Mt. Cassell Native Nursery
Australia is blessed with some of the best flowering plants in the world, and we also have excellent nurseries which stock a wonderful range of those plants. They include Zanthorrea Nursery at Maida Vale in Western Australia, Fairhill Native Plants at Yandina in Queensland and Kuranga Native Nursery at Ringwood in Victoria. Burke’s Backyard visited another outstanding native plant nursery at Pomonal in Victoria, and this one is said to have the finest wildflower garden in the country. The owner of Mt Cassell Native Nursery is Phillip Vaughan, a passionate native plant collector and grower, who moved from Melbourne to Pomonal specifically to set up the nursery. He believes that the location provides the ideal climate and soil combination to successfully grow plants from all over Australia.
The nursery
The four acre site is near Hall’s Gap on the edge of the Grampians. The garden is growing on deep sand over lateritic gravel, which provides very good drainage. According to Phillip, this is the most significant factor in the success of the garden. The area is relatively frost free, and it has a reliable Mediterranean rainfall pattern from May to September. Summer is hot with some weeks over 35°C, but the humidity is low.
The plants
Phillip grows a huge collection of Proteaceae, including Grevillea, Dryandra, Banksia, Isopogon and Hakea. On the day Burke’s Backyard visited there was a spectacular planting of Banksia coccinea in flower which Don thought was the best he’d ever seen outside of Western Australia. Not only do the banksias attract native birds but also visitors with cameras – they are probably the most pointed at and photographed plants in the garden. A trial planting of Grevillea petrophiloides grafted onto Grevillea ‘Bronze Rambler’ was also looking impressive. They have pink cylindrical flower spikes held well above the foliage. Other genera represented in the garden include Lechenaultia, Chamelaucium, Eremophila, Anigozanthos, Conostylis and Scholtzia.
Phillip’s choice
As wonderful as these native plants are, some of them are not all that easy to grow. However there are many others which are worth a try in the home garden. Here is Phillip’s list of the best five to get you started:
Grevillea ‘Superb’
Darwinia ‘Coolamon Pink’
Acacia baileyana prostrate
Banksia ericifolia dwarf form
Lechenaultia biloba
Contact information
Mt Cassell Native Nursery, Pomonal, VIC. Phone: (03) 5356 6351.
Zanthorrea Nursery, Maida Vale, WA. Phone (08) 9454 6260.
Fairhill Native Plants, Yandina, QLD. Phone: (07) 5446 7088.
Kuranga Native Nursery, Ringwood, VIC. Phone: (03) 9879 4076.
