It’s easy to forget what a great garden plant Boronia heterophylla is, because so much attention is given to its close cousins, the brown and yellow Boronias, the flowers of which have such a strong and beguiling perfume. Boronia heterophylla has foliage with a distinctive aroma, but the flowers have little scent. But what they lack in perfume they more than make up for in appearance - the magnificent magenta bells smother the fine, deep green foliage in spring. Not only do they look fantastic in the garden, they’re also great for picking, lasting well in water, and for many years this has been a popular commercial cut flower shrub.

In the garden it can be grown on its own or among other shrubs. It looks amazing in the foreground of white blossom trees and when surrounded by spring bulbs, such as the long stemmed ixias, some of which have flowers of the same colour. Occasionally it’s grown as an informal hedge and when this is the case the job of trimming, after flowering has finished, is a popular task because of the aromatic foliage.

Boronia heterophylla is long lived providing it has a good soil that doesn’t get too dry. Add compost when planting to get this shrub off to a good start.