Grevillea 'Canberra Gem'

Grevillea 'Canberra Gem' is a bold and unusual Australian evergreen, a hybrid of Grevillea juniperina and Grevillea rosmarinifolia that brings fine texture, vivid color, and a touch of the exotic to an adventurous garden. The narrow, needle-like foliage is often mistaken for a conifer, until late winter, when the shrub reveals a true identity in a profusion of rose-red, spider-like flowers that spill from the branches and catch the eye clear across the garden.

The bloom is long and generous, running from late winter well into spring, each cluster a tangle of curling styles that read, up close, like something between a sea creature and a firework. The nectar-rich flowers are a magnet for hummingbirds and bees, and the plant carries them against dark, evergreen, rosemary-fine leaves that hold structure and interest the year round.

Long admired by plant enthusiasts and championed by Christopher Lloyd in Color for Adventurous Gardeners, 'Canberra Gem' remains oddly underused, especially in American gardens. Helen Johnstone of the Hardy Plant Society has noted the rarity in cultivation and praised the shrub as both a statement plant and a conversation piece, for gardeners after something a little out of the ordinary with real visual impact.

Give 'Canberra Gem' full sun and well-drained, neutral to acidic soil, and the plant settles into a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, deer-resistant evergreen ideal for a Mediterranean-style planting, a gravel bed, a dry border, or a coastal garden. Among the hardier grevilleas, the shrub tolerates temperatures into the low twenties Fahrenheit once established, especially in a sheltered site with sharp drainage. Grevilleas dislike rich soil and phosphorus, so skip the fertilizer and let the plant thrive on lean ground.