The Rebel Gardener

Grevillea Pink Ice, a Gem amongst the Gravel.

One of my favourite things to do where shopping for plants is to search through the “sale” plants at the back of the nursery. Not only because sometimes you can pick up a bargain but also because sometimes you can find a gem in amongst the rubbish.

Back in Autumn I was doing this and came across a Grevillea which had a label that indicated it was grafted and that was all it said. The only identification it had was “Grevillea Pink Ice” written on the pot with $28 crossed out and replaced with $15. This Grevillea caught my attention straight away as I wasn’t familiar with it. The good thing about it though, was it was grafted onto the rootstock of the Silky Oak, Grevillea Robusta. This meant that it would grow quite happily with the phosphorus toxicity in my soil. On the downside though, it didn’t appear to be doing very well as the potting mix was dried out and the thin needly leaves also reflected that it was really struggling.

The first flower for the season in August.

Never the less my curiosity got the better of me so I purchased it and took it home. Now normally when I buy a new plant I’m pretty quick to plant it but in this case I decided that it might need some pampering before hand so the first thing was to soak it in some Seasol for a few minutes. I then potted it up into the next size pot, left it a protected place for the last few months and then pretty much forgot about it.

Grevillea Pink Ice. Still narrow and sparce but I'll tip prune it after flowering so it will thicken for next season.

Then about a month ago it started to flower. The flowers in fact didn’t turn out to be pink as the name suggested but instead they are white which is reasonably uncommon with most Grevilleas you find in nurseries. Then again it has been groing in the shade for the last few months so maybe when it starts to get some sun the flowers may have a pink tinge to them but we’ll wait and see. The other option is that it might not even be Grevillea Pink Ice?

Anyway yesterday being the 5th day of spring I decided to go ahead and plant it. It’s still in flower with lots of small buds still appearing as well so it appears as if it may have a reasonably long flowering season. The other thing I like about this grevillea is that it does appear to have an erect growing habit which will make it fit in well in a small garden with lots of plants in it.

So looking at my purchase today I must say that I’m pretty happy with it. Whether it has pink on white flowers doesn’t make much difference to me. The important thing is that it looks like it will put on quite a nice flowering display, it is a little different to the other grevilleas in my garden and it should be very hardy and drought tolerant.

Grevillea Pink Ice Flowers and Buds

So next time you’re at the nursery have a look out the back and see if you can find a gem. You may not find the same one I did but never the less you may find one just as good as Grevillea Pink Ice.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Grevillea Petrophiloides
• Grevillea Rosmarinifolia
• Silky Oak, what you really need to know
• Grevillea Robusta, an alternative way to grow.
• Grevillea, How to grow.