Sitting pretty
2025-10-15T09:59:26+11:00
With flowers in a vast range of colours and patterns, emu bush delights gardeners and wildlife alike.
The name ‘emu bush’ evokes thoughts of the outback – and that’s entirely fitting for this fascinating group of native plants whose botanical name, Eremophila, means ‘desert-loving’. While they may not yet be a household name for all gardeners, they’re blazing a trail into our gardens thanks to their adaptability in the face of southern Australia’s drying climates, as well as their lovely foliage and amazing diversity of flower colours, shapes and patterns.
Eremophilas vary from groundcovers such as E. glabra ‘Kalbarri Carpet’ (with silvery-grey foliage and bright yellow blooms) to shrubs of all sizes, including the stunning silky emu bush (E. nivea, with soft silvery-white foliage and mauve flowers), to small trees like the bignonia emu bush (E. bignoniiflora, known for its long, green leaves and tubular cream-to-pink blooms). Many are long-flowering, so they make wonderful habitat plants. There are emu bush varieties to suit every climate – and Angus Stewart shares his favourites in our November issue. Here’s a preview of three of them:
POVERTY BUSH (E. platycalyx)
Poverty bush (pictured above) can vary in size, but tends to be a compact rounded shrub. It has grey-green leaves and variously coloured, often intricately patterned blooms that attract birds. It will tolerate light frost. It grows 2.5m high and 2.5m wide, flowers in spring, and is suitable for arid and warm temperate climate gardens.
SILKY EMU BUSH (E. nivea)
A silver-leafed stunner with mauve blooms, silky emu bush is one of the most popular eremophilas. It’s best grown in a sunny position with good air movement, as it’s susceptible to fungal diseases and is sensitive to frost. It grows 1–1.5m high and 1–1.5m wide, flowers from winter to summer, and is suitable for arid and warm temperate climate gardens.
SPOTTED EMU BUSH (E. maculata)
The patterned flowers of this lovely eremophila come in pink, mauve, red, orange and yellow, which pop against its mid-green foliage. It tolerates extended dry spells and moderate frost. Cultivars include E. maculata x alternifolia ‘Wild Berry’. It grows 1–1.5m high and 1–1.5m wide, flowers in winter and spring, and is suitable for subtropical, arid and warm temperate climate gardens.
Discover more stunning varieties of emu bush, plus learn how to grow them, in the November issue of ABC Gardening Australia magazine – on sale now!
