Kunzea baxteri nana Mandys Surprise

Common Name: ‘Mandy’s Surprise’ Dwarf Kunzea (Kunzea baxteri nana ‘Mandy’s Surprise’)

Description:
Mandy’s Surprise is a delightful dwarf form of the Western Australian native Kunzea, offering a compact, mounding shrub covered in profuse, deep pink to mauve bottlebrush-like blooms. Flowering from late winter well into spring, its nectar-rich flowers attract honey-eating birds, bees, and butterflies, delivering a vibrant display at a time when few other plants are in bloom. The fresh, aromatic foliage remains evergreen and provides gentle texture all year round. Ideal for Melbourne’s climate, this hardy variant suits well-drained soils in full sun to part shade and thrives in coastal and inland conditions. Once established, Mandy’s Surprise is drought tolerant, frost hardy to mild frost, and requires minimal maintenance—just a light trim after flowering to maintain its neat shape and encourage more blooms. Perfect for mass planting, rockeries, native gardens, or low hedging.

Form:

• Shrub – Small to Medium

• Shrub – Clumping / Mounding

Mature Size:

• Height: 0.5–1 m

• Width: 0.5–1 m

Aspect:

• Full Sun

• Part Shade

Flowering:

• Flowers in Late Winter

• Flowers in Spring

Flower Colour:

• Deep pink to mauve bottlebrush flowers

Key Attributes:

• Evergreen

• Perennial

• Native Australian

• Bird Attracting (nectar-feeders)

• Bee & Insect Attracting

• Drought Tolerant once established

• Frost Tolerant (light frost)

• Coastal Hardy

• Low-Maintenance

• Suitable for Rockeries, Mass Plantings, Low Hedging, and Border Fronts

Toxicity:

• Not known to be toxic to humans or pets

Companion Plants:

• Lomandra ‘Little Con’ – fine grassy contrast

• Dianella spp. – blue-toned foliage and seasonal berries

• Correa ‘Dusky Bell’ – soft complementary blooms

• Banksia speciosa – adds vertical form and structural contrast