This small to medium shrub is commonly known as Rock Correa, due to its ability to grow in gravelly soils, making it super tough. I absolutly love Correas but find it quite difficult to grow them in my location. Correa glabra is easily the toughest one I use in coastal NSW gardens. In fact the image below is taken in Bulli in the Illawarra Grevillea Park gardens, just to give you an idea of where it will happily grow.

Correa glabra naturally occurs along creek banks and rocky slopes in Victoria and South Australia, so it probably wont survive if there are extended humid periods. They love a well-drained soil but can grow on clay as lone as it isn’t boggy.

Correa glabra has small tubular flowers which are usually a creamy white, however they can also be found in pinks and reds but this is less common.

The best thing about this species is its flowering time which begins in Autumn and carries through Winter, this can often be a time when little else is in flower in a shady spot in a native garden.

There are a few cultivars of this species, which offer a smaller or lower growing shrub and a more dense habit. Correa ‘Colliban River’ is one such shrub, it has greenish flowers and grows upto 1.8m, I often use Correa ‘Ivory Lantern’ which is a tidy low form growing to around half a metre with crisp white flowers.

To be honest though I actually prefer the straight species, you then have the option to just let it grow naturally into a loose shrub as in the image above or it responds very well to be pruned after flowering to your desired shape.

If left alone Correa glabra will reach up to 2-3 metres high, making it an excellent screening species or mid layer shrub. It also prefers a little shade, so thrives growing under the canopy of trees or in difficult spots in built up areas. The glossy green leaves make it an excellent contrast plant to highlight greys and silvers in your garden too.