Kuranga Native Plant Nursery
Presenter: Melissa King
Episode: 20 (8 September 2007)
Hands down one of the best ways to entice birds into the garden is by planting native plants as they provide much needed food and habitat for our feathered friends. If you want a pick of the best Australian plants, the newest varieties, the most sought after forms for small gardens and the sweetest bird loving plants then you need to know about Kuranga Native Nursery.
With over 3,500 varieties of fabulous plants to choose from be prepared to spend the whole morning browsing this wonderful nursery.
You should also be prepared to throw away that tainted 70’s view of natives and experience the new wave of Australian plants. Every season we are introduced to a whole host of new varieties with bigger, better flowers or more compact forms. If they are tried and true, you will find them at Kuranga. Best of all, the plants genuinely do not need water once they are established.
Planting banksias in your garden is like opening a lolly shop for native birds. The flowers are jam packed with sweet, enticing nectar – only it is healthy!
As far as garden plants go they are long lived, reliable, dry tolerant and adaptable – so they will grow anywhere from sandy soils right through to clay.
There are also dwarf forms which make lovely tidy specimens and the flowers are gorgeous; with a good selection of varieties you can expect colour and the birds from autumn right through to spring.
Right around the corner from the lolly shop is the ice creamery.
Grevilleas are the cookies and cream of bird attracting plants.
The spiky nature of some makes great habitat. With sweet names like Honey Gems and Coconut Ice they are as delicious as their names suggest.
They are a diverse bunch with one for every occasion from neat dwarf varieties like the prostrate Grevillea lanigera, which flowers for weeks and weeks to showy trees and shrubs Cooroola Cascade.
Developments in grafting have ensured some of the showy and somewhat finicky dry climate grevilleas are now more reliable in Melbourne’s soil and climate.
The milkshake of bird loving plants has to be the Correa. You need a straw or a good sized beak to get the nectar from these pretty bell-shaped flowers and the birds adore them.
You will too because they boast a long flowering season and bloom during the cooler months when the garden needs a splash of colour.
You will not be able to leave Kuranga without a good half hour in the gift shop; surrounded by bird feeders, scented body products and nature inspired gifts.
You may also want to put aside an hour or so for lunch, which will also give you some time to think about where you are going to put all your new plants.
Kuranga Plant Nursery
118 York Rd
Mount Evelyn 3796 VIC
Telephone: 97608100
www.kuranga.com.au
Episode: 20 (8 September 2007)
Hands down one of the best ways to entice birds into the garden is by planting native plants as they provide much needed food and habitat for our feathered friends. If you want a pick of the best Australian plants, the newest varieties, the most sought after forms for small gardens and the sweetest bird loving plants then you need to know about Kuranga Native Nursery.
With over 3,500 varieties of fabulous plants to choose from be prepared to spend the whole morning browsing this wonderful nursery.
You should also be prepared to throw away that tainted 70’s view of natives and experience the new wave of Australian plants. Every season we are introduced to a whole host of new varieties with bigger, better flowers or more compact forms. If they are tried and true, you will find them at Kuranga. Best of all, the plants genuinely do not need water once they are established.
Planting banksias in your garden is like opening a lolly shop for native birds. The flowers are jam packed with sweet, enticing nectar – only it is healthy!
As far as garden plants go they are long lived, reliable, dry tolerant and adaptable – so they will grow anywhere from sandy soils right through to clay.
There are also dwarf forms which make lovely tidy specimens and the flowers are gorgeous; with a good selection of varieties you can expect colour and the birds from autumn right through to spring.
Right around the corner from the lolly shop is the ice creamery.
Grevilleas are the cookies and cream of bird attracting plants.
The spiky nature of some makes great habitat. With sweet names like Honey Gems and Coconut Ice they are as delicious as their names suggest.
They are a diverse bunch with one for every occasion from neat dwarf varieties like the prostrate Grevillea lanigera, which flowers for weeks and weeks to showy trees and shrubs Cooroola Cascade.
Developments in grafting have ensured some of the showy and somewhat finicky dry climate grevilleas are now more reliable in Melbourne’s soil and climate.
The milkshake of bird loving plants has to be the Correa. You need a straw or a good sized beak to get the nectar from these pretty bell-shaped flowers and the birds adore them.
You will too because they boast a long flowering season and bloom during the cooler months when the garden needs a splash of colour.
You will not be able to leave Kuranga without a good half hour in the gift shop; surrounded by bird feeders, scented body products and nature inspired gifts.
You may also want to put aside an hour or so for lunch, which will also give you some time to think about where you are going to put all your new plants.
Kuranga Plant Nursery
118 York Rd
Mount Evelyn 3796 VIC
Telephone: 97608100
www.kuranga.com.au
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