This is 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 by combining these two Banksia species this incredibly over performing floriferous Banksia has been created.

Upon observing these image it is almost a medium sized tree, this one would have been at least 5 metres high by almost 6 metres wide. It has a dense low canopy which you can walk underneath.

The flowers themselves are between 30 – 40cm and generally sit vertically on the stems. They provide food for nectar eating wildlife and once they have turned to seed pods they will attrat seed eating birdlife.

I believe Banksia ‘Giant Candles’ would make an excellent street tree for growing under power lines, due to its wide habit and dense canopy.

Banksia ‘Giant Candles’ flowers best in full sun and prefers free draining soils, however it will also grow well in a heavier soil as long as the root zone doesnt become water logged.

The flower spikes occur from Autumn into Winter and make excellent cut specimens, if you would like to keep your Banksia looking tidy it is a good idea to remove the old flower spikes once they are spent, but to be honest the Banksia doesn’t really care.

So Banksia ‘Giant Candles’ is definitely a show stopping candidate for a small shade tree, screening plant, wildlife attracting and street tree throughout most of east coast NSW, please let me know if you have had success growing it elsewhere?

Oh and don’t forget Banksias are phosphorus sensitive, so a good native fertiliser is best when it comes to feeding time!