Native heart turner looks sharp

This is a relatively recently planting of Verticordia mitchelliana, on Howson Hill, in the Australian Garden at Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne. 

Like all Verticordia species, it's from the western side of Australia, from sand plains and sand lakes east of Perth. Thanks mostly to the work of Western Australian botanist Alex George, published in 1991, there are over 100 species of Verticordia. 

They only grow naturally in Western Australia and Northern Territory, but are very popular in the gardens of Australian native plant enthusiasts. And with good reason, as you can see from the flowers of this species.

Featherflower is a name applied to the genus generally. The feathery part of the flower is the beautiful fringe of hairs on the outer ring of floral parts, the sepals - typical of nearly all Verticordia species. The petals are overlapping around the base of the long style (the receptive female part of the flower).

The common name for the species, Rapier Featherflower, is even more apt. A rapier, you'll recall, is a straight, two-edged sword with a narrow blade, and here it is a reference to that elongate, protruding style. The feathery sepals become an elaborate guard to the rapier.

The scientific name is less useful in a botanical sense, although in part rather romantic. 'Verto' is Latin for 'I turn', and 'cordis' means heart - hence 'turner of hearts', a title applied to a 2002 book on the genus written by Elizabeth George. This phrase was used classically to refer to the goddess of love, Venus, who considered the myrtle (namesake of the mytle family, Myrtaceae, to which Verticordia belongs) to be a sacred plant (according to James Baines, in his handy reference book, Australian Plant Genera).

The species name is more dutiful, honouring Sir James Mitchell, Premier of Western Australia when the plant was first collected by botanists, in the 1930s.

You can see from the succulent leaves, this is a plant adapted to arid conditions, so it should do well in Melbourne's increasingly hot and dry climate. Elizabeth George, author of Verticordia: The Turner of Hearts, encourages us to grow all Featherflowers, saying their reputation as being difficult to grow is unwarranted.

Her advice is prepare some free-draining (sandy) soil in full sun. Mulch lightly but keep it away from the stems. Then water deeply but infrequently (perhaps weekly). 

And yes, as with most Australian plants and again contrary to reputation, you can prune, but lightly and during active growth. Tip pruning by pinching off the growing tips between thumb and first finger nails is always fun and helpful.

Unusual for me to provide some gardening advice but there you go. It's worth a try.