Australian Native Plants Society (Australia)Eremophila, also known as Emu Bush or Poverty Bush, are versatile plants in the garden and ideal for garden design.
Most of the 250-odd named species hail from Australia and are adapted to our “droughts and flooding rains” climate pattern. While most are found naturally in the drier parts of the continent (the genus name actually means “desert lover”), they have proved adaptable in garden settings providing they have sufficient drainage. They are also happy being both pruned and fertilised along with your other native plants. Most Eremophila are also frost hardy. In addition, a large number of hybrids have hit the market in the last 20 years or so, adding even more variety. All have tubular flowers that come in a range of colours. The reds, oranges and yellows attract birds and the blues to purples attract insects.
Eremophila exhibit a vast range of plant forms that can meet the needs of gardeners in many situations in garden design. This short article outlines their use in garden settings. All of the species listed here can be propagated from cuttings, although some may also be available as grafted forms – the latter may need more additional water in dry climates, as the stock commonly used is Myoporum sp., which is more coastal.
Prostrate eremophila in garden design
A number of species of Eremophila grow absolutely flat (i.e. less than 10cm high) and are great in the garden as prostrate plants. While they do well in full sun, many are also very tolerant of shade and hence can provide a green cover under more established trees.
Eremophila biserrata is one of these. It has bright green, slightly waxy toothed leaves and lighter green flowers with pink stamens that do blend into the foliage to some extent. But the birds know they are there and will come to feed from them. Native to Western Australia, it has proved adaptable in the garden and can form a mat many metres across and is quite good at suppressing weeds. However, it remains well behaved and is easily kept in check by light pruning.
E. biserrata will take full sun or light shade, is frost hardy and does best with good drainage. It is unlikely to need additional water once established, and is long lived. (Our plants of this species are over 30 years old). The photo is of several plants, over 15 years of age, in a garden in South Australia. Image Kent Wallis
Some forms of Eremophila glabra (a very variable species) are also prostrate. E. glabra ‘Mingenew’ is one of these. It has bright green toothed leaves and bright yellow flowers which contrast well with the foliage. They can cover the plant in good seasons.
It comes from the coast of Western Australia. It is quite delicate, growing to about 1m in diameter, and it prefers a sunny outlook.
A very similar form, with untoothed leaves, is sold as “prostrate yellow,” and is pictured. It is from the northern Wheat Belt of WA. Image Brian Walters
The final two species I will cover under this heading are not as widely available as the three mentioned above, but are well worth hunting out.
The first of these is Eremophila densifolia.
This species has bunches of purple flowers and grows to about a metre wide. The narrow leaves are green but in colder climates will go reddish in winter. It grows to about 1m wide, but is not as resilient in the garden as the species above, and in wetter areas may be best grown in a container.
Image Andrew Brown
The final good prostrate Eremophila for gardens is Eremophila debilis.
This grows naturally in New South Wales under Eucalypts and is nowhere near as vigorous as the species and forms listed above. It is usually found among the leaf litter, from which its narrow dark green leaves or white to pink star-shaped flowers poked out. It is much more suited to shady situations but, like the others, is very tolerant of drought.
This species has a small round cream or pink fruit which sit on the plant for some months. In colder areas it does best if protected from frost by being grown under trees. It gets to about 1m in diameter.
Image Lyndal Thorburn
Ground covers in garden design
Ground covers are plants that are wider than they are high, but which are not absolutely flat on the ground – so, ground covers may be 2m wide but still 1m high.
There are many Eremophilas that fit this definition and are very useful in garden design. The most common are various other forms of Eremophila glabra.
One example is E. glabra ‘prostrate burgundy’ which gets to 0.6m high and about 2m wide. The astute reader will realise that the word “prostrate” in the common name doesn’t mean this plant is prostrate! This variety has beautiful burgundy flowers in spring and these attract birds. Image Lyndal Thorburn
There are some other beautiful groundcover forms of E. glabra with red flowers. These can be spectacular in flower as shown in the image, a plant on a raised bed in Sydney. Image Bernie Shanahan
Probably the best known groundcover form of E. glabra is ‘Kalbarri Carpet’, a registered cultivar with light grey leaves and dull yellow flowers. Found naturally near Kalbarri in Western Australia, it forms a mat about 2m across.
Its light grey leaves contrast well with those of other plants and its yellow flowers in spring are held above the foliage and hence are more visible to passers-by. These flowers are also attractive to birds and the form also does well in either full sun or semi-shade (in the latter situation it will grow a little taller than when it is in full sun).
Being from the coast it is also more salt tolerant than most Eremophila species. Image Brian Freeman
If you want a very large plant that technically meets the definition of groundcover, and you live in a frost free area, you can try Eremophila polyclada.
It has fine green foliage, grows into an enormous tangle, and large white flowers in summer. The insects love it. But it can get several metres wide in the right situation. It is also frost tender below about -6 degrees C.
The example here is of a young garden plant in Longreach, Queensland. Image Lyndal Thorburn
A cultivar of a hybrid this species, called ‘Summertime Blue’, is commonly available. It can grow very large in the right circumstances but in most gardens grows about 1.5mH x 2mW.
Shrubs
Eremophilas come into their own as shrubs in garden design. There is great variety in this class, with sizes from small to large. Most tend towards being as wide as they are high, but as they respond to pruning it is up to the gardener to decide their final size and shape. Many are happy being pruned back to hard wood.
Here is E. maculata growing in Lowood, Queensland, is happy to have this treatment, but this is not the case across the board, so care is needed. Image E. maculata Lowood, image Lyndal Thorburn
One beautiful shrub for the garden is Eremophila oppositifolia. This weeping shrub has soft, drooping grey foliage and tubular flowers which can range from cream through to dark purple, and are often displayed in winter. The flowers have bracts which are retained once the flower falls, thus extending the colourful period on the shrub. While they normally take the shape of a small tree, but in shrub size, they can also be pruned into an almost perfect globe. Image E. oppositifolia, pruned, Ken Warnes
Another great winter-flowering shrub is Eremophila decipiens ssp. decipiens. This is a small shrub 1mH x 2mW which flowers nearly all year and has well-displayed red flowers which are loved by birds, particularly in winter. It takes a break from flowering in summer, during which time it forms green fruit which age to brown. Image Eremophila decipiens ssp decipiens, Lyndal Thorburn
Rockeries
Eremophila are also great in garden design for rockeries. If you are looking for rockery shrubs, try some of the smaller varieties including Eremophila macdonnellii (likely to be short-lived in the garden unless grafted), Eremophila maculata ssp brevifolia, Eremophila maculata ‘Carmine Star’ and other similar compact forms of Eremophila glabra with grey leaves and green flowers (sold as either ‘Silver Ball’ or ‘Bev Rice’), Eremophila hygrophana, and Eremophila mackinlayi.
Tall skinnies
There are even some “tall skinnies” for that tight corner – in particular, Eremophila calorhabdos, which sends up single stems with crowded grey or green leaves and bright pink flowers in the leaf axils. The honeyeaters love these and make the stems bend over almost to the ground when feeding. Two photos showing the closeup of the flowers in a garden in South Australia, and a shrub growing south of Sydney, are below.
Feature shrubs of eremophila
Eremophilas can be used as feature plants in garden design – many of the larger shrubs, particularly the cultivars of Eremophila bignoniiflora, have spectacular large flowers that will draw attention as single specimens.
The one is of Eremophila bignoniiflora hybrid ‘Meringur Isaac’ in a South Australian garden. Image Brian Freeman
Here is an example of a showy E. macdonnellii grafted onto Myoporum in a Sydney garden. Image Karlo Taliana.
Some of the larger Eremophila shrubs grow in a broom-like form, like an upside down triangle. These can be spectacular in full bloom (see image of Eremophila pantonii), but are more likely to have limited flowering periods (probably in spring) than the more common and smaller varieties. They can also be trickier to keep tidy by pruning, as they may not take kindly to being cut below the lowest leaves. Image Bev Rice
Hedges of eremophila in garden design
Finally, do you want a hedge? Eremophila are great candidates in garden design as hedges. Eremophila maculata can be formed into a hedge where several bushy shrubs are grown next to each other and are pruned appropriately. As a hedge it is spectacular as its flowers come in a range of colours – pink, red, purple, yellow, apricot, to name a few.
It is particularly useful as a hedge up to about 1.2m in public spaces (shown here in Cunnamulla, Queensland), as it has dense green leaves and is easy to keep in check by pruning and shaping. However, I have seen E. maculata hedged to over 2m near Toowoomba, Queensland. Image Lyndal Thorburn
Another medium height species that can be hedged up to maybe 2m high is E. laanii (pink or white flowers, but may sucker), and the E. maculata x viscida hybrid, sometimes sold as ‘Silver’, may also be worth trying. For lower hedges, try Eremophila ‘Summertime Blue’ for a hedge up to 1.5m high, or E. drummondii for low hedges (to about 600mm high).
Small trees in garden design
Eremophila can also be used as trees in garden design. Big Poly, a hybrid of E. polyclada and also a registered cultivar, makes quite an attractive large open shrub or small tree and flowers for a long time. It is more frost hardy than its parent and has a mauvy tinge to the flower (see below).
When grafted onto, for example, an established M. bateae stock, E. glabra ‘Kalbarri Carpet’ forms a spectacular ball rather than its usual groundcover form.
Do You Live in a Humid Area?
Eremophilas are desert plants and are not used to humidity. Some will tolerate it, while others will suffer, particularly in La Niña periods. There are several ways to enhance your chances of keeping your Eremophilas happy in these conditions:
- (most important) – choose species that have green rather than grey leaves and (preferably) also have an open habit – the grey-leaved forms (including the popular E. nivea) suffer if there is too much rain and can get mouldy if it is too humid. The green-leaved forms are more humidity-resistant but there is still a wide variety of forms of these – avoid those with leaves packed close to the stem.
- Plant your Eremophila in open areas that get plenty of breeze.
- Be prepared to prune pre-emptively – prune your shrub so it has space on the inside for air movement, and to reduce the number of branches – better to have an open shrub that has some flowers than a densely growing specimen that keels over from too much rain. Keep an eye out for mould problems after rain or during humid periods, and prune as needed.
- Plant some into pots or containers that can be moved in out of the rain.
- Use grafted plants in a raised bed to ensure fantastic drainage.
- Use a powder-based mould treatment if needed on lower branches of your plant.
Conclusions
Eremophilas have many uses in garden design. For more information you can go to the Eremophila Study Group ‘s Image Database (https://anpsa.org.au/eremophila-image-database/) and browse the Eremophilas there according to your needs. You can then look up our list of “where to buy Eremophilas” (https://anpsa.org.au/buying-eremophila-plants/) to see where you can buy them.
Happy landscaping!
Acknowledgements: thanks to the various photographers for allowing their photos to be used for this article (Andrew Brown, John Elston, Brian Freeman (dec), Bev Rice (dec), Bernie Shanahan, Karlo Taliana, Kent Wallis, Brian Walters, Ken Warnes, Heather Miles and further thanks to Ken Warnes for several suggestions on plants suitable for hedging.