Grevillea ‘Coral Baby’

Coral Baby grevillea (Grevillea 'Coral Baby') is the compact native to reach for when you want bird activity in a small garden. It makes a rounded shrub about 1.2m tall and 1.2m wide, holds fine needle foliage to the ground, and carries coral pink and red flowers through most of the year. Frost hardy and drought tolerant, it is one of the easier natives to keep alive in a front garden.

Why you'll love it

• Neat by nature. A tidy 1.2m ball without shearing. It suits gardens where a sprawling native would look untidy.
• Nearly constant flowering. Coral pink and red spider flowers appear across most of the year, heaviest from late winter into spring.
• Honeyeaters arrive quickly. Nectar rich flowers at head height bring small native birds into the garden within the first season.
• Frost hardy and drought tolerant. It handles cold southern winters and long dry spells once established.

Where it works best

Mass planting. Plant 80cm apart for a continuous low bank of foliage and flower. The plants overlap slightly at that spacing, which is what closes the gaps at ground level.

Feature planting and borders. One plant works as a rounded full stop at the end of a bed, and a row along a fence or driveway makes an informal, unclipped edge.

Rockeries and pots. The fine foliage and modest size suit a gravel rockery, or a 400mm pot on a sunny courtyard.

Growing Coral Baby grevillea in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, without compromise. In shade it thins out, stretches and barely flowers. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and because it is frost hardy it performs well in southern and inland districts. The wet tropics are the one place to avoid, since sustained humidity encourages root problems.

Soil. Sharp drainage is the requirement; fertility is not. Sandy and rocky soils are ideal. On clay, mound the bed 200mm above the surrounding grade before planting, and mulch 50mm deep with the mulch pulled back from the stem.

Water and feed. Deep soak once or twice a week over the first summer, then only during extended dry weather. Feed once in early spring with a low phosphorus native fertiliser, because ordinary complete fertilisers hold enough phosphorus to damage grevillea roots.

Pruning. Light and regular beats hard and occasional. Tip prune after each main flush to keep the ball dense, taking no more than a third. It is unreliable at reshooting from bare wood, so stay within the leafy growth.

What to expect when it arrives

Coral Baby is grown as tube stock, currently on backorder. A tube is a young single stemmed plant around 15 to 20cm high, which is the standard way this variety is produced and the reason a mass planting stays affordable. It will not look like a shrub on arrival.

The fine foliage carries little water, so plants travel well. Plant into a mounded, free draining bed and expect a slow first month while roots move out, then real size through the first warm season and a rounded shrub by the end of year two. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Grevillea care: soil, feeding and pruning
• See the rest of the grevillea range
• More plants that bring birds into the garden
• Browse Australian native shrubs

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it?

Eighty centimetres apart for a dense mass planting, staggered rather than in a straight line. For individual shrubs that keep their rounded shape, allow the full 1.2m.

Can I keep it smaller than 1.2m?

Yes, within reason. Regular light tip pruning after each flush holds it around 80cm to 1m. Do not cut into bare old wood, because it does not reshoot reliably from there.

Will it handle frost?

It is frost hardy once established, so cool temperate and inland gardens are fine. Plant in spring so it has a full warm season of root growth before its first winter.