Astartea Winter Pink

Astartea 'Winter Pink' is the native shrub that flowers when the rest of the garden has stopped. A fine leaved tea tree relative from Western Australia, it forms a soft rounded bush about 1.2m tall and wide, covered in small pink flowers through the cooler months. It is tough in a way few flowering shrubs are: frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and untroubled by damp ground.

Why you'll love it

• Colour in the cold months. Small pink blooms carry through winter, filling the gap when most flowering shrubs have nothing.
• Genuinely tough. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and comfortable in damp soil, an unusual combination.
• Fine texture. The needle fine foliage softens hard edges and contrasts well with broad leaved plants and stonework.
• Birds and bees use it. Small honeyeaters and native bees work the flowers, so it earns its place in a wildlife garden.
• Low maintenance. One light trim after flowering is the entire maintenance programme.

Where it works best

Low hedging and borders. Plant 80cm apart for a soft low hedge that closes within two seasons. It clips well, but looks better lightly shaped than squared off.

Mass planting. The same 80cm spacing across a bank or a wide bed gives a continuous drift of winter colour with no irrigation once established.

Coastal gardens and pots. Salt tolerance makes it a sensible front line shrub near the beach, and a single plant suits a 400mm pot on a sunny patio.

Growing Astartea in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering, though it accepts part shade with a looser habit. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens. In the wet tropics the constant humidity works against it.

Soil. Sandy or gravelly ground is ideal, but it is far more forgiving of damp than most western natives and copes with heavier soil that drains eventually. Avoid deep, rich, manured beds.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in long dry spells. Apply a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring if growth is slow; most plants never need it.

Pruning. Trim lightly after flowering, taking no more than a third of the growth. Regular light pruning keeps it dense; hard cuts into bare old wood are risky, as with most fine leaved myrtles.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock, so plants are young, with roughly 10 to 15cm of top growth in a small pot. Tubes are the sensible way to buy a shrub like this for a hedge or mass planting: they cost little, establish faster than larger stock, and catch up to a 200mm plant within about a year.

They travel well, since there is little foliage to damage. Plant soon after arrival, water in with a seaweed tonic and keep the soil damp for the first month. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the Australian native shrub range
• Care guide for tea trees and their relatives
• Salt tolerant plants for coastal gardens
• Low maintenance shrubs for Australian gardens

Common questions

How far apart for a low hedge?

80cm apart in a single row. At that spacing the bushes touch by the second season and the hedge reads as continuous at about a metre high.

When does it actually flower?

Through the cooler months, which is the reason for the name. Exact timing shifts with climate, running later in cool temperate gardens and earlier in subtropical ones.

Will it handle frost?

Yes. It is frost hardy once established, which is why cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens suit it. Protect first year plants during a severe cold snap.

Can I grow it in a pot?

Yes, in a pot 400mm or wider with a free draining mix. Potted plants need watering through summer and a light trim each year to stay compact.