Grevillea ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’

Grevillea 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' (Grevillea 'Bonnie Prince Charlie') is a low spreading Australian native that trades height for width and flowers for most of the year. It reaches about 1m tall and 1.5m across, with fine divided foliage and pendulous red and cream flowers that hang where honeyeaters can reach them. It handles frost, drought and poor soil, provided the drainage is good.

Why you'll love it

• Birds arrive within a season. The nectar rich flowers are built for honeyeaters, and this one flowers over a long stretch from autumn through spring.
• Low and spreading. At around 1m by 1.5m it covers ground and softens edges without ever needing to be cut back off a path.
• Tough on hard sites. Frost hardy, drought tolerant and content in poor soil, which suits a dry bank or an unwatered verge.
• Fine textured foliage. The divided grey green leaves contrast well with strappy natives and rock, and one light trim a year is the whole job.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 1m apart for a dense cover. At that spacing the plants meet within two seasons and shade out most weeds along the way.

Retaining walls and slopes. Set along the top of a wall the branches arch over the edge, and the root system helps hold a dry bank together.

Rockeries and borders. It suits the sharp drainage of a rockery, and a row at 1m centres makes a low informal border.

Growing Grevillea Bonnie Prince Charlie in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the heaviest flowering; part shade thins it out. It suits warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens and is frost hardy once established. Humid subtropical and tropical gardens are harder on it, because wet summer heat encourages root problems.

Soil. Drainage is not negotiable. It grows happily in poor, sandy or gravelly ground, and dies quickly in heavy wet clay, so mound the bed or plant on a slope. Mulch with a coarse material and keep it off the stem.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer, then only in extended dry spells. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring if you feed at all. Standard garden fertilisers carry too much phosphorus and damage grevillea roots.

Pruning. Tip prune lightly after the main flowering flush to keep it compact and encourage more flowers. Do not cut back into bare old wood, because grevilleas of this type rarely reshoot from it.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes as tube stock, in packs of ten 140mm pots, or in packs of six 200mm pots. Tubes are young single stemmed plants and the value option for covering a bank; the 140mm and 200mm plants are already branching and cover a season sooner.

Grevilleas travel well, though a little leaf drop after transit is normal. Expect a quiet month while the roots move out, then steady spread through the first warm season. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The complete grevillea care guide
• Compare the full grevillea range
• More bird attracting plants for the garden
• Plants that suit retaining walls and dry banks

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it as a groundcover?

One metre apart. Each plant spreads to about 1.5m, so at that spacing the cover closes within two seasons without the plants smothering each other.

What fertiliser can I use?

A low phosphorus native fertiliser, applied lightly in early spring. Ordinary complete fertilisers and most manures carry too much phosphorus for grevilleas and can kill an established plant.

Why is my plant yellowing and dying back?

Almost always drainage. This grevillea will not tolerate soil that stays wet, so raise the bed, check that water is not pooling, and avoid heavy mulch against the stem.

Will it grow in the subtropics?

It can, but it is happiest in warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens. In humid summers give it the sharpest drainage and most open position you have.