There are so many different cultivars now of Banksia spinulosa that it is difficult to know which to choose… although they all look similar independently when you see them next to each other whilst they are flowering they really do have different attributes.

First up is Banksia spinulosa ‘Coastal Cushions’ this produces shorter golden flowers in Autumn and is one of the lowest growing of the Dwarf Banksias. It is almost a ground cover which spreads up to 1 metre wide whilst only growing half a metres tall. It has soft narrow, short leaves which look a little ferny from a distance.

Next is Banksia spinulosa ‘Honey Pots’ this small shrub has a dense mounding habit made up of large coarse leaves which have a notable white/silver underside.

This Dwarf Banksia lives up to its name with plenty of golden flower spikes from Autumn into Winter and is a real bird magnet. It can get quite tall up to 2 m high by the same wide and is very fast growing for a Banksia. ‘Honey Pots’ makes an excellent screening or hedging plant.

This one is dear to my heart, for some reason I really like its lumpy habit 😉 It flowers a little behind the others which means you have flowers well into Winter.

Banksia ‘Stumpy Gold’ has bright green leaves with the white underside and the flower spikes are tall and skinny and a lighter yellow. I generally find this Dwarf Banksia slow growing but worth the wait for its spreading , horizontal habit. It reaches around 1 metre high x 1.5 metres wide.

Banksia ‘Cherry Candles’ is probably the most luscious looking of the spinulosa Dwarfs. The fine lime green leaves sit on vertical stems, somewhat hiding the flower spikes.

Banksia ‘Cherry Candles’ retains a very compact small shrub shape of roughly 1 m x 1m. It prunes very nicely and general looks quite ‘neat’ 🤩

And this is the one that started the fad, Banksia ‘Birthday Candles’! a lovely very slow growing low shrub it definitely gets wider than it does high at 1.5metres wide x 0.7m high.

‘Birthday Candles’ has a long flowering period and is very hardy. All these Dwarf Banksia respond well to an extra deep water every now and then and look much nicer if pruned after flowering. They also like to receive some Iron occasionally to keep their leaves a deep green. I hope I have shed a little more light on the 5 cultivars above of course there are more Dwarf Banksias than I have listed above but you should find these are readily available.