• The perfect Scented Screen: Leptospermum ‘Little Lemon Scents’

    This dwarf graceful, weeping tea tree is a wonderful addition to any garden, it can be used as a privacy screen, in a mixed hedge or as a soft backdrop in a layered planting. The compact habit of Little Lemon Scents is far smaller growing and more shapely than its parent, Leptospermum petersonii (Lemon-Scented Tea…

  • Hakea ‘Pinball’ for all

    This is a grafted form of the very showy Pin Cushion Hakea, Hakea laurina, which hails from south-western WA. This is a wonderful grafted species which means we can now grow these very iconic flowers in areas with higher humidity and a heavier soil, it is actually also a cultivar: Hakea laurina x petiolaris. I…

  • What to Plant for Poorly Drained Soils and temporary inundation

    I am adding to this post as here on the East coast of NSW we continue to have flooding, heavy downpours and associated erosion. It has been over 3 years of this tumultuous weather and this particular blog post has been getting quite a lot of visits. The past few years have also given me…

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  • Distinct hot pink: Melaleuca fulgens

    Melaleuca fulgens hails from the West of Australia, no surprise there, however it can be found growing in the southern and eastern states quite happily. This species has a long flowering period from Winter through to Summer and as the blooms are such a bright highlight it is hard to miss. This is the pink…

  • A flower within a flower within a flower … Hoya australis

    This is Hoya australis or Wax flower and I have taken some close up photos which demonstrate perfectly why this umbel has been given its common name. I find this one of the most curious flowers from our native vine species, it is a large highly perfumed umbel of tiny wax like flowers which is…

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  • The show stopping: Banksia ‘Giant Candles’

    This superb specimen of Banksia ‘Giant Candles’ forced me to drive around the block a couple of times before I could find a park and give it the photo shoot it deserves. This extra large shrub or, as I prefer to call it, small tree is a cross between Banksia ericifolia and Banksia spinulosa. Somehow…

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providing resources for native plant gardeners and designers.


Mallee Design was created by Kath Gadd in 2012 to document and share her love for native Australian garden design. Her original motivation was to inspire those interested in learning more about native Australian plants. The Mallee Design blog has since grown into a rich resource, used by gardeners, horticulturalists, landscape designers and others.

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