This small to medium native shrub is a hard one to capture both in an image and in words, I have been documenting these three specimens in my garden since they were planted a couple of years ago. It never seemed the right time to photograph them as the flowers are always changing colour and getting larger.

This is Ozothamnus diosmifolius ‘Radiance’ and they started flowering almost as soon as I planted them, to begin with tiny pink buds emerge on the end of every stem. They gradually grow and develop into a large cluster of 50 or more tiny flowers making a showy inflorescence, which positions its self almost horizontally on the stem. The leaf and flower arrangement is like no other native plant and the upright habit works well with weeping foliage and native grasses.

This medium shrub will get anywhere from 1m to 2 m tall and tends to get very leggy if left un pruned, the life span of the plant will also be shortened without pruning. I tend to constantly tip prune as I love the blooms as cut flowers and they last a long time in a vase.

An overall prune should be carried out once or twice a year taking off around 20-30%, I have done this twice and mine are developing into a great mid-storey hedge.

They are backed by Grevillea olivacea ‘Yellow’ and Dodonaea ‘Mr Green Sheen’ and in front I have used Poa ‘Suggan Buggan’. They do not seem to be phased by my clay soil or shade from a towering Eucalyptus, they have done nothing but thrive with all the rain and humidity and as stated earlier they have never been without flower. What more could you ask for?