This is a wattle close to my heart, it is one of the most strongly perfumed Australian native flowers I have come across, but not in a over-powering sweet, honey-nectar way, it is more of a Boronia type scent…yum, yum…
This is also a very useful Acacia for its capacity to withstand strong winds, I am trial it in a VERY exposed windy locations on a hill top and so far so good.

Acacia cardiophylla has soft feathery leaves and a slightly weeping habit, it will happily grow in part shade to full sun. In the image above you can see it on the left, even when not in flower it has a useful structural form in a garden bed.

Acacia cardiophylla flowers from July to November, and generally gets absolutely covered in blooms, which attracts bees and insects alike. Like many wattles it is variable in its growth you can expect somewhere between 1.5 metres and 3 metres high and about 1.5 to 2 metres wide.

Acacia cardiophylla will withstand light frost and extended periods of drought, however if you can offer extra water when it is budding up you will be rewarded with plentiful flowers.

It  is indigenous to central and southern New South Wales and it also available in a prostrate form and I have seen it occasionally as a grafted standard.

Because of its dense habit, I like to use it as a screening plant where a regularly tip prune after flowering will ensure it keeps its foliage to the ground.

So if you see this Acacia around the traps I suggest you snap it up and find a spot for it, I know that’s contradictory garden design advice but hey I am a plant nut too ;)…