Throughout winter and spring, the richly coloured red and gold blooms of this compact little shrub add a warm and very welcome glow to the garden. As with all grevilleas, it needs a well drained soil, plenty of sunshine, and doesn’t require fertilisers or need spraying for pests or diseases. It will grow happily in very poor soils, even thriving on sand banks in beach gardens, although it won’t stand the full blast of winds directly off the sea.
Plant it in groups to form a shrubby, easy care ground cover group - when used this way it’s spectacular. Or mix it with other brightly coloured small shrubs, such as Euryops ‘Little Sunray’, one of the bushy, compact, winter flowering Leucadendrons such as ‘Julie’ or ‘Clone 91’ or Leucospermum ‘Champagne’ which will provide colour in the period after the Grevillea has finally stopped flowering.
Bronze foliage plants look stunning with Grevillea ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’. For a contrast of form as well as colour, combine it with one of the dramatic, dark foliage Cordylines such as ‘Midnight Star’ and ‘Red Star’ or other NZ natives such as Myrtus ‘Black Beauty’ or the dusky coloured flax ‘Black Rage’.
The lime green colours of Euphorbias look dramatic with the red and gold flowers of ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’. The new, low growing, Euphorbia ‘Kea’ is a good one, with blue-green, red tipped foliage and flowers which open lime, turning yellow as they age. Euphorbia polychroma is another with striking lime flowers. Include some blue flowers if even more contrast is wanted - try the little and joyous Kingfisher daisy, Felicia ‘Blue Jay’, and Ceanothus ‘Blue Sapphire’.
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Grevillea rosmarinifolia x alpina 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'
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| A compact free-flowering shrub widely respected for its glorious rich red and gold blooms from winter through to summer. A garden highlight in winter that's good for a splash of colour when there's not much about. | ||||||||||
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