Correa Dinner Bells

Correa 'Tucker Time Dinner Bells' (Correa 'Tucker Time Dinner Bells') flowers when almost nothing else does. From autumn through winter this compact native shrub hangs itself with red and green tubular bells that honeyeaters feed on all season, on a neat plant of about 1m tall and 1m wide. It is frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, which makes it one of the easiest natives to place.

Why you'll love it

• Colour through the cold months. The red and green bells open in autumn and keep coming through winter, filling the gap between the last summer flowers and spring.
• A serious honeyeater plant. Tubular native flowers in winter are exactly what small nectar feeding birds are looking for, so the shrub is rarely left alone once it starts.
• Neat without work. It holds a rounded 1m by 1m shape naturally, so it never needs the shearing that keeps most low shrubs in line.
• It handles dry shade. Very few plants flower under the dry canopy of an established tree. This one does, which solves a problem bed most gardens have.

Where it works best

Borders, edging and mass planting. Plant 80cm apart for a low informal border. At that spacing the plants meet without crowding, giving a soft continuous edge along a path or driveway.

Rockeries, pots and coastal gardens. Salt tolerance and a taste for poor, sharply drained soil make it a natural for rockeries, embankments and exposed coastal blocks. In a 400mm pot of free draining native mix it is worth placing where you see it from indoors.

Growing Correa 'Tucker Time Dinner Bells' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun to part shade, and it flowers usefully in both. It suits cool temperate, warm temperate, Mediterranean and subtropical gardens, and is frost hardy once established, so cold inland districts are no obstacle. In humid subtropical gardens give it the most open, airy position you have.

Soil. Drainage first, fertility second. Poor sandy and gravelly soils are ideal. On clay, plant on a raised mound with coarse sand added, because wet feet in winter is the one thing that reliably kills correas.

Water and feed. Water twice a week through the first summer, then only in extended dry spells. Feed once in early spring with a low phosphorus native fertiliser and avoid standard garden blends, which native roots take up too readily.

Pruning. Tip prune lightly once the winter flowering finishes. Light and regular beats hard and occasional, since correas are slow to reshoot from bare old wood.

What to expect when it arrives

Plants come as tube stock, in 140mm pots sold in packs of 10, and in single 300mm pots. Tube stock is the economical way to buy the numbers a border or mass planting needs. The 140mm plants are branched and ready to place, and a 300mm plant is close to a finished shrub.

Correas travel well and arrive with the mix intact. Plant them out within a few days and expect a quiet first month before new growth appears. A spring planted tube usually gives its first real flowering the following autumn. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the Australian native shrub range
• Native plants that bring birds into the garden
• Compare plants for rockeries and embankments
• Salt tolerant plants for coastal gardens

Common questions

When does it actually flower?

From autumn through winter, with the heaviest display in the coldest months. That timing is the main reason to plant it, since it covers the season when most gardens go quiet.

Will it grow under a tree?

Yes, and better than most flowering shrubs. It tolerates the dry shade under an established canopy, though flowering is heavier with a few hours of direct sun.

How many do I need for a border?

At 80cm spacing, allow about five plants for every four metres of edge. Any closer and the plants shade each other out at the base.