Australian Native Boronia
A Beginner’s Guide
Let me start by saying I am most certainly not a Boronia expert. I have killed many of these beautiful Australian native plants, therefore this is very much a guide for beginners and I hope it will help you to choose the right Boronia variety so you don’t make the same mistakes that I did when starting out.
Before I dig into the details, here are my top tips for growing Boronia:
- Light: Dappled sunlights/part shade conditions, never full afternoon sun
- Soil: Very free draining
- Climate: There is a Boronia native to every climate in Australia!
- Wind: Avoid windy places – hot wind in particular can kill them very quickly
- When to Plant: Autumn – although read below for more tips
- Containers: They are ideal for keeping in a pot. 30cm containers are the ideal size.
- Mulch: Gravel and sand mulch
- Moisture: Consistently moist but not waterlogged – more crucial watering tips below!
- Benefits: Wonderful for cut flowers, often have a delightful perfume
Now let’s dig in to some details and see my list of recommended Boronias for beginners below.
Most Boronias are native to Australia, with only a few exceptions. They are pretty when in bloom and many popular varieties have a delightful fragrance for those who can smell them. I am one of those unfortunate people who cannot smell Boronias! Yes Boronia anosmia is a thing – at least 10% of the population can’t smell them, and I gather for everyone else they have an intoxicating and beautiful smell.
Boronia Lipstick
Boronia megastigma lutea
Boronia pinnata South West Rocks
Where to Plant Boronias
Sun & Shade
All Boronias require part shade conditions to grow. Plant them anywhere else or leave them in their nursery pot in full sun and they will die quickly.
Firstly, choosing a position that gets dappled shade is ideal. It must be somewhere that your treasured Boronia has protection from hot afternoon sun and wind. Most boronia naturally grow with protection from other taller plants. I’m not talking about the deep shade of a rainforest here. Think more like open Eucalypt forest or among the dense flowering heath of the Wallum.
I have also had success with a position that gets only morning sun. This was a metre or two east of a high suburban fence for example, with some overhead fence lining Lilly Pilly to provide shade from 11am or midday onwards. I also have one Boronia planted in a pot on the south side of a high fence and it thrives and flowers. So south of your house or in a tricky shaded and narrow strip between houses can also work.
Soil Conditions & Potting Mix
All Boronias require very good drainage. For most people this will mean a raised and built up garden bed, natural sandy loam soil or growing in a container.
When I am potting a Boronia I would mix in a large quantity of coarse sand in with the native potting mix, plus at least a few big handfuls of perlite. If pot growing I also tend to use clay beads in the base and large chunky charcoal but I can’t say that there’s any particular scientific evidence for that approach, it just works for me!
Keeping Boronia in a pot is a better choice for beginners, provided you get it out of that tiny plastic nursery pot and into something larger – 30cm diameter minimum. And if you have a pot, make sure you have it on pot feet and not sitting in a dish full of water.
Mulch
Now that you have your Boronia planted, don’t crowd it with a woody mulch like bark or wood chip. A light coloured gravel and sand mix for mulch is ideal to keep the root ball cool. I use gravel and a thick sand layer in many of my potted natives. 5cm thick to suppress weeds and control surface moisture. What you don’t want is for the base of the stem and root ball to stay wet – ever.
Water
The secret to watering a boronia is to keep it consistently moist, but never waterlogged. That is why the free draining soil mix is essential, as you need that water to flow through easily and this can be an issue when the pot fills with roots. It’s critical that you don’t get into a cycle where the plant becomes extremely dry and then you give it lots of water. That shock alone is enough to kill it!
If you have it planted in a container with lots of sand and on pot feet then you can give it a light water most days without killing it. With one exception!!! Never water in the morning before a 30+ degree day. When it’s hot I always water in the evening. The combination of heat and moisture is a recipe for root rot – and this is the arch enemy of Boronias, (and a few other plants that I grow out of their natural range such as WA’s Lechenaultia).
Boronia Lipstick
Eremophila nivea Blue Velvet, Anigozanthos Bush Inferno Kangaroo Paw, Lechenaultia biloba Big Blue and Xerochrysum Bracteantha Daisy Fields Gold and Boronia lutea with Ajuga australis in the background.
Boronia falcifolia in the Wallum
When to Plant
This final instruction is worth paying attention to – unfortunately you will usually see Boronias on sale in the nursery when they are in full flower or about to come into bloom. If you go straight home and plant it – your Boronia may drop all it’s flowers! The stress of the re-planting and changed conditions is enough to cause a tantrum. And this is one Diva of a plant.
If you want to enjoy the flowers then cut a few stems for inside and put the pot somewhere in part shade as described above. Keep it moist and wait until after it’s flowered. Autumn is the ideal time to plant Boronias out into the garden, but it will need tender loving care through the summer if that’s your plan. If you’re potting it up then go ahead and do that after the flowering has ended.
Choosing a Boronia
Many people will tell you that Boronia megastigma and Boronia heterophylla are easy to grow, but in my experience they are easy to kill too!
There are over 100 Boronia species found growing in almost every climate in Australia, except for in rainforest and arid areas. Choosing a Boronia that grown naturally in your area would be the ideal solution. Unfortunately many of the boronia species that grow naturally in your surrounding forests are probably not available for sale at any nursery.
After you’ve exhausted local species and sources, then here are a few to consider:
Boronia crenulata
This is a tough little plant with pretty pink starry flowers in abundance for most of the year, even when planted in a quite shady spot. In my Sydney garden I grow it in a pot on the south side of the shed. It gets no direct sunlight at all there! But it’s an open position with a lot of indirect light from the lawn. There’s a photograph below of this beautiful plant in that pot. It flowers for most of the year – continuously. But I don’t believe it has the pretty scent of many boronias.
Boronia lutea
This gorgeous yellow Boronia has a sweet lemony scent and flowers abundantly in spring. I have found it hardy when planted in the ground in a raised bed or on a steep slope or bank where the water runs freely downhill. Just choose a spot with morning sun or dappled light as indicated above. If you can get this Boronia as tube stock that is even better – as the roots will have room to spread and you will enjoy the gorgeous blooms for more than 2 or 3 spring times. Pictured below.
Boronia keysii (sub-tropical climates)
Finally, this Boronia gets a special mention for my readers in sub-tropical climates such as in Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and SEQ. Boronia keysii is an endangered local species but deceptively easy to grow in this climate. It has a more open habit – preferring to spread it’s branches low and wide. But with some careful pruning after flowering it will bush up a little. In my Sunshine Coast garden I have both Boronia keysii and Boronia lutea planted in the ground. Admittedly I have some lovely free draining volcanic sandy loam soil or a gently sloping bank that is ideal to provide good drainage. But this beautiful local native is not endangered because it is hard to grow – it is quite the opposite and growing it in your garden may just help to save this species from extinction in the wild!
Boronia crenulata Pink Passion Aniseed Boronia
Boronia megastigma 'Lutea'
Boronia keysii
Where to buy Boronias
The final advice I have for you is please seek out your local native nursery to find a Boronia to grow. Many of the Boronias you will find in the big green shed will be pretty but likely won’t live long out of the artificial growing environment of commercial horticulture.
If you don’t have access to a local supply, then you can buy these plants mentioned above online as tubestock. Or buy yourself that pretty purple or pink belled Boronia and just enjoy it through spring until it dies. It smells nicer than a petunia and is far prettier in my opinion!
If you’d like more detailed advice on caring for and propagating Boronias then I recommend this detailed guide to cultivating Boronias.
Happy gardening! I hope you’ve read some useful tips here. Please drop me a note below – I enjoy reading your comments and will reply to any questions you have too.
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