laurifolia) is a natural hybrid between two species from the Blue Mountains in Australia. The form selected in cultivation is a prostrate or slightly mounding plant, essentially forming a groundcover of outstanding lobed green leaves (the new growth being bronzy to reddish) with deep red to almost purple large toothbrush flowers. Another excellent plant for covering banks or hillsides, or a large drier area of the garden, it seems to struggle without very good drainage. It can certainly handle at least 10°F and may be hardy to 5°F.

Grevillea juniperina is along with G. victoriae probably the best known Grevillea for its cold hardiness. It has been known to live through -4°F in the Land of Eng otherwise known as Britain. If you can get over the fact that most forms of this plant look like a small green conifer with very prickly needles that try to bite you when you walk past it, you will be rewarded with flowers that are very nice, ranging in color from yellow in the case of early summer-flowering var. sulphurea and the stouter-leafed 'Molonglo', to red in the typical form and another form designated simply 'low red'. Tell your neighbors it is a pine and then watch them stare in awe as brilliantly colored flowers appear at the most unexpected times. They will ask you what they can feed their pine with to get it to do that.

Grevillea lanigera comes from the high mountainous areas of southeast Australia, yet it is still only grown much in California where it bakes in the heat. It is a more diminutive small scale plant, and definitely the one to choose if you don't feel like you have room to accommodate the vigor of a usual Grevillea. It has narrow soft leaves and makes nice pink flowers in the summer. The form 'Mt. Tamborintha' often seen for sale is very nice, and essentially a small groundcover. It would certainly be a good rock garden plant; I have had no trouble growing it in my garden where it thrives on wet clay soil. Hardy to around 10°F.

Grevillea miqueliana deserves mention because it is another very cold hardy species closely related to G. victoriae. It may have red, orange, or yellow flowers; I believe yellow may be the only color available in the US, which is fine because we seem to have only red forms of G. victoriae. The soft felty leaves are somewhat similar to G. victoriae, but their arrangement on the stems gives the plant a distinct appearance. Like G. victoriae it is a large plant, to at least 8' x 8'. Although rare, it should be extremely hardy, certainly to 5°F and perhaps below.

Grevillea 'Noellii' (juniperina x rosmariniifolia?) is perhaps the best known hybrid in California, though in a way that is almost unfortunate as it is not, in my opinion, one of the more exciting Grevilleas. The soft weeping habit is nice, and the deep green needle-like leaves (similar to those of G. 'Canberra Gem') are offset nicely by the bright red flowers. I still think of it as a substandard version of 'Canberra Gem' because it is smaller, not quite as showy, and not quite as cold hardy. It is hardy to about 15°F.

Grevillea 'Poorinda Constance' (juniperina x victoriae) has been one of the most all-around reliable garden hybrids both in and outside of Australia. Making a silvery-leaved shrub with a rather angular growth habit, it is exceptionally vigorous and tough, with orange-red flowers. In my garden it has outgrown its expected dimensions, reaching 10' tall and 15' across in just 7 years from a tiny plant, with no water, fertilizer or mulch whatsoever; and it blooms for about 11 months out of the year. Along with G. victoriae it is the main reason that Anna's hummingbird is in my garden all winter. It is hardy to about 5°F.

Grevillea 'Poorinda Elegans' (alpina x victoriae?) is similar in habit to 'Poorinda Constance' but has beautiful bicolored flowers in red and yellow. Although stunning to look at up close, they are often hidden amongst the leaves rather than being held at the ends of the branches. For this reason it has never been very popular, but I think it is still a very nice plant and just has to be placed where it can be appreciated at a close range. It may be hardy to around 10°F or lower.

Grevillea 'Poorinda Golden Lyre' (juniperina x victoriae) is a fabulous plant forming a broad, dense mound of blunt-ended, felty-backed leaves. The leaf shape gives this plant a wonderful unique texture. Sulfur yellow flowers produced over a long period are similar to those of 'Austroflora Canterbury Gold' but a little bit smaller and more upright. An outstanding choice. Hardy to at least 10°F.

Grevillea 'Poorinda Queen' (juniperina x victoriae?) is another plant that is overall similar to 'Poorinda Constance', but with soft orange to salmon colored flowers. Although rare in the trade, it is likely to perform just as well here as 'Poorinda Constance' and should become much more common.

Grevillea 'Poorinda Royal Mantle' (laurifolia x willisii?) is perhaps the oldest and most 'tried and true' of Grevillea groundcover hybrids. Spreading to 20' or more, it remains only 6" tall with leaves that are irregularly lobed to varying degrees or sometimes entire. It is said to bloom throughout much of the year. In my garden it seems inclined to bloom in early spring and again in summer and fall, but I have not had it long so we shall see what it does in the long term. This hybrid has been grown a little in California, though it is not nearly as popular as it should be and remains scarce in California nurseries. It is hardy to least 10°F.

Grevillea rosmariniifolia is an extremely variable plant represented by a large number of very different forms, some of which should probably be their own species. Of course not only are the best forms less available in the US, but also the cold hardy forms are not the nice showy ones. On the plus side this means if you buy a G. rosmariniifolia it is likely to be quite cold hardy. Flower color ranges through various shades of pink, often with some white flower parts. Light pink and white can usually be expected from plants in cultivation. It is a tough and easily grown vigorous plant that requires little care and always looks nice. Hardiness ranges from around 5 - 15°F, maybe some of the best forms more like 20°F.

Grevillea 'Ruby Clusters' (oleoides x shiresii) is a large shrub to 10' tall and 15' or more across with deep green leaves, and flowers that are a very bright, deep ruby red almost leaning towards magenta. The flowers are too dark to be spectacular from a distance so it is important to site this plant where it can be appreciated up close, even though it is large. I was told to expect this species to be a little less cold hardy than some of the hardiest Grevilleas, but I have found that it can take at least 15°F if not pampered too much (though certainly the flowers will be damaged at a higher temperature).

Grevillea scortechinii is a rare species that must be mentioned, although I am not aware that it is in the US yet or that you would ever be able to get it in your lifetime. It is a large, sprawling groundcover with holly-like leaves and amazing black flowers! It is said that the flowers are not very showy, but anything with black flowers in the shape of a Grevillea raceme has to have some potential use in one's garden! Of the two subspecies, the best one for us is probably subsp. sarmentosa, which is likely to be hardier to cold and has more glaucous, prickly foliage which effectively offset the flowers. Not that I would turn down the other subspecies if someone offered it to me! Olde and Marriot report that it is easily cold hardy to at least 14°F.

Grevillea tetragonoloba is a beautiful Western Australian species that I had to mention because Olde and Marriott, usually quite down to earth in their opinions, think it is hardy to 12°F. Is it possible that a Western Australian Grevillea (or a Western Australian anything for that matter) could live outdoors long-term in the Seattle area? I would have thought not, but after outstanding success thus far with Grevillea 'White Wings' (a hybrid of two Western Australian Species) I am inclined to give more of them a chance, starting with this species. Looking quite unlike the other hardy Grevilleas, this species has a deeply lobed tough leaves with a small tree-like growth habit, and is covered in many large red toothbrush flowers over a long period. It is supposed to be easy to grow from seed!

Grevillea victoriae is one of the very best known hardy Grevilleas, and is occasionally seen in gardens around the Northwest because it has been propagated for so long by Colvos Creek Nursery and because it is a reliable, tough-as-nails plant. It even predates the horrific freeze of December 1990 that struck the Northwest with a vengeance, killing to the ground all but the most tenacious Southern Hemisphere native plants. The usual form of this plant produces fabulous felty bronze flower buds in the fall which open through the winter, and it may produce more flowers sporadically throughout the year. With its 4" long silver-backed, grey-green leaves it always looks splendid. The only problem I have observed is that the blooms may have trouble opening in winter in extremely humid situations (like, wetter than Seattle usually is) and be prone to abort. A number of rare forms are making their way into cultivation; including 'Murray Valley Queen' which has superior flowers on a plant of inferior habit, and glossier, greener, rounder leaves; 'Marshall's Seedling' which is a hybrid with another species originating from Western Hills Nursery in California, and is essentially similar in uses and stature to 'Poorinda Constance' but with slightly larger leaves; and var. leptoneura, which has much smaller leaves than the typical form lacking the silvery undersurface and (on the form in the US) showy bright red flowers.

Grevillea willisii is another exciting species that I don't have a picture of yet, but I will mention it because it is very cool and should grow here. It is typically a large, almost tree-like shrub to about 10' tall and a little wider. The deeply lobed leaves are dark green and showy cream toothbrush flowers are produced at the ends. It is one parent of G. 'Poorinda Royal Mantle' and should be used further in hybridization schemes. Imagine a hybrid of this species with 'Austraflora Fanfare' or G. scortechinii! Additionally, there is (or at least was) a "long leaf form" of this species that grew into a larger tree with much larger leaves and flowers. However, it has not been located in the wild in many years, and apparently it has not been preserved in cultivation, so it may be extinct. But there is always hope that it is not! G. willisii comes from rather cold areas near Omeo, Victoria and would probably be hardy to at least 5°F.

Peter Olde and Neil Marriott have produced an amazing work called The Grevillea Book, 1995, Timber Press. It is a three volume comprehensive work including botanical descriptions, photos, and extensive commentary on every species of Grevillea. A fourth volume covering named hybrids and cultivars is in the works for 2006. The amount of detail and information in this work is truly astounding. How they managed to write so much and get all those photos, I really can't imagine!

For something a bit more basic, track down Don Burke's Growing Grevilleas, 1983. It provides a good summary of Grevillea culture with an overview of some of the hardier and more common species and hybrids. While it is an older book, it is still excellent, providing lots of valuable information without being too technical.

Go to the UCSC Arboretum in California. They have the largest selection of Grevillea species and hybrids in the US. Some of the hardier species appear not to be at their best potential because the climate is hotter and drier than what they would like. Leave yourself a whole day to see the place!