Rural
2 July, 2024
Backyard Wildlife: Keep these in your garden for friendly guests
A group of native plants that just keep giving throughout the year are the Coleus (syn. Plectranthus).
A group of native plants that just keep giving throughout the year are the Coleus (syn. Plectranthus).
There are many exotic Coleus, but SE QLD is also blessed with many native ones and one particularly outstanding performer in keeping the bees, butterflies and a range of other small nectar and pollen eaters fed is Coleus alloplectus.
A fantastic groundcover to 50cm, with silvery/grey foliage and purple flower spikes, it flowers throughout the year and is almost constantly massed with flowers, providing welcome sustenance to so many small critters.
Our native Coleus thrive in full sun and also dappled shade. One of our other favourites is Coleus nitidus, with dark green glossy textured leaves and red stems.
Its flowers are white and although not as prolific, are also sought after by a range of insects and will take a bit of shade.
Talking about insects, it’s been a boom time for some of the Swallowtail Butterflies in our nursery, with lots of Citrus (both native and exotic) to nibble on.
Our native Citrus, Finger Lime - Citrus australasica and Round Lime - Citrus australis, are not only great to grow for their fruit and prickly habitat for small birds, but they’re food sources for butterflies including the Dainty Swallowtail, Capaneus Swallowtail, Orchard Swallowtail and Ambrax Swallowtail.
And before you ask, no please don’t spray caterpillars on your citrus with insecticides. If they’re defoliating a newly planted and small tree, consider re-locating them to a bigger citrus with lots of leaves to spare. But for bigger plants, think of their nibbling of your tree, as giving it a gentle prune (which you need to do anyway), with the bonus of the fertiliser (manure), that they conveniently deposit around the base of your tree (the ultimate in recycling).
But wait there’s more, on top of all these benefits you get to see some beautiful butterflies fluttering around your garden when the grow up!
