Which Oz native is suitable for a beginner to start with?

[Kunzea]

Hi anttal63
I was referring to my trees in pots, at about 1-1.2 m above ground. Trees in the ground in Canberra don't show frost damage. However, there is a very steep temperature gradient from ground level to 1.5 m above ground. So depending on your local micro climate, you could be experiencing more severe frost than in other places (ie are you in a low part of the landscape as opposed to a hill side or top?). Your frosty nights are probably like ours: clear, dry sky, no wind. These are 'radiation' frosts, as distinct from frosts from cold air coming from a long distance away, as happens in the northern continents, for example. The 'radiation' frosts are essentially caused by the exposed surfaces losing more heat than they are gaining from their environment and cooling to less than the freezing point of water. If you have a 'covered' protected area spot, or even a thin layer of cloud comes up, the frost is generally much lighter or may not occur at all.

In a garden, heat sinks, such as large stones, water bodies or house walls that are exposed to good sun light and warm up during the day, can protect nearby plants from frost on many occassions, though not always.

If the 'leaf' tips are browning, I'd check that you are getting 'drought', especially if the dieing tips are more than just the very young, tender new growth.

Cheers
Kunzea

Hi Marleeney
I agree with what Pup has written. Baeckeas/Babingtonias (thereare two closely related genera here and they are not easy to tell apart and they also have changed names which makes life interesting regarding the correct name to use!) are excellent material for bonsai, for all the reasons that Pup notes. They also have attractive, delicately stringy bark.

There are several species. I have tried B. virgata, B. crenulata, B. ovalifolia (dwarf form), and B. linifolia. The first three respond pretty much in a similar way, though the second tends to flower later than the other two. The last one grows a bit differently. It has graceful arching new branches that are lined with small flowers. With the new branchlets a reddish colour, the whole plant is very attractive if you let it grow out while flowering. If you can incorporate the arching branches of about 300 - 500mm into your styling, you will get a stunning plant. It reaches peak flowering here in Canberra during late December-January, most years, though it started earlier and continued right up until last week this year.

I have found the tree-form of B. virgata to shoot back on old wood rather poorly, where as the shrubby forms or dwarf forms of B. v. and the others all pretty much shoot back anywhere.

Much luck and enjoyment.
Kunzea

[MelaQuin]

Baeckeas like moist soil and you can lose foliage if you let the tree dry out. I have had great success growing them in water trays 24/7 but prefer not to if I can get away with it. I find that while they shoot back a lot, shooting back on old wood has seldom happened where I wanted it so I am careful about not buying leggy trees. They pad out well, tolerate full sun or morning sun and mid afternoon shade.

Watch the flowers.... just a warning. Flowers are lovely, seed cases are lovely but REMOVE THE seed cases!!! They seed everywhere. My top tree, a baeckea, flowered a bit this past season and now the soil is carpeted with baby baeckeas. I left the attractive seed pods on for the first, last and only time. I am sure that I will also find seedlings throughout the garden area and other pots in the vicinity of this tree when they grow big enough to see. But otherwise this is a wonderful bonsai. The leaves are naturally tiny and the tree barks up well.