If you love colour in your garden then you can’t go past this brilliant blue flowered Australian native with fine green foliage. The colour is not adjusted in these photos! It is a compact, low-growing perennial shrub but it does need sandy soil and excellent drainage.

In humid areas you are best to treat Lechenaultia as an annual or biannual as it doesn’t like humidity and is prone to root rot in summer. I am growing it in my sub-tropical south east Queensland garden because I love the blue flowers so much. But it is planted in a very sandy mix and will need replacing regularly. In cool temperate and Mediterranean climates it will live happily as a perennial. If you can’t provide good drainage then growing it in a hanging basket or pot is ideal as it provides such stunning seasonal colour.

Lechenaultia come in all the colours of the rainbow and I just don’t understand why Australians don’t embrace these as an annual in all climates as the flowers are abundant, bright and beautiful on sweet small plants that will fit in any size suburban garden or in sunny balcony pots.

Thrives in sandy, well-drained soils with full sun. Drought-tolerant once established. Prune lightly after flowering to maintain compact growth.

In more humid areas we have a rule – do not water then Lechenaultia if the temperature will be over 30 today. In the hot summers I prefer to keep them dry to prevent root rot. I only give a light water on a cool evening.