Grevillea

Growing in Pots, Balconies & Indoors

Grevillea is a sun-loving shrub or tree that ranges enormously in size (from about 0.2 m up to 25 m). The grower marks it as neither an indoor houseplant nor a plant he recommends for containers, so it is best planted in the open ground in a suitable climate.

Quick Details

• Container Size: Not recommended by the grower – it prefers open ground
• Indoor Suitability: Not a houseplant – it needs full sun
• Best Spot: Full sun, in the ground
• Soil & Drainage: Lean, sharply drained soil; avoid rich, wet or heavy conditions
• Watering: Small to average – it is drought-tolerant once established and dislikes soggy roots

Indoors & On the Windowsill

• Houseplant limits: The grower marks it as not for indoors – it is a full-sun, often large woody plant with vigorous, deep roots that will not tolerate a room or sill.

On a Balcony or Patio

• Not a pot plant here: The grower does not recommend growing Grevillea in containers – many form large shrubs or trees with deep, fast roots. If you must try a small or prostrate cultivar in a big pot, give it very sharp drainage and a lean, low-phosphorus mix (this family dislikes phosphorus-rich feeds), and expect it to be short-lived compared with a ground-grown plant.

Choosing the Pot, Soil & Long-Term Care

• Better in the ground: Plant it out in full sun in free-draining, low-phosphorus soil; it is drought-tolerant once established and resents wet, rich or confined roots.

Bloom & Flower Guide

Quick Details

• Bloom Season: Spring and summer (often with scattered bloom at other times)
• Flower Appearance: Clusters of small, curved flowers with long protruding styles, forming spider- or bottlebrush-like heads
• Edibility: Ornamental and nectar-rich for wildlife — not for eating

Detailed Blooming Overview

Grevillea earns its common name ‘spider flower’ from the way its many small flowers cluster together, each with a long slender style curling outward. Massed on the stem they read as a bottlebrush or a spidery spray, in white, red, pink, orange, yellow or blends. As a member of the Proteaceae, the colorful part is the perianth with its projecting style rather than showy petals.

Flower Characteristics

• Small flowers grouped in inflorescences shaped like a bottlebrush or spider.
• Colors range across white, red, pink, orange and yellow, sometimes multicolored.
• Rich in nectar — a magnet for nectar-feeding birds and bees.

Bloom Care & Thinning

• Managing the bloom: A light prune after each flush keeps the plant compact and encourages more flowering wood.
• Feeding note: Proteaceae dislike high phosphorus — use a low-phosphorus feed to keep plants healthy and free-flowering.