QUESTION:
I saw this shrub in flower at the Thirlmere Railway Museum’s restored Station Master’s home and it was bursting with huge blooms. I guess it’s a banksia but obviously a special one. Do you know its name?
ANSWER:
It’s definitely a banksia and a truly magical display of flowers. Most likely it’s a well-grown heath banksia ( Banksia ericifolia ), famously the first banksia Joseph Banks saw at Kurnell in 1770. It’s hard to be certain without a close look at the leaves, though there’s also a hybrid called B. ‘Giant Candles’, which has enormous flower spikes and longer leaves than heath banksia. Both varieties tolerate exposed, sandy, coastal conditions and can be pruned into a hedge if desired.
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