The Gardens

What plants will you see at Inverawe?

200 Grevilleas spread over at least 30 cultivars or species

100 Callistemon (Bottlebrush). We've got red ones, pink ones, white, yellow, green, mauve…

60 Correas, with cultivars such as Marian's Marvel and Fat Fred together with many different species.

50 Leptospermum, ranging from cultivars such as Jervis Bay to the local Manuka

Acacias? There's acinacea, boormanii, cognata, dealbata, floribunda, gracilifolia, gunnii, howittii, iteaphylla, longifolia, mearnsii, melanoxylon, mucranata, myrtifolia, pataczekii, pravissima, retinodes, riceana, spectabilis suaveolens, terminalis, verniciflua, verticillata. We've got one or two examples of some species but lots of examples of others.

There are native ferns nestling in a fernery and man ferns standing guard over rainforest species

There's the Banksia garden, with 60 Banksias drawn from about 12 different species or cultivars.

Kunzeas, including K ambigua white form, ambigua pink form, prostrates such as Badja Carpet and the colourful K Baxterii.

Melaleucas that flower in almost every colour of the rainbow - we've got red ones, pink ones, mauve, yellow, green…

Hakeas, Darwinias, Myoporum, Scaveola, Bauera, Pultenaea, Brachyscome, Westringias, Prostantheras, Astartias, Baeckeas, Hardenbergia, Pomaderris, Hibbertia, Kennedia, Ozythamnus, Zeiria, Croweas….

Huon Pine, Bunya, Wollomi Pine, Pencil Pine, King Billy, Intermediate Pine, South Esk Pine, Oyster Bay Pine…all mostly small at this stage…

Eucalyptus? alpina, archerii, amygdalina, barberi, brookeriana, caesia, cladocalyx, coccifera, conferruminata, cordata, delegatensis, forrestiana, gardenerii, globulus, gunnii, kitsoniana, leucoxylon, lehmannii, morrisbyi, nichollii, nitida, nutans, rodwayii, risodonii, rubida, obliqua, ovata, pauciflora, perriniana, pulchella, regnans, smithii, spathulata, subcrenulata, tenuiramis, urnigera, viminalis. Some of these are just little guys but they're getting bigger day by day.

Brilliant Kangaroo Paws…

Oh, and our paper daisies. Hundreds of them. You'll remember those.

…and heaps of other stuff. You'll have to come and see for yourself.

At Inverawe native plants are placed in a semi formal landscaped design. Areas that in the past have been heavily disturbed have been planted out to an astonishing range of natives. You'll almost certainly see plants here that you haven't met before, along with some old favourites.

Inverawe has a perfect climate for native plants. 5500 have been planted in an ongoing development program. The property has a long shoreline with sweeping views down North West Bay to Bruny Island. Rainfall averages 650 mm per year. Late summer can be extremely dry. Temperatures range from minus two overnight in winter to thirty degrees Celsius on summer afternoons. The property affords a range of microclimates, from dry forests, through shady gullies and alluvial flood plain. Soil types range from alluvial, to basalt outcrops, with sandy doleritic clays predominating.

The Woodland is an area North and South of the house that has for the most part naturally regenerated after over a hundred years of clearing, grazing, cropping, bushfires and general neglect. Nature trails wind through the woodland, with views over North West Bay and adjacent wetlands. You'll likely catch glimpses of Honey-eaters, Wrens, Pardalotes, Wattle birds, Fantails, White-eyes, Rosellas and many more whilst overhead, in summer, Swamp Harriers cruise along. We've spotted Galahs, Swallows, Martins, Strike Thrush, Spinebills, Cuckoos…the occasional Wedge-tail Eagle and Sea Eagle, Robins in autumn, Swift Parrots in spring, Little Falcon, White phase of the Goshawk…a Peregrine Falcon, once…and then there's the wetland birds…Gulls, Terns, Ducks, Black Swan, Heron, Oyster Catchers, Cormorants, Plover…but come and see what you can spot. You never know your luck!

Dominant plant species in the woodland are:

• Eucalyptus ovata (Black Gum, Swamp Gum), an important food source for the rare and endangered Swift Parrot
• Eucalyptus viminalis (White Gum, Manna Gum), an important food source and habitat for the equally rare Forty Spotted Pardalote

These two species make the area an important woodland remnant. Woodlands like this were once locally common

Nature trails wind through the woodland. Here, Black Gum and Silver Wattle predominate, with an under story of Kangaroo Grass and Native Rush

Silver Wattle, late winter

Other species in the woodlands include:

• Black Peppermint
  
• White Peppermint
  
• Tasmanian Blue Gum
  
• Blackwood
  
• Silver Wattle
  
• Prickly Mo
  
• Hop Wattle
  
• Yellow Dogwood
  
• Native Cranberry
  
• Native Currant
  
• Kangaroo Grass
  
• Tussock Grass
  
• Native Rush
  
• Peach Heath
  
• She-oak
  
• Native Iris
  
• Native Daisy
  
• Clematis
  
• Tree Everlasting
  
• Pultenaea (Bush Pea)
  
• Bossiaea
  
• Blanket Bush
  
• Manuka (Leptospermum Scoparium)
  
• Lepidosperma
  
• Hop Goodenia
  
• Hakea microcarpa
  …to name but a few …you'll have to come and see for yourself!

The Grasslands might once have been an estuarine tidal swamp, swept two or three times a year by a tumult of water sweeping down from the mountains. Some time in the last two hundred years the river was confined to a channel and whilst it still breaks its banks periodically, the tidal swamp has yielded to rich, grassy flats. You can see it all from Rabbit Hill, our local hill at the northern end of the grasslands. The grasses in the grasslands are imported meadow grasses, exotics, and they strongly resist the intrusion of natives. Silver Wattle ( Acacia dealbata) are creeping down from Rabbit Hill and Acacias are important fixers of Nitrogen in the soil. Here are some of the plants we've had success with on the bottom grasslands:

• Hakeas (salicifolia and nodosa)
• Eucalypts (Black Gum, White Gum, Blue Gum, Brown Stringybark and Red-flowering Gum)
  
• Acacias (including, amongst others, Silver Wattle, Blackwood, Black Wattle, Prickly Mo)
  
• Melaleucas (Swamp Paperbark, Slender Honey Myrtle)
  
• Banksia Marginata (Silver Banksia)
• Leptospermum (Manuka, Woolly Tea Tree)
  
• Pomaderris (Yellow Dogwood, White Dogwood)
• Dodonaea (Native Hop)
  
• Callistemon (Scarlet Bottlebrush, Yellow Bottlebrush)

Five year old Blue Gums in the grasslands are swapping their blue juvenile leaves for bright green adult foliage. Nectar from Blue Gum blossoms is favourite food for the Swift Parrot, endangered by loss of habitat.

The grasslands are ovata headquarters, south east Tasmania. Ovata are adapted to growing in grasslands, a particularly difficult environment. Grasses provide a very green environment at ground level, which inhibits the germination of seeds. The grass roots, underground, present a dense mop of root mass that soak up all available moisture and prevent intruders such as natives from getting a start.