Blue wheatgrass is named for its often intensely blue chalky appearance. This chalky coating is epicuticular wax, crystaline projections from the leaf surface that plants make from a range of organic compounds. Their main purpose is water repellency and moisture retention, but they can also confer UV light reflection, self-cleaning and anti-climb properties to the plant surface.
This plant does not tolerate wet or humid climates preferring airy, sunny conditions.

Like one of its fiercest competitors, exotic marram grass, sand sedge is able to exploit its rhizomatous nature and extend its range without the need for seed. Some populations around our coast apparently don’t seed at all while others are reliably prolific. This lack of reliance on seed does seem to be reflected in low seed viability and uneven germination rates.
Though Carex pumila's success is reflected in its widespread global distribution, Wellington has very few dune systems left, most lost to development, so it’s not surprising we don't see more of this little ('pumila') gem.

Apodasmia meaning 'separated' refers to the distribution of the genus in Australia, South America and New Zealand reflecting a Gondwanan origin. i.e. along with tuatara, it inhabited Gondwanaland, the supercontinent that up until roughly 130 million years ago when it began to break up, encompassed the entire Southern Hemisphere.
This versatile and resilient plant is incredibly valuable in restoration, purifying water, removing toxins and trapping sediment to create and maintain the water-holding ability of bogs and wetlands (as well as resist tidal erosion) and over centuries creates deep layers of peat, the best carbon sink on the planet.
Lived with the dinosaurs, saving the planet, gorgeous in the garden, what's not to love !!!!
Propagate Pre treatment: sow fresh or CMS 1 - 2 months Germination: 3 - 12 weeks Pricking out: 7 - 8 months after sowing Tips: ensure good air flow. Avoid regular overhead watering and expect fairly high losses in young seedlings |

Astelia are unisexual which is why you might notice plants that never fruit. On female plants, the fragrant green-yellow flowers hidden right in the centre of the plant, swell to unmissable bright orange fruits loved by birds. These plants store water in the bases of their leaves making them extremely drought tolerant and they’ll collapse suddenly if over watered or faced with high humidity. Needless to say, keep them on the dry side!
They are slow growers taking their time to establish good roots due to the dual nature of their water storage strategy, so they develop big tops long before big roots. Allow two years from sowing to get a good sized chunky plant.

Horokaka, New Zealand ice plant (Disphyma australe subsp. australe). This little xerophile is happy in the most dry and inhospitable habitats and has evolved a truly brilliant seed dispersal mechanism to cope with the lack of water. The capsule is hygrochastic so when it gets wet, it quickly opens. Show this to the kids its like a magic trick ! The seeds are housed below the star shaped membrane in the centre. Once the capsule is full of water and rain drops continue to land on the thin membrane, the pressure squirts the seeds from the capsule which then closes when it dries out. Not surprisingly, in response to such little water, it is very quick to germinate. It flowers and fruits all year round so can be collected anytime.
Traditionally this plant was used to treat skin in a similar way to aloe vera and both the unripe capsules and leaves are edible, the leaves apparently make very good pickle though I haven't tried this myself !
Though most fruits develop from the ovary of a flower, Muehlenbeckia fruit is the swollen flower (petals and sepals) which is obvious in its shape. This unique fruit is quite dense and doesn't break down in the same way as many fleshy fruits using the 'sieve mushing' technique, so leaving the fruit to dry before trying to remove the seeds is marginally easier.
Germination continues over a period of time so to even it out you can cold moist stratify for a month. I tend to avoid any processing that is not entirely needed and as these seedlings will sit happily in a seed tray for years and still be pricked out with excellent success rates, I just sow the seed fresh after removing from the berries. Fuchsia can become very tall and leggy without pruning so give it the best chance at stability by pruning it into bushiness early on.
Propagate Pre treatment: sow fresh Germination: 4 - 8 weeks Pricking out: 3 - 6 months after sowing Tips: prone to damping off |
Flax is well known for its high quality fibre and after a long history of manual production by Maori, European settlement saw an explosion in mechanised flax mills (using predominantly P. tenax) from about the 1860's. The industry boomed in the late 1800's accounting for about 5% of NZ's main exports. In the early 1900's yellow leaf disease devastated flax populations and after the global depression hit, the industry was crippled by the 1930's . At present yellow leaf disease is sweeping through like a slow fire wiping out huge portions of the population. This bacterial disease is spread easily by leaf hoppers and completely kills the plant so if you have it in your garden the plants need to be removed. Once the disease has run its course, populations will slowly recover.
Propagate Pre treatment: CMS 3 months or sow fresh Germination: 8 - 10 weeks Pricking out: 4.5 - 7 months after sowing Tips: loved by leaf roller caterpillars |
This is a reliable restoration tree being easy to propagate and fast growing. The fruit is very dense so a good way to clean it off is to rough up the outer surface and leave to ferment in water till it softens enough to scrub off in a sieve.
Silver tussock is a feature of Wellington's coastal and lower montane environments, is super quick and easy to grow and will be happy in spots where nothing else will. As with most grasses check that the seed is a nice light brown colour rather than green before collecting.
The leaves are toxic to most herbivores but our native looper caterpillar Cleora scriptaria being immune to the toxins, grazes heavily on the plants sometimes leaving more holes than leaf ! The fruit is made up of the whole inflorescence as the tiny flowers swell and fuse together. The fruit is very soft making the seeds easy to separate.
Previously Macropiper, this genus is now considered more closely related to the rest of the Piper species which include black pepper, Piper nigrum, and kava, Piper methysticum, and is a huge genus of about 2000 species ! Before you start shaking your fists at these pesky taxonomists, consider one of the functions of taxonomic nomenclature, to reflect evolutionary relationships, so this name now tells a more accurate story of the relationship of the Pacific Piper species to the rest of the pepper plants.
The story of our local spear grass is incomplete though without the story of Lyperobius huttoni. The entire North Island population of this small native weevil feeds exclusively on Wellington's A. squarrosa population and about 10 years ago was on the brink of extinction with less than 150 weevils left, under further threat from introduced rodents. DOC translocations of the weevil to Mana Island may well have saved them from their dire situation but the future challenge now is to get these two special Wellington residents thriving together on the mainland.
Obviously picking the seeds off the flower stalk is not practical but the seeds will fall off a whole stalk left to dry in a paper bag. The seed stores really well and germination rates are very high so go easy on how thickly you sow.
Propagate Pre treatment: CMS 2 - 3 months Germination: 3 - 6 weeks Pricking out: 2 - 3 months after sowing Tips: young seedlings damp off easily |
Coprosma are found throughout the Pacific but their highest diversity is in New Zealand where they occur in a wide range of forms and environments from sand dunes to mountains to forest understory like C. grandifolia. The leaf domatia visible in this picture in the axils of the leaf veins are a feature of Coprosma species. Domatia (derived from the Latin word for home) occur on many plants hosting a range of inhabitants that are mostly, but not always, mutualistic. In Coprosma they house tiny fungivorous and detritivorous mites that studies have suggested might infer a fitness advantage for these species by reducing fungal pathogens on the leaves.
