Banksia! or to be more accurate, all banksias. I love the variety of the foliage, the differing coloured flowers, the fact that they are SO Australian, and that they grow from the coast to the mountains. I love to see the early morning sun lighting a tall orange candle on a crisp winter's morning; I smile at the shaggy, frowning, gray big bad banksia men in summer, I greet the strong green growth of an ericafolia in spring, and revel in the sight of a wattle bird supping from a flower as autumn turns. Ah, Banksia, I salute you!!

Beth 

My favourite Australian plant is Plectranthus argentatus. This wonderful plant is a true rarity; a silver leafed plant which tolerates shade! It needs minimal water despite its lush appearance and has salvia-like white and purple flowers. It is incredibly easy to propagate - just stick a piece into the ground and you are virtually guaranteed it will root. It makes a nice loose mound up to a metre high. I use it in the dry shade under large trees in my Adelaide garden where it lights up the dark spaces. It looks wonderful with Dianella.

Liz 

Backhousia citridoria (Lemon Scented Myrtle) 

What a wonderful tree! I have several growing on my one and a half acre paradise created for me by my wonderful husband. This tree laughs at the dry and smiles in the wet. We harvest its leaves and make a soothing lemon scented tea, put a few on the barbie to keep away mosquitoes or into the cavity of fish for a beautiful fresh lemon flavour. The flowers and leaves dried make a fresh scented potpourri. The leaves can also be dried and crushed and then added to desserts like cheesecake.

Our trees are kept trimmed for use in the kitchen and therefore make a great hedge, but they have so many great uses why aren't more of them planted?

My favourite native, I love its pale green foliage and its soft cream flowers but most of all I love it's fresh lemon scent.

Ann 

The bottlebrush is a glorious sight. Nectar loving birds squabble and warble in its branches giving hours of joy. Raucous parrots whose scarlet and green plumage is camouflaged perfectly in the bottlebrush tree arrive suddenly, stay briefly and depart as quickly as they arrived. Their clownish gymnastics provide endless pleasure during their brief stay.

Oh and the bottlebrush has such striking, crimson flowers, heralding Spring! Every year I fill vase after vase and the soft, fluffy flowers obligingly hang down, creating a delightful effect lasting many days. Little wonder that the bottle brush is tops with me.

Phillip 

I have always wanted native birds in my garden so I planted six Ned Kelly
Grevilleas. I put birdbaths in the front and backyards and in the afternoons
the little yellow honeyeaters visit. My brother built a long perch using an
old wooden mop handle. The honeyeaters sit on that while taking it in turns
to have a bath. They hang off the grevillea flowers sipping the nectar
darting in and out of the bushes. I have counted up to 14 honeyeaters
sitting on the edge of the birdbath chattering away. It's just the start and
due to the grevilleas.

Liz 

Georgia 

My favourite is the mighty eucalypt. Any size, shape or colour. The smell from the eucalypt is absolutely wonderful. I remember my first trip to England. I was terribly homesick. Then from my hotel window I saw a small lone gum tree planted in the middle of the carpark. I made a beeline straight for it and buried my face in its leaves. Heaven - instantly transported to sunny Oz. My travelling companions thought I was crazy. After I returned home I went bush to walk amongst the gum trees and wrap my senses in the sight and smell.

Merilyn 

I have so many favourites,

Calistemon...Grevillea...Correa, but the one Australian Native that is becoming very much my favourite is the Eremophila Emu Bush, a very attractive shrub suited to our drought conditions with the bonus of withstanding frosts. Spot flowering throughout the year with its main flushes in Spring & Autumn means I always have an abundance of nectar feeding birds visiting my garden. Although hard to find at the local outlets I will continue to search for the grey leafed variety with blue flowers...one of my favourites

Rosalie 

What heralds Spring for me here in WA, with it's perfume similar to Freesias and Osmanthus and the small cup-shaped flowers coloured a deep chocolate-brown on the outside and bright buttercup yellow on the inside?

The bush looking quite insignificant, growing to about 5 feet in size but when it flowers... the perfume, oh the perfume is the fragrance of heaven.... "My Favourite Australian Native Plant" is the Boronia megastigma or Brown Boronia.

T. 

My favourite Australian native plant is the Grevillea. It comes in dwarf, climbing and ground cover varieties and is a hardy, drought resistant, water wise type of plant. Grevilleas are easy to grow, they have magnificent flowers and they attract native birds to my garden. They can also be pruned to encourage new growth and to shape them. Grevilleas quickly cover bare and damaged areas of the garden and can be trained on trellis and along the ground. What a wonderfully versatile plant!

Bernice 

My favourite is the wattle. It is both a usual and beautiful plant. It grows quickly to add height to a new garden. It flowers when little else is in flower. It grows well in my clay soil and puts up with the Queensland humidity. The local birds love to visit it. Every time I look at my beautiful wattle in flower I feel so happy. I grew it from a little tube stock item into the lovely tree it is today. I really should add a couple more to my garden.
Sharon