Native Gardenia

Native Gardenia (Atractocarpus fitzalanii, still widely sold as Randia fitzalanii) is an Australian rainforest tree that screens a boundary and perfumes the garden at the same time. It grows to about 5m tall and 3m wide, with large glossy leaves held in layered tiers, and through spring and summer it opens clusters of white flowers scented strongly enough to carry across a courtyard. Golden yellow fruit follows in autumn, edible and popular with birds.

Why you'll love it

• The perfume is the point. Few native trees are this strongly scented. One plant near a window fills the space on a warm evening.
• Dense glossy foliage to the ground. The layered branching makes it a genuine screen, not a tree that lifts and leaves you looking at trunks.
• Coastal and humidity proof. It takes salt wind and high humidity without leaf burn, which rules out most of the competition on a beachside block.
• Birds and edible fruit. The yellow autumn fruit is edible and draws birds.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 1.5m apart in a single row. The tiers overlap within two to three seasons and the wall stays solid from the ground up.

Hedging. It responds well to trimming and can be held at 2.5m to 3m. Trim after the main flowering flush so you do not remove the buds.

Feature planting and shade. As a single specimen the layered form is worth showing off, and a mature plant shades a courtyard while keeping its scent within reach.

Growing Native Gardenia in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun or part shade both work. This is a tropical, subtropical and warm temperate plant, so Cairns, Brisbane, the Northern Rivers and Sydney all suit it. It is frost tender, and that is the hard limit: cold inland districts, the tablelands and frosting southern gardens will not hold one in the ground.

Soil. Rich and free draining, the way a rainforest floor behaves. Work compost through the bed and mulch 75mm deep, kept clear of the trunk. Heavier soil is fine provided water moves through it, so mound on clay.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then weekly in warm weather. It is not a drought plant, and dry spells cost you flowers. Feed with a controlled release native fertiliser in early spring and again in late summer.

Pruning. Tip prune from planting to build density low down, then one trim a year once flowering finishes. It reshoots readily, so a neglected plant can be cut back hard.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in nine sizes, from tube stock and 140mm packs of ten through 200mm packs of six and single 300mm and 400mm pots, up to 45L, 100L, 200L and 400L. For a long boundary the small sizes are the value option and catch up quickly. The 45L and 100L plants already carry height and tiered branching.

Growth is moderate to fast in the subtropics and slower in a cooler coastal garden, with flowers within one to two years from a 200mm plant. Plants travel upright and are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing a fast screening tree for privacy
• Compare hedging and screening plants
• Browse the full Australian native range

Common questions

Is it related to the common gardenia?

They share a family, white flowers and heavy perfume, but this is a coastal Queensland rainforest tree, not a low shrub. It grows to about 5m, where a common gardenia stays around 1m.

Can I grow it in Melbourne or Adelaide?

Not in open ground. It is frost tender, so in cold southern gardens it is a large pot plant that spends winter under cover.

How far apart for a screen, and how long until it closes?

1.5m apart in a single row. In a subtropical garden with regular water the screen reads as solid in two to three seasons, an extra season in a cooler position.